Tag Archives: Proper 7 Year B

1 Samuel 17: 1-49 – The faith that slays evil

January 18, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

This reading actually covers verses 1a, 4-11, 19-23, and 32-49, with only 32-49 mandatory.

[The Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.]

and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!” Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.

David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

——————————————————————————–

This is an optional Old Testament selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Fifth 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 7. If chosen, this will next be read aloud in church by a reader on Sunday, June 24, 2018. This is important as the story of David (and the Israelites) versus Goliath (and the Philistines) is more than history, as this shoe fits on all the nations of the world, where some are giants and powerful and some are small and weak in comparison. This reading calls the individual to be like David.

All Christian adults know the story of David and Goliath, with most Sunday school children over the age of six also are knowledgeable of it. Certainly the details can be clouded over the years; and, some churches will opt out of reading verses 1a, 4-11, and 19-23 shown above in brackets. The details of Goliath’s size and the weights of his weaponry and armor are easily forgotten, as well how David left the sheep in the fields and ran to greet his brothers, who were camped in the valley of Elah preparing to fight.

It is easy to remember David having fought lions and bears to rescue lambs, how he could barely walk under the weight of Saul’s armor and weapons given to him, and how he faced Goliath with just a slingshot and five smooth stones from the wadi. Everyone knows the final scene recited here, where David slung a rock into Goliath’s forehead and he fell face down on the ground. We do not read today of David cutting Goliath’s head off, which was the coup degras and Goliath’s death.

While the story might be known, it is easy to get caught up in admiration of David, especially in this modern time when superheroes are all the rage. This turns David into a fictitious character, rather than an example of God’s servants. Perhaps, making superheroes out of real human beings helps children want to believe in God more?

The unfortunate aspect of teaching superheroes coming from God is it misses the point of a miracle that had David slay the giant Goliath. The name Goliath actually means “Exposer,” which is associated with circumcision. That name then reflects an aspect of the Philistines that the ancient Israelites obsessed over, where transforming their enemies into obedient co-inhaibiters of Canaan meant one having to expose one’s soul to Yahweh.

According to the Abarim Publications website, the name Goliath means “Exposer, and Israel’s occupation with the male foreskin and the mammalian reproductive cycle — with God as the rightful husband of His bridal humanity, see our article on כבד, kabad — certainly stimulates an association of Goliath with a sexual antagonist. The Creator is Israel’s true husband, but every now and then, a not-godly culture imposes its lustful will upon Israel.” The site then goes on to relate the beheading of Goliath as the figurative circumcision of the Philistine nation.

In this regard, this name meaning sheds light on the marriage the Israelite people had with God, as we read that the presence of Goliath exposed how weak this relationship was under Saul, after Goliath challenged Israel to send one man in single combat. The exposure states, “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

This is an exposure of the Israelites’ failure to live up to Moses’ decree, found in Deuteronomy 6:13. The Israelites were exposed as having failed God, because it is written, “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” Twice in the book of 1 Samuel (prior to the battle with the Philistines and Goliath), the prophet told the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’” (1 Samuel 7:3) Samuel then followed this up later, stating: “But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.” (1 Samuel 12:24)

Instead, the Israelites had demanded Samuel appoint them a king, with Saul their chosen “superhero.” Saul failed to comply with the instructions from God, through Samuel, and they then faced the Philistines with Goliath being so far turned away from God that “they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” The exposure was that a nation claimed to have the powers of God behind it, when that claim was as empty as those challenging that claim.

The Philistines claimed to have the power of some lesser god(s), who had given them a giant as their “judge.” Goliath was like a counter-balance to Samson; and, in superhero terms, the Philistines were archvillains or supervillains. Israel found itself without a faithful marriage to God, which made it as powerless as Superman in chains of kryptonite.

The story of Israel versus the Philistines becomes more lastingly important over time in seeing how it reflects the age-old repetition of nations parading their right to dominate the world (or large parts of it) through some self-proclaimed righteousness of purpose, as holy empires, as God’s chosen warriors. Their simple self-promotions always had the effect of motivating unholy competitors, those who were always set on encountering those who claim superiority, wishing to test the validity of those claims.

In that constant way history has been a steady flow of rulers, tyrants, dynasties and empires, such that the character Goliath becomes synonymous with the secret development of advanced weaponry that has enhanced the rise of nations. Saul then becomes a parallel to all of the kings of Israel (and Judah), as well as any leader of a nation professing to be either Christian or Jewish, where there was no true commitment to God before self or nation. It was the realization of a self-fulfilling prophecy, when the elders told Samuel they wanted “to be like other nations.” Other nations were like Philistia.

The armor of Goliath represents the arms races of history, where secrecy has beget spying, with everyone always attempting to place shock and awe in an enemy, unveiling its newest giant on the battlefield. All of this development throughout history has done more to elicit the fear of the world’s citizens, while also divorcing believers from their marriage to God. Who can fear only God when the USA and the USSR are building Doomsday weapons?

This view that applies one Biblical event to all events in history, where faith in God produces no fear of the worldly, can then make David be seen as a reflection of the individual who is totally devoted to serving God. No nation led by a king, president, prime minister, fuhrer, dictator, or political tyrant can ever be led by an individual who is totally devoted to serving only God. When this perspective is realized, Goliath then becomes a reflection of all who serve Satan and thereby seeks to destroy anyone who claims to have more faith in God than faith in man.

In this way, one can grasp how the words of Goliath called out the Israelites – those who claimed to be God’s chosen people – by asking, “Are you not servants of Saul?” Saul was no more than a man, regardless of how strong he was in battle, or how ruthless he was when facing enemies. Saul, no matter what superhero title he had been bestowed, was no Samson, who slew a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Saul was not sent by God to save the Israelites. He was as self-promoted as any politician is today.

When Goliath then said to the Israelites drawn for battle, “Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me,” his call was for “ish” – “a man as an individual or a male person; a (good-, great, mighty) man,” as one “worthy.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)

Goliath called for two in single combat, challenging the Israelite’s faith (as individuals) in their God. Goliath then said, “If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” That was testing the commitment to God the Israelites claimed. If they were indeed a nation of priests, then any true man would willingly accept that challenge, regardless of how superhuman Goliath was. At that point, there should have formed a line of Israelites willing to prove the power of God to Goliath and the Philistines; but, instead, there were none lining up. They all stood there and trembled – including the brothers of David, the sons of Jesse.

David was still the youngest son of Jesse, given the task of tending the flock. David had to make arrangements for another child to watch his father’s sheep, as “Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.” In this fractured reading, we read how David “went as Jesse had commanded him,” making it possible to think that Jesse saw some power in David, knowing Samuel had anointed him with oil as blessed. However, in some of the verses not read, it is written that Jesse sent David to the front line with loaves of bread and blocks of cheese, to give to his brothers and their commanders. Jesse wanted David to bring back word of how the battle was shaping up. This shows that not only were the men of war “dismayed and greatly afraid,” but the old men left behind were also dependent on the strength of their army, not the power of God.

The reader needs to be able to see the child that David was as reflective of their personal inner child, which is where the roots of faith take shape. David did as his father instructed him, as an obedient son. He did not go to the valley of Elah expecting to see a giant. When we read how David arrived and gave the food supplies to the men, “the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.”

David heard evil speaking and responded as a child who had been taught never to fear evil, because only God Almighty should deserve one’s fear. David responded as all the Israelites should have.

When we read, “David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine,”’ this is very similar to what Jesus said to his disciples after his arrest in Gethsemane. Jesus told them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

What David said to Saul was the words of a boy of pure innocence and complete faith in what religious lessons he had been taught. David was not a full-grown adult then, but he spoke as one who fully believed in God and whose heart was full of courage. David spoke as a child might today, after putting on a Halloween superhero costume … or even if a bath towel is penned to his shirt, like a cape, by his mother. David did not see the world through the tired, worried eyes of adult men.

Saul, on the other hand, represented (and David sensed it) weakness of heart. Prior to David’s volunteering before Saul (unread in this selection), Saul had offered great wealth, honor, and his daughter’s hand in marriage to any man who would kill Goliath. Offering things to someone who can keep one still living and still king over a nation of people, people who all fear giants (evil), is a sign of one’s heart failing.

After David proved his capabilities to Saul, telling him how, as a shepherd, he had rescued lambs from the mouths of lions and bears, ripping their mouths apart if they resisted him. Saul, seeing no other volunteers present, tried to convert this boy shepherd into a man soldier by placing his personal armor on the little boy that David was. For as brave as David was, and as physically fit his youth made him, his inability to walk under the weight of heavy armor shows that the human body surrounding young David’s soul was not an outward sign of the physical strength a soldier would need to have even a slim chance of defeating the giant Goliath.

By taking off the armor, David was refusing to be commanded by the King of Israel. Not long before clothing David in his armor, Saul had told David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” David then symbolically told Saul, “I will fight Goliath, but not on your terms.”

That removal of armor means David went to fight Goliath on the orders of God, not from a human king with a history of failing God and trembling with fear before a giant warrior. Seeing that inner call, realizing it was coming from the heart (and not a big brain), David went and gathered “five smooth stones from the wadi.” This is symbolism that should be noted, as no numbers appear in Scripture that is insignificant.

The translation of “wadi” can give the impression of dry gulch, one that is formed during the rainy season, but then becomes dry when the rains cease. This does depict a place where running water becomes the factor that makes stones smooth; but the Hebrew word written is “han-na-ḥal,” where the root word is “nachal,” meaning “brook.” By seeing a place that has constant water moving through it, whereby the stones are slowly rolled to smoothness, the symbolism of water becomes important to grasp.

I have written many times on these articles about the esoteric meaning of water, such that is relates to the emotions of human beings. Emotions are all heart-centered, running the full gamut of love, fear, hate, compassion, and all points felt in between. As such, for the Israelites who stood in fear of Goliath, a wadi makes good sense, as their emotions for God had run dry. However, for young David, whose faith never waned, he put his hands into the living waters of a brook, which states an experience that enhanced his faith (perhaps to superhero status?).

The number five has been analyzed by others, with the evidence of such analysis easily found in an Internet search for “five smooth stones of David.” One can be found here, published by the Grace in Torah website, which says, “Five is the number of strength and power as the fifth manifestation of the Holy Spirit. (Is. 11:2).” The author (K. Gallagher) also asks the question in that article, “Why did David choose five stones when it only took ONE stone to defeat the great giant?”

I do not believe that David was acting by any intellectual acumen that his short years of life had taught him (14 or 15?), as if five were the right amount of stones needed to kill a powerful enemy. While all thought as to the metaphor and symbolism of “Why five smooth stones?” can be argued and valid points made from many different angles, I sense the Ten Commandments plays a role in this case.

There were two tablets of stone brought down from the mountain by Moses. Five Commandments were on each tablet, which is again of symbolic meaning. Still, the holy tablets were to be placed within an ark, which was where God would reside and great power would be emitted. As a smooth stone has two smooth sides, the five stones taken by David represented ten sides (of smooth, flat, skip stones), which together acted as David placing the Covenant into his shepherd’s pouch, so that God would go before him into battle. None of the specific laws had any greater significance than the others; just as the Ark of the Covenant did not have high-energy powers because of the Laws written on tablets. The power came from the presence of God within the Ark. As such, David’s symbolic act (without forethought or plan), means he went to the brook to affirm his commitment to the Covenant, and thereby take with him the simple truth of having no fear. He went into battle with God by his side.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” (Psalm 23, KJV)

This song of David sings the glory of his stooping beside the quiet waters, when his soul was restored through the Spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit. His table was set by the collection of five smooth stones. Adherence to the Law became more than lip service to an unseen deity. David became a reproduction of the Ark of the Covenant because he believed wholeheartedly in the LORD.

When we read, “David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground,” there was no looking into the bag, as if he needed to get one specific stone from the five. Any stone would become the hand of God. The symbolism of slinging, it sinking into the forehead, and Goliath then going into a prostrate position must be grasped as more than the scene of battle between a little guy and a huge behemoth.

The lasting effect of this history (believed or disbelieved) can be seen in the logical arguments over belief in God. The atheists are the giants who roar with the power of science and observational “facts” that challenge the faith of the ignorant masses, who know less about the rules of logic than they do about the tenets of their religion that confesses faith in YAHWEH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel. That big brained beast raises fear in those who are too lazy to have total faith in God; and, Goliath therefore represents the anti-religions that stand before the believers in the One God, seeking a one-on-one matchup that can prove Jesus was a better prophet than Mohammad (Islam versus Judeo-Christianity).

Goliath represents the monstrosity that is behind faith in a concept that God is not a deity that cares more for anyone, as it is simply a Universal Mind or a Superconsciousness, where reincarnation is a desired ideal, rather than an admission of failure. Goliath represents all forms of polytheism, where one needs a scorecard to calculate what are the characteristics of the Supreme Deity, versus the characteristics of those in subordinate positions.

Thus, the Valley of Elah is representative of where philosophical thoughts come to challenge those who say they believe in God and Jesus Christ.

The stone that then is slung is the argument that comes from the Christ Mind, through the Holy Spirit. While the story of David and Goliath tells of a physical encounter, where the least likely to win a battle wins, the symbolism is found repeated in the lessons of the Apostles, who slung stones of Scriptural meaning that sank into the foreheads of Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem. Three thousand pilgrims became prostrate before the LORD on Pentecost, because the stones of truth sank into their foreheads.

It is the “superhero powers” of God that transforms disciples into Apostles and Saints. It is the Christ Mind that makes Galilean rubes speak the truth of Scripture in the tongues of places never been, in foreign languages never heard before. The slingshot becomes the Holy Spirit, which has been placed in the hands of an empowered devotee. The smooth stone slung are then the truth that is the wisdom of God, which comes complete with logical support that mutes the tongues of disbelievers. Words of truth sink into the foreheads of arguers, which is where conscious thought is seated.

When that truth has sunk into the big brains of giants who boldly boast of supremacy, with talk of destroying the people who claim to be chosen by God (the God of Israel), the bold talk immediately ceases. All offensive movement stops in its tracks. The truth dawns like the light at the end of the tunnel calling, “Come here you soul that challenges Me and let me show you more of this truth.”

The evil giants fall on their faces in fear of the One God, YAHWEH, in the same way that Muslims prostrate themselves before a lesser God, one who sends them out into the world to draw lines of battle and threaten to kill anyone who believes in the God of Israel. While standing erect they are embolden to speak against the Law that says, “Thou shall not kill [murder],” yet their leaders order the murders of many innocents, all because they fear a human being who wrote the word of Satan, while hidden in the darkness of a cave. Even the Jews, who tried to kill Jesus the shepherd are Goliath reincarnated, when they deny God’s promised Messiah has been delivered.

This reading does not include the beheading of Goliath, where David took Goliath’s sword and removed his head [which some Jews see as the circumcising of the “Palestine National Schlong.”] His falling prostrate on the ground says Goliath was still alive, alone with his thoughts of the true God, while asking himself, “What evil have I done!”

Goliath exposed the presence of God in Israel, even if it was only found in one young shepherd that day, one who wore no armor into battle. Instead of armor, he carried a man purse, while holding something like a bra.

David was like the rebirth of Gideon and his defeat of the Midianites, using an “army” of three hundred completely untrained men (Judges 6). That story also ended with the beheading of kings, which means the end of brains, whose thoughts leads humanity away from the truth of God. A beheading, after all, is only a temporary setback in the grand reincarnation scheme of things.

David is reflective of all the times when God has sent a Savior to the Israelites. David is a reflection of Jesus of Nazareth and all who have gone to the living waters and become the smooth stones of the LORD.

Twenty-two thousands soldiers were sent home because they were too many to defeat the Midianites. Three hundred were retained, who lapped the water of the brook like dogs.

As a reading selection on the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry should be underway, the questions one should ask himself or herself are: “Am I filled with the fear of the Israelites? Or, am I afraid only of not serving God?”

Ministry is not about standing on the field of battle with a leader who has failed God. In modern terms of American life, there have been no Presidents of the United States of America that have not been exactly like Saul, in his lack of faith. Our founding fathers were more subservient to the philosophies of Freemasonry than to the LORD. The problems America faces today are due to the “rights” written into the U.S. Constitution in 1776, which have been twisted and turned to meet the needs of an ever-changing nation that has always been filled with fears – fears of religious controls, fears of being disarmed, fears of injustice, fears of cruel and unusual punishment, and all the fears added then and later. Therefore, a minister of the Lord does not preach politics of fear in a house dedicated to God.

The element of young David’s faith should tell us that true ministry begins in the home, where the parents both serve God, and thereby serve God as ministers to their own children. David did not learn what he deeply believed by osmosis. The flock did not teach him how to be a shepherd. Jesse instilled the values of Israel within David, where Jesse was a priest in a nation supposedly of priests. Thus ministry to children needs to be one of many acts of service to God.

When our children are seen to represent the future, with the parents the present, the lack of ministry to children is the explanation as to why the future of Christianity looks so bleak. The Goliaths of evil are leading everywhere, in enemy nations and in subversive elements pretending to be American. Ministry calls for standing up to evil, just as David did, regardless of how many stand with knees knocking in fear.

It is easy to see a problem that is too big for one man to tackle, because inaction requires no effort beyond fear. The difficulty is being able to see just how easy true faith makes standing up to evil. It is as simple a matter as picking up the smooth stones of commitment and then running towards the evil with absolute faith that you are incapable of stopping the flow of God within you. Ministry is a leap of faith with eyes wide open and a smile generated by the awe of God working through you.

Blind eyes love to get lost in the fantasy of superheroes. They are the sleep of death that comes from being mortal, accepting one’s destiny of reincarnation, refusing to change that cycle and be reborn as Jesus Christ. This lesson cries, “Wake up!” It supports a Gospel reading that has Jesus ask his fearful disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

1 Samuel, Language, Teaching

1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16 – Facing the challenges of ministry

January 18, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

On David’s return from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.

The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. David had success in all his undertakings; for the Lord was with him. When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.

——————————————————————————-

This is an optional Old Testament selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Fifth 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 7. If chosen, this will next be read aloud in church by a reader on Sunday, June 24, 2018. This is important because it shows the bond between Apostles and Saints are like the love between David and Jonathan.

This is the second of two optional reading selections that place focus on David. This focus is after he defeated Goliath. It clearly portrays how the world loves a hero and David was the beloved hero of Israel.

This fractured reading skips over several elements of the story of young David, but tells how Saul became jealous of David’s popularity. Due to initial enamor with David, the demeanor of Saul changed as David grew into manhood. As such, Saul employed the philosophy that says, “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.” Saul knew God was with David, knowing God was no longer in his heart; so Saul sensed that David would try to usurp his throne from him, having already demonstrated the powers he had with God as his ally.

When we read that David told King Saul, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite,” one skip in the story is how Saul refused to let David return to Jesse, keeping David in Jerusalem (1 Samuel 18:2). This means Saul took David as his son (a blood slave), which was one of the perks allowed a king, which Samuel had warned the Israelite elders about (1 Samuel 8:11). This royal “adoption” is then related to the statement, “the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” Rather than being blood-brothers, David and Jonathan became Spiritual brothers, where a deep level of love connected the two.

It is vital to see how “Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt” was a statement of relationship on a brotherly love level. This should be grasped as the attraction the Holy Spirit brings to one who has married God in one’s heart. The love of God radiates outward and those who are seekers of the truth will automatically be drawn to that love, like moths to a flame.

As such, the love between David and Jonathan must be realized as the same love that came and surrounded all of the Apostles. That love was why the Epistles were written, as everything an Apostle has he or she gives freely to others in the name of Jesus Christ. This is then the relationship one has to the Church of Christ [not a denomination]. A Church is when all the souls of the members have been bound to Jesus Christ, baptized by the Holy Spirit.

More text is skipped over, so when we read, “The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul,” it might appear that Saul was made crazy by God. God, however, does not spread evil spirits around. That is Satan’s job, which he does quite well.

In this case, I believe this is a poor translation, based on the order of Hebrew words written. The literal actually states, “And it came to pass on the next day came spirit of gods [elohim] that adversity on Saul.” The use of the plural number “elohim,” as “gods” [lower case, and not accompanied by a capitalized Adonai, meaning “Lord of gods”] says that Saul had lost his love of God, so his heart was opened to lesser influences. Without God in Saul’s heart, doubts crept in; and those evil whispers brought adversity upon him, causing him to act in evil ways.

When we read, “he raved within his house,” the word translated as “he raved” (“way-yiṯ-nab-bê”) actually says Saul “prophesied” (from the root “naba”). The aspect of Saul “prophesying in his house” can be seen as Saul making predictions about his remaining time as king, where “his house” was the line of Saul, which then included David, his adopted son. To make those prophecies angry “ravings,” the implication has to be seen that Saul’s jealousies about David’s popularity were causing him to make self-fulfilling prophecies of his own demise. This says that Saul’s heart was not filled with God’s love, but rather the evils of worldly feelings.

The use of a spear to “pin David to the wall” can be seen as Saul’s personal claim to fame, as he was a warrior king. All he knew was warfare and the greed that came from a dependency on accolades and praises. What is not read, due to omission of text, was the popular song the Israelites would sing, where they credited Saul with killing thousands, but David with killing tens of thousands. Hearing that song of praise infuriated Saul.

To “pin David to the wall” would then be akin to killing David with a spear and mounting his head on the wall, as a trophy that would make the people sing about Saul killing the David of ten thousand kills. However, as David had God with him, he was able to avoid these attacks by Saul.

It is also important to see how the information, “David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day,” was a statement of David’s own abilities to prophesy. David, the writer of the Psalms [meaning Songs of Inspiration], would play his harp (lyre) as he composed songs of prophecy. While Saul “raved” due to the influence of lesser “gods,” David was truly inspired to write the Word of God in songs that the people would learn to sing and love. The Psalms of David passed on the love of God that he knew to the Israelites. The Psalms of David are the legacy of his ministry to the LORD. The people wanted more of this guidance; but Saul was fed up with the abilities David possessed and daily made known. For every note David played and every word sung from God, it only made Saul see how little ability to prophesy he had. His attempts only condemned himself.

The element of “twice” is only one translation that “pa-‘ă-mā-yim” can offer. The root Hebrew word, “paam,” primarily means “times.” Rather than “twice,” it can mean “annual, once, once more,” and “as usual.” While the symbolism of “two” shows the duality of Saul and David (where one was influenced by evil and the other was influenced by the divine Yahweh), it also says that David, due to God being with him, would always be “steps” ahead of anything Saul tried to do to harm him. Thus, this God-given ability for self-preservation David displayed would not be limited to “two times.”

And the spirits that made Saul rave in his house came to assist King Bush.

We then read, “So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army.” This says how Saul turned his attempts to kill David over to the enemies of Israel, where the Hebrew word “way·si·rê·hū” (root word “sur “) means “turned aside, departed” or “turned away.” Because Saul knew God was preventing him from harming David, he “removed” himself from that equation. Saul then planned on the spears, swords and arrows of Israel’s enemies to be aimed at David.

By making David a captain of a regiment or battalion (the equivalent in today’s military as the rank of colonel or lieutenant colonel), David would march his soldiers out for training and patrols. If any uprisings needed to be quelled, David would successfully lead his men to victory. The Israelites of Jerusalem and the countryside loved seeing David leading soldiers, because they felt safe, knowing God was with him. The people knew that from all the successes David had militarily.

Keep in mind that David, by this time, would have barely been eighteen years of age. He was young, ruddy, and handsome; but he was the protector Israel needed. How the world loves a hero.

As a reading selection for the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry should be underway, the righteousness of David must be seen as a model for oneself. One must be able to love others on a soul level, where each identifies the other as baptized by the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus Christ is the Son of God, all who become reborn as Jesus Christ are brothers in his name [“Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.” – Genesis 5:2 ESV].

This love for other Apostles and Saints cannot be absent from one’s personal ministry for the LORD. One must become Spiritually magnetic, so one will find others who will enjoy one’s presence as much as one loves the presence of God in one’s heart. This means whenever two or more gather in the name of Jesus Christ, Jesus will be there in person. One must become a walking Church of Christ, seeking others who want to be adopted into the family of Christ.

When Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11), this is how David was able to avoid being mistreated by Saul. He was blessed by God’s presence within him. When one has received the Holy Spirit and the Mind of Christ, one will be able to become invisible when enemies try to harm one. If falsely arrested and imprisoned, then angels will shake the foundations of the jail, make shackles fall from one’s body, and set one free. If one is stoned to death in the street, one will ask God to forgive those who do not know the beauty of God’s presence within. When one ministers for God, one ceases worrying about what might happen, as one welcomes whatever God sends one to encounter.

The symbolism of David being made a captain of one thousand soldiers, this is the spread of the Holy Spirit to others, through one’s paths taken. Ministry is outside the walls of Jerusalem, not safe and sound in one’s mind (the flesh of a brain). One has to be a deacon that advises seekers on spiritual matters and explains Scripture so the eyes and ears of others will lead their hearts to open to the LORD.

If one is unable to do this, then one’s heart has hardened to God and Christ does not yet walk in union within one. A commitment must be made to reach this level of higher knowledge that the Christ Mind brings, or one will fall under the influence of the lesser gods and be led astray, as was Saul.

Job, Language, Teaching

Job 38:1-11 – Where were you when God was Creating?

January 18, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up your loins like a man,

I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone

when the morning stars sang together

and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

“Or who shut in the sea with doors

when it burst out from the womb?—

when I made the clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

and prescribed bounds for it,

and set bars and doors,

and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”

——————————————————————————–

This is an optional Old Testament selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Fifth 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 7. If chosen, this will next be read aloud in church by a reader on Sunday, June 24, 2018. This is important because it is God answering the moans and groans of a most righteous man, who had been afflicted by Satan without cause. God allowed that to prove to Satan that Job would not turn away from God due to his sufferings.

This reading is the first eleven verses of a lengthy monologue in response to Job’s prayers to God for an explanation as to what Job had done wrong, to deserve the affliction that befell his body. Job had wracked his brain trying to remember how he could have dishonored God, but could not do more than guess what had caused his plight. At no time did Job make false claims that the LORD had wrongfully brought harm upon Job. Now, in chapter 38, God begins to answer Job, and God will continue to talk for all but two verses of four chapters (125 verses in all).

To select ten verses here makes one focus on the magnitude of the Creation, which only God could achieve. One human being then becomes infinitesimally small in comparison. Still, for God to speak to Job from a storm of high winds, one knows that God had not forsaken Job, and Job had never once turned away from God. The love of God never waned as God was one with Job, throughout all his misery.

As an option to be chosen from two readings from 1 Samuel 17, where David and Saul are the characters of focus, Job shows how little faith Saul had in God, and how David was a model of Job. In a Sunday schedule after Pentecost, where the Gospel reading from Mark focus on a storm that threatened the disciples of Jesus, while he slept on the boat, the disciples moaned and groaned like Job, while Jesus responded like God, asking, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” The lessons all center on the patience of faith, which is why the lesson of Job is the patience he had, always maintaining deep faith and love of God, despite the storm that came upon his flesh.

In this Pentecost season (Ordinary Time), when one’s personal ministry should be underway, it becomes important to see just how small and insignificant oneself is, in the grand scheme of God’s plan. This is why one must die of self-ego and sacrifice all concept of “I,” because “I” will always begin to tremble and shake at the first sign of enormous troubles. When the “I” is removed and God sits upon the throne of one’s heart, there is nothing to fear but that of losing the love of God. Without the “I” limitations, one becomes as great as God.

This means the lesson here is to realize that power is within one’s being, so no matter how hard one’s time on earth might become, it is always a test of one’s patience, knowing Satan is the cause and even if death occurs, the soul will have gained eternal life in Heaven with God. Thus, one can only do what God leads one to do, knowing that if persecution or hardships are along that path, then it is for making one better for the experience.

In ministry to the LORD, Satan will set traps in all the places one least expects to find trouble.

He does that as a test of one’s faith. If Satan will test Jesus, he most certainly will test one who is working towards gaining the love of God and baptism by the Holy Spirit. We are always tested before we gain the right to be in the name of Jesus Christ. The span of forty days demands patience. Becoming a most righteous man or woman is not a sprint, but an endurance race, with twists and turns and hurdles. Faith is what always wins that race and gains one marriage to God.

If God can create the universe and set the earth’s foundation among the morning stars, then God can transform a disciple into an Apostle. God has the ability to change a mortal being’s soul into everlasting happiness, by joining the spirit of Jesus Christ with one’s soul. It will not happen when “I” thinks it should. It will only happen through a test of one’s faith.

#Job38111 #PatienceofJob #trapsofSatan

2 Corinthians, Language, Teaching

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 – In a day of salvation

January 18, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see– we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return– I speak as to children– open wide your hearts also.

——————————————————————————–

This is the Epistle selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Fifth 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 7. This will next be read aloud in church by a reader on Sunday, June 24, 2018. This is important because Paul stated salvation comes when one has been filled with the Holy Spirit of God, becoming one with Christ.

When Paul begins this sixth chapter of his second epistle to the Christians of Corinth by stating, “not to accept the grace of God in vain,” this is after he concluded chapter five by saying Christians were the “ambassadors of God, through Christ.” This means the word “kenon,” translated as “vain,” means not to be Christian in “empty, foolish, false, pretentious, and hollow” ways. That means Paul was telling the Christians of Corinth that they were not graced by the presence of God, through Christ, for self-promotional reasons. The word “kenon,” therefore, means not to be fruitless. An Apostle of Christ, as Jesus Christ reborn, is a continuation of the living vine, for the purpose of bringing forth new fruit for God, through Christ.

As a way of supporting that urgent message, Paul then quoted the prophet Isaiah, who said, “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you.” (Isaiah 49:8, NIV) This different translation makes it more readily seen that “At an acceptable time” is when God finds one’s actions are “favorable” to Him. It should not be thought that this means when one is ready for God’s help, such that “at that acceptable time” all one needs to do is snap one’s fingers and God is there to serve, like some genie in a magic lamp. It is when God find favor in a servant, such as what makes one a prophet or saint. Thus, “I have listened to you” says one has said “favorable” things to the LORD in prayer.

The part of Isaiah’s prophetic verse that says, “on a day of salvation I have helped you,” then led Paul to proclaim, “now is the acceptable time” and “now is the day of salvation!” Both of those declarations were led by Paul saying, “idou” (form of “horaó”), or “Behold!” One cannot “see” the “time” or the “day of salvation,” but one has to be able to “discern” it and “perceive” it spiritually. One is capable of seeing in that manner when one has received the Christ Mind.

It is also to read “in a day” (“ū-ḇə-yō-wm”), where the article identifies “a day,” in the singular number. This singularity, as “a day” differs from “the day,” as that singularity implies only one day of all days. Because salvation is relevant at all times, not just some nebulous day somewhere in the future, “a day” represents many days when individuals are saved. That become “a day” when God has “helped you,” where the individuality becomes specific of all Christians, but more importantly to the individual “you,” the reader.

One must realize this “day of salvation” is that time when one switches from being a human with a soul carrying the guilt of sin through life to being an Apostle or Saint, whose soul has been cleansed by God’s Holy Spirit. This is how salvation occurs. It occurs “in a day” when life gains new meaning and not when one has reached the darkness of death (night). One cannot be saved without God’s breath of life (a soul) sacrificing the self (ego) for the Mind of Christ (Jesus Christ reborn). This can only be done during one’s human life, not after death.

This is then a reference to the seventh day of Creation, which God deemed holy and created the first priest to be sent to mankind, His Son of Man (Hebrew adam). The soul breathed into that bodily form was the same that would be within the Son of God (His only Son soul), Jesus Christ.

The seventh day of Creation was not followed by any other numbered says.

Because the first six days of Creation lasted the equivalent of billions of years (or more … however many human years science guestimates and more), the human sense of time means we are still in the seventh day of Creation at this moment. We are in the day that God sent religion to the world, which was quickly mutated into a multitude of false religions, which do nothing to lead one to a personal day of salvation. The seventh day represented the day religion was born into the world. However, only the One God (YWHW), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of Jesus Christ, can offer mankind redemption. Salvation is then when one receives the Holy Spirit and transforms into the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In respect to this arrival of one’s soul “in the day” made holy by God (not Sunday or some 24-hour period), one becomes the servant of God for the remainder of one’s life. This is not an easy road to travel without the presence of God and Christ. When Paul wrote, “We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,” a Saint does not ever try to block the sunlight of God from shining on His servants. The truth will always enlighten and enhance one’s commitment to God, with no Apostles ever casting shadows of doubt onto the faith of all.

The role of an Apostle, which has to be realized by all who have the reward of salvation, is then described by Paul. Here he wrote, “as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.” All of these rays of light shone forth to the people of Creation, those still lurking in the sixth day without salvation, will be drawn to the goodness a Saint shows. Still, none of these accomplishments listed by Paul can be achieved by self-will or ego-driven desire to proclaim righteousness. One must be saved to display these characteristics of commitment, married to serve God.

For all that goodness shown, the world mostly rejects light exposing the sins of darkness. Thus, Paul wrote, “We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see– we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

This level of persecution will break human will, making one grovel under the tortures and punishments of being righteous in an evil world. Being righteous is not for one to be rewarded with material comforts in this temporal life, but to receive everlasting life beyond this world. To reach that goal, again, shows the need for the Holy Spirit within one, so one can accept the punishment or escape, as God sees fit for one’s soul.

When we read that Paul wrote, “We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you,” this translation misses a double statement of “opening.” The literal Greek says, “The mouth of us has been opened to you, Corinthians; the heart of us has been expanded (or “opened wider”). This more clearly states that Paul and his companions did not visit Corinth and begin speaking from a big fleshy brain inside their skulls. The opening of the mouths, just as the opening of their hearts, means God spoke through them, sending God’s love from Saints to seekers. More than the power of words spoken by humans, the Corinthian Jews and Gentiles had their hearts and minds opened to receive holy words of explanation to questions posed.

When Paul then stated, “There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours,” this says the individuals do not always feel the need to have their day of salvation and reject deep feelings unfamiliar. Some will not desire salvation because the lack expectation. Paul, as all Apostles of Christ, can only answer the questions of seekers. They can only open their hearts and emit the truth and love of God. It is then up to the individual as to whether or not they will receive that Spirit of Christ.

To conclude this selected reading, Paul wrote, “In return– I speak as to children– open wide your hearts also.” This says Paul spoke (“mouth opened”) as the Father. All humanity represents the children of God; but, like Cain, all have the right to be the prodigal son and go his or her own way. An Apostle does not condemn rejection, but instead leaves the door to one’s heart open, for when the world has driven a lost soul back, in search of the seventh day. A seeker needs to desire to be made holy by the presence of God within one, because that soul-changing experience will last forevermore.

As an epistle selection for the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry should be underway, Paul offers us a view of how the day of salvation was “now” then and is “now” today. It will be the seventh day of Creation for all times now and onward. Those who fall in love with God and become His brides, will be those whose lamps are faithfully kept lit, even the darkest hour of night.

Paul and his companions in Christ urged the Corinthians just as all readers subsequent, “[that] you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.” There were Jews in Corinth who knew God promised a Messiah, through the prophets, but they were wary to accept one, due to a preponderance of humans claiming to be the Savior. Paul urged them not to believe in Jesus as the Messiah vainly, as a false pretense of lip service belief.

The same urgent message applies today, where the religion of Christianity is in vain when led by false shepherds. Christianity today has become a mirror image of Israel, who sought not to be a nation of priests, led by God, but a nation of self-motivated souls hungering for the freedom to be like the slaves they were when in Egypt. American Christians want to be a nation of human souls likewise free to be slaves to sin, under leaders to say what the people want to hear. America is not a nation of priest who serve God, whose king is the rebirth of Jesus Christ within.

Christianity leads the same false life whenever it is not completely a collection of Saints, all in the name of Jesus Christ. A Church is whenever two or more gather in his name, because whenever that gathering takes place he will be there. Christians do not need fancy buildings, intricate organizations, or political agendas to serve God as His Son. Jesus Christ makes one a Christian because he becomes one’s Savior on one’s personal day of salvation.

The lesson today says true Christians cannot offer the day of salvation to anyone. They could only do the work that proved to God the deepest sincerity from within one’s heart and mind, to want to know God personally. That level of commitment, as shown in the work of Jacob for his true love Rachel, must be repeated so that God will respond like Laban to us, seeing the seeker’s work is acceptable and worthy of being given one’s day of salvation. As such, all Apostles must do the continued work that becomes fruitful, and produces new growth. This is how one speaks to seekers as children, opening one’s mouth by an expanded heart so others can receive the nutrients of righteousness that spurs their own personal shoot of growth.

Ministry to the LORD is all about placing one’s being as an example of goodness before others. Goodness will attract those who are seeking to be good, just as it will cause those who reject goodness (evil ones) to attack and persecute. These acts of persecution are what frighten away seekers, so a Saint has to depend on God and Christ to open one’s mouth so the truth will expose the evildoers for what they are. Even evildoers can discern the truth and feel an open heart can melt their anger away. A “fence-sitter” looks to the righteous to win battles of logic against those who boast how wayward Christianity has become. One cannot have that effect by pointing a finger of condemnation back as an evildoer, because that is a reflection of evil in oneself.

In ministry it is important to find those who have also entered in the day of salvation, just as Paul wrote letters to fellow Christians in cities he had visited. A Church has to be a gathering of Saints to support one another. It cannot be a clandestine effort, where one believes no one in the world is filled with the Holy Spirit. A Christian is not a spy sent out by God. There is not reason to keep the truth secret. By entering into ministry, God will lead one to other Saints and make one find the external support one needs to continue in service to God. If one ministers to one’s family, then the Church is that unit of faith.

Language, Mark, Teaching

Mark 4:35-41 – Let us go across to the other side

January 18, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

——————————————————————————–

This is the Gospel selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Fifth 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 7. This will next be read aloud in church by a priest on Sunday, June 24, 2018. This is important because Jesus asked his closest associates in his ministry why their faith in God was so weak, because one of true faith fears only God.

When we read that “Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side” [of the Sea of Galilee], it becomes possible to interpret those words as meaning they departed at night. This is not the appropriate way to read, “When evening had come.”

In the Hebrew 24-hour day, there is an “evening” of “day” and an “evening” of night. The day “evening is between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM. At 6:00 PM it becomes night, with the beginning of the “evening” watch. When spring and summer make the days longer than the nights, there is still light during the “evening” of night, usually until 8:00 or 9:00 PM.

Because the literal Greek text states, “And he says to them, on that day, evening having become,” the use of “hēmera,” or “day,” meaning, “the period from sunrise to sunset” [not shown in the translation above], we can safely assume the boats departed when there was still ample daylight would guide their boats.

When we read, “Other boats were with him,” this would have been other boats owned by the families of the disciples of Jesus, with several from the shores of the Sea of Galilee and fishermen with boats. Multiple boats being available meant many of Jesus’ followers were asked to go along with him to the other side. Those followers were not those of the crowd that was dismissed by Jesus.

We know this was the case, rather than simply “leaving the crowd behind,” because the Greek word “aphentes” is used, which means, “having dismissed” or “having sent away.” After the crowd had gone back to town, Jesus told his friends and family to follow him across the sea.

This sets the scene as Jesus and his followers riding in several boats from Capernaum to the shores where no town was. They set sail in daylight, with each boat captained by an experienced sailor, since Jesus had disciples and followers who were fishermen. This trip being placed in capable hands is why Jesus, who obviously was tired from preaching to the crowd, which (according to Mark’s Gospel) was his parable about the mustard seed and the kingdom of God.

That was not necessarily the sermon given by Jesus immediately before this story of the storm being calmed, as Matthew and Luke also tell of this story, with different events in Jesus’ ministry told prior, none of which has anything to do with the mustard seed. Matthew told of the mustard seed in his thirteenth chapter, with the calming of the storm in his eighth chapter. Luke told of the mustard seed in his thirteenth chapter, and also telling of the calming of the sea in his eighth chapter. Mark tells this story in his fourth chapter, with the mustard seed parable in chapter four too, just before the incident on the sea. This indicates a potential conflict to doubters.

One should not find fault with these differences, as Mark’s Gospel is the story of Simon Peter, who might have been present at the events remembered by Matthew and Luke, due to his being given special assignment or allowances to take care of his family. In this regard, Mark told of Jesus healing Peter’s mother in his first chapter, with Matthew remembering that event in his eighth chapter, while Luke recalled it in his fourth chapter. The consistencies support the truth of the event, while the inconsistencies require a spreadsheet to measure the chronology between the Gospel stories. The element of chronology demands faith to lead one to the correct answer about the differences.

When we read of a sudden storm coming up, this is a common weather pattern in many warm places on earth, especially those by lakes. This is called “afternoon and evening thunderstorms,” which can include high winds and dangerous conditions on the water. This sudden appearance over the sea says there were clear skies or mostly sunny skies when they left, but the rising water molecules from the lake gathered into a big black cloud and winds began to cause the water to get rough. Again, this is a dangerous time to be in a boat, but experienced boat captains know how to increase the potential of riding a storm out. They should not focus on the chances of the boat sinking and people drowning. As shaky as a sea captain’s legs might become, dangerous times are not when one should collapse and cry. One must depend on experience.

When we read, “They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”’ this is akin to waking Jesus up because someone has thrown in the towel and is calling for everyone to abandon ship. The literal Greek here translates to say, “Teacher, not is it concern to you that we perish?”

This says, in a way, “Teacher, we know you cannot be killed because God watches over you, so our little problem is not of a concern for you. However, we are about to perish because we cannot swim very well in rough waters [prior to life vest regulations on boats]. Could you help us out so that doesn’t happen?”

At this point, going back to the beginning becomes important, where it is written, “Let us go across to the other side.” That instruction comes into play as having a higher significance.

By Jesus being so deep in sleep that he did not realize the rough weather says he was away from his body spiritually. The word “katheudōn” translates as “sleeping,” but the word implies, “euphemistically, to be dead.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) This means “going to the other side” has the same symbolic meaning of leaving the physical world and going to the spiritual realm.

When my eyes opened to this possibility, I can see how the physical body of Jesus “was in the stern, asleep on the cushion,” but the soul of Jesus was probably standing by God’s side, watching his disciples handle the rough weather. This would be akin to how God watched Job be in anguish [Job being an optional reading that can accompany this Gospel selection]. It could be like a scene from a 60’s movie about the gods of Olympus, who stood around a pool that showed them what troubles were surrounding their hero children down on earth.

Zeus looking at Jason, from the 1963 movie “Jason and the Argonauts.”
Another guy on a boat.

Being at the stern, or the hinder part of the boat, then speaks metaphorically as being representative of Jesus not being at the forefront of the disciples. When Jesus is “asleep,” he is no longer the face of a movement. This then makes the whole experience act out as a prophecy of Jesus’ death and how strong the faith of his disciples would allow them to navigate the storms of life without Jesus. Jesus being in the stern makes his physical presence become more like the baggage of iconic memorabilia that would come later in Christianity. Asleep, Jesus was not alive within those disciples; therefore they responded with fear.

That acts as a prophecy of Peter denying Jesus three times before the cock’s crow. It acts as a prophecy of the disciples staying hidden in the upper room, so they would not be arrested. It acts as a prophecy that none of the disciples were close to the cross as Jesus hung dying. It was a prophecy of times when their fears meant they had no faith in God.

This ‘out of body’ state of Jesus explains how he could go to sleep and not be aroused by the violent rocking of the boat and its taking on water (“already being swamped”). When we read, “they woke him up,” where the verb “egeirousin” is used and means, “they awakened, they aroused, or they raised up,” the esoteric meaning says, “to arouse from the sleep of death, to recall the dead to life.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

This, where Jesus slept and Jesus woke, is symbolic and prophetic of his death and resurrection. However, more significantly, it is prophetic of how all of Jesus’ followers (assuming all the boats were equally in peril by the storm) would face a storm within their beings, where they would understand their selves (egos) were going to perish, but by calling upon the name of Jesus Christ they would be enabled to command nature to serve their needs.

The peace and calm that would come upon them all would represent the eternal tranquility of Heaven. The disciples would be saved by that command on Pentecost, when they were all suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit and were never again afraid.

By having this perspective, one can read, “[Jesus] was raised up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” and see the power that is raised within an Apostle. It is not the human being that is given amazing powers “that even the wind and the sea obey” one’s commands, but human servants totally committed to God through subservience to His will become human beings that have “raised up” powers of cleansing within their souls, having the powers of Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit of God upon them.

Anyone who proclaims to be “special,” in the sense that he or she claims to be in possession of powers like Jesus, is then a liar; known because such claims prove that one is still in possession of one’s self-ego, and therefore does not have Jesus Christ raised up within.

Such false teachers are often called “faith healers.” The Wikipedia article entitled “Faith healing” defines that as, “The practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice.” Usually, these performers do their acts of “faith healing” in auditoriums that pass a plate or basket around, seeking payment for such public displays of false shepherding. Many have taken their acts to TV channels. Some have asked people to lay their hands on the TV set to be healed. All expect to be rewarded for their services rendered.

Jesus seldom physically touched those whom he encountered that needed healing. Usually, he told them to act on faith and be healed, which they did. Therefore, “faith healing” is the faith within the one who needs healing, and not the passing of human energy from a theatrical actor to another actor, one posing as a cripple who needs to be healed.

In the picture above (Benny Hinn), which is just one of many so-called healing ministers that make quite a bit of money playing on the false beliefs of Christians, a real Apostle-Saint would stand before an auditorium of sick people (perhaps in a hospital or wounded veterans rehabilitation center) and ask loudly, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” If he were the rebirth of Jesus Christ, one should expect the same message spoken.

Based on the teachings of the Gospels, rarely does it say Jesus made a show out of laying on his hands on those in need. Certainly he healed many, but nothing says specifically he healed by the powers of touch. More often than touch, Jesus laid on with words. His words of truth drew believers who sought to touch the hem of his robe for healing.

Knowing that, a faith healer could then say to the faithful, “Go! Your faith has healed you!”

He could tell the cripples, “Pick up your mat and walk!”

He could tell them, “In the name of Jesus Christ walk!”

He could say, “Stretch out your hand!”

He could pick up some dirt and spit in it and rub a mudpack on the eyes of the blind and then tell them, “Wash in the local equivalent of the Pool of Siloam” (meaning “Sent”).”

He could command all demon spirits to, “Get out!”

He could reach out and touch those of skin diseases who come with faith and kneel before him, telling them, “Be clean!”

The point of faith being what brings “Peace!” and “Calm!” is that one ceases to be afraid in times of trouble. Having a physical ailment can be one’s time of trouble. Being born with a birth defect means a lifetime of having to deal with a shortcoming. Having a mental disorder brings about storms in one’s personality. It is fear that makes one captive to one’s troubles. It is fear that says, “God is not with me.”

**Frankenstein:** “You know I am a doctor of medical science. I can heal your hump.”
**Igor:** “What hump?”
**A new perspective on faith:** Faith is feeling healed, even if others see physical limitations surrounding you.

What many people fail to read from the miracles performed by Jesus told in the Gospels is that which is stated between the lines. Everyone of those who Jesus healed stayed healed. Not only did they not come up with a new ailment and get back into the crowd line so Jesus could heal them again, they became the first Apostles of Christ. They went out evangelizing the miracle of their own cures and knowing God had sent His Messiah to touch them spiritually.

Laying on of hands has to then mean passing on the Holy Spirit of God, which can only be given to those who love God deeply. Seekers are those who want to help others, but feel they are too afflicted to be allowed to help others. The healings of Jesus creating Apostles are stories not told, because none of the lepers, lame people, blind people, demon possessed people, withered hands people, bleeding excessively people, or even Lazarus who was dead for four days and stinking made news after their healings. None became a traveling sideshow snake oil salesman.

You do more good works privately than publicly. Good works may include some healing hands. I recommend this 1980 movie – The Resurrection, with Ellen Burstyn.

When this reading concludes with Mark writing, “And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” the “great awe” “they were filled with” is synonymous with the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit. To ask oneself, “Who is this?” states the knowledge that a human being cannot make the wind and sea obey commands. Only God can have that power; and the presence of God in human beings comes with the rebirth of His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is why the prayer of Eucharistic Rite II says:

“All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. ”

AMEN

As the Gospel selection for the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry should be underway, the direct message here is of faith. Apostles are asked, “Do you only fear not having God in your heart?” and “Do you have true faith because you know that Jesus Christ has been raised in you?”

That is not knowledge another can tell you about. That is not a pretense from a desire. Knowing Jesus Christ will come again can only come by being Jesus Christ … now … because he has come again in the one who truly believes.

As a minister, the boats sailing on the sea, where many boats carried the ones who loved God and Jesus, the symbolism is being fishers of men. One does not catch men by setting nets in water, but by having the glow of sainthood about one and the powers to prophesy in one’s mouth.

All of the Holy Bible is prophecy, written in a holy language, sent by God to his Apostles and Saints. Every word of Hebrew and Greek has a broad scope of translation and interpretation, because they all come from the Mind of God. A minister to the LORD, having the Mind of Christ, is then able to understand all of the Holy Bible. Thus, a minister has the ability to prophesy the meaning of Scripture. This is the bait that catches men.

In ministry, one sets sail in the light of day, when the waters are calm. The light of Christ leads one, while the love of God keeps one even-keeled. Each Apostle-Saint is him or herself a boat, rather than a church being a building designed to look like a nave. The “bark of St. Peter” was not a papal yacht, nor is it a grand basilica. That “bark” (a small boat) was one man (Peter) who was filled with God’s Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Ministry is a daily routine, requiring hard labors and satisfying results, where the family and neighbors are at the forefront of our brains. Ministry is life that is a love of the work one does. Like in this story, ministry means Jesus is with one, in the boat, but he is sleeping at the stern. One does not nail Jesus to the bow (front) of one’s boat, as an act of boastful pride and ego. One does not make Jesus a figurehead.

Not even as a warrior king on a battleship.

One feels the safety of knowing that Jesus is with one, no matter what comes up. If a sudden storm arises, one does not fear death. One has already died of ego, so one’s soul has gained eternal happiness with God, through one’s loving devotion. That is faith.

A minister becomes an example of Christ in this world, without proclaiming special recognition. A minister shares with seekers and also seeks fellowship with other Apostles. A ministry never ceases to be in touch with God through prayer, for others, those we love and for self guidance. A ministry does not need to go out into the world proclaiming the Gospel, but a minister needs to be prepared for God to send the world to one who offers ministry freely.

A ministry is always about listening to the instruction of Jesus, as one of his disciples that listened when he said, “Let us go across to the other side.”

Ministry is so a soul can finish the trip of crossing over from this world into the Kingdom of God. Everything that happens from one shore to the other is happily and willingly done, with no barrier feared and with all faith that whatever happens is to benefit one’s soul.

#Jesuscommandedthewindandwater #Mark43541 #eveningofday #JasonandtheArgonautsmovie #fearofdeath #asleepatthesternoftheboat #Jesusasleepduringstormasea

1 Samuel, Language, Teaching

1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 – Felling Goliath

January 6, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!” Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

——————–

This is the track 1 (a) Old Testament optional reading for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will be accompanied by a reading from Psalm 9, which sings: “The ungodly have fallen into the pit they dug, and in the snare they set is their own foot caught.” Those readings will precede the Epistle selection from Second Corinthians, where Paul wrote: “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!” All will accompany the Gospel choice from Mark, where we read, “[Jesus] woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.”

This is the story of young David coming to face Goliath, as the small versus the giant. It reflects upon all times in human lives when overwhelming odds seem to make defeat imminent, such that one is forced by circumstances to want to surrender, simply to avoid being utterly destroyed. Therefore, the root message in this reading must be seen as trust, confidence and faith being mightier weapons than fear.

There seems to be interest in figuring out if this event is true, by looking for evidence that this battle ever truly took place. While there seems to be a consensus opinion that everything lines up as truth, the fact that there is doubt shines a spotlight at the fear and doubt the army under Saul experienced. The faith that comes from reading divine text as truth, without any need to prove it otherwise, is equivalent of David’s attitude when he arrived and heard the fear in people who claimed to be Israelites. There was never any doubt in David’s soul that Yahweh would prevail over an enemy of His people [all priests of Him, regardless of one’s occupation], as Yahweh was a greater giant that Goliath.

While the dimensions of Goliath are detailed, all we know about David is he was “a boy.” David lived seventy years. He was king for forty years. That means that he was less than thirty when Saul died. While there is no exact time known for Saul’s reign, scholars believe he reigned for at least twenty years. Saul’s son was made king after him, lasting two years. Given the years that David spent living with Saul and then hiding from his wrath, I see David anointed by Samuel when he was eight years of age. I then see his defeat of Goliath taking place when he was ten years old, roughly three years into Saul’s reign. Still, as a ten-year old [which is prepubescent and prior to normal growth spurts in males], one can see that David was physically no match for the size of Goliath.

When David told Saul about his feats as a shepherd, saving lambs from the mouths of lions and bears, both animals being symbols of great strength and ferociousness, one should not jump to a conclusion that David was unusually muscular and strong as a boy [which would have been when he was eight or nine years old]. The only description of David is when Goliath sets eyes on him: “for he is only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.” That is the same description given when Samuel saw David. It says nothing about his being strong and muscular, as “ruddy” means his skin was reddened by the sun [as well as possibly having red hair] and he looked effeminate, rather than manly. That appearance must be seen as at the root for why foreign language [not English] assigning children of both sexes to the neuter gender: they are neither man nor woman until puberty. Therefore, the beauty of a child reflects more on is still be a growth from its mother.

This makes David have the appearance of Jacob, who was much unlike his brother Esau in appearance. Jacob was a ‘momma’s boy.’ This should cause one to reflect back to what Yahweh told Samuel, when Samuel saw Jesse’s eldest [Eliab] and thought surely he must be the one, because he looked kingly. Yahweh told Samuel, “the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” It is in the same way Goliath looked upon David, leading him to refer to David as a “stick.” David must be seen as completely incapable of defeat his own shadow, by looks alone. Still, his “heart” was married to Yahweh [and a “heart” means the “inner man,” or a soul].

In the verses read, David is found wearing heavy armor and trying to carrying heavy weapons, finding out that weight and bulk made it impossible to walk. All of that represents the outer wears reflecting inner fears; even, while the heaviness of armor and weapons shows David did not possess a strong manlike body. It was David’s heart that had others attempt to make him look strong, because of their fears.

When one is afraid of death, one tries everything humanly possible to prevent death. Here, it should be noted that Goliath was no different than any other warrior, where all warriors know death is the name of the game played. The object of warfare is to kill or be killed. Thus, the wearing of armor says Goliath, as large as he was, was still afraid within his soul, unwilling to enter battle without outer protection and carrying weapons that would visibly strike fear in any soldier likewise fearing the loss of life in battle.

We read that David “took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.” The Hebrew word translated as “his staff” is “maq·lōw,” which equally says “rod,” but is usually read as a shepherd’s “staff” or “crook.” That is an instrument for stability when walking, while also an instrument for reaching out beyond one’s normal reach. Everything David was ‘armed’ with was the tools of a shepherd; and, it must be realized he entered battle as a shepherd protecting the frightened flock of Saul’s army. He carried a “staff” just like he wrote in Psalm 23: “Your rod and staff they comfort me.” Still, the same word can mean “stick,” which says Goliath saw a boy with a shepherd’s crook coming to meet him in battle. Goliath then reflects a lion or bear, as a threat to the flock. However, it was the lack of readily visible weaponry that led Goliath to curse David, using the names of his “elohim.”

The symbolism of David picking out “five smooth stones” can seem to imply that he took more than one, in case he missed or if one didn’t do the trick. That should not be seen as the deeper reason the number “five” is stated. The number “five” is symbolic of the human realm, where the “elohim” made man in their image, with two arms, two legs, and a head. This becomes the symbol of the five-pointed star, or a pentagram, which would later become the symbol of Jerusalem. The fifth stone is then symbolic of the one stone David loaded into his sling, as it was the fifth stone [taking it out left four] that would target the head [the fifth point of a human] and kill the beast.

The “head” of a human would be destroyed; and, that was where the “elohim” [those named in the curses of David] symbolized the gods of the earth the Philistines worshiped. They were possessed by demonic spirits [“elohim“] that had control over their souls, reigning over their bodies through their brains. Thus, before David slung the fifth stone and struck Goliath between the eyes, sinking it into his head, he said: “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

In that, it is most important to realize the truth of what David said. The Hebrew written is this: “wə·’ā·nō·ḵî ḇā-’ê·le·ḵā , bə·šêm Yah-weh ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ,” which says, “but I come , in the name of Yahweh hosts”. When David spoke in the first person, as “I come,” this is not a statement of self – the boy named David – but a statement of Yahweh coming forth, in that physical form on earth. With that said, David specifically named “Yahweh” as the God having “come” to face the ‘midget’ Goliath, who was miniscule before Him.

This was the truth being stated because Yahweh had married the soul of David, when Samuel anointed him privately. The Hebrew word translated as “hosts” can also mean “army” or “angels,” but the use here says it was in Yahweh’s name that all the “elohim” were created [in Genesis 1]. That certainly including the names of the “elohim” that Goliath had used to curse David by, who was Yahweh incarnate. As Yahweh incarnate, David was an “elohim” warrior presence in human form, as a soul married to Yahweh’s Spirit. It was that holy union that made David be greater than any monstrous thing the “elohim” of the Philistines could create. Therefore, David speaking those words, became the truth of Goliath’s coming demise, as justice for one who cursed Yahweh, having not been warned by his “elohim” that David was God incarnate.

[Here, one should recall how Jesus’ entrance into Gerasenes had him come upon a man possessed by many demons, led by Legion. That demon spirit called out to Jesus, saying, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” He begged Jesus not to destroy them, “because there were many,” who were all “elohim” of Satan. Jesus cast them out into pigs, which then ran and jumped off a cliff into the sea, drowning them with the demon spirits. Had Goliath be led by knowing “elohim,” he would have been warned to fear David in the same way.]

This is confirmed when the NRSV translates David as having added, “the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” In actuality, the Hebrew written states: “’ĕ·lō·hê ma·‘ar·ḵōṯ yiś·rā·’êl , ’ ă·šer ḥê·rap̄·tā”. This literally translates to say, “elohim ranks of Israel , which you have reproached”. This relates the name “Israel” as all who have married their souls to Yahweh [the “ĕ·lō·hê”] and been transformed to “He Retains God” or “God Is Upright.” While Saul led soldiers who paraded around claiming to be the armies of Israel, under a human king named Saul, they shook in their battle sandals from fear of facing a monster creation by the “elohim” of the world, filling Goliath with a demonic spirit or seraph. Goliath had made the fatal mistake of sensing the fear of Saul’s army and then thinking David was a reflection of how small a threat even their greatest warrior [certainly not Saul] would be, coming before his beastly figure. Goliath was totally wrong in his assessment of David.

When David spoke to Goliath, it was not a shepherd boy speaking. It was Yahweh speaking through one of His wives [a divine “elohim”]. When the NRSV shows David saying, “so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand,” the translations of “God” and “Lord” are mistranslation. In reality, the words spoken are written, “’ĕ·lō·hîm lə·yiś·rā·’êl,” which defines the truth as being “elohim in Israel.”

Without that marriage of souls to Yahweh, there is no “elohim in Israel.” David stood to prove he was the “elohim in Israel.” The words then spoken say, “not by sword or with spear does save Yahweh , for Yahweh the battle is”. That says weaponry and the instruments of fear does not make Yahweh submissive to one, as the battle is for oneself [a self = a soul] to submit to Yahweh by the release of all fear. Such release of all fear which can only be done through spiritual marriage. The marriage gift is then the faith that comes from knowing one’s soul is saved, as one in union with the divine. The battle is not facing giant brutes in mail with huge spears and shield bearers, as the battle is like that Jacob fought in his darkness, alone with his “elohim.” The daybreak meant when his soul had married Yahweh and he had become an “elohim in Israel.”

The impression given by the NRSV translation that says, “When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine,” is that of two charging one another. That is not what happened, as the Hebrew written about David says, “way·ma·hêr dā·wiḏ , way·yā·rāṣ ham·ma·‘ă·rā·ḵāh liq·raṯ hap·pə·liš·tî,” which literally says, “and hastened David , and moved quickly the ranks [of Israel] to encounter the Philistine.” This does not say David began running, as the implication and intent is to state that as Goliath began moving towards David, while David was calmly allowing Yahweh to hasten his movements [physically and mentally].

David had previously stated that he, as Yahweh incarnate, represented the “ranks of Israel” [from “’ĕ·lō·hê ma·‘ar·ḵōṯ yiś·rā·’êl“], when he said Goliath had “reproached Yahweh.” This David’s mind moved as the “ranks in Israel,” quickly preparing to act in response to Goliath’s first move. One should expect the ‘mountain must come to Yahweh,” because as big as Goliath was, he wanted to get closer to his enemy before striking. Still, the giant did not move that fast, especially when it was convinced it would win this battle with ease.

When the NRSV translates the final element of this encounter as saying: “David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground,” the repetition here is significant. The stone struck the Philistine in the “forehead” [“miṣ·ḥōw”] and it sank into the “forehead” [“bə·miṣ·ḥōw”], such that the “forehead” is symbolic of where one’s brain is the organ of flesh leads a body of flesh to go. The “fifth stone” was one designed to stop the brain from leading the body, in the same way as the saying goes, “where the mind goes the body will follow.” Thus, the symbolism of “he fell face down on the ground” says the “face” worn by Goliath was one led by the “gods” [“elohim”] of the physical realm [“ground”], not the spiritual realm ruled by Yahweh. With the brain of Goliath incapacitated, the truth of the realm he served came forth: the death brought to all born of the material universe – “face down on the ground.”

As a primary Old Testament reading option [track 1a], this speaks loudly of how all who serve Yahweh do so by their hearts [souls] married to Him, in obedient commitment based on total faith and trust. We are all called to have the trust of a boy [a young child] in his Father, where it is not about how strong one appears outwardly, but how deep one’s love is for Yahweh. The fear felt by those who followed Saul, including the three oldest brothers of David, said they were committed to following a human king, rather than Yahweh; and, Samuel had warned the elders that their sons would be sacrificed in wars, for the laurels of that king. The brothers of David were prepared to die – expecting to die – but because they knew their fathers had made that promise. They were not prepared to die for Yahweh as their king.

This is reflective of how patriotism, faith and commitment to a government or principle of philosophy is wearing a face to the ground. It is not he same as a soul’s marriage to Yahweh, because the brain leads the body, even if the body shakes with fear of death. Not read today, but written in the omitted text, is how David’s eldest brother [whom Samuel thought, “surely this is the one”] became angered [a human emotion like fear], when David was asking others what the reward was for killing Goliath. David was asking, thinking surely someone – anyone married to Yahweh, thus an “elohim in Israel” – would jump at the chance to reap the rewards of faith in Yahweh’s greatness. His brother scolded David for asking such a question, saying David was only there to watch the coming battle and watch men die. Patriotism has that expectation as faith. Being an “elohim in Israel” does not, as Yahweh is one’s King.

As a reading choice for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when all should be like David and bravely be ready to begin a ministry for Yahweh, the message to receive here speaks of the fear that keeps one from making that commitment to the true God. The vast majority of Christians in the world are trembling with fear of death, even though they all know fear of death means they have committed to serve lesser kings, rather than marry a soul to Yahweh, the One true King. Many Christians become the Philistines, as they attack those who claim to be “He Retains God,” as true Christians only make the fakers be exposed as the enemies of Yahweh. The giants of religion – Judaism and Islam and others – and the giants of philosophy – Communism and Democracy – all stand at the front lines calling out to the cowards who profess to believe in the unseen, while trembling with fear because they know in their hearts [souls] they do not know Yahweh [they fear even saying His name].

The challenge of this reading is to slay oneself, because one’s own ego is the Goliath that forces one to be a slave to sin. Goliath lay face down in the dirt from which his body was made, after a holy stone [the Covenant] was sunk deep into his brain, incapacitating him. Egos grow so huge when left alone, so they are easy prey to be influenced by the whispers of Satan’s “elohim” – the seraphim or fiery serpents of demonic possession. The child within each of our souls needs to pick out the fifth stone that will fell one’s ego, so the ugly head of Satan’s possession can be chopped off, allowing one’s soul to be free to marry Yahweh and begin ministry.

1 Samuel, Language, Teaching

1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16 – The brotherly love of souls and the demonic possession of a king

January 6, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

——————–

This is the track 1b optional Old Testament reading for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If chosen it will be accompanied by a reading from Psalm 133, where David sang, “Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in unity!” The Epistle reading to follow will come from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, where he wrote: “We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way.” That will precede the Gospel reading from Mark, where Jesus asked his disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

The first part of this reading is at the end of chapter seventeen, after David had killed Goliath. The omitted verses tell that Goliath moved towards David without his sword drawn. In verse 7 we read that Goliath had a javelin across his shoulders, which means he took it into battle as an extra weapon, not one of first choice in individual combat. This says Goliath approached David as if he planned to tear him to pieces with his bare hands, seeing David as an unworthy opponent, not being armed with more than a “stick” [his “staff” or “rod” of shepherding]. We are also told in the unread verses that it was the stone David slung that killed Goliath; so, when David came up to the corpse, he unsheathed Goliath’s sword and used it to cut off his head. That symbolism needs to be fully grasped.

The tradition of death [regardless of what Muslims might make people think about the necessity of immediate interment for the dead] is that a body is not officially dead until after seventy-two hours [three days dead]. The Jews assign [and pay] watchers to be with a dead body until that time passes, as there is some history of people thought to be dead coming back to life. This makes Jesus raising Lazarus from death a miracle, because he had been dead four days. A beheading, however, ended all need to wait and see if Goliath was ‘only sleeping.’ [Unless you are Saint Denis.] The severed head of Goliath immediately let the Philistines know their champion was dead and not coming back to life. Thus, they ran in fear and the emboldened army of Saul took advantage of their fear and chased after then, wounding many and taking the spoils the Philistines left behind in their hasty retreat.

This means [also unread] when David took the head of Goliath [plus his armor, which David kept as a souvenir] to Jerusalem it was to display the truth of the defeat of the Philistines, without any doubt. With Goliath having been nearly ten feet tall, his head would have been likewise huge and much larger than a normal head, easily known to be that of a giant. Goliath’s head would have been quite heavy too [brain still intact] and look larger in David’s childish hand. Thus, David carrying the head of his quest – “in the name of Yahweh elohim” assisted – let all the people of Jerusalem know this boy of ten years of age was their champion; and, that would have included Saul, his uncle [the leader of Saul’s army] Abner, and Saul’s son, Jonathan. Therefore, the head of Goliath was a sign for all to take notice of this boy who held it.

As I wrote about the defeat of Goliath by David in another commentary, I summarized that Goliath needs to be seen as metaphor for one’s own ego, such that all human beings awaken daily to face an evil champion that strikes fear in one’s soul. The body of flesh has natural desires and it is the brain that must learn right from wrong [eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil], which comes from whatever religion one is raised to learn – whatever god or God one chooses to serve. When Goliath said to the fearful Israelites, “Surrender and become our slaves,” that is the same demand our bodies of flesh make upon our souls.

The soul trembles in fear, worrying about what would happen if one went out to challenge such an oppressive and seeming insurmountable foe. Souls routinely do surrender to the will of sin and submit themselves to Satan, rather than stand with Yahweh [married soul with Spirit divine] and fight, as did David. Until we hold the head of our egos in our hands, having cut it off with its own sword [a sheathed demon], we become the slaves of a world ruled by Satan [the banished serpent]. Thus, it is important to see this scene of David with the head of Goliath in his hand as the symbolism that tells all readers what one should do to one’s own “head,” that which leads a monstrous beast [a weak soul] that fears the punishment of death’s judgment by God.

In that regard, of self defeating the “elohim” that is the demonic possession of a soul that Goliath represents, the reason individuals tremble in fear and hide at a distance [not boldly come with the knowledge of a soul married to Yahweh, thereby being an “elohim in Israel”] is the ‘safety in numbers’ that is reflected in the influences that always say, “They do it. What makes you better than them?”

This is reflected in the eldest brother of David, Eliab, as well as all the fearful soldiers David spoke to after he arrived at the camp; but more importantly, the characters Abner and Saul surface when the troubles have been overcome. They are who then see David as a potential threat to their control, rather than celebrate a victory by Yahweh that saved Israel. This reflects upon the influence of family, friends, and those who are in leadership positions, as all others who are not souls married to Yahweh become the arms of Satan that come to persecute the righteous who walk with Yahweh.

When the reading turns the page to chapter eighteen, one finds the text speaking of “souls.” Verse 1 is translated by the NRSV to say, “the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” This must be understood metaphysically.

The Hebrew word translated as “was bound” is “niq·šə·rāh,” rooted in “qashar.” That root word means, “to bind, league together, conspire,” with the passive participle meaning “to knit together.” (Strong’s) According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word describes this intent: “bind up, make a conspiracy join together, knit, stronger, work treason.” While this speaks of the relationship David and Jonathan would have, as two sons of different mothers [and fathers] joining in league to assist one another under Saul’s familial roof, that “bond” goes far beyond their first meeting ever, written of in chapter 18. The use of “soul” [twice] cannot be read as some physical emotion emanating from Jonathan towards David, or vice versa.

The Hebrew word translated as “soul” is “nephesh” [written as “wə·ne·p̄eš” and “bə·ne·p̄eš”], which Strong’s says means “a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion.” Here, my assessment that “self” equals “soul” is confirmed; however, one needs to realize that a “soul” is from Yahweh, thus eternal, never dying. It enters a body at birth and then exits the body at death, never ending. To read that the first ever meeting between Jonathan [the princely son of Saul] and David [the common son of Saul’s servant Jesse the Bethlehemite] found their two “souls knit together” speaks loudly of reincarnation. This needs to be fully understood.

There are Goliaths in this world who read of this “love” between Jonathan and David and wallow sinfully by trying to make this “love” be homosexual in nature. Homosexuality is a Goliathan head of self-ego that needs to be chopped off, as it leads a body to sin, while the soul trembles in fear, unwilling and unable to say no to that monster’s bellows. When the NRSV translation states, “and Jonathan loved him as his own soul,” this is stating the two souls instantly knew one another from a past life. It was a prior life where both loved one another; a love that never ceased to be. This bring out the truth of reincarnation, which is also can explain [weakly] the motivation for homosexuality in human beings, as being a brain-body falsely identifying a present incarnation with one past, when one’s gender changes.

As David’s soul was anointed by Yahweh, with Yahweh seeing the “heart” [“soul”] of David to know he was the one for Samuel to pour oil on, that says Yahweh knew the “soul” of David as a “soul” reincarnated from a past life. Yahweh then knew the soul of David when that “soul” had served Yahweh faithfully, as some other name. When “Israel” is seen stated when David told Goliath he was an “elohim in Israel,” that can be seen as a hint that David’s “soul” was the same “soul” of Jacob, as it having reincarnated as David. In the story in Genesis of Jacob, he saw Rachel and fell in love with her beauty, working for Laban for fourteen years to marry her. The two would bring Joseph [and Benjamin] into the world. This means, if David’s soul was the soul of Jacob, then the soul of Rachel was the soul of Jonathan.

It must be realized that in a past incarnation of two souls, who were “soul mates” in the truest sense of that term, the two were then of opposite sex. Now, with Jonathan and David, the two have the same sex later. Because souls are eternal, their only need to reproduce comes when nature demands offspring to provide new bodies for returning souls. When a soul has married with Yahweh, becoming one of His elohim, then a neuter gender soul has become a masculine essence elohim. In those cases, the soul-flesh has no control of the elohim possession, so those souls do not feel immediate love for the purpose of having sex together.

Jacob and Rachel struggled having a child, as it was said Rachel was barren. In the same way, Abram and Sarai were two souls who loved one another deeply, with Sarai likewise barren. Certainly, in both those examples both partners souls were married to Yahweh, as His servants, with that duty coming first and far exceeding any natural call to reproduce and have children. The barrenness of the females is then an indication of the sterility of two of the same gender essence [two masculine elohim]. In a way, the lack of a need to have children says the two souls will forever have one another; but to have a child meant Yahweh would have to act to make that happen.

The souls of David and Jonathan can then be seen as also barren, simply because both their souls knew one another from a prior reincarnation, where both returned with the freedom to stay with Yahweh in heaven. They had not reincarnated because of a failure to marry Yahweh. They reincarnated willingly, to continue serving Him on earth. The two souls then recognized one another instantly, on a soul level [not physical]; and, the impossibility of two of the same sex making babies – the sterility that is the truth of homosexuality – was not close to entering their minds, as they were still elohim.

Because David had been anointed by Yahweh, knowing only what to do by the voice of Yahweh within, he would not entertain any sexual desires for Jonathan. He was only ten years old and would not know the natural calls to reproduce that a body of mature flesh makes upon a soul. Thus, the soul-mate love of two eternal souls simply states an automatic bond where all past, present and future meetings were felt, as shared by two souls always together; and, just as David, Jacob, and Abram were all filled with Yahweh’s Spirit, so too would be their mates in “love.” So, Jonathan was refilled by Yahweh’s Spirit when he first met David. The bond they shared together – called “love” – was God’s “love” in both their souls.

This is then stated in the NRSV translation of verse 3, which shows: “Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.” In that, the word “covenant” must be read in the same way that Moses came down with the Covenant that was the marriage agreement between Yahweh and the children of Israel. Moses did not ask if they all agreed to Yahweh’s terms, and when they said, “Yes. We do.” he then said, “Great! Let’s all have sex together because of a covenant!” This verse says Yahweh’s Spirit married the two souls of “Jonathan and David,” through a “covenant” that had both share the same spiritual Father, as divine brothers. Therefore, the “love” shared between Jonathan and David was the same NON-SEXUAL “love” that Jesus shared with his disciples, who would become apostles in his name. Tag, You’re it!

When we next read, “Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt,” this must be seen in the context that Saul had made the decision “not [to] let [David] return to his father’s house.” That decision made David become the adoptee of the king, as an honored servant in Saul’s household. This says Jonathan saw the dress of a shepherd on David; and, to remain in the king’s house meant wearing nicer clothes.

Jonathan is believed to have been older than David, so the armor given to David would be like hand-me-downs, sized for Jonathan when he was younger and smaller. Seeing how David was only ten and Saul had only been king for three years, Jonathan was most likely fifteen, having been fit for armor when he was just about to reach his growth spurt at puberty. The same can be said for the other clothes and weapons, as David would have been not fully grown at that point and would need smaller sizes to look appropriately dressed.

The element of David playing the lyre [or harp] and singing daily might mean his becoming a guest of Saul afforded him a harp to learn to play. He could have learned at home, and Jesse might have had the harp David played delivered to David, at Saul’s house. The point here is musical talent is a sign of a higher octave thought processes, where David most probably found a certain knack for playing stringed instruments, as his songs were divine insights that began flowing through him after the spirit of Yahweh came upon him. This mention of David being musical says he never ceased giving all honor and praise to Yahweh, even after he was taken in by the King of Israel. ‘Fame and fortune’ never went to David’s head.

The reading selection then skips forward in time. Properly attired as a warrior of princely status, before Saul assigned David to a command, which would not have been when he was ten, David would have entered a military training program. In that, he would come to know the soldiers in the ranks of the army, learning the ways of military life, as well as being seen in Jerusalem by the people, who knew he had brought peace by singlehandedly killing Goliath. While not a true prince of Saul’s blood, David was adopted as a sign of Saul wanting to be seen as showing favor to a son of the people. Thus later, when David began to lead the troops out and lead them back in, he was elevated in rank from a shepherd over a flock of animals, to being a commander over a flock of soldiers [a thousand men]. All of those soldiers would come to know his voice and depend on his presence for safety and protection.

When verse ten then begins by saying, “The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul,” the use of “mim·mā·ḥo·rāṯ” as “the next day” should not be read as so immediate. The better way to translate this is as “and it came to past another day,” where “morrow” bears the capability of some time in the future. Thus, after Saul had taken David into his house, allowing David to develop a friendship with Saul’s son, them becoming like brothers, allowing David to begin to have authority over men much older than he, with adoration seen by all the common folk, a change came over Saul.

The words that say, “an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house,” need to be more closely inspected. The Hebrew written is this: “rū·aḥ ’ĕ·lō·hîm rā·‘āh ’el- šā·’ūl , way·yiṯ·nab·bê ḇə·ṯō·wḵ- hab·ba·yiṯ,” which literally translates to say, “spirit gods evil possessed Saul , and it prophesied amid that dwelling.” This is telling that Saul’s soul became opened to demonic possession because of his jealousies over the Israelites’ adoration over David. The “morrow” is based on when Saul saw what he had allowed to come to pass, such that “the next day” this “evil spirit” adhered itself to Saul’s soul, making Saul an “elohim” controlled by a seraph. Rather than his “raving,” Saul heard voices “within” his being, such that his brain began to be led by the silent whispers that told him what was going to happen, with all that taking place “amid” his brain’s thoughts.

One must be able to see that Saul was far from being like David, whose soul was married to Yahweh, as an “elohim in Israel,” which was a divine possession. Saul was quite the opposite, such that the “prophesying” was telling Saul that David was the anointed one who would take his place. It was then the voice of Satan in his mind that told him to “smite” David [the meaning of “nakah,” which is translated as “pin”]. The thought that Saul could “pin David to a wall with a spear” would be like having a bug collection, where David would then be some prize addition to place on the wall. Thus, it was this evil influence that caused Saul to attempt to spear David to death.

Reading that “David eluded him twice” does not mean that David was stupid enough to stay around a demonically possessed Saul, long enough to let him throw another spear at him or write off one spear thrown at him as some accident, so he hung around and wrote the first spear off as “He must not have seen me.” David was led by the Mind of Christ [as an Anointed one of Yahweh], so “twice” speaks of David’s spiritual possession.

The Hebrew translated as “David eluded him twice” is this: “way·yis·sōḇ dā·wiḏ mip·pā·nāw pa·‘ă·mā·yim.” That literally says, “but turn about David two faces,” where “panim” is the “face” of Yahweh that was worn along with the “face” of David, due to the marriage of David’s soul to Yahweh’s Spirit. Wearing the face of Yahweh is actually the First Commandment in the marriage agreement read by Moses. In the same way that David defeated Goliath through his strong faith, David had Yahweh watching his back [one face forward, one face to the rear]. So, when Saul threw the spear, David’s soul knew when to move immediately, making the spear miss its target. There would only be one spear thrown, as that action proved Saul was led by an evil spirit.

That is summed up in the statement: “Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.” This is when Saul made David leave his presence, assigning him a thousand soldiers to command. That is when David began to mature with age and show more success, as one led by Yahweh. That was what led Saul to hate and fear David, more than he feared Goliath.

As an optional Old Testament reading selection for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, the season of ministry should be reflected in these words. The duality of Jonathan and David must be seen as why Jesus sent out the seventy in pairs and why the same paring is found in Peter and John of Zebedee and Paul and Silas, where a pair represents a source of spiritual reinforcement in the physical, which reflects the divine truth of a church – when two come together in Jesus’ name. It says ministry is greatly assisted by a partner also Anointed by Yahweh.

This reading then strongly confirms how ministry requires a divine possession, which can only come when a soul voluntarily seeks marriage with Yahweh, submitting one’s self-will to become a servant of Divine Will. On the opposite end of this spectrum of spiritual possession, Saul becomes a reflection of those who try to ‘go it alone,’ rejecting Yahweh’s marriage proposal. Doing that leads one’s soul to become weak and tired, so the winds can blow in an evil seed of thought, which takes root and grows to overcome one’s soul, possessing the body demonically. This becomes the warning Yahweh made to Cain, whose face became low to the ground [aka dead Goliath becoming face unto the ground], saying “Sin crouches at your door.” Saul let sin come into him, just as did Cain.

Job, Language, Teaching

Job 38:1-11 – The truth of girding one’s loins

January 6, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up your loins like a man,

I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone

when the morning stars sang together

and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

“Or who shut in the sea with doors

when it burst out from the womb?—

when I made the clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

and prescribed bounds for it,

and set bars and doors,

and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”

——————–

This is the third optional Old Testament reading selection possible [I call it track 2] that might be read aloud on the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, according to the lectionary of the Episcopal Church. This choice will be accompanied by a reading from Psalm 107, which sings, “Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose, which tossed high the waves of the sea. They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths; their hearts melted because of their peril.” To follow will be a reading from Paul’s second letter to the Christians of Corinth, where he wrote, “We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see– we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” All will accompany a Gospel reading from Mark, which says, “A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.”

The context of this reading, as coming in the thirty-eighth chapter of Job, is Yahweh’s first response to the constant prayers and pleas from Job, over a disease he questioned what he had done to warrant it. The story of Job up to this point has been one of staunch faith in God, all while the opinion of others was to forsake Yahweh and curse Him for having not remedied a wrong and His not answering Job’s prayers. This is the first eleven verses of a quite long soliloquy Yahweh spoke to Job. All readers become Job by extension, so Yahweh speaks to those reading as well.

In the first verse, the spoken aloud statement says, “and answered Yahweh to Job, saying.” The words that say “out of a whirlwind” are contained within parentheses, which says there is no physical tornado or circular motion wind blowing. The word translated as “whirlwind” also states “tempest,” which represented the personal “storm” Job had been facing. It is, therefore, this inner mind [soul sourced] turmoil that makes this choice be a perfect match for the Gospel reading from Mark, when Jesus calmed the sea. Thus, the “answer” given by Yahweh must be seen as Jesus’s response to his frightened disciples, where he calmed the winds, but asked them why they had so little faith. That same attitude is found in this answer to Job.

Because Job was identified as an upright man, thus righteous, whose faith never failed him, he did seek the counsel of others. The chapters prior to this one are the advice that counseled Job, as opinions that were from entirely different circumstances than Job’s, as none had ever been unjustly made to suffer physically. The last of these speakers who had come to Job with advice was Elihu, who spoke like he was very wise. This makes the “whirlwind” or the “tempest” be the circular arguments that surrounded Job, chopping the waves of his thought and threatening to sink his ship of faith. Therefore, when the question asked by Yahweh says, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” it was Yahweh responding to the tricks of Satan, who had argued that Job’s faith could be broken, bringing all Job’s unjust misery full-bore upon him.

When verse three is said to be: “Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me,” the better [literal] translation says, “prepare now like a warrior – the loins [of one’s soul]; and I will question you, and you shall answer me.” This verse needs to be seen in terms of young David entering into battle against Goliath, as he did not need to “gird his loins,” having only the “loins” of a ten-year old [nothing to gird there]. The Hebrew word “ḥă·lā·ṣe·ḵā” [rooted in “chalats”] means “loins,” but figuratively means “the seat of vigor,” as “yourself,” with a “self” equating to a “soul.”

A girded loin is a soul known to be protected by Yahweh, so even girls can have girded loins.

Thus, Yahweh was speaking silently to Job through the marriage that was the soul of Job with the Spirit of Yahweh. The questions and answers would be akin to David having two faces, which allowed him to elude the spear thrown at him by Saul. So, Job was not being asked by Yahweh to realize who Job had always come to depend on, trust, and have absolute faith in. Therefore, “gird your loins” means “protect your soul,” which comes with a renewal of the marriage vows Job had sworn with Yahweh.

The fourth verse then follows with the first question, which is shown to be “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” In this, it is important to see that a question was followed by a statement: “Where were you?” followed by “Tell me.” This pattern is repeated in the fourth through the seventh verses [four verses], such that a question is followed by a statement, even if the statement is perceived to be another question [rhetorical]. In this presentation, I will point out how the statement pertinent to verse seven is left out by the NRSV, where that omission is well worth realizing.

The realization that one must know, especially by seeing “loins” as a “soul,” is a soul is eternal, with no beginning and no end. Thus the answer to a question asking, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” is, “My soul was with you Father. Before I was born, I was part of you, one with the other.” The addition, “Tell me if you have understanding,” then says, when one’s soul is dressed like a warrior wife of Yahweh [and Job was that], then one always has understanding that comes through divine inspiration.

Verse five then shows as this: “Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?” In this, there is no exclamation point after “you know.” That ends with a question mark. The second statement does not have a question mark, as it ends with a period mark, denoting an addition to the first, not asked but stated. It is at this point that the Creation story is metaphor for the story of Job’s creation.

The measurement should be seen as a life given, before first breath when a soul enters flesh, until the death of that flesh, when the soul is returned. This makes the “line stretched upon” that life be the path of righteousness that Job’s life had followed since birth. The question as to “surely you know” says a soul foresees its pending lifeline and agrees to face all the challenges built into it, from a love of Yahweh. Job’s soul knew he would face this challenge he was then in; and, his soul had willingly accepted that test, prior to being born into the world.

Verse six is then shown to state: “On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone”, with no ending punctuation shown. The translation of the first half question [not indicated by the question mark presented in the Hebrew text] needs one be alerted to the word translated as “bases” being “’ă·ḏā·ne·hā,” rooted in “eden,” meaning “a “pedestal” of solid strength [from “’adown”]. This is then a question that asks, “Upon what foundation can anyone stand upright, without falling?” The additional statement that is not a question says [paraphrasing], “Only those whose cornerstone is Yahweh.”

Verse seven then has Yahweh ask, “when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?” The Hebrew text here is better translated as the truth that sings through metaphor. The verse actually says, “when sang united , the eternal light of stars bringing forth the day that was reason to shout with joy?” That is a statement of the marriage of a soul to Yahweh, as when that marriage took place a bright light of truth was shone [like a “star”] and the union of a soul with Yahweh’s Spirit brought about the elation of that union and dawning [“morning”] of truth. The question is then, “when is that not reason for celebration?”

It is here that the NRSV had omitted the subsequent important statement that follows this question of divine marriage. The Hebrew text written is this: “kāl-bə·nê ’ĕ·lō·hîm.” That translates as “all sons of the gods,” or “all sons elohim,” where the marriage of a soul to Yahweh’s Spirit creates a “son” that is one of the “elohim” of Yahweh. This defines the plural number of “elohim” as the “sons of God,” where all “gods” come with the masculine essence of the divine realm [of the Father]. All merged souls become godlike through that holy matrimony.

The NRSV omitted these words as a statement, because the presence of “elohim” would have forced them to translate “elohim” as “God,” making it say, “all sons God.” Genesis 1 states the Creation was done by “elohim” [32 times], which now is clarified as not “God,” but “all sons elohim” made everything. Unfortunately, that clarification would mean the scholars would have to present themselves as complete buffoons and idiots for taking a Hebrew word that is clearly “gods” being changed [selectively] into “God.”

Verse eight is then when the pattern changes to a verse of question, followed by a verse of statement, followed by two verses that ends as one question. Verse eight then asks, “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?” The word translated as “doors” is better read as “gates.” This is then a question of one’s birth into the world, such that the “sea bursting out of the womb” is a mother’s water breaking before giving birth. The question is now about the metaphor of a soul being poured out into a new body of flesh, as that must be understood by all living creatures. The question is, “What shuts the gates of heaven, once a soul has departed to the physical realm, asking what prohibits it from returning after the death of that new body of flesh?” The answer can only come from the souls who will either and then are led to be married Yahweh in the flesh. Those lost souls will be led to the same proposal of marriage, only to deny Yahweh; and, those souls are those who will close the gates of return on themselves.

Verse nine then offers the statement: “when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band.” In this, the “clouds” are the garments of a soul, which are the vapor droplets of eternity that surrounds the form of the flesh. It is the nebulosity of a brain’s ability to control all the functions of a body of flesh, without forethought or consciousness. Still, the “thick darkness” that is a “swaddling band” wraps that soul with an inability to know from where it came, nor where it must return. The darkness is the realm of the physical, which is the body of flesh that pretends to be alive, when it is merely the wrappings of a material existence that keeps a soul from reaching out to Yahweh and knowing where it must return.

Verses ten and eleven then form a long question, which states, “and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?” The segment of words that form verse ten then place focus on the establishment of “limits” a soul is allowed to stray, as there are “bars” placed upon the “gates” of heaven, which prevent a soul’s return. The Hebrew word translated as “prescribed” is “wā·’eš·bōr” [from “shabar”], actually means “to break, break in pieces.” As such, the “prescription” that is the “bounds” or “limits” [“ḥuq·qî”] is the elements that make up the Covenant of marriage, which is the Law sent to the Israelites from Yahweh. The “bars” on the “doors” that prevent a soul from returning to the heavenly realm are those “thou shalt nots” and “thou shall dos” of the Law. This is not an external paper memorized and attempted to follow; but instead, it is an internal commitment, made through marriage of a soul to the Spirit of God, which is always led to do what is right, by the voice of Yahweh. That guidance within is the only way those bars can be removed.

Thus, verse eleven then concludes this question by stating, “’Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?” In reality, the question does not include the words that say, “your proud waves.” That becomes an additional statement, with the question posed being, “when I said , even to this far you may come , and no farther —
and here must stop?” That says the question is asking, “When did I set a Law that says I only expect the minimum from a soul I marry?” This makes the additional statement say, “redemption is not based on fixed limits, but through the freely gushing Spirit that acts from faith and trust.” That says “pride” [from “biḡ·’ō·wn,” meaning “redemption”] is the joy of Yahweh’s “waves” within one’s soul.

This reading selection, if chosen, is designed to be read on the fourth Sunday after Pentecost because it speaks of the faith and trust in Yahweh that a soul must have, in order to move beyond the Law and enter ministry explaining what the Law means. It should be intuited that the arguments presented to Job by well-intended men were nothing more than advice given by the unknowing. The character Elihu [from the previous chapters of advice and counsel given] becomes symbolic metaphor for the Christian Church and Judaism [and all other religions and philosophies], as anyone who says he or she knows the answers, when in fact he or she has not married his or her soul to Yahweh. They come like Goliath or a whirlwind whipping up the waves of fear, as Satan trying his hardest to sink all souls who have removed the bars from the gates of heaven. Those bars can only be removed by each individual soul, as no one can remove any limits beyond one’s own boundaries of self.

This particular reading gives the impression that Yahweh was angry at Job, for questioning being Job’s unwise counsel, seeming to be His judgment that Job was a darkness upon Yahweh’s Almighty right to do as He pleases. For the first time, now, I saw this as Yahweh offering His full support to Job, because Job was an upright man, unjustly tested by Satan. Yahweh knew the soul of Job and knew he would not sink in the turbulence surrounding him, just as Jesus was not worried that the ship he slept aboard would sink. The patience of Job [as his story is so often called] is really a model of true faith and steadfast trust that Yahweh will save a soul from reincarnation, or worse. No matter what challenges the physical world might bring [and it brings a lot, in hopes of destroying faith], a soul must be married to Yahweh’s Spirit to have the comfort of knowing that no matter how hard life might become, it is only a split second of pain, well worth enduring to receive an eternity of joy.

2 Corinthians, Language, Teaching

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 – The expectations for being truly Christian

January 6, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,

and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

——————–

This is the Epistle reading for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow one of the three optional choices for the Old Testament and Psalm readings, which are too numerous to quote from each here now. This reading will precede the accompanying Gospel selection for this Sunday, which comes from Mark and says, “When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.”’

This reading begins innocuous enough by saying Paul wrote, “As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.” It gives the impression of a group of Paul buds “working together” in some modern Christian concept of “Christ” being the last name of Jesus, the only one who could ever be the “Christ.” It then goes on to seem to be Paul urging the Corinthians to believe firmly in “Christ,” because the “grace of God” that comes from simple belief that Jesus Christ died for the sins of every swinging dick in the world should not be taken lightly. Everything about that is false, beginning with Paul not once writing the word “Christos” or “Christ” in this verse.

The Greek of what Paul wrote to begin his sixth chapter to the true Christians of Corinth says, “Synergountes de kai parakaloumen mē eis kenon tēn charin tou Theou dexasthai hymen.” This literally translates to say, “Working together now kai we invite not towards pretentious who favor that of God to accept yourselves.”

In that, the capitalization of “Synergountes” must be seen as spiritually elevating the meaning beyond the ordinary, to the extraordinary of the divine. This means Paul was not attempting to say he and anyone else was “working together,” like in a partnership, like a club or organization. Instead, the capitalization was Paul saying his soul was “Working together” with the Spirit of Yahweh, as a spiritual marriage that placed two spirits in one body of flesh. That experience of Paul was – and must be seen as always – a statement that ALL TRUE CHRISTians had entered into the same state of being, through holy matrimony – two “Working together” as one.

The presence of the marker word “kai” says this “now” state of being is importantly announcing “we invite,” with “we” being the dual soul-Spirit of one true Christian and the “we” of all true Christians alike. It was through ministry that Paul “proposed” to all of belief in Yahweh [“God”] to likewise marry their souls to His Spirit. It is in that invitation they all present – the marriage proposal of Yahweh to those who want to save their souls from judgment of sins – that it must be clear the invitation is not for the pretentious, who have no true beliefs in God and never plan on giving up control of their human bodies of flesh to a divine possession in Spiritual marriage.

In the words that say “favor that of God to accept yourselves,” the NRSV translation as “grace” is too easily taken as some birthright, where nothing needs be done to earn acceptance. The Jews most certainly had such beliefs, which was the pretention that being born a Jew meant all the favor of God was theirs – automatically. In that sense, “grace” just fell in their laps, free of costs.

Christians today fall into the same pretentious trap, as all they think needs to happen to be saved is say, “I believe in Jesus Christ and God; and, I have been baptized by water.” The invitation to divinely marry a soul to Yahweh’s Spirit does not invite such expectations of “favor.” Yahweh will “accept your souls” [a viable substitute in meaning for “yourselves”], but not accept your souls without a total commitment of marriage, which means the submission of “self-will” and “self-ego,” without exception. The marriage agreement is what Moses brought down from Mount Sinai [the Covenant]; and, the first thing in that vow says [paraphrasing a little], “Thou shalt not possess an ego.” Therefore, the condition of “Working together” means Yahweh says “Jump,” and one jumps without question.

It is at this point of understanding that Paul quoted Isaiah 49:8, where the first person singular “I” must be understood as Yahweh speaking. Verse eight begins with the Hebrew, “kōh ’ā·mar Yah-weh,” or “thus says Yahweh.” Paul then quoted what Yahweh said, as “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

In this, the Greek word “dektō” is written and translated as “acceptable.” The word bears the intent of meaning “what is received favorably (acceptable), describing what is welcomed because pleasing.” The Hebrew word written by Isaiah [“ratson”] means, “goodwill, favor, acceptance, will.” This says the “timing” that brings about Yahweh listening to a soul’s needs are not based on Yahweh granting material or spiritual “favors” to souls first. Instead, everything is based on the timing when a soul has brought upon itself [from actions] the “favor” of Yahweh listening. That day is when salvation comes; and, salvation is only available for the wives of Yahweh; so, the acceptable time is when a soul has submitted itself unto Yahweh in marriage.

When Paul exclaimed, “behold!” [twice], he was saying, “see that the acceptable time of favor” is when one’s soul has become married to Yahweh. He continued by saying, “see that salvation has been granted” through that holy matrimony. The “favor” or “grace” can be thought of as a wedding gift, at that point, akin to a band of gold that forever binds two “together.”

Continuing with the bastardization of Paul’s letter by the NRSV, they say Paul wrote, “We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry.” This gives the impression that Paul and his pals in ministry were in no way trying to make anyone feel guilty for a life of sins. That version goes over very well in the “we forgive all sins in our church” degradation of Christianity to a social club [dues required]. In reality, Paul wrote in Greek: “Mēdemian en mēdeni diodontes proskopēn , hina mē mōmēthē hē diakonia .” This literally translates to say, “Nothing with no one giving a stumbling , in order that not should be slandering this ministry .”

In these two segments of words, where a comma between them separates the two and forces pause, so one can see two separate statements are made; the first begins with the capitalized word “Mēdemian,” which says “Nothing” on a divine level of meaning. To see this more clearly, notice that the third word is a repetition, in a lower-case spelling, as : “Nothing” and “no one” [or “nothing”]. The capitalized word states what one gives to Yahweh, which is “Nothing.” When a soul is “Not one” or “Not even one” that is “with” Yahweh, then “nothing giving” or “no one giving” [thus “no one receives in return”] is the result. There is “nothing” constituting a relationship that is “Working together.” It is then this lack of “giving” one’s soul to Yahweh [who receives “Nothing” of “favor”] that becomes a huge “stumbling block” in one’s path to redemption and salvation.

Following the comma mark, a new statement is made that is relative to that state of “Nothing” being exchanged as vows of marriage. It says “Nothing” relative to the Spirit of Yahweh, nor anything related to explaining Scripture, healing the sick, or casting out demons will be “given” by Yahweh to one undeserving, “in order that” the “ministry” of Apostles, which is a “service” unto God [not for self-embellishment]. This lack of Yahweh giving for “Nothing” is because to “pretend” to be a minister, claiming to be “in the name of Jesus Christ,” one would not be “slandering” Yahweh, but “slandering” one’s own soul. Thus, Yahweh will “find no fault” for the failures of soul to hear the proposal passed on by true priests in divine “ministry,” but woe be it to a liar’s soul that claims a relationship, when there is none. As far as salvation goes, those liars can expect “Nothing,” seen as “no one” in the eyes of Yahweh.

When verse four then states an exception, as “but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way, through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,” this seems to be Paul trying to convince the recipients of his letter of all the positives of his ministry. Instead, the truth has Paul literally countering his statements about the failures of souls to marry Yahweh, adding the true expectations a wife of God can look forward to. This is stated as: “on the other hand , with all , we are standing together our souls when God’s ministers , with endurance much , with persecution , with necessity , with difficulty”.

This says when Yahweh is married to “all” who are His wives, then this common bond means “all” will be “with” His Spirit and sent out as His “servants” or “ministers.” The aspect of “standing together” then relates back to the capitalized “Working together,” where all are “upright” as righteous, thereby “all are standing together” in the same name of holiness [the name “Israel”]. It is not the flesh that makes this claim, as it can only be “souls” [from “ourselves”] married to Yahweh. It is those souls that have been transformed into “elohim” [David said “elohim in Israel”], as “God’s servants.”

The repetition of the Greek preposition “en” must then be read as “with,” where “all are standing together” as “with God.” As such, when “with God,” a ministry brings about the expectation of it coming “with much endurance,” as the marriage is forever, not temporary. One must then expect the proposal of marriage to others will bring about “persecution,” both by those resisting the message of marriage and those converting, commencing a time “with persecution.” This must be seen as a test of one’s “endurance.” That says the next expectation that comes from “persecution” is such acts come “with necessity,” so one learns to trust Yahweh’s Spirit in all times of trouble. Then, the next expectation says “difficulty” is why one must be married to Yahweh, because times of trouble demand one’s faith be strong. Faith can only be strong through the personal experience of marriage to Yahweh.

Verses five, six and seven then continue this list of expectations, where all still begin with “en,” meaning “with Yahweh,” because withstanding these elements cannot be done alone. To see the word translated as “in,” one must see that also as “in” the name of Yahweh, which is the soul-Spirit marriage. As Paul was writing to those souls who had become just like his soul – married to Yahweh – then, on a secondary level, “with” extends to the other true Christians, who are likewise “with God” and “in the Christ [Anointed by God]” state of being, as His Son Jesus reborn [resurrected “in” them all]. As such, each and every “minister” [“servant-slave”] of Yahweh is His wife [males and females alike], whether or not they ever come together to meet-and-greet and drink coffee and eat little cakes. Ministry to Yahweh is not about ‘going to church,’ as it is about being a traveling tabernacle of Yahweh.

The literal translation of verse five then says, “with wounds , with watchings , with disturbances , with troubles , with sleeplessness , with atoning”. The NRSV makes this list include: “beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger,” which sounds like Paul is dissuading the Corinthians from ever making the career decision to serve Yahweh. This list, as collected in a new verse [there never was a limit to how much Paul could write in one verse], says the expectations of verse four still apply, as one alone with Yahweh. This list is now pointing out the places a minister of Yahweh will be sent, leading a minister to find others to be “with.”

In that regard, these true Christians will encounter those who have been beaten and have wounds, who need healing. While they might also be beaten and receive wounds, that falls under the headings of verse three that were “persecution” and “difficulties.” Thus, they will know of or hear of true Christians being “imprisoned” or being “watched” or “guarded,” and their ministries will take them to assist them in their confinements. Like Paul, there might be times when they are imprisoned as well, which is when their ministry is there.

As for “riots” or “disturbances,” this will be the occasions when oppression of the Jews [as well as Christians] will have overlords, like the Romans, forcing them to comply with pagan rules. A minister of Yahweh will help bring peace and calm to such conditions. As for “labors” and “troubles,” this would be the people they care for being forced to do “works” of slavery. Ministers like Paul will offer them the peace of Yahweh as the strength they need to withstand that pressure.

The aspect of “sleepless nights” is a sign of worries and mental anguish that keep one awake. Still, the metaphor says “sleepless” means always being awake, in the light of day that comes from always being led to the light. By spreading the message of divine marriage to God, all who have worries will cease. Lastly, in this category, the element of “fasting” is for “atonement,” not to satiate “hunger.” The ministers of God will show the hungry how to feed of the manna from heaven and atone for past sins through holy matrimony.

Verse six, according to the NRSV, shows the continuation as: “by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love”. All of these translations are accurate, but each must be understood to be accompanied by the word “en,” meaning “with.” The impression given by a weaker translation is that the acts done that withstand all the negatives of ministry allow one to call himself or herself all these qualities. The reality is no one can be pure, all-knowing, able to withstand “long-suffering,” or be truly kind, without being “with Yahweh.”

That is where the NRSV errs greatly in its translation, as they write “holiness of spirit,” when what Paul wrote [in Greek] is “en Pneumati Hagiō,” where two capitalized words state, “with Spirit Holy.” That states the marriage of a soul to Yahweh’s “Spirit,” such that the subsequent affect of that union says then one’s being will be made “Holy, Sacred, Set apart by God,” by His “Spirit” being present. That is being an “elohim in Israel” [as David termed it]; and, that is the only way any human being can ever “know love genuinely.”

This last element of “genuine love” makes verse six tell of a minister going into the world to propose marriage to Yahweh and likewise becoming His wife, which is a marriage based on “true love.” It is how one faces all the challenges of ministry happily, as one’s heart [meaning “inner man,” or “soul”] will be filled with joy. One cannot face the Goliath of the world without the inner peace of knowing Yahweh is “with” one; and, no matter how large and seemingly formidable an enemy might seem, it is always miniscule compared to Yahweh. One having “Holiness” on one’s side makes all the odds of failure go away.

Verse seven then is shown to state: “truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left.” In this, a better translation for “truthful speech” is more accurately stated as “with word of truth.” This must be seen as being that which is then restated as “with power of God,” such that no one will ever be able to convince themselves [their souls] to marry Yahweh and serve Him as His wife, without the Word that is Scripture. No minister of Yahweh is going to sow the seeds of opinion into the world and have them take root. Such words might bring in lots of donation dollars, mailed in by the shut-ins who love being told what they want to hear; but the “word of truth” means explaining Scripture so the truth of intent and meaning shines forth.

One who reads Scripture with a new set of eyes, having been taught how to read the truth for oneself, by a minister of Yahweh, will then see for himself or herself how to discern the truth, as deeper and deeper levels of truth are revealed to one personally – not simply told what to believe truth is there. This exposure of the “truth” is then known to be only possible from “the power of God,” because no human ever known to mankind can be smart enough to build in such truth alone. Exposing how to read Scripture becomes the “power of God” that makes one commit to marrying Yahweh divinely.

It is at this point in verse seven that a semi-colon is placed, which signals a separate statement is then begun, which has the same theme of the “power of God.” Here, this is now focusing on the “weapons of righteousness for the right hand kai left”. This shows the word “kai” between the word “right hand” and the word “left.” The separation says the two are not simply both hands on one body of flesh. The importance of “left” becomes why one needs “weapons of righteousness.”

The simple grasp that “righteousness” means “with approval from God,” with that meaning God lets one know what is “right.” The metaphor and symbolism of “left” is then “evil,” as the opposite of “right.” It is the truth of two trees in a garden, where one offered fruit that allowed one to know what was “good” and what was “evil.” That means what is “right,” so “left” reflects what is “wrong.” In Latin, the word “sinister” bears the meanings: “left , on the left hand; wrong, perverse; unfavorable, adverse.” Therefore, the ability to be “righteous” in a world that loves sin [the “left”] means one needs the “weapons” or “tools” that defeat evil. One uses those weapons as the “right hand” of Yahweh on earth.

Verse eight then lists some opposites that reflect the “right hand” and the “left.” The NRSV displays these as: “in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true”. Here in this verse, the continuing word “en” is replaced by “dia,” meaning “through” or “for the sake of,” to then be replaced by “hos,” meaning “as” or “like as.” Therefore, a literal translation shows Paul writing: “for the sake of honor kai disgrace ,
for the sake of using evil words kai praise ; as deceivers kai truthful”.

These opposites show the options a soul has, whether it has married Yahweh or not. As one of religious beliefs, a soul alone in a world with a body of flesh that is made from the same materials, is constantly pulled to decide: Do I follow the ways of what my religions says is right? or, Do I do what feels right, when I know it is wrong? This is the constant problem when one rejects Yahweh’s guidance, in order to keep one’s self-ego, thinking it is in control and knows what is best. Sometimes, a soul will do what is honorable, but then at other times a body will lead a soul to do something disgraceful. Sometimes a soul will spread gossip and tell lies about someone else; and, then turn around and tell the person talked about how well one appreciates that person’s life. Sometimes a soul will be deceitful to itself and others, while at other times the soul will know the truth of itself, because others will call out a lie when one has been exposed.

The problem with these opposite extremes is they all mean a soul has failed to only do good. The aspect of facing the truth becomes a time of epiphany, when one realizes its soul cannot go on like a yo-yo. This is then continued by Paul in another separate but relative verse, following another semi-colon. The NRSV, however, shows it as a new sentence that says, “We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see– we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed.” In reality, this is the literal translation of what was written: “like as being ignorant , kai being perceptive ; like as dying , kai behold! , we live ; like as being trained children , kai not put to death”.

From being exposed to the “truth” of one’s wayward ways, to accept Yahweh’s proposal and marry with His “Spirit,” becoming steadfast in “righteousness” so one is “Sacred” on earth as God’s “right hand,” Paul then listed what that seems to be “like.” He did that in a series of opposites.

When Paul said being filled with the Spirit of Yahweh is “like being ignorant,” that says one’s brain has stopped leading one’s soul, such that everything one thought before was why one was spinning like a yo-yo, going up and going down, uncontrollably. Being ignorant is then the release of self-knowledge, so one can then receive the divine insights sent by Yahweh. This becomes the “perception” that exposes the truth that had been hidden before. To release one’s self-knowledge, one has to figuratively “die” of self-ego, which is “like as dying.” The aspect of a human body being a place of death for a soul [it is a corpse without a soul] says the illusion of life is animated flesh, when flesh is always destined to return to dust. Thus, when Paul said, “behold! We live,” this speaks of a soul having earned eternal life, beyond the time in the flesh [no reincarnation].

This then led Paul to write [in Greek], “paideuomenoi,” which the NRSV has translated as “punished.” The word’s root [“paideuó”] means, “to train children, to chasten, correct” (Strong’s Definition), while the intent says, “(a) I discipline, educate, train, (b) more severely: I chastise.” (Strong’s Usage) HELPS Word-studies says the proper intent says, “to train up a child, which includes punishment.” This exclusion of being trained to do good or right by punishment, as a training of children [not adults] means it is harder to see how “punishment” can lead to an opposite that says, “yet not killed.” The truth of what Paul wrote can be seen as a child of God being trained to only do good, so one’s soul will not be put to death when the body of flesh ceases to support a soul within it. Learning to do right leads to salvation; and, that means sins bring about the punishment of no eternal life. Only good escapes death; and, only good is possible through a soul’s marriage to Yahweh.

The NRSV then translates verse ten to state: “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” In this, the verse transition denotes the changes known after marriage with Yahweh’s Spirit, having received the promise of eternal life. Here, the opposites are stated to be the remembrance of the causes of “sorrow” from past sins done, while also knowing the joy of having been forgiven for past deeds, with a commitment to forevermore do good. It was that past self that was “impoverished” spiritually, due to the debts of sins never being less than whatever profits one made in the material world. The promise of redemption says all past debts have been paid, because one’s soul has become rich from faith. That faith is so plentiful that it can and must be shared with other souls. This says that everything owned in the material world can never be taken into the spiritual world, so the selling of a soul for material gains leaves a soul with nothing [not even its own soul]. However, as Paul wrote “kai panta katechontes,” meaning “kai everything possessing,” this states a divine “possession” by the “Spirit” of Yahweh, making one a “Saint.” That then makes “everything” under God one’s own, through marriage.

Verse eleven is then said to say, “We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.” This is wrong, as the first word here is a capitalized “Τὸ,” which means “This,” which must be read as stated in a divinely elevated way. “This” reflects back on the statements in verse ten, which are the transformations that take place in all Apostles and Saints. When “This” is realized in that manner, as Paul saying, “This” is the only way to prevent the punishment of a soul after death, he then literally wrote, “mouth of our souls has spoken freely towards your souls , Corinthians ; this inner self of ours has been broadened”.

In that, the physical elements of “mouth” and “heart” have been raised spiritually, so the “mouth opened” is the voice of Yahweh coming forth