Tag Archives: Proper 20 Year B

Mark 9:30-37 – Welcoming a child in the name of Jesus

January 16, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

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This is the Gospel selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighteenth 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 20. It will next be read aloud in an Episcopal church by a priest on Sunday September 23, 2018. It is important because Jesus told his disciples of his suffering to come for the second time. Jesus then taught his disciples that they had to give up seeking adult quests and welcome the birth of him in them.

In the sequencing of events, Jesus had first told his disciples about the suffering that would come at the hands of the rulers of Jerusalem (Mark 8). Now, he is remembered saying he would be “betrayed into human hands.”

The Greek text shows “paradidotai eis cheiras anthrōpōn,” which can translated clearly as “delivered into the hands of men.” The word “paradidotai” can mean “betrayed,” but that hint was not taken to mean “There is a traitor among us.” The same word, without a specific context, could mean “handed over, delivered, turned over, or abandoned.”

The difference between Jesus having named specifically “elders, chief priests, and scribes” earlier, but now saying “men” is a statement that people holding titles are still just human beings like everyone else. It implies the Romans will do the actual deed. The fact that Jesus said, “They will kill him,” rather than having generally stated before “to be killed,” meant the disciples were confused by the differences in the two stories. That confusion made them again miss the part of “on the third day he will rise, after being killed.”

When we read, “They did not understand [the things spoken] and were afraid to ask him,” the part they thought they understood – Jesus being killed – had drawn the ire of Jesus, after Peter took him aside and tried to sternly tell Jesus he should not talk such nonsense. Here, he repeated that he would be killed, but no one was brave enough to say to Jesus, “Excuse me master, but could you explain more about how you know this and why we cannot stop it from happening?”

No one wanted to be told they were Satan. Therefore, they were blank slates that had been conditioned to watch, listen, learn, and obey, as long as their egos never questioned divine wisdom.

We next hear read aloud by a priest, “Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”’ This question by Jesus could have been asked while the group was “on the way,” so Jesus saved it for a more preferable time to bring up the matter. He asked while they were in the house of Jesus in Capernaum, where the familiar surrounding meant there were no chores to do and there was a period of rest after a long and eventful travel.

To then learn, “They were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest,” this means the disciples did not answer the question. There is no indication that the disciples spoke and answered Jesus. That absence says they refused to answer the question because they were still afraid of being called Satan by Jesus.

If Peter could be told to get behind Jesus as an evil demon, simple because he cared enough about Jesus to tell him, “You will not talk of death!” then they all could be seen as more evil than that for arguing about “who was the greatest” among them. As for that superlative written, the Greek word “meizōn” can also mean “most important.”

To then read, “[Jesus] sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all,” this implies that Jesus knew what they were arguing about. The question was rhetorical.

Even if they argued away from Jesus, when Jesus was by loudly running water, getting a drink; or when Jesus was sitting amid his family and engaged in conversation with them, Jesus knew what was going on. Jesus knew what his disciples were arguing about because God made him aware. If Jesus could know his future and teach his disciples to be prepared for his death, then he could know what is running through his disciples’ minds and hearts.

It should also be realized that while Jesus was on the high mountain with Peter, James and John of Zebedee, a father with a child who had a demon spirit possessing him, making the boy mute and threatening to kill him by convulsions, had come into the base camp. He asked the disciples to cure his son. Mark said “they did not have the power,” which presumes they tried to cast out the demon, but failed. The father and son stayed in the camp, drawing a crowd from the nearby village (including the ‘mayor’, called “a scribe”); so many were waiting for Jesus when he returned.

Jesus healed the boy, which left the boy apparently dead when the spirit departed his body. Several people attested that the boy was dead; but Jesus took the boy’s hand and raised him up, where the Greek word denoting that is “ēgeiren,” meaning “made awake.” That should be seen as metaphor for raised from death.

The disciples asked Jesus why none of them could cast out the unclean spirit. He told them that the demon spirit in the boy was one that required “prayer,” which meant only God could both cast out an evil spirit AND bring the dead boy back to life. In other words, Jesus explained to his disciples (privately) that they still were not full-fledged Apostles, married to Yahweh. They were still in training.

That event gives more reason for the disciples to be arguing about who was the “greatest” or “most important,” such that they were comparing their works of ministry to each other’s. Undoubtedly, they had each remembered the greatest healings achieved, how many spirits each had cast out, and how many people listened to them preach the meaning of the Torah and were touched spiritually. All had been given the ability to cast out unclean spirits, but the one in the mute boy was more than a mild case of illness by spirit. God undoubtedly assisted the disciples (or His angels) in their commission by Jesus, but the disciples were still unaware. So, with Peter’s pretense as ‘lead disciple’ now uncertain, they all argued about who could then be considered the best disciple Jesus had.

Jesus knew that divinely, leading him to instruct nicely, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” The point was to never let a big head make one think their brain had anything to do with their spiritual acts. The disciples had been taught to release their egos by being obedient to Jesus; but Jesus knew they were getting Big Brain syndrome and that evil spirit needed to be cast out quickly. Jesus did that gently. There was no need to call anyone Satan.

When Jesus used those words about “first” and “last,” or “prótos” and “eschatos,” which also can translate as “most important” and “the end things,” it is important to understand just who and what that meant. For all the arguing about which disciple was “most important” in the eyes of Jesus and Yahweh, one has to wonder what self-proclaimed accolades Judas Iscariot presented. Was his claim for being the “greatest” based on how much money he raised?

After all, wasn’t Jesus referencing Judas when he told the group he would be “betrayed,” “handed over” by someone unstated by name, “to be killed”? That would certainly qualify Judas for being “last” among the Gospel writers. There were many asides that pointed out beforehand – “Judas was the one who would betray Jesus.”

The point Jesus was making was less specific to one disciple and more applicable to the “men” whose hands Jesus would be turned over to. Judas was not quite in their category of “most important,” although he was [according to the Gospel of Judas] one who took great pride in mental exercises; supposedly Judas was a philosopher that loved debating logic with Jesus. Still, Judas would see thirty pieces of silver as big potatoes, while the Sanhedrin “men” dealt in finances that only the “most important” could fathom.

Those “men” were the ones who would reach their “ends” and be like the rich man who died and went to a hot place; still he expected poor Lazarus to come put a drop of cool water on his tongue. (Luke 16:19-31) Unfortunately, those are the ones who think they are the greatest until their demise, when they realize it would have been better to be the servant of all, rather than the opposite.

From that soft rebuke of rather simple disciples who argued about greatness, when they were already servants – ranking slaves as to how much they submit to the will of the great is pointless – Jesus then “took a little child and put it among them.”

The word translated as “a little child” is “paidion,” which can mean anything from an infant to a seven year old. The word implies, “a little child under training,” but some scholars believe it can mean, “a son or daughter up to 20 years old (the age of “complete adulthood” in Scripture).” [Helps Word-studies] The translation of “it” is from “auto,” such that the neuter gender third-person identification means the child had not yet matured, although “it” was either “boy” (“he”) or “girl” (“she”).

This is worth further analysis.

It was standard protocol in ancient times to ignore women and children in writings. Women were usually referenced generally, as being the wife or daughter of some specific man. Children were referred to generically also, with no names mentioned; unless it was in reference to a man in his childhood (Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon and Jesus, etc.).

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus told the disciples to feed the five thousand men who came to hear Jesus preach. None of those writers made mention as to who was carrying the loaves and fish. John, however, said that Andrew spoke, saying “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.” In Mark’s Gospel (remembering Mark wrote the story of Simon-Peter), as Jesus was arrested and being carried away, he (and only he) wrote, “A young man was following [the arrested Jesus], wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body.” (Mark 14:51) Neither reference identified specifically who those youths were, because of the age and, therefore, lack of importance.

The word written that translates as “young man” is “neaniskos,” meaning a male youth (i.e.: boy), simply because he is unnamed. Still, in the literal Greek of that verse, Mark wrote “neaniskos tis,” which says, “a certain young man,” meaning that boy was known and identifiable, just not old enough to put his name in print. Because the boy was “certain,” he was known. After all, what strange child would just happen to be with Jesus and his disciples at Gethsemane, around two in the morning, in his night robe?

Hint: None.

This is where one needs to realize that Jesus was in his home in Capernaum. He was in the house where his family lived with him. It would be completely normal to have children about in a Jewish household. Thus, the child who Jesus took up in his arms – the child under training – was the same child who carried the basket with loaves of bread and two smoked fish. It was the same young man who ran after Jesus when he was arrested, in his night robe, which boys put on before going to bed. He just happened to be under training during the Seder ritual and followed Jesus and the other adults as the disciples stumbled along drunk and fell asleep while Jesus prayed.

The young man – the youth – was John the Gospel writer, who recalled so much about that night. John was able to recall the teachings of Jesus because he was a boy and not allowed to get drunk with the adults. The adult disciples were busy getting plastered on wine (part of the Seder ritual) and could barely remember waking up to Jesus being arrested. Here, in Mark’s account of the disciples being in Jesus’ house, with John there, we see John is being used as an example about the least who serve all. John was the example of one who had no bragging rights about greatness; and they should be like him.

Still, one has to grasp the fact that a child in the house of Jesus would be a relative. John referred to himself as “the one Jesus loved,” which is a statement of relationship. John did not write of the excursion to Tyre and Sidon, nor did he write about the trip to Caesarea Philippi, when the Transfiguration took place. During both trips, Jesus was trying not to bring notice to himself by the Pharisees, or the Temple scribes and high priests. Simply from the potential danger involved, a child relative would have been left behind in Capernaum, with his mother and other relatives. Then, after Jesus had returned from a business trip, the child John was delighted at Jesus’ return. He was called by Jesus to sit with him and his disciples. John jumped into Jesus’ arms at the invitation.

This means that when Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me,” he just said, “Whoever welcomes John bar Jesus, my son, the boy with my name.” That statement is then stating a love relationship on a familial level.

Surely, John was the son of Jesus and thus bore the name of Jesus, as his father. Whoever welcomes that same relationship as that son, welcomes Jesus as their father. A disciple, therefore, is seen as least, in a Jewish society, the same as is a boy who gets no name recognition in writing, even though many people know the boy’s name; certainly they knew the name of that boy’s father. Therefore, if one welcomes being on the level of a child – a youth – an obedient child under training – a young man not yet grown into one of those “men who will kill” Jesus – then you welcome being the son of Jesus, which makes you also the grandsons of God, his Father.

The relationship would make the disciples God’s grandsons. It means the least have become the greatest, by their service to the Father, as His sons, born anew as Jesus Christ – the Son of God. It is most important to see the love factor, which is centered on family.

Jesus did not just reach out in his own home and grab the first random “it” child that ran by and use “it” as an example that was welcoming ALL children as a lesson (by example) that Jesus taught. What Jesus did was show his young son as how a disciple must see self-ego. As adults they must stay in touch with their inner child and love Jesus the same as his son, as a sign of respect for the name of Jesus.

Jesus chose his son as an example for ALL disciples – then and now – to model. They ALL have to welcome one another as members of the family that is born of Jesus. Just as John was a youth under training, so too were the disciples. Being obedient to the commands of Jesus means being obedient to the commands of God; just as Jesus was. It is a Master / servant, symbiotic relationship, built on the foundation of love. No disciple of Jesus should ever strive to be greater than the Master. The Master will always support His children that are in the name of Jesus … family.

As the Gospel selection for the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry for the LORD should be underway – one should have ceased trying to make one’s ego larger – the message here is to enlist into the family of God. The higher one strives to become on earth, the further one falls from a place being secured in Heaven.

In this reading from Mark, the changes in the way Jesus told them a second time of his coming death and resurrection offers a blanket observation of those who would “turn him over,” “betray him,” or “deliver him into the hands of men.” This is pointing to the Gentiles, who were then the Romans, but today this is anyone who wishes to kill Jesus as the leader of a religion. While Judas was a disciple that would make those words come true then, today the pews are filled with unsuspecting Judases who talk a good Christian game, but run when anyone questions their knowledge of the Holy Bible. Those betrayers are the same as was Peter, who three times denied knowing anything about Jesus. He betrayed Jesus by throwing him under the bus, because Peter thought he was too adult to be lessened from his delusions of grandeur.

When Mark then wrote, “They did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him,” I imagine there are a GREAT MANY CHRISTIANS that do not understand who John the Gospel writer was. Some confuse him with John the son of Zebedee because he is the only John named as a disciple of Jesus. Matthew and Mark were disciples and they wrote nearly identical Gospels. Luke wrote the remembrances of Mary the mother of Jesus, who shared some events with the disciples, while also having an exclusive familial view of Jesus and his ministry. John was with Jesus before he had any disciples. He was there when Nicodemus came to visit at night. However, John is an enigma that so many have been too afraid to ask, “Was John the child of Jesus?”

On my God! If that is so, then there goes the celibacy theme so many Christian monks have sworn vows to defend.

If John is Jesus’ son, then Jesus had a wife!?!? Oh my God! He was like every other Jewish adult male who followed God’s command to go and be fruitful.

Most of Jesus’ life was not written of. What is unknown is probably a lot like every other Jewish male that is born of a woman. Therefore, expectations of normal Jewish males would have been the expectations of Jesus … more so when we know his Father would have it no other way.

I once had a parishioner come to my house in a Nicodemian way and confide in me, “Robert, there is no way I could ever tell anyone what you say. It is all so crazy. No one would believe me.” He could not find anything I said was supported by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (I do not know who this was) … and my church friend thought Bonhoeffer rode the edge of religious reasoning. No one should ever go beyond his views, he seemed to think.

That man was even a lawyer, like Nicodemus. His good name and reputation depended on his ability to make money off Christians, who all had been taught to believe what someone else said to believe. It was okay to go to the library and find other sources that proved a scholar supported things commonly held dear (even, maybe, slightly different from the norm); but anyone unverifiable must be killed for speaking heresy!!!

That was what happened to Jesus, when he said a few things no one else had ever heard said before. He was turned over into the hands of men who had no relationship with God.

That is still a danger surrounding Jesus today. Too many arguing about who has the greatest Christian mind, based on book sales and television revenues raised (always needing a new private jet to zoom around the world in).

It is important that no one goes around saying, “Robert Tippett said ….” What I see and what I believe is not to be followed, because I see it or I believe it. I tell what I see and believe because I feel a strong need to share that with others. If others cannot see the same things and feel the same way as I do, then I accept that.

The purpose of the Pentecost season is ministry for those who have become servants for God. God speaks and servants do as told, happily … like little children. This is done out of a love relationship.

It is a marriage to God that gives birth to baby Jesus, within an old soul that has been cleansed by the Holy Spirit. The sinner (the least of humanity) has sought a higher reward than anything found on earth. The love of God is the repayment plan. Servitude is the earthly parole from the worldly prison.

The child one welcomes in that marriage to God is Jesus Christ. Jesus tells a minister what to look for and what to find; and that ignites the heart in belief that is personal and solid. It is the meaning of faith, which is beyond standard belief. True Faith is the “Get out of human sinner’s jail” card. A minister offers that to the world, in service to the Master.

It is just like the commissions of the seventy-two and the twelve. Go out and preach to all who will listen. If anyone tells you, “There is no way I can sacrifice my good reputation by repeating what you say,” then Jesus orders those ministers to kick the dust off their sandals and say as you walk away, “The kingdom of God has come near.”

Jesus Christ is the king of the earthly division of that kingdom; but nary a particle of dust can escape the kingdoms of earth.

#Mark93037 #Luke161931 #Mark1451 #GospelofJudas #Jesuscalledalittlechild #Theboyholdingtheloavesandfish

Language, Teaching, Wisdom of Solomon

Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22 – Lying in wait for the righteous man

January 16, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

[1:16] The ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;

considering him a friend, they pined away

and made a covenant with him,

because they are fit to belong to his company.

—–

[2:1] For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,

“Short and sorrowful is our life,

and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,

and no one has been known to return from Hades.

—–

[2:12] Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,

because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;

he reproaches us for sins against the law,

and accuses us of sins against our training.

[2:13] He professes to have knowledge of יְיָ [HaShem],

and calls himself a child ha-elohim.

[2:14] He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;

[2:15] the very sight of him is a burden to us,

because his manner of life is unlike that of others,

and his ways are strange.

[2:16] We are considered by him as something base,

and he avoids our ways as unclean;

he calls the last end of the righteous happy,

and boasts that יְיָ [HaShem] is his father.

[2:17] Let us see if his words are true,

and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;

[2:18] for if the righteous man is elohim child, he will help him,

and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.

[2:19] Let us test him with insult and torture,

so that we may find out how gentle he is,

and make trial of his forbearance.

[2:20] Let us condemn him to a shameful death,

for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

[2:21] Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,

for their wickedness blinded them,

[2:22] and they did not know the secret purposes of יְיָ [HaShem],

nor hoped for the wages of holiness,

nor discerned the prize for blameless souls.

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This is the “The First Lesson” that can be chosen over Psalm 1, as the companion reading for the Track 1 Old Testament reading from Proverbs 31 to be read aloud on the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 20], Year B (2018), according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will be a companion for Solomon writing, “[A capable wife’s] children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”’ That pair will be presented before the Epistle from James, where the Apostle wrote, “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where is written: “Then [Jesus] took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”’

To repeat my prior disclaimer about the Wisdom of Solomon being Apocryphal and thus not in my standard reference for the Hebrew text, it is too difficult for me to do any more than a rudimentary translation, which is quite taxing and time consuming. What I have done is number the verses, based on a Bible.com English publication of this reading, confirmed by the NRSV translation, which the Episcopal Church has deemed unnecessary to number. In this you will also find three more uses of “יְיָ” or what one Hebrew source stated as “HASHEM,” which means a proper name for “God,” like “adonay,” but not. It also is not a standard abbreviation for “YHWH,” but is thought to be from the Hebrew word meaning “to be” [“haya”]. I also point out where one translation as “God” is actually the word “ha-elohim,” meaning “of elohim.”

In verse sixteen of chapter one, Solomon concluded a train of thought that dealt with soul marriage, although not one married to Yahweh. The words “ungodly,” “death,” and “covenant” all speak of a soul falling in love with the material plane and marrying that which disappears when “death” comes. Human being are mortals because “death” is the ‘god’ of the physical world. Satan is the “lord” that sways souls away from divine marriage to Yahweh, so their “covenant” can be seen as a ‘pact with the devil.’ Being “fit to belong to his company” means a soul denied eternal life in heaven; so, those souls get to rejoin the worldly plane they sold their souls for,

The transition from chapter one to chapter two should be seen as a change of theme [not running out of space on parchment]. Thus, verse one is stating the theme that changed from one of ‘righteous versus ungodly’ to one of knowledge, where Solomon begins by saying “poor thinking” [“For they reasoned unsoundly”] is the difference between having a happy, rewarding life on earth and going to Hell [“no one has been known to return from Hades”]. While chapter one [entitled “Exhortation to Uprightness,” with verse sixteen entitled “Life as the Ungodly See It”] is focused on the duality of good and evil [the wisdom Solomon prayed to receive], chapter two is no advancing the notion that wicked people are those who just don’t have good brains on their shoulders.

The limitations that must be seen in Solomon’s worship of his own big brain is seen when he conject there is no return from “Hades,” which is actually written “sheól” [“שְׁאוֹל”]. For Solomon to think he could tell whether the guy standing next to him was not the reincarnated soul of some past king [or queen] of a foreign nation, one that crashed and burned, or even the reincarnated soul of one of the wicked Israelites who died in the wilderness, due to not obeying the Commandments, shows how little he knew in reality. To even conject such an idea as wisdom is the same as science saying it is the only way to good judgment, when it is proved to be wrong many times, after declaring it was right.

The concept of Sheol was all souls went there. The thinkers that returned from Babylon captivity divided into two sects: One believe there was nothing after death; and, the other thought death was a ticket to something akin to Purgatory. Simply by being born a Jew [formerly Israelites], death mean that soul would be taken to heaven after the Messiah came. Of course, that mindset figured all Gentiles were like dogs and cats, with death meaning they went and roasted in Hell. That should be seen as who the wicked people Solomon was talking about, because (certainly) any right-minded Israelite of Solomon’s reign would see him as a god worthy of worship [smart as he was].

Skipping down from verse one of chapter two, to verse twelve, this is where Solomon is making himself out to be “a righteous dude,” as if Israel still had Gentile enemies they were worried about. Of course, David’s Israel was always at war with those who refused to accept their God Yahweh had giving them that place to live, with the Philistines being those who still retained land that was not Israel’s. They, however, were not an issue, since Solomon had married an Egyptian princess and had an ally that could put the squeeze on the Philistines. Still, verse twelve is Solomon’s self-worth as a hero of the righteous, he equates all who would challenge his authority as being wicked.

It is in verse thirteen that the truth of Solomon’s wickedness is exposed. In this verse there are two references to [NRSV translator] “God” and “the Lord.” The reality of what is written (as best as I can look up the Hebrew) is this [using the NRSV otherwise]: “He professes to have knowledge of יְיָ [HaShem], and calls himself a child ha-elohim.” In Solomon’s reign, the prophet Nathan was still actively advising the king. Others like Nathan were those who claimed “to have knowledge of” Yahweh. For Solomon to not write that name, but to instead write marks that are confusing, as to whom or what is being referenced [some say the letters are an abbreviated form of the verb translating as “to be”], says Solomon was not like his father David, nor the divine prophets who advised as the conduits of Yahweh. Solomon saw himself as a god, who was married to the goddess Wisdom, with Yahweh believed to be the servant god who served him: יְיָ [HaShem].

In the NRSV translation, the world “child” is footnoted, with the footnote saying the word written can equally translate as “servant.” For one to say he was “a servant of elohim,” that describes a prophet like Nathan to a T. The point of the Hebrew word “elohim” is not to state “God” [the error of all translators], but to state the reality of “gods” [in the plural number], which are those soul married to Yahweh and thus given His powers on earth, as His “servants” [His “children”]. Thus, in verse thirteen, Solomon is placing himself above that of true prophets, because of his big brain. This then equates his soul to a state of wickedness.

Verse fourteen then has Solomon scoff at the condemnations of the prophets, who say worldly wisdom is what condones evil ways. Verse fifteen is Solomon belittling the true holy priests of Israel as the ones who take all the fun out of life, reminding everyone of the laws that keep souls from infidelity to their marriage vows with Yahweh. Solomon is calling the restrictions placed on being a true priest of Yahweh as unnatural. That is true, when a nation of people are being led away from adherence to their Covenant and finding normalcy in the ways of other nations.

In verse sixteen, Solomon again references the “HaShem” that is almost used as if he knew he would bring some physical condemnation upon his flesh [leprosy maybe?] by using the name “Yahweh,” as his father David had done frequently in his songs. Here, Solomon belittles one who claims to be an “elohim” of Yahweh, because they make the claim that Yahweh is their “Father,” while also their Holy Husband. This becomes Solomon cursing Jesus, who routinely told his disciples [not the whole world, not all of Judaism] to address Yahweh as their “Father.” To call Yahweh “Father” means one must be His Son [all souls are masculine essence, especially when married to Yahweh’s Spirit … males and females in the flesh].

In verse seventeen, Solomon is beginning a series of verse that become the standard punishment governmentally set upon any who claim to be divine Sons of Yahweh. To make such claims means to be put to death. This concept would be viewed as holy wisdom, as Yahweh’s gift to Solomon, when in reality it was Satan’s serpent whispers [a marriage that made Solomon’s soul the demonic elohim of his demonic spiritual husband] that influenced all who would follow Solomon. The routine would be marry foreign wives, import foreign priests, and kill any priest who spoke out against that process. The culmination of this mindset of ‘wisdom’ was the execution of Jesus, the promised Messiah; but to believe in a promised Messiah, one has to first believe in Yahweh. Solomon taught them not to believe in being “He [Who] Retains God” [the meaning of “Israel”].

We are here to tell you all you need to know about God and Jesus (for a price).

In verse eighteen is a second use of “elohim,” which again must be seen as “gods,” specifically those whose souls have married Yahweh and become His hands on earth. At the time of Solomon’s reign, all true divine “elohim” were priests of the Ark of the Covenant [transferred from the Tabernacle of Zion to the Temple of Solomon] and the holy prophets [such as Nathan]. In this verse, Solomon laughs at those who make claims to be divine Sons of man, such that Solomon’s mindset was cast into the future at Golgotha, when someone yelled out, “If he is the Messiah, let him save himself.” Here, Solomon scoffs that the test of death will bring out the truth of being a “servant” [same use of “child”], by having Yahweh rescue that person.

Verses nineteen and twenty are Solomon giving the go ahead from that point in time onward to torture and insult the prophets of Yahweh. To claim to be “peaceful” means Solomon’s plan was to beat hatred and anger into those who make such claims. In today’s world, the destroyers of Christianity love to promote that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and would bend over and take it all day long, rather than strike anyone down in wrathful anger. They persecute the believers to the point of forcing them away from Yahweh, by punishing their will to serve. What those do not realize is the truth that every hateful strike they put forth against one of Yahweh’s children, the same return blows will come upon their souls, a hundred-fold.

The NRSV then places one of its titles or headers before verse twenty-on, saying the rest of chapter two focuses on “Error of the Wicked.” This is an assumption that “the wicked” are false prophets and not the true prophets of Yahweh. Solomon was the intellect of humanity, as one who worshiped ‘Sherlock Holmes-like’ abilities to discern physical clues and make logical deduction that result in the truth. None of that worldly wisdom is divine, thus far from all-knowing, as that given to Yahweh elohim. Thus the title would be better stated as “Error of the Intelligent.”

Verse twenty-one is then a perfect summation of Solomon’s views that have been written on parchment. By saying, “Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them,” it is only the priests of logic and reason that deduce wrongly and are blinded by the science of the visible world. No true priest of Yahweh is reading the Law [the Torah] and coming away with clear-cut, black and white knowledge. Divine Scripture is written [according to Jesus] so the truth is hidden from the wise and intelligent, but exposed to the children [insert “servants” here]. The truth known by Yahweh elohim does not come from carefully crafted thought processes. However, once the truth has been shown, all those arts and crafts can find a truth fully justified and true. Thus, a simpleton [one of those Solomon belittled, when he prayed to his god “wisdom”] can be shown the truth of God, while all the big brains could not see the truth before their eyes.

In verse twenty-two [not the last verse, as chapter two has twenty-four verses], Solomon returned once again to displaying his fear of naming “Yahweh,” using his code-word called “HaShem” [יְיָ]. In this verse, Solomon sings that his lost soul never once considered self-sacrifice for the unseen rewards that are postmortem. The wise and intelligent cannot possibly see that which is “secret” and thus spiritual. They seek the material rewards that are the “wages” of being the elite, not the commoners. They never seek to restrict themselves from that which can be freely taken, for the seeming bargain of one’s soul [everything material for nothing spiritual]. They have no desires for holiness. They do not believe anything exists beyond death. Therefore, they have no need for thinking blamelessness is a virtue.

As the optional “First Lesson” to accompany Proverbs 31 on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is to see the trap of intellectualism. Solomon could not see how his words were condemning his own soul, all the while thinking he was making light of those who said they served Yahweh. Solomon did not believe Yahweh was anything more than a stepping stone to a mastery of life on earth. He did not believe in an afterlife; as there was no proof that anyone had ever returned from the depth of the ground. The lesson that must be taken from this is being a “child of elohim,” which means having one’s soul be married to Yahweh, with His Son Jesus resurrected within one’s soul-flesh. Having a big brain keeps one from having access to All Knowledge, readily available when needed. No planning necessary.

Jeremiah, Language, Teaching

Jeremiah 11:18-20 – Like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter

January 16, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew;

then you showed me their evil deeds.

But I was like a gentle lamb

led to the slaughter.

And I did not know it was against me

that they devised schemes, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

let us cut him off from the land of the living,

so that his name will no longer be remembered!”

But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously,

who try the heart and the mind,

let me see your retribution upon them,

for to you I have committed my cause.

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This is an optional Old Testament selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighteenth 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 20. If chosen, it will next be read aloud in an Episcopal church by a reader on Sunday September 23, 2018. It is important because Jeremiah spoke from the depths of prophecy, seeing through the eyes of Jesus Christ, as one totally in a committed relationship with God.

Verse eighteen is better translated by stating, “And the LORD gave me knowledge [of it], and I knew [it]; then thou showest me their doings.” The inclusion of “of it” and “it” are additions through assumption, based on the prior verses that are unknown here. The “it” is made part of the translation as “evil deeds.” “It” is “evil.”

Evil was described by Jeremiah as “found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (Jeremiah 11:9) “They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear My words … [having] broken My covenant.” (Jeremiah 11:10) They will have brought the evil of the world upon themselves, building altars to Baal. The “evil deeds” are then the sacrifice of the innocents to the gods of evil.

Moloch was a child sacrifice god, as Baal Hamon in Carthage.

When this is understood, we then read Jeremiah say, “But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.” This is a statement of willing sacrifice for a higher purpose. Jeremiah was channeling Jesus Christ, who would be the sacrificial lamb later in history, who had to die in order to release his soul so “it” could fill countless others. Still, Jeremiah was like all who would become Saints, as there can be no fear of evil deed doers; persecution is to be expected.

The literal Hebrew states, “I was like a lamb docile brought to the slaughter.” The word “I” is the word of the ego, stating “Myself.” This is then Jeremiah saying he was a lamb of God, who was brought to the point of self-slaughter willingly. It is the inner peace that one feels while in prayer with the Lord and the glory of God’s presence around one at other times that is most gentle. It is the comfort that keeps one from fearing anything, other than losing that closeness that God brings. This is then Jeremiah telling how the sacrifice of self-ego is an act of love for God.

Jeremiah then continued to tell of his prophetic sacrifice at the hands of priests serving Baal, saying, “And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!”

This is illuminating the deception used by those who practice evil deeds. For Jeremiah to say “I did not know,” this is not a statement of his being unaware of plots against him. Instead, it says he did not live deceptively, by plotting against others.

When Jeremiah quoted the killers of righteousness as saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,” the Hebrew word translated as “tree” (“ets”) can also mean “wood, timbers, and logs,” with the implication of a “carpenters” handiwork, including a “gallows.”

Required for assembly: Two trees, large manual drill, wooden mallet and wood chisel.

Thus, the statement can also be seen as the use of a cross to destroy the fruit, rather than support the fruit of a grapevine.

Long before the Romans would dominate the lands of Israel and Judah, the planned destruction of the “tree with its fruit” was then to turn the pure grapes of Yahweh, through the Israelites delivered into “the land of the living,” by letting them turn to wild grapes, to be eaten by scavenger birds. The corruption of the religion that was based on Mosaic Law was to be degraded until no one remembered the name Moses. Jeremiah was a prophet of Judah who saw the evil deeds of its kings and the evil deeds of impure priests, leading to the fall of Judah and Jerusalem, with the Temple destroyed. This is the lament of this song; and it is the constant danger that surrounds all who serve the Lord.

When verse twenty says, “O Lord of hosts,” the Hebrew says “Yahweh tsaba.” This states who the true LORD is – Yahweh – and the “hosts” are the angels of Heaven, not a worldly army of believers. Thus, the judgment of Yahweh is said to be based on how the people of earth live their lives. The righteous are awarded Heaven, to dwell among the hosts; but the wicked will find nothing waits for their souls beyond the world they love so dearly.

The translation that says, “who try the heart and the mind,” can be better grasped as those who “test” the LORD and are “tested” for righteousness. When Jeremiah was inspired to write, “the heart and the mind,” this is the sequence that will determine the results of the tests. The righteous have found the Lord through their hearts, so their minds are led by the Will of God. Those whose lives are led by the brain they will harden their hearts to the Lord, instead loving the illusions of the earthly realm. Thus, as goes the heart, so goes the soul.

When Jeremiah sings, “let me see your retribution upon them,” the word translated as “your retribution” (“niq·mā·ṯə·ḵā”) is better understood as “your vengeance.” This seems to be Jeremiah taking delight in the punishment that God will set onto others, but that misses the duality of “’er·’eh” (“let me see”).

Jeremiah is actually praying to the Lord to “see” the path of righteousness, because without the insight of Yahweh guiding one, one will become lost. Those who refuse to seek God’s guidance are then the ones who will use “great violence or force” (definition of “vengeance”) towards those who are devoted to God. All the vengeance of God’s judgment is then of their own making, not that of a vengeful God.

When Jeremiah then ends this stanza by singing, “for to you I have committed my cause,” he was stating his love of God. A servant of God can only act out of love for the Lord. That love is a commitment to serve Him completely.

The Hebrew word translated as “I have committed” is “gil·lî·ṯî,” equally says, “I have revealed,” “I have set forth,” and “I have opened.” This is the intimacy of a heart for a lover, where all defenses are removed and the oneness of union is the natural result. It is then the marriage of one to God, as a wife surrendering the self-ego so his or her (human gender is meaningless) cause is that of the Lord.

As an optional Old Testament reading selection for the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry for the LORD should be underway – one has seen through the schemes of the world and found them lacking – the message here is to allow one’s soul to enter into marriage to God. It is the commitment to His cause that should be sought.

As an alternative to Proverbs 31, where Solomon listed the characteristics of a good wife and the truest intent means a “good wife” is a soul married to God, cleansed of sin by His Holy Spirit (a true sacrament of Baptism), one should not be shocked that Jeremiah was singing praises to the same commitment. Since these readings are brought up every three years in the Episcopal Lectionary cycle, Christians have long had access to these words, with Jews even longer. The problem is then how no one seems to know, or most people have huge misconceptions about, what “commitment” means.

Can all Christians since the Roman Emperor Constantine, leader of a failing empire, claimed he saw a vision in battle (a cross formation of clouds in the sky) and suddenly began to believe in a Jew named Jesus, beginning a devised plan to subject other believers of Jesus Christ in a new Kingdom of Rome, not see themselves as part of this plan? Does the verse that says, “And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes” not explain the ignorance of lambs led to the slaughter?

Has not the system of Christianity that was devised by the Roman Catholics, to strip all believers of any concept of marriage to God, through His Holy Spirit, thus begetting a myriad of baby Jesus Christs (i.e.: Saints) in the world – to Save it – not been a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s words: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!”? Did they not sacrifice Saint Peter, who was in the name of Jesus Christ, so no more would Saints and Apostles proliferate?

Lots of Saints called “pope” between 32 AD and 537 AD, but then a sputtering began, turning the papal seat over to corporate heads.

American Christians have been born into splinter groups of that false premise, making all conclusions based on that also false. We do not know anything about being married to GOD, because His name has been sacrificed when the corpse of Jesus of Nazareth was never allowed to rise from death and be reborn in true Christians. Women like the idea of marrying Jesus, while menfolk (gruff, gruff) have to keep a hard heart so they can bring home the bacon each month. Jeremiah’s songs of lamentation were echoing the loss of a true religion by both men and women born into the religion created by God’s hand; given over into the hands of men who loved an icon name Baal, more than the true God. It is a story that keeps on keeping on because believers love to be subservient to a human leader, simply because they can physically sense that presence.

The message is there to be known – marry God. Love God with ALL your heart. It is just clouded, such that to see through the mist one needs to be led inwardly, by the All-Seeing Eye of God (not a Masonic promotion).

So many have turned away from God because of the schemes of deception, revealed as false. They ones wanting to believe in the unseen have mentally discerned Church deceptions as equating Christianity to the flaws of men. Ears have turned deaf to the truth, simply because so many lies have been told and foolishly believed.

In the Gospel message for the same Sunday this optional Old Testament reading might be chosen, Jesus foretold of his being killed by men. That prophecy fits this song of Jeremiah. It was the plot of pretending holy men then, and it has been the same since Moses took a bunch of slaves from Egypt into the wilderness. From pretending an idol of a golden calf could rescue the people, to pretending to breathe new life into a land lost, by rebuilding a Temple destroyed, believers have married to concepts and icons, but rarely God. Only when Jesus died and his soul was freed by God to be reborn in Apostles has that marriage been known. Men (and women now) do not like believers who have their own relationship with God and Christ.

It is the message of the Gospel that the greatest will be the least. That is a prophecy that says one cannot depend on another human being who says he or she is the greatest disciple of Jesus, because braggarts only have one soul’s interests at heart – their own; not anyone else’s.

Sunday after Sunday the message says, “God is the way to redemption and an eternity in Heaven.” For that way to be one’s own, one has to be more than human. For that to happen, one must surrender the human soul to God, which means become one with God. That is the truth of marriage. Once one has become one with God, then one stops knowing anything that would get in the way of complete servitude to God. In return, God allows one to know everything necessary, to be given to those seeking a good husband, possessing good wife potential.

Maybe one day all human souls will have the epiphany and their eyes will see that some spell has been cast over them, keeping them from accepting God’s proposal of marriage. As they wake up to divine understanding, maybe they will walk away from the human schemes and look at the true offer from God.

Maybe one day the world will be filled with only Saints. Maybe that day all souls will be in Heaven, not on earth.

Language, Proverbs, Teaching

Proverbs 31:10-31 – The good wife

January 16, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

A capable wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands.

She is like the ships of the merchant,

she brings her food from far away.

She rises while it is still night

and provides food for her household

and tasks for her servant-girls.

She considers a field and buys it;

with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength,

and makes her arms strong.

She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

She puts her hands to the distaff,

and her hands hold the spindle.

She opens her hand to the poor,

and reaches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid for her household when it snows,

for all her household are clothed in crimson.

She makes herself coverings;

her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the city gates,

taking his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them;

she supplies the merchant with sashes.

Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her happy;

her husband too, and he praises her:

“Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the city gates.

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This is an optional Old Testament selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighteenth 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 20. If chosen, it will next be read aloud in an Episcopal church by a reader on Sunday September 23, 2018. It is important because it uses the feminine pronoun “she” and “her” as metaphor for devout human beings (of both genders) being in a committed relationship with God.

There are twenty-two verses in this selection from Proverbs. There are twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet; each verse is marked by a separate letter, from aleph to tav. As such, this Proverb that has some versions of the Holy Bible identify it as “The Virtues of Noble Woman” or “The Wife of Noble Character” can be seen (somewhat) as the ‘A to Z’ of those virtuous character traits. Still, the letters bear the symbolism of their numerical numbering, from 1 to 22; and in Hebrew each number has its own symbolic meaning, which cannot be overlooked.

I welcome the reader to search the Internet for this symbolic meaning for oneself. Here is a link to one site that offers such opinion on this (Spiritual Meanings of the Hebrew Alphabet Letters). I will not be going into this aspect of this Proverb of Solomon; but it has to be recognized as present and that presence has intended meaning.

As to the summation that Solomon wrote about the qualities possessed by the perfect wife, it is easy to be misled, knowing the attraction that Solomon had to women. Having become known as having had seven hundred wives and princesses, plus three hundred concubines, one could then assume that this Proverb is based on Solomon having gotten to know many wives, concluding these are the best traits. Still, after getting to know one thousand ladies up close and personal, Solomon coming up with only twenty virtues of wives would seem to be based on the most repetitious traits he liked. However, that opinion of the noble character of a wife, or even of the concept of “woman” in general, is not the point of this writing.

One has to see that wise ole Solomon wrote this Proverb, even though he might have been smiling about all the women he knew while writing it, as a vehicle of Yahweh. The true source of this wisdom was from God, flowing through Solomon’s hands as he wrote. These words of Proverbs 31 have a divine origin, with a spiritual meaning intended to be found. There is nothing to be found in the Holy Bible that is mundane human opinion.

In the modern times, when human gender became a matter to protest publicly, there will certainly be women sitting in the pews who scoff at such male chauvinistic views as had Solomon. I doubt female priests will write lengthy sermons about this reading selection, unless driven by personal agendas that would misuse it to promote same-sex marriage between two women. Such views as promoted wives being subservient to their husbands, as is still prevalent in Muslim culture, is now seen in the West as having set womanhood back thousands of years. Still, that is the human opinion of divine writings misunderstood. The true meaning has to do with this writing being about the perfect servant to the Lord, where all the feminine pronoun usage points to Man (which includes woman).

I have written about this repeatedly, where those who want to achieve Heaven must submit to God and become His wife. This has absolutely nothing to do with human gender. No human being is going to know God through his or her sexual organs. God did not care what type of women floated Solomon’s boat; but He made it be known what a true servant of the Lord will do.

This translation is not completely accurate, throughout this long song; so I will not be spending thousands of words correcting those mistakes. To give one example, the translation of “jewels” comes from “mip·pə·nî·nîm,” which could be shown to state “rubies, corals, or pearls.” To read “jewels” then leaves it up to the women who look for their value in huge diamonds placed into fine gold engagement rings. From that speculation, a verse focused on “capability” (from “ḥa·yil,” also read as “virtue”) is reduced to a value that crawls along the material plane, missing the spirituality of this wisdom.

From one example, I am not about to correct all the errors of a translation that begins with a premise (a preconception) that Solomon was giving guys advice on how to find the right girl, and in the process putting the seed of thought into the minds of girls that a good wife dotes on her husband … for trinkets. Everything that leans in that direction is wrong.

I wonder which ones have the Holy Spirit talents in them? No shaking before opening!

This song must be read as God speaking to YOU, whoever YOU are – male, female, or child [neuter gender]. YOU have to know what God requires in His wives, regardless of what sex organs God gave you, and regardless of what other human beings make your sex organ tingle with delight. As such, YOU are “She” and “her.” YOU have to see that.

We call God the Father, despite how many women’s rights freaks try to twist that masculine principle into a misconception that promotes people should think, “God can also be a Mother.” That is false.

“God” means Masculine. “Goddess” means feminine. God is not a goddess, just as man is not a woman. There can still be equality in inequality. Equality is complimentary. As such, the Earth is the goddess who received God as her husband and gave birth to bags of dirt that were filled with souls. God, therefore, is the Father of life on Earth, with all life (as we know it) having Earth as its Mother.*

So it is written:

“I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?’” (Ecclesiastes 3:18-21)

Nope. Just a bag of dust struck by lightning.

When one realizes how Jesus said, “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate,” (Matthew 19:6) this means the feminine of the Earth Mother is the flesh of a human body that has become one with God the Father via a soul of life being present in that flesh. It is the human equivalent of DNA, where a child is the combination of two parents that cannot be separated. Simply because of this reasoning, ALL human being bodies of flesh are feminine. Since that means we human beings are all ‘girls’ here, we are all potential “wives” to God.

That is all I have to say. I recommend each reader to go to the Bible Hub Interlinear website (here) and slowly read what was written, and investigate the full breadth of meaning each word contains. See if YOU can see yourself as meeting all these noble characteristics.

Take note that the second verse (the Beith letter verse) speaks of a husband’s heart having full trust in his wife. This is the love one has to have, in order to have a proposal of marriage made and be accepted. Love is the attraction that is essential. Therefore, the beith symbolism is: “The beginning of duality, with the One Creator bringing forth a created world.”

Two have cleaved together to make one, through love.

If one does not have a true love of God in one’s heart, one is not good wife material for Him. If YOU can feel this love, then take the time to see how the wisdom of Solomon used the next twenty verses to spell out what “She” (YOU) does for God.

With love, the work that comes from being in love with God becomes a joy. It is the works of an Apostle.

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* Footnote: God – Yahweh – did not create mankind – male and female in His image. God’s elohim created those ‘ordinary’ human beings. Therefore Yahweh is not the Father of all humanity. Yahweh is the source of all souls. Yahweh is the one who orders souls to control bodies and join egg and sperm and split cells for growth of life-to-be. Souls are elohim. Yahweh is only the Father of holy human beings that are filled with the Holy Spirit of Yahweh and with each transformed from ‘ordinary’ human being into His Son reborn. Only Sons, again, as human gender is meaningless. Sons means the Spiritual association of gender, opposite the material association of gender. Call it positive-negative or external-internal, if you like – opposites. A man and a woman can each be reborn as Jesus Christ (a “Christian”), becoming “brothers and sisters” in the name of Jesus Christ – Sons of God.

James, Language, Teaching

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a – Submit yourselves to God

January 16, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

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This is the Epistle selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighteenth 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 20. It will next be read aloud in an Episcopal church by a reader on Sunday September 23, 2018. It is important because James wrote of wisdom being divinely born, but also manifesting in “unspiritual” and “devilish” ways. In the change of chapters, James then wrote that the solution of selfish disputes calls for the sacrifice of the self-ego, to be replaced by the submission to God (i.e.: marriage to God).

In verse thirteen, where the translation above states, “Show by your good life that your works are done,” the literal translation shows a separate segment that states: “let him show out of the good conduct the works of him.” This means the acts of one “demonstrate” (from “deiknumi”) one’s “honorable behavior” or “noble manner of life (from “kalēs anastrophēs”). It implies people will display bad character. The difference is the source of goodness.

When the literal translation from the Greek shows “him” repeated, this is a word for presented in the third person masculine, as a singular personal pronoun. The dual references to the third person, as “him,” can be mistaken as the same person who acts “good” as being generated by “himself.” This misses the duality of two that are combined as one. As such, the implication is exposing two elements of the same one: the one exhibiting such “good life” (“him”) and Him as God within, the inspiration of those righteous acts.

When God is read into that segment, then “gentleness born of wisdom” is from a divine source. This is then contrary to the next verse, where “jealousy” (“bitter envy”) with a “bitter” spirit is the outward acts of inner distress. To have “selfish ambitions” (from “eritheian”) is James way of saying the absence of God within is due to the self-ego pushing Him away, preferring to worship one’s Big Brain. That dependency on intelligence then hardens the heart – the love center. Without the heart leading the mind, one becomes prone to “boast and lie against the truth” (“be boastful and false to the truth”).

The Big Brain is thus the god of self and generates a weaker form of “wisdom,” which “does not come down from above,” as it is not from God. This is the feminine goddess “Wisdom,” which Solomon referenced, such that the femininity is a reflection of the “earthly” (from “epigeios”).

Aliens are assumed to have godlike powers of intelligence, by fools who think the Mind of God can fit into a bony box filled with gray matter.

Because it is of the earth (like science, dependent on observable data) it is “unspiritual” (from “psychikē”). That root word implies “animal, natural, and sensuous,” as anything “of the earth,” not of the spiritual heaven. This then leads to a conclusion that earthly wisdom is “devilish.” However, the word translated as that is “daimoniōdēs,” which implies an “evil spirit.” That translation requires deeper insight.

The Greek word “daimónion” comes from Ancient Greek, meaning most basically “spirit.” This “spirit” can then be said to be divine, as miraculous and extraordinary manifestations on earth. This is rooted in the Greek word “daímōn,” which can mean anything from “a god or goddess, a guardian spirit, or a departed soul.” Their importance is only found in the worldly plane.

The etymology has it rooted in “daíomai,” which means “divide.” As such, Satan is a god that has divided from God (Yahweh) and has been cast into the earth (a goddess’ realm – the feminine), where Satan became an influence for evil, attempting to steal souls that have divided from God (life breath spirit – soul). In a sense, the division is symbolic of divorce, such that Lucifer cheated on his Husband, was caught and banished. Thus, in humans, an “earthly spirit” is one led by the soul, which is more inclined to be misled by Satan’s evil influences (i.e.: loving sin), acting “devilish.”

From this insight, the translation of “devilish” means being under the influence that keeps one divided from God. It is designed to lead one away from the reunification of a soul with God. It is the influences of the world that trick one into turning away from a commitment to one, desiring to try as many delights as possible.

James then repeated the traits of an evil spirit as possessing “envy and selfish ambition,” such that following the thoughts of a brain will one’s life be scattered and ever-changing, lacking order. The Greek word written by James is “akatastasia,” where “disorder” means: “disturbance, upheaval, revolution, almost anarchy, first in the political, and thence in the moral sphere.” It implies a difficulty standing up for what is right, because everything has become unsettled, confused, and in tumult. All this comes from depending on a Big Brain to lead one properly, when the result is always to be deeper into the complexities of a sinful existence.

The only escape from this madness is then God, by coming to rely on His “wisdom from above” (where “the from above” comes from “anōthen,” meaning “anew”). This implies being reborn, where the old self dies and God’s divine ego replaces the old. This new wisdom then comes from the Holy Spirit as Jesus Christ being resurrected in a human form. With this new presence comes the Christ Mind, which leads the human brain to understand all acts that are motivated by the heart first.

To say this new self “is first pure” means one has to first and foremost be cleansed of all past sins that the soul has accumulated, through lives on the earthly realm. This cleansing becomes a baptism by the Holy Spirit, when means the soul has been immersed into a state of spiritual purity. This union with God’s Holy Spirit is then the marriage of one’s soul with God. It is a cleansing brought on by love, meaning the deep desires of one’s heart; the brain have submitted to the Will of God and having no say in this subjection and submersion.

To then have James write, “then peaceable,” this is like when John the Baptist lifted Jesus from the waters of the Jordan and (as Luke wrote) “the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”’ (Luke 3:22)

The dove is symbolic of peace, and this is stated in the Greek word “eirēnikē.” That word says “peaceable,” but implies: “God’s gift of wholeness which results from knowing (discerning) the Lord’s will and obeying it.” [HELPS Word-studies] This says “peace” is the state of one’s being, after marriage to God.

The descriptive terms then written by James, translated as “gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy,” are the new way one is led to act, after being renewed by God. This is the resurrection of Jesus Christ within one’s being. One being reborn as Jesus Christ then duplicates the lifestyle of Jesus of Nazareth, effortlessly, willingly, and delightfully. It is not self-willed, but a natural way of being.

These ways, if deemed good by a Big Brain, would be impossible to maintain through self-will. God has to be in love with one’s soul, make it pure for His presence, and then the union of God and soul in a human form will reproduce the Son of God. Only Jesus Christ being reborn into one’s flesh can one achieve a righteous life, as stated by James; as James then stated this as, “A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.”

The end of chapter three then means a freedom to start new thoughts of divine wisdom, prompting James to question those who are not in a divine state of peace in his fourth chapter. He asked, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?”

It should be realized that “you” is less a focus on the collective or a group of people (Jews, to whom James ministered), and more designed to be personal, to all who would read this letter.

The Greek word “hymin” is a form of “su,” which is the second person singular personal pronoun, “you.” The use of “hymōn” twice then repeats this as “of you,” with the word “epithymeite” then pointing out the second person singular form of “to desire, covet, lust, and to set the heart upon.” It is “you” who leads oneself to sin, not anyone else.

The personal pronoun in the singular number says James is now speaking directly to “you” (the reader), asking, What are the causes of your inner disputes?” and “Why are you always at war with the call to find inner peace?”

All of the sins of the world are committed because of these inner conflicts and disputes. The most egregious sins are committed because one does not want to give up self-control and the love of intellect and the sweet nothing it seems to bring. Such selfishness, demonstrated in self-destructive acts, is why James then pointed out the obvious: “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.”

This cycle of always doing the wrong things and being self-defeating can be summed up by the idiom: “Fool me one, shame of you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Of course, for every number greater than two times fooled, the same shame still falls on “me,” the one fooled. But, then, some struggle remembering this phrase.

Geo. W. Bush Shame video

After skipping over several verses in this epistle reading, the answer to being fooled is then stated by James as, “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” In that, the plural number of “yourselves” is explained as applicable to all individuals whose self-ego has wrought the weight of pain and suffering on the soul. The answer to all who feel the guilt of worldly sins is to “subject themselves to God.”

The same Greek word written (“Hypotagēte”) means to make a major life change (due to the word being capitalized), from selfishness to submissiveness. Such a change means the death of the ego and the marriage of one’s soul to God. This demands one take a completely submissive stance, as His wife (where human gender is meaningless).

To “resist the devil” is then a reference back to chapter three, when James wrote that earthly wisdom made one “devilish.” This is then an instruction that subjection to the Lord will mean to take a stance against the influence of worldly sins. In this, one should realize that James is not the source of this instruction, as he has surrendered his self-ego to be married to God. James, like all other Apostles, is speaking as the voice of God, Jesus Christ. As such, becoming submissive to God’s influence will make it assured that Satan will be resisted.

This means that James writing, “He will flee from you,” means “He” is the influence of the “evil demon” Satan. It is then just as Jesus commanded Satan, who tempted him, saying “Away from me, Satan!” From that command we then read, “Then the devil left [Jesus], and angels came and attended him.” (Matthew 4:10-11)

When Jesus Christ has been resurrected in one whose soul is married to God, then the urges to do wicked deeds will vanish.

It is then vital to understand the meaning of James writing, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” The repetition of the Greek word “eggizó” (as “engisate” and “engiei”) doubles the meaning of “extreme closeness, immediate imminence” [HELPS Word-studies], as “to join.” This is a way of stating to become one with God. It means marriage to God is recommended; but because God is the Most Holy Spirit, God does not join directly with human flesh. So, God will not say “I do” on a physical altar.

God breathes the life of a soul into flesh, which is a soul spirit. That breath is the dividing of God into Him and you. The marriage that draws near to God, and vice versa, is God’s Holy Spirit becoming one with one’s soul. It is the rejoining of a soul to its source.

This is the first step to a soul rejoining God in Heaven, after the death of physical flesh. Marriage to God means eternal life in Heaven, without the filthiness and guilt of a material body imprisoning a soul divided from God, which is repetition through reincarnation.

As the Epistle selection for the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry for the LORD should be underway – one has found wisdom from above through one’s soul being reunited with God – the message here is to stop being fooled by earthly wisdom. Confusion, doubt, guilt and all the self-defeating sins of lust, greed, adultery and murder are erased when the heart is set on fire for Yahweh.

This Epistle reading selection is presented along with other readings that are calling one’s soul to the spiritual altar. As I looked for pictures that would be symbolic of the title “Submit yourselves to God,” I came upon diagram produced by church organizations that used a series of umbrellas to show this message. The largest umbrella was either depicted to be “God” or “Jesus Christ.” Under it were two smaller umbrellas, depicting a “Husband” and a “Wife.”

The message of marriage that is assumed from reading the books of the Holy Bible is human, not Spiritual. The leaders of churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples around the world, common in all religions, see females as commanded to be subservient to their male husbands. While this human arrangement is resisted in modern Western societies, it is a reflection of the animal kingdom, which is “devilish.” Not all animals on earth (humans included) adhere to the principles of marriage being a family, where husband, wife, and children all live happily together.

Just as all animals are naturally led to procreate and raise their young in variations of the family theme, humans also have variations that can be deemed “natural,” even though they differ from the norm. This is not the point of marriage that comes from the words of Scripture. God does not demand any life form on earth to submit to His Will. God allows His breath to be divisions of Himself onto a plane where life forms were free to live according to self.

When animals express self, it is a natural program of survival. Animals do not possess Big Brains that plot evil deeds. Still, being predator and being prey is the natural order of that game of life. Humans, however, do not have the same excuse as lower animals, because God gave them a large piece of flesh that reasons, while finding pleasures sought unnaturally.

To see a human rite of reason become the lone expression of most holy matrimony, where Man gets to pretend itself as god, while the feminine half of the species has to play the role of submissive animal, this is wrong. It completely misses the point of one’s soul being rejoined with God, on a voluntary basis. Males and females are expected to choose a marriage to God, in order to be freed from the prison in which their souls have been cast – the human form. Humans are in the likeness of God because they have all been divided from God. God is the pure Spirit. Humans are the impure form.

For church organization to preach a need for good marriage values as the salvation of mankind, where a husband and wife together under God will live happily ever after is missing the most important point. The institution of human marriage is in shambles because it has been corrupted by Satan. The youth of today are turning away from traditional marriages and turning to alternative ways of co-existence and co-habitation, with children seen as an unwanted burden upon the world.

The human institution of marriage (as an official Sacrament of a Church is a relatively modern concept) is good, when it is a mutually willing commitment. It is good when it mirrors the oneness of two individual committed to God. This sacred act is not always upheld, which makes it human, divided from God. The answer is not to preach the wrongness of marriage born on the physical plane, where God gave souls a vacation from submission to only doing right. Instead, it is important to preach the reminder: This is only a vacation. Remember you are expected to go back to Heaven. Renew your vows to God soon.

What Americans would think of taking a honeymoon in France and not make sure the Passport was in order?

The eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost is when some wisdom came down from above and some wise men chose “marriage to God” lessons for priests in the name of Jesus Christ to explain to those still under training as disciples. The heart needs to be softened and the brain needs to be lowered. God is always offering His hand in marriage; but He will only join with those who prove a desire for Him. A minister for the LORD will have accepted that proposal, so Jesus Christ can preach, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

That means marriage to God. Rather than a lustful heart and a ritzy honeymoon, marriage means the love of a child for the Father, in the purest way.

Language, Proverbs, Teaching

Proverbs 31:10-31 – Worshiping the feminine

January 3, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

A capable wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands.

She is like the ships of the merchant,

she brings her food from far away.

She rises while it is still night

and provides food for her household

and tasks for her servant-girls.

She considers a field and buys it;

with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength,

and makes her arms strong.

She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

She puts her hands to the distaff,

and her hands hold the spindle.

She opens her hand to the poor,

and reaches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid for her household when it snows,

for all her household are clothed in crimson.

She makes herself coverings;

her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the city gates,

taking his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them;

she supplies the merchant with sashes.

Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her happy;

her husband too, and he praises her:

“Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the city gates.

——————–

This is the Track 1 Old Testament reading selection fot the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 20], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If Track 1 has been determined to be a church’s path during Year B, it will be accompanied by a choice of readings, the first of which is Psalm 1, which sings, “They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper.” The other optional accompaniment is from Solomon’s Book of Wisdom, which states, “We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean.” Whichever two will be read aloud, they will then precede an Epistle reading from James, where the Apostle wrote, “Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where we read of Jesus saying, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

I wrote of this reading when it was last a selection in the lectionary cycle. I published my views on my website, and that commentary can be viewed by searching this site. I stand by my comments then, although I no longer appreciate much that has to do with Solomon’s Proverbs or his Wisdom. I see the truth of Yahweh coming from the words of Solomon, but those nuggets of truth are more difficult to realize than are those of other Scripture. I invite all to read my relatively short and painless offering of the meanings of wifely virtues, as they still apply today. However, I will now make new observations.

In the first verse of this reading, the first two words (combined as one) in the Hebrew is “’ê·šeṯ-ḥa·yil,” which translates [NRSV] as “a capable wife.” In reality, the two word independently are “ishshah” and “chayil.” The Hebrew word “ishshah” means, “woman, wife, female.” In Genesis 2 and 3, there is no mention of the name “Eve,” as the only references to her is as “ishshah.” In Genesis 4, when Cain and Abel are born to “man” and “woman-wife,” we read “and Adam [man] knew,” then in the Hebrew, “ḥaw·wāh ’iš·tōw” (from “chavvah ishhah”). In that, “chavvah” (which means “life”) is where “the first woman” is named, as “Eve.” In that, “the first ishshah” is a better understanding, as “Eve” was not a ‘day six’ creation. As for Solomon combining “ishshah” with “chayil,” the word “chayil” means “strength, efficiency, wealth, army.” Thus, instead of “a capable wife,” Solomon meant “a valuable woman.”

In the vast history of the world, a man without offspring, most notably a male heir, is seen as worthless. As such, a man needs a woman to be his wife and produce his heirs. Because man is a mortal creature, his strength comes from being a link in an unbroken chain of souls in a lineage of souls. To be childless means to break the chain; and, that becomes the importance of men whose wives were barren in Genesis (Sarai and Rachel the two most prominent), but Yahweh intervened to show His power, so a “wife” can become the “strength” and “wealth” a man needs.

Because Solomon was the king of Israel, his wives would be deemed “queens.” Before he had his dream about wishing for great powers to understand good and evil, an arranged marriage between young Solomon and an Egyptian princess had taken place. His taking a foreign wife was not a wise decision, according to Mosaic laws. David was chastised in hindsight by scholars for having married Maacah, the daughter of Talmay, king of Geshur. This is wrong because in the genetics of the Israelites the woman born of Israelite lineage will always produce another of that line. Conversely, a woman of a Gentile line will always produce Gentile children, unless some official conversion paperwork is submitted and probably some holy water sprinkled to remove the Gentile from the wife of an Israelite.

In the story of Esther, she was a Jewish woman who had been taken as one of many wives of a Persian king. Like Solomon’s many sexual partners, Esther ended up on the ‘used wives’ pile in the harem of Ahasuerus. This history says, in essence, a “woman, wife, female” is only good for producing babies; but when a husband tires of the same ole same ole and a little strange is the perk-me-up needed, then it is time for another “wife, woman, female.” The woman never gets the luxury of such variety in life.

Because the ancient times have melted down into the modern acceptance of same sex marriage, where sterility is an excuse to adopt the unwanted children of who knows what lineage, with women more often than not preferring to wear the pants and control as many men as possible. To read Proverbs 31 makes more women mad, than those who love to please their husbands ‘the old fashioned way.’ This is why my 2018 commentary went into that direction. This reading has little appeal in these times when Christianity is dwindling into the acceptance of perverse ideas, simply to pay the electric bills of churches and keep food and medical benefits on the plates of its hired hands.

What needs to be read into these words of Solomon, where the feminine gender is applied to Hebrew words creating twenty times “she” is translated into English. That goes along with twenty-seven times the feminine possessive is applied as “her.” All stem from verse ten identifying “ishshah,” which of course is feminine [as “wife”]. It gives the impression that Solomon is in control, as the masculine. So, even though a wife was necessary for Solomon’s strength to come forth, for him to be known, Solomon had to marry with a counterpart, so that two became one, while always realizing that Solomon is still the controlling factor. This attitude needs to be seen as egotistical and unequal. Solomon needs to be seen – for all the wisdom he proclaims to have – as blind as a bat to the reality of marriage.

Because Solomon has delightfully proclaimed the wonders of “wisdom” as his bride, it should be recognized that he is not singing praises to a human woman, because those are a dime a dozen to him. He is singing praise to his true wife, the goddess to his god-ship. This means Solomon saw himself as an “elohim,” where his divine marriage to Wisdom brought him great physical strength, through the powers of a brain to discern things. In Roman terms, Solomon saw himself as a Caesar … a god in human flesh. In reality, his soul was the feminine plaything for his spiritual husband, Satan.

This brings up the polytheistic comparison, from Greek mythology, of the twin gods (Titans) Prometheus and Epimetheus. The two together created a whole, where alone their divine powers were reduced, but together they were strongest. The two names mean, in Greek, Foresight and Hindsight. Prometheus can be seen as the Husband, while Epimetheus can be seen as the Wife. Solomon saw himself as Prometheus, and his thousand wives and concubines as the lessons of the past that had nothing to do with the future. Still, in this comparison, the Titans were the ancient gods and goddesses, which were replaced by the ‘new wave’ gods and goddesses. As such, Solomon could not see the future beyond the realm of worldly reality. So, he could not see how all his selfish plans were the condemnation of his soul. Solomon sold his soul for about fifty years of Wisdom’s service, only to spend eternity wishing he had never been born.

As the Track 1 optional Old Testament reading to be read on the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is see the dangers of self-worship. The feminine essence is everything in the material realm, including the powers of the brain, which see self as more important than Yahweh. This reading being so heavily leaned towards adoration of womanly traits, judged from a male’s perspective, should be a warning not to see oneself as able to judge in the ways Solomon did. Ministry for Yahweh is the subjection of the feminine to the masculine [His], where receipt of the Spirit means to be sent into service for Yahweh [as a Son reborn from the feminine]. Anything short of that obedience is rejection in the eyes of Yahweh.

Jeremiah, Language, Teaching

Jeremiah 11:18-20 – Lambs to the slaughter willingly

January 3, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

[18] It was Yahweh who made it known to me, and I knew;

then you showed me their evil deeds.

[19] But I was like a gentle lamb

led to the slaughter.

And I did not know it was against me

that they devised schemes, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

let us cut him off from the land of the living,

so that his name will no longer be remembered!”

[20] But you, Yahweh of hosts, who judge righteously,

who try the heart and the mind,

let me see your retribution upon them,

for to you I have committed my cause.

——————–

This is the Track 2 Old Testament selection, which will be read aloud if a church is on the Track 2 path during Year B, on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 20], according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If the Track 2 path is chosen, then this reading will be paired with Psalm 54, which sings, “For the arrogant have risen up against me, and the ruthless have sought my life, those who have no regard for elohim.” That pair will precede a reading from the Epistle of James, who wrote, “if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where is written: “[Jesus] was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.”

I wrote about these three verses the last time they came up in the lectionary cycle, and I posted those views on my website in 2018. That commentary can be viewed by searching this site. I stand behind the words I wrote then, as they still apply today as valid insights. I welcome all to read what I wrote then and compare it to what I am about to add. Comments, suggestions, questions and corrections are always welcome.

In this presentation of the reading, the verse numbers have been left off by the Episcopal Church. Presumably, this is their way of remedying the fact that when they do number verses from the Old Testament, they often do so incorrectly. I have supplied the verse numbers in bold type, within brackets. I will then refer to those numbers in the analysis, if need be. Also, in two places you will note that I have placed “Yahweh” in bold type. This is restoring the truth of what was written, whereas the NRSV has generalized this specific name as “Lord.” If one were to actually read all of Jeremiah 11, one would see how Yahweh told the prophet:

“Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they will never save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your towns, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars to shame you have set up, altars to make offerings to Baal.” (Jeremiah 11:12-13)

In both places where “gods” is written [“ha-elohim” and “eloheka”], that can be generalized as the many “lords” of the wayward people of Judah and Jerusalem. A “Lord” can be seen as “Baal,” when generalized as such, with nothing specifically naming what “Lord” Jeremiah [et al] was talking about. The specific name, “Yahweh,” has thus been restored; and, it should be learned by Christians today.***

These verses are shown differently by the NRSV, where the text prior and the text after is presented in standard story fashion. These three verse are displayed in song style, as Jeremiah breaking into an ecstatic chant, channeling the voice of Yahweh. As such, it is displayed like a psalm, rather than as normal prose. Because of that difference in presentation, the NRSV places a title before verse 18, which says, “Jeremiah’s Life Threatened.” BibleHub Interlinear gives it a header that says, “The Plot against Jeremiah.” Those titles extend beyond these three verses, to the end of Jeremiah 11, to verse 23.

While the observation I presented in 2018 dealt with the content of this from that perspective of Jeremiah’s conditions and ministry, I will take a broader scope of it and present how this selection fits into it being an alternate selection to the Proverbs 31 reading [Track 1]. It is important to know that all was not rosy in Israel, after David died and Solomon began to mislead the people. There has to be realized that at some point in time the Israelite people began a slow slide to oblivion; and, the Track 1 readings are pointing out the origins of that failure to serve Yahweh as His people, with Track 2 showing the destruction and ruin of long periods of bad habits and practices.

The origin of their demise was (of course) their being human beings, thus nothing any more special than all the other “Gentiles” in the world; but Year B is pointing out the history that first became endangered, when the elders of the tribes went to Samuel and demanded him appoint a king to rule over them, like other nations. Track 1 shows the beginning of that bad decision, while Track 2 shows the end results of that bad decision. The same failures made by the Israelites are made by Christians today, because it all comes down to realizing no human beings are special, especially when those people disregard the name of their marriage partner [“Yahweh”] and shuffle Him off to being some “Lord,” while bowing down before so many “gods” it is disheartening to think about how Yahweh dislikes all who do that.

This means the Proverbs 31 ooze of filth that prays to the slut “wisdom” as one’s “woman” of virtues is part of the reason Jeremiah was tapped by Yahweh to go tell the wayward, “Yahweh has disowned you guys.” It all began with goddess worship, of which Solomon promoted. When one sees how “wisdom” is the god of the 21st Century, as “science” and “philosophy” that cries out, “Beware getting a cold that might kill you.” They influence us, like Solomon’s Wisdom and Proverbs did then, to put your faith in young boys and girls [med school graduates] whose brains have been paid [hired hands] to think the way of profiteering [government and business] and selling faith in knowledge to the masses [religions] will save mankind. So, they pretend to create preventions that are impossible to create by Man. When one can see that parallel to today in Proverbs 31, then reading Jeremiah 11 becomes the parallel for tomorrow.

In verse eighteen, when Jeremiah sang, [literally translated into English] “Yahweh gave me knowledge and I know ; then you let me see their doings” this has to be seen as contrary to how Solomon schmoozed, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” All the wise of Judah and Jerusalem were being led to sacrifice children – human sacrifices to Moloch – which Yahweh never ordered. One can only imagine a child would be burned to death after parents were soothed by the “teaching kindness from the tongue” of some priest of a goddess – “The gods will bless you for your sacrifice.” Imagine how a priest saying homosexuality is blessed by God, when that form of sterility means the end of a line. Are they not giving the go ahead – “Burn, baby, burn!”?

When one has been made aware of the “doings” of the souls who have been sold into slavery in a world that is temporal and offers absolutely nothing beyond death [a foreseen conclusion to all human lives], there is then a decision that needs to be made. Solomon was lobbying for more to sell their souls, singing nonchalantly, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” So, one can choose to join the club and go with the flow of sewage to eternal damnation; or, a soul can choose self-sacrifice to Yahweh.” Both ways you die; but one way leads to salvation and the other leads to the failure of repetition.

By knowing the “doings” of wicked ways, Jeremiah then sang of being “like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter.”

Rather than think of poor ole Jeremiah not having a clue about what was going to happen to his fluffy-haired throat, think of Jeremiah as being exactly like young Isaac, who asked daddy Abraham, “If we’re going to make a sacrifice to Yahweh, aren’t we forgetting the lamb?”

Isaac figured out he had to do what his father led him do, even if it meant dying for a cause. Americans make a lot about veterans of military service (something that usually is just a few years of a young adult’s life), making heroes of the ones killed in action or maimed for life. [“Thank you for your service,” the ones who never served say.] So, both Isaac and Jeremiah willingly went forward with self-sacrifice, knowing faith in Yahweh would make their souls A-Okay.

When Jeremiah sang, “not did I know that against me they had devised schemes,” that lack of knowledge is best. Whereas Solomon confused the brains of the Israelites by singing about “wisdom,” as if that worship of intellect was the ‘cat’s meow’ for some beauty to make one’s wife, Isaac and Jeremiah both knew only what was important: What Yahweh wanted their souls to know. The “devised schemes” are the workings of self-worshiping brains that are bowed down in subservience to a “Lord” of demonic qualities.

When verse nineteen then sings, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!” this is the scheme devised. Jeremiah was the fruit and they were the tree – Judah and its leaders. Their scheme to “destroy the tree” was akin to thinking wisdom had led them to commit suicide, in order to punish those who still wanted to be servants of Yahweh. When Jerusalem would fall and the Temple would be destroyed, the tree would bear no more fruit from there. The fruit is filled with the seeds of Yahweh; so, just like from the stump of Jesse would come a new shoot, the tree is replaceable. Therefore, those who forsake Yahweh will forever be forgotten.

In verse twenty, Jeremiah sang out, “Yahweh of hosts is who will judge righteously.” That does not mean Yahweh is so “righteous” that He gets to “judge.” It means Yahweh is who makes human beings act “righteously.” When Jesus cursed the fig tree that bore no fruit, the metaphor is the same as Judah being some worthless tree that no longer produced any worthwhile fruit. Just as that fig tree withered and died, so too did Judah, the land from which “Jews” get their name. The whole point of true Christianity is this: EVERY member of that group is a CHRIST, which means Anointed by Yahweh through divine marriage with a soul, so EVERY member is His Son resurrected in his or her flesh. That means EVERY TRUE CHRISTIAN “is who will judge righteously.” Yahweh is “Yahweh of hosts” because He can Anoint as many souls as He sees fit to be Anointed. When they say, “An apple doesn’t fall from the tree,” the meaning here is the fruit of “righteous” living has to fall from any tree calling itself “Christian.” If that fruit does not fall, then regardless of what a tree calls itself, if it is a fruitless Christian tree, then it will be cursed for using that name in vain.

When Jeremiah then sang, “testing the mind and the heart,” the words of Proverbs 31 is Solomon failing the test of the mind. He had terminal ‘Big Brain Disease’ and was so full of himself that he though intelligence was his “woman,” his main ‘squeeze.’ All the kings and priests of Israel and Judah, all who followed the lead of Solomon and took to the ways of wickedness, never giving righteous living a chance, they all were tested by how their brains thought and they all failed miserably. In terms of Dr. Seuss, they all had tiny, tiny black hearts, which were incapable of finding one iota of love for Yahweh [they called Him “Lord,” I imagine].

This means a human being today, in the Age of Wisdom, when praying to the scientists is en vogue, the test is just as applicable as always. A brain is a terrible thing to waste; and, using a brain to navigate Salvation is never going to find a soul anywhere positive. A tested mind means self-sacrifice – death of an ego – so the Mind of Christ can come and use the fleshy organ to find reason to follow all the insight that comes and verifies it as simply amazing! A well tested mind hears a question from Yahweh and says, “Whatever you say boss!” A poorly tested mind comes up with arguments that try to change the Mind of God. [Never a good thing to do.]

The test of a heart means following the advice of Jesus, when he was asked, “What is the most important Commandment?” When he said, “Well, of course, the first thing is to love Yahweh with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind,” that says marriage to Yahweh must come; and, it must come from a deeply seated love. Failure to be a soul married to Yahweh [thus His Son reborn into one’s flesh] means the heart test failed.

When Jeremiah sang [NRSV], “let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause,” that says as long as one’s soul is married to Yahweh, it does not matter what happens to all the riffraff that plot and scheme to rule the world. Souls like those of Solomon and the kings of Judah (Zedekiah) are like how Jesus said “dead branches will be pruned from the tree and thrown into the fire and burned.” The fates of the wayward are brought about by their own devices; and, that makes them self-fulfilling prophecies of “retribution upon them.” The element of “commitment my cause” speaks loudly of marriage vows to Yahweh that will not ever be cause to rebel against.

As a reading possible for the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson of Jeremiah is to be a sacrificial lamb. The only thing that gets in the way of the “commitment of cause” is one’s big brain making one think, “There’s no guarantees. Woe is me. What if there is no God and I turn my back on all the luxuries of life I have become addicted to. I might never get all my things lost back!!!” If your brain thinks like that, you can have no ministry for Yahweh. You worship Solomon and his daddy – Satan. A life of abject poverty and miserable suffering is like a fleeting memory, once eternity comes and the things of this world are left far behind. Ministry means Yahweh will provide as needed. No other opinions need be considered.

***

Moses asked, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13, NIV) The answer given was, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14, NIV) The actual Hebrew text that is translated as “I am who I am” is ’eh·yeh ’ă·šer ’eh·yeh, where this is the root meaning of “Yahweh.” In Judges 13:18 is written, “the angel of YHWH said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is incomprehensible?”‘ (Abarim Publications) Still, the word “Yahweh” is written 6,220 times in the Hebrew text, without any attempt to make that ‘name’ stand out. As Yahweh told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” was an instruction to Moses that said, “If anyone asks who empowers you to go in my name, you tell them “I AM” here, because “I AM” sent by the One.

This is most important to realize, as “Yahweh” means one’s soul has been made a Christ (word meaning “Anointment” by Yahweh’s Spirit) and is in His name (YAH Saves is the meaning of “Jesus”). A LORD that is anywhere other than in oneself (one’s soul) is a lesser god. Yahweh was in the soul of Jeremiah. He was thus a gentle lamb led to slaughter willingly, to be led in His name.

James, Language, Teaching

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a – The wisdom from heaven

January 3, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

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This is the Epistle reading selection for the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 20], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow a pair of Old Testament selections, with an accompanying song, based on a church’s path during Year B, either Track 1 or Track 2. If Track 1 is the path, then a reading from Proverbs 31 will be read aloud, which says, “The heart of [a capable wife’s] husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.” That will be paired with either Psalm 1 or Wisdom 1 -2. Psalm 1 sings, “Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.” The Wisdom says, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training.” If Track 2 is the path, then the Old Testament reading will come from Jeremiah, who said, “And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where Jesus said, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”

I wrote about this reading and published my views the last time it came up in the lectionary cycle, in 2018. That commentary can be read by searching this site. I welcome everyone to read my observations from three years ago, as they are still valid today. However, at this time I will take a different approach and discern James more in a perspective of the other readings that this is read with. Feel free to compare the two articles and offer comments and suggestion, ask questions or point out where corrections need to be made.

In the first question posed here by James – “Who is wise and understanding among you?” – it becomes important to realize that Proverbs 31:10-31 is headed [NRSV] “Ode to A Capable Wife.” That “wife” is his metaphor for the goddess “wisdom,” whom Solomon saw are his divine wife, as if he were a god. That means all the wonders of a human female-woman-wife is not what ‘Mr. Loverboy’ ever looked for. Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, meaning [one can deduce] he never met a human being that could be a wife capable enough for ole Solly to be committed to for long. Thus, every ‘woman’ he wrote poetry or wisdom about was his inner self, which was his lust for being the smartest guy around. So, Solomon would have raised his hand, if he heard James ask this question.

The reason we need to disregard everything Solomon wrote, in particular everything he wrote to make his brain appear to be the biggest the world had ever known, is Solomon would have egotistically read what James wrote incorrectly, just like every average Joe does. In the Greek text of James, it literally translates into English as asking, “Who wise kai
understanding in yourself ?” In that, the word “Tis” is capitalized, which means the word must be elevated to a divine level of meaning, higher than the simple definitions: “who?, which?, what?, why?”

This means the question can be shortened to asking, “Who in your soul?” That means “Who, What, Which” is all a statement of Yahweh’s presence “in yourself,” which means one with one’s soul. Therefore, seeing that means realizing James is asking a rhetorical question to other Saints of Christianity, because Yahweh is their true source of “wisdom and most important [from “kai”] “skillful, experienced, knowing” [the true definitions of “epistémón”]. Solomon saw his personal intelligence as a goddess that belonged solely to him; but James saw the knowledge of the movement that was Christianity as all souls married to Yahweh sharing all the knowledge they needed.

James then followed his question with: “Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.” This can literally translate into English as saying, “let him show out of this good conduct these works of same self.” In that, a “self” equals a “soul,” and “same” refers to the marriage of a soul to Yahweh, so the “soul” then acts the “same” as He would have done. When “wisdom” is then that “born” from this divine marriage, the feminine “wife” is then all souls who receive the Spirit of Yahweh. This is then the truth of “a capable wife,” as it is not something determined by Solomon – a human in control of his soul – but by Yahweh. Thus, everything Solomon said about some imaginary “woman, female, wife” [“ishshah”] must be applied to all souls [those of both men and women] who welcome Yahweh into them; and, therein lies the truth of His wisdom, not the smarts of a big brain.

In verse fourteen, James addressed the lady friend of Solomon and his lust for intelligence, by writing [NRSV], “But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.” This is what I have been led to see of Solomon. It was not Yahweh who offered him a gift for burning incense and making blood sacrifices in holy places, because the impish young king was not approved to enter such places and do such things, not being a priest [which being king does not make]. When Yahweh asked Solomon what punishment he deserved, Solomon requested, “Fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, please; and, more than anyone ever before.” At that point Yahweh told Satan, “He’s all yours.” That made Solomon demonically possessed, probably with him not given the wisdom to realize that.

In verse sixteen, James wrote the Greek word “anōthen,” which means: “from above, from heaven,” and the NRSV translates the verse as: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” The implication from that says “wisdom” can come “from below” or “not from heaven,” which must be realized as worldly knowledge. Worldly knowledge is taught in public school and ‘pay-to-play’ colleges and universities. This includes [and this must be seen as the whole point of James’ views, as he was not a ‘secular’ kind of guy] the schools of wisdom that produce priestly-dressed fellows, those who would advise kings in religious matters. Think of James being there to say this verse [had he been there] when Jesus marveled at how Nicodemus taught religious wisdom, while not understanding spiritual matters. Just because someone wears robes on Sunday does not mean they have “wisdom from above.”

Verse seventeen, which is the last verse in chapter three, sums up who has wisdom from heaven,” when he pointed out “fruit.” James specifically said this “fruit” came from a tree or vine that produced “righteousness,” not dogma. When James repeated the word “eiréné” twice, meaning “peace,” he was not speaking like an old hippie from the sixties [which is how many Episcopal priests present the word, as a catchphrase]. The word “peace” should be read as the seeds of righteousness that must be sown, not promoted beforehand, as the acts of an Apostle who truly “walks in peace.” One sows peace without pointing out: “Hey are you watching me? I’m walking in peace. You should try it.”

At this point, the reading jumps into chapter four, going through the first three verses, before skipping on to verse seven, and the first part of verse eight. The BibleHub Interlinear heading for chapter four is “Warning against Pride.” The NRSV header says, “Friendship with the World.” Obviously, the “wisdom” talk is no longer the theme; but, that can still carry over, since Solomon certainly took pride in his main ‘squeeze,’ wifey Wisdom. He was friendly throwing her name about as often as he could find a pen and paper.

The focus of chapter four initially is on arguing and bickering, which has to be James pointing this out in rabbinical circles, especially those who wanted to debate the theology of Jesus being the long awaited “Mashiach.” Everything the ruling elite of Jerusalem did was break every law in the Holy Book of Moses, when they put their big brains together and determined killing Jesus was the way to go. Some, obviously, could argue that they had to break the laws, if Jesus was the one, even if they could not defend doing what they did in that regard. After all, Jesus said he must die; and only the Apostles knew that means his death freed his soul to be resurrected in countless others.

James said the bickering was within each. That would relate back to them saying “Peace, brother” a lot, but never finding true “peace.” Even the Jews who were on the fence, wanting to believe Jesus was the promised Messiah, they were struggling with how to tell and be told what to do. This becomes the problem of still being strongly attached to their love affair with a big brain [like Solomon]. Verse three has James telling them, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.” This has to be seen as the ongoing failure of Christianity, especially today; so, this needs to be explained.

For as long as I can remember, being raised in a Christian denomination at the young age that had me watched in a nursery crib in my mother’s church, prayer has been a promotional tool used by religions. Certainly, there is a power of prayer; but James is saying prayers are not answered. He says they are not answered because “you ask wrongly.”

In my mother’s church, the pews had printed forms in slots, along with a pencil, which was titled “Prayer Request.” I imagine, some people might have actually filled out one of those forms and turned it in some place. After that, members of the church would gather in the “prayer room” and pray for the people requesting prayers. I was not old enough to submit a prayer request; but my adult mind tells me there is a chance that is a door-opener to getting names and phone numbers, in order to get new members and new sources of income. That equates to “your pleasures,” more than it does any good knowing what people want prayers for.

My mother’s life was saved by some person who answered the Oral Roberts Prayer Hotline, when she called for prayer when she was having congestive heart failure. The person kept her on the line and called 9-1-1 and reported a medical emergency at my mother’s address. On a Facebook group, Episcopalians regularly ask for prayers, because of one’s illness or tragic accident, dangerous operation or medical procedure, even for someone about to die. It comforts people to think others are helping them pray.

As an Episcopalian, I found they have little use for Bibles in racks on pews; but they make sure many Prayer Books are available. They have prayers pre-written for many possible reasons. The Jews also have many prayers they memorize and recite ritually; so, it is quite possible solicitation of prayers and having ‘canned’ prayers have made prayer requests be like taking a Xanex. However, having books of prayers ready for those who are not souls married to Yahweh seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

Because the focus on prayer is so strong in religions, with Judaism and Christianity not the only ones, this takes one back to the wisdom not from heaven point made by James, in chapter three. The “disputes and quarrels” that can be applied to dogma and ritual, as intellectual approaches to prayer, says it was almost a foregone conclusion that a prayer was not expected to be answered, as it was coming from an intellectual perspective, where prayer was an expectation of duty. To think prayer is demanded of faith, in order for God to see one was making an effort to memorize all the songs and prayers, that is faulty reasoning, as if prayer was done so God could deem who was a ‘good Jew.’ The same can be applied to Christians.

To think God led some to write prayers and put them in books, so all the intellectual work was done ahead of time, saving the dimwits from having to think up words to pray, seems Solomonesque, in my mind. That formalized form of prayer can then be seen as at the root of Jesus’ disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. As Jews, having been taught to recite prayers for everything under the sun, their question could then be seen as less about, “What is prayer and how should we go about it?” Instead, it was more like asking, “Does praying help us in any way?”

When Jesus gave his disciples [not the whole wide world] and example of how each soul married to Yahweh should talk to him, beginning by calling Him “Father” [an individual statement applied to twelve disciples (maybe some more followers) means Jesus would say “our,” as a way of specifically speaking to that one group that was more than one], Jesus was not suggesting to them, “Hey guys! You know how you always memorized prayers and that work led you to ask, “How do I pray, so Yahweh hears me?” Well, memorize this one too!”

In that bit of teaching (which seems to be totally overlooked), Jesus said this:

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:5-8)

Every one of those rules is broken by anyone standing in a church (or synagogue), reciting a prayer from memory or one published in a book. It makes understanding the meaning of “hypocrite,” which is: “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion.” [Merriam-Webster] In Luke 11, Jesus told them to use less verses like those he said [similar to Matthew], but then he told about a scenario where someone asked them for something. Prayer should be like that example, when a friend comes asking for help ‘after hours.’ Jesus pointed out someone asking for free bread because of a surprise happening – another friend came visiting when the man was not prepared for a visit. Illnesses and accidents, surgeries and deaths come unexpectedly, when one is not prepared to handle it. At those times of need, Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive.” The point is this: Jesus did not tell his disciples to fill out a wish list and give the list to a friend, expecting to have the friend buy them everything they want, without ever having to do squat.

When Jesus said to call Yahweh “Father,” that is a special relationship that everyone in the world cannot truthfully say. It means a love relationship must be developed. The capitalization of “Father” raises it to a divine level of meaning, where Yahweh becomes one’s “Teacher.” This says the disciples were to Jesus the way Jesus was to Yahweh. All were in the same family of love. Jesus was not telling the members of the Sanhedrin to call Yahweh “Father,” because Jesus would have then promoted them lying, knowing their hearts were far from loving Yahweh. Thus, their souls were far from joining Yahweh’s personal family, which means a soul marrying Him and receiving His Spirit.

Next, when Jesus said Yahweh will know your prayer before your brain can even formulate it into a question [“Ask and you will receive”], look at how often people [Gentiles and Jews] came to Jesus out of faith, from having unspoken a prayer for healing. Jesus told them many times, “Go, your faith has healed you.” Their prayers were answered because they did something, based on faith. Without true faith, one’s soul has no personal experience with Yahweh [most don’t even know His name], so “You ask and you do not receive.”

This is where it is good to recall James writing, “Faith without works is dead.” When that is applied to prayer, it says prayers are normal conversations between a soul and Yahweh. Yahweh knows what one needs before one asks; so, the faith that does what Yahweh says to do, without questioning, means prayers will be answered without having to ask. One knows what others need, so one acts towards meeting those needs. When asked for bread late at night, after the doors are closed and locked, that means do the work required to give the bread asked for. One must have faith that Yahweh sent a prayer to you, for you to answer.

To minimally meet the “friend” status, one has to do something to impress Yahweh first. So, when one goes knocking on Yahweh’s door after it has been closed for the night, asking for some bread to serve someone who came visiting unexpectedly, He at least knows who the heck that one soul is. Being a “friend” of Yahweh means being one of His family. Going and sitting on a church pew and reciting some prayers out of a book is not establishing that kind of close, personal relationship Yahweh wants from His “friends.”

As an optional reading selection to be read aloud on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson of James is to stop thinking you own God, so all you have to do to get to heaven is minimal dogma and ritual stuff: give to a church; go a couple of times a year; own a Bible and a Prayer Book; join some Facebook group for Christians; and put a decal on your car window. All of that might be headed in the right direction, but it is still headed down a path of wisdom that is not from heaven. Being a Christian that has a single soul, not married to Yahweh, possessed by His Spirit, is like being a twelve-year old sister of an older sister who is: a.) married; and, b.) pregnant with her second baby. One can watch that all day long and believe it is real; but until one goes through the same, one has absolutely no faith in one being married and one being a mother. Ministry is not about seeing someone else do it and thinking that’s the way it works.

Language, Mark, Teaching

Mark 9:30-37 – Welcoming the boy Jesus and God the Father in your arms

January 3, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

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This is the Gospel selection that will be read aloud by a priest on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 20], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow one of two pairs of Old Testament and accompaniment readings, based on a predetermined path for an individual church, being either Track 1 or Track 2. The Track 1 option reads Proverbs 31, where Solomon wrote, “[A capable wife] looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” That is balanced either by Psalm 1, which sings, “Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!” Or, a reading from Wisdom 1-2, where Solomon wrote: “The ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death; considering him a friend, they pined away and made a covenant with him, because they are fit to belong to his company.” If the Track 2 path is the route, then the Old Testament reading will be from Jeremiah, where the prophet wrote, “But you, Yahweh of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.” That will be paired with Psalm 54, which sings, “Hear my prayer, elohim; give ear to the words of my mouth.” One of the two pairing will precede a reading from James’ Epistle, where he wrote, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

The last time this full reading came up in the lectionary cycle (2018), I wrote my observations and published them on my website. That commentary can be read by clicking on this link. What I saw then is still valid today; so, I welcome all to read that article and then compare what I wrote to what will follow now. As always, I welcome comments, suggestions, questions, and corrections. What I will address now will differ slightly, as additional thought that need to be expressed.

Last Sunday the Gospel selection was from Mark 8, the chapter before this. Jesus had gone to the north, to Caesarea Philippi, when he asked his disciples who they thought Jesus was. While in that same populated area, Peter rebuked Jesus for saying he would suffer, die and be raised; at which point Jesus rebuked Satan and told all his followers there to “take up your cross and follow me,” adding that “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” [NRSV] That took place before the “Transfiguration,” which was an event on a “high mountain,” which is Mount Hermon, not far from Caesarea Philippi.

With that logistical setting known, it was on the trip south, to Capernaum, that today’s reading is focused. This means that Jesus again made mention of what the near future held, to prepare his ‘children’ for what was coming. Whereas before Peter tried to tell Jesus he would hear no more of this talk of suffering and death, when Jesus said Peter was Satan-possessed, talk on this matter at this point in their travels did not elicit a response from the disciples. Mark says, “they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.”

What Jesus said that the disciples fully understood was Jesus saying he would be made to suffer and be killed by the Temple elite. Because Jesus told everyone, clearly, do not tell me differently, they were afraid to talk back to the teacher again. However, among themselves they were trying to figure out who was the strongest among them; and thereby, who would be the best bodyguard to always stay close to Jesus. That needs to be seen as what Jesus knew they were “ arguing about on the way.”

The Greek word that is translated as “greatest” is “meizōn.” As an adjective, it represents a comparative by degrees of measurement, which can be read as them questioning, “Who is strongest?” or “Who is largest?” This would make James and John of Zebedee be immediately lead candidates, as their nickname was “Sons of thunder,” meaning they were probably the meanest and burliest looking pair of the lot. So, that would mean a discussion as to who might best intervene if someone came to take Jesus and make him suffer. After all, Peter would make sure he carried a knife with him to Gethsemane, like he saw himself as an armed guard. Still, the same word has a noun meaning.

The word “meizōn” also means “village elder.” If that were the intent of the word, then rather than a “village,” the disciples and followers would better classify as a “church” or “synagogue” – an “assembly” or “gathering” that would be similar to a “village.” This direction of argument would then be akin to someone questioning, “What if Jesus is right and there is nothing we can do to stop his being killed? Who leads then?” In this light, the “greatest” takes on the meaning that questions, “Who has learned the most, so he can take over running the gathering like Jesus?”

When this reading is read on a Sunday when Solomon is giving long and loud praise to what makes a capable wife, where “wife” is metaphor for the “greatest” smarts; and, when James was questioning where the “greatest” form of “wisdom” comes from [above or below], this needs to now guide this reading from Mark. This must then factor into explaining why Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

When Peter had before taken Jesus aside, he became the student chastising the master. Peter put himself above all the others when he did that, which was a statement of self-importance and self-will. While Peter figured [a wisdom from the brain thing] his views were in line with the views of all the other disciples and followers, making all be equally fearful of facing religious life without the guru Jesus to lead them, Peter was acting like a spoiled brat, jumping in the face of his parent who had told him something he did not want to hear. Because Peter (most likely) was a little older than Jesus, thus probably the elder of the disciples [measured by age], he felt that age superiority gave him the freedom to act like he knew more than the teacher.

In the Greek written by Mark, the word “prōtos” has been translated as “first,” giving the impression that “greatest” means being “first.” The word can also mean, “before, principal, most important” (Strong’s Usage), and “beginning, best, chief.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) The word translated as “last” is “eschatos,” which can also mean “extreme” (Strong’s Definition), “at the last, finally, till the end” (Strong’s Usage), and “end, uttermost.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) Thus, a different way of reading what Jesus said about their argument about who would lead them, should Jesus die, was: “Whoever wants to be the beginning must be until the end and most importantly [from the use of “kai”] servant of all.”

When Solomon has set a theme of “wives,” knowing that his intellectual focus was on females and women, take a moment to reflect on the concept of a mother-wife in a household. The mother-wife must become the reality of what Jesus told his all-male lead disciples. In a society that placed ALL importance on menfolk, so men constantly argued over who did the most work and needed to be given the most respect, the women-wives-mothers got no such respect, while doing all the day-to-day chores, including raising the children, to the point that their age meant nothing. They were the servants to all, from morning till night, from the beginning of the day until the end of night. Thus, Jesus just told his group of studs, “If you want to replace me, then you have to be a capable wife to Yahweh.”

From seeing this lesson being taught by Jesus to his twelve male disciples, knowing that they had come to Capernaum, where Jesus had purchased a house and lived, the followers of Jesus include his mother, aunts and uncles, and his wife Mary Magdalene, sister-in-law Martha, and brother-in-law Lazarus. The women followers did all the washing, cooking, mending, and getting water and food, to keep the ministry of Jesus thriving. Included in this mix was John, the son of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. At that point in time, John was a boy, probably around ten years of age. Without a wife, Jesus would have had no son. Thus, after having told his male disciples if they want to replace him, then they need to be prepared to serve everyone … like a wife … then they need to make a baby … like Jesus had done in his son John.

After a few hours of suffering, the life of self-importance will forever die and one will be reborn as a mother – slave to all that is family.

I went into my views on how John the Beloved, the Gospel writer, was the son of Jesus. The point does not require anyone believe that, in order to grasp the lesson of Jesus saying, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” That says a lot.

First it says, “Whoever welcomes one such child.” That means a good wife bears children. Being Jesus’ replacement means more than being top dog. It means receiving the Spirit and giving birth to a baby boy soul within … a new you.

Second, it says, “one such child in my name.” That means receiving a specific soul that possesses one’s own soul and body, which comes with the name “Jesus.” The name “Jesus” means “Yah[weh] Saves.”

Third, it says a soul-body “welcomes me,” where the “child in my name” is not only named “Jesus,” but whoever that baby boy soul was born into “welcomes” being reborn in that identity. It means the love of a mother welcoming this new birth as as the extension of Yahweh to be His servant, as His Son resurrected.

Finally, when Jesus said, “whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me,” that says a soul who “welcomes a child named Jesus,” who is “not” the one named Jesus before [fill in your name here]. One’s self-ego has died and moved to the rear in submission to divine possession, which is the soul of Jesus raised again in the flesh. For one being who “welcomes the one who sent me,” that soul has married Yahweh [not some generic “lord”], having become His “capable wife.”

This means just as Jesus was not selfish [or gay], so that he did not made life be all about building up a singular ministry, refusing to not do any of the mandatory things demanded of all Jewish male adults, he exemplified obedience to the Laws. Jesus followed all the rules and expectations set upon a Jewish male. All the Jewish females did the same. As human beings devoted to a religious cause, they all followed the law that commanded, “be fruitful and multiply.” Jesus cursed a barren fig tree to wither and die. Had Jesus been fruitless [without child], it would have been hypocritical for him to have been that selfish. Jesus sired one son. That physical reality was Yahweh’s plan for all the followers of Jesus to do the same – SPIRITUALLY.

The true followers of Jesus must become wives of Yahweh – SPIRITUALLY. The true followers of Jesus must give birth to the one Son of their most Holy Husband – SPIRITUALLY. As a capable wife of the Father and the subservient mother of the Son, one must serve all, from beginning until end, in a ministry that is in the name of Jesus … another Christ of Yahweh raised from the dead of mortal existence. Ministry as Jesus reborn is led by Yahweh’s SPIRIT.

This means the message of this reading calls upon all who call themselves followers of Jesus – as a devotion to the human man, based on belief – to go beyond that belief and experience the truth of faith. To do that, one must:

1. Become a wife of Yahweh, through love and absolute submission of self-will to His Will.

2. Become impregnated with the soul of Jesus, which makes that soul be “in the name of Jesus,” no longer in the name of one’s biological father.

3. Enter into ministry as Jesus reborn, becoming a servant to all, as “a capable wife” for Yahweh.

As the Gospel reading to be read aloud on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson is to stop planning how great one’s future will be, when you die and go to heaven. That is a mindset that serves oneself alone and nobody else. One must die of self, which means one will follow in the footsteps of Jesus: suffer, die, resurrect – before one will amount to a capable wife of Yahweh. In order to die of self-ego, one must truly love Yahweh, so His love is returned in a proposal of marriage. One must enter the nuptial tent as the wife of Yahweh and receive His Spirit that makes one full of the fruit that is His Son [no daughters allowed, only Jesuses]. Then one lets Jesus lead one’s body of flesh into ministry, however Yahweh sees fit.

Language, Psalms, Teaching

Psalm 1 – Choosing the right path [out of two]

January 3, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *

nor lingered in the way of sinners,

nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

2 Their delight is in the law of Yahweh, *

and they meditate on his law day and night.

3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,

bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *

everything they do shall prosper.

4 It is not so with the wicked; *

they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, *

nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.

6 For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, *

but the way of the wicked is doomed.

——————–

This is the accompanying Psalm for the Old Testament reading from Proverbs 31, which will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 20], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. This Psalm is optional and may not be sung, as the Proverbs 31 reading can be accompanied by a “First Lesson” that is from the Book of Wisdom. In either case, Proverbs 31 says, “ A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” The pair of readings will precede an Epistle reading from James, where the Apostle questioned, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, which says, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

Please take note of the two places where I have restored “Yahweh,” because that is the transliteration of the word written by David [“יְהוָ֗ה” – “YHWH”]. The NRSV [et al] love to transform this to “Lord,” as if using the name of God that David used is not allowed. David was not a Jew. David was an Israelite, a name that means “He Retains God.” To reduce David from that divinely elevated state of being to be a Jew whose God was named “Yahweh,” the name of the God of Israel, therefore not the name of the God of Christians, is demonic thinking. The name “Israel” was the holy name given to the soul of the flesh named “Jacob,” as Jacob had been Spiritually transformed into one “Who Retained God.” David was like that; and all should be like David, which is signaled by calling one’s God “Yahweh.”

The BibleHub Interlinear presentation of this Psalm shows a title that says, “The Two Paths.” The NRSV header is about the same, saying, “The Two Ways.” In this six verse song there are four times the word “wicked” is found. When “Yahweh” is found repeated also [twice used], the “two” roads taken must be seen as those walking “in the law of Yahweh” and those walking “in the counsel of the wicked.” One is a path of righteousness, while the other is “the way of sinners.” In this, it is valuable to realize the truth of the Hebrew word “rasha,” which has been translated as “the wicked.”

The word “rasha” means, “wicked, criminal” (Strong’s Definition), but implies “condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked man, that did wrong” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) According the NASB translations, it appears in Scripture 262 times, translated as: “evil (1), evil man (1), evil men (1), guilty (3), man (1), offender (1), ungodly (1), wicked (228), wicked man (21), wicked men (2), wicked one (1), wicked ones (3).” The BibleHub Interlinear translates this word as “the ungodly,” which I see as appropriately identifying all who walk an unlawful path, as being unmarried souls to Yahweh.

When this particular Psalm is seen as an accompaniment to the Proverbs 31 reading, where Solomon gave his opinions as to who qualifies as “a capable wife,” this now sings that Solomon’s views also follow two paths. In one way, “a capable wife” is metaphor for “wisdom,” which is an “elohim” [one of the gods] that possesses a soul and makes a brain become ‘book smart.’ That would be the path of the “wicked,” not the righteous. Thus, the righteous way to see “a capable wife” is as a soul in a body of flesh, which makes it a feminine essence bride-to-be of Yahweh, so once divinely united with His Spirit, then the body of flesh walks the path of the law … naturally, willingly, lovingly, and without needing a brain to determine which way to go.

In the first verse, the literal translation into English has it saying, “blessed the man , who ׀ not does walk in the counsel of the ungodly or the path of the sinful nor take that stance ; and in the dwelling place of the mockers not remains .” This translation makes it clearer that being “blessed” [as well as being “happy”] is a statement of love, because it is from one’s heart that happiness comes. This means being “blessed” is when the soul of a “man” [meaning mankind generally] has become possessed by Yahweh. Following the word “who” [“’ă·šer” or “asher”] is a bar [“׀”] that symbolizes a musical rest, therefore a verbal pause. The placement of the bar designates the first of two paths that “man” can take. In this, it is important to realize the Hebrew word for “man” is “ish,” which is what Solomon’s “wife-woman-female” comes from, as the Hebrew “ishshah.” This reflection says “man” can be either negative-feminine-receptive or positive-masculine-penetrating.

Following the bar marker, David wrote the word “not” [“lō”], which becomes a statement of the “negative-feminine-receptive,” as “man” is “blessed” by going the path that is positive-masculine-penetrating, and “not” the natural essence of the material realm. Here, it is important to realize that “happiness” can seem to be all the rewards of the material realm, but such ‘rewards’ are “not” based on love or heartfelt spiritual desires being satisfied.

Where the NRSV translates “lingered in the way of sinners,” the Hebrew word translated as “lingered” is “amad,” which translates as “to take one’s stand, [or] stand.” (Strong’s) While it can be seen that “standing” is akin to idling, thus lingering, that perspective should be seen as taking pleasure in the “path of the sinful,” implying that remaining in such a place says one enjoys sinful acts. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the implication of “amad” is “abide behind, appoint, arise, cease, confirm, continue, dwell, be employed,” such that one sees sinful ways and takes a stance in support of those ways. Therefore, lingering becomes a sign of someone desiring to be sinful, enough to argue those ways of sin do have virtues.

The Hebrew word translated as “scornful” is “lê·ṣîm,” the plural form of “luts.” This word means “ambassador, have in derision, interpreter, make a mock, mocker,” such that to apply “scorn” [defined as “the feeling or belief that someone or something is worthless or despicable; contempt.”] reflects more on a directive towards those who are righteous; and, the usage becomes confusing otherwise. To make the translation “mockers” means one does not linger or “dwell” in a place where no shame is placed on sins, because one enjoys a sinful existence, becoming an “ambassador” that “interprets” one’s acts and beliefs not as sin, but as pleasures. This is justifiable because “happiness” comes to one when one does such acts. For one to be “mocked” in such a place, then one has to point out how those pleasurable acts are deemed against one’s laws, therefore “criminal.” It is then that which brings out mockery of such ideas. As such, the first verse paints a clear picture that mankind has two different paths in life; and, it will always remain that way. Life’s primary path leads a soul in the flesh to know sin, as a natural way of the world; and, from learning to walk a path that puts one alongside everyone else, the safety in numbers makes all who walk a different path be the focus of ridicule and condemnation.

Verse two then confirms the truth that began verse one, where those “blessed” are those who reject the path of the wicked are those who “take delight in the laws of Yahweh.” In this, one needs to realize that David knew “the laws” were not of Moses, but passed on by Moses to the Israelite people, by Yahweh. The “laws,” from “torah,” are the marriage vows that each soul must agree to as the only source of “instruction” that one’s life is led by. Being “chosen” means a soul proposed to; so, being chosen means agreeing to the vows of divine marriage. Those who are “blessed” are then those married to Yahweh; and, that marriage is not to be a partial commitment. It is full-time, as one must “meditate on those instructions day and night.” In that, “day” is during the easy times, while “night” is the dark times of trouble, when having the inner link to Yahweh’s voice (through divine marriage) keeps one’s soul from becoming lost and wandering back onto the path of the wicked.

Verse three then states this marriage metaphorically, saying “he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water so its fruit comes forth in its season.” There, the word “planted” is a direct statement of purposeful “transplanting,” not some natural luck of a seed falling onto fertile soil in a good location. By actually being purposefully “planted,” this becomes another statement of marriage, where one’s soul must make a decision that demands the commitment of putting down roots, so growth comes from a permanence of being in solid ground. This means a soul is planted in Yahweh, and He in turn with one’s soul. The “rivers of water” represents His Spirit; and, the “fruits” are the works of righteousness, which projects to others a way to live.

When David then continued in verse three, singing “whose foliage shall not wither , and whatever he does shall prosper .” this sings of eternal life. Because the divine spiritual realm is the place where it is always day and always happy and youthful, the acts in the material realm are irrelevant as far as what is determined prosperous. There can be nothing worldly that will ever diminish the reward of righteous living; and, that can only come through holy matrimony between a soul and Yahweh, while in the flesh.

Verse four then sings, “not so the ungodly ; for if like chaff , that drives away like by wind .” Whereas verse three sang of eternal life, verse four is singing of reincarnation. By not being married to Yahweh [as the “ungodly”] they will die. Their bodies of flesh will fall away, just like chaff falls away from the kernel of grain. The soul is that kernel, which is then blown back into the material realm, into a new body of flesh [a newborn baby], through reincarnation. This means the “wind” is like the recurring weather patterns, which are always the same, over and over and over again.

Verse five then sings, “upon this not shall stand ungodly in judgement ; nor the sinful , in the congregation of the righteous .” This sings the truth of Judgment, which will find the “ungodly” and the “sinful” not being able to achieve salvation. Seeing how all human beings are born with souls in bodies of flesh, set on the path of life that always offers two choices, the main road travelled is that of the sinners. That is why a soul must be “planted like a tree by rivers of water,” because without a conscious decision to change paths and commit to servitude to Yahweh [not self], one cannot find redemption. The “fruit” of one’s ways of righteousness is then how one can be considered to be “in the congregation of the righteous.” This places everything as the responsibility of the soul to choose, with Yahweh offering to help those who choose to marry Him.

Verse six then sings, “for knows Yahweh the way of the righteous ; but the way of the ungodly shall perish .” This says Yahweh knows which path one’s soul travels. He especially knows the way of the righteous, as those souls walk with Him, having been united as one with His Spirit. Those who do not walk as one with Yahweh will be known for that absence. When all souls come from death of the flesh to the time of Judgement, the righteous will live forevermore. Alas, the sinful will die and come back to die again. The place where souls “perish” is the physical world; and, their worship of the flesh will prophesy their way to find “happiness.”

As a companion song to the Proverbs 31 reading on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson is simple. There are two paths in life. One serves self and the other serves Yahweh. Any ministry taken into the world by a single soul, one ‘living together’ with ‘lady wisdom,’ has nothing of value to offer the world. One is then “lingering with sinners,” not to help them, but to wallow in their love of wickedness. To preach that sinners are loved by Yahweh is to mislead souls to ruin; and, that will bring a double share of their ruin upon one’s own soul. This says sacrifice your self-egos and become planted by the living waters that are Jesus Christ resurrected with one’s soul. Otherwise, expect to return to a world you love, perhaps not with all the blessing you enjoy in this life now being repeated in the next.

Explaining the Readings

Tag Archives: Proper 20 Year B

Mark 9:30-37 – Welcoming a child in the name of Jesus

Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22 – Lying in wait for the righteous man

Jeremiah 11:18-20 – Like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter

Proverbs 31:10-31 – The good wife

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a – Submit yourselves to God

Proverbs 31:10-31 – Worshiping the feminine

Jeremiah 11:18-20 – Lambs to the slaughter willingly

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a – The wisdom from heaven

Mark 9:30-37 – Welcoming the boy Jesus and God the Father in your arms

Psalm 1 – Choosing the right path [out of two]

The Episcopal Lectionary Discerned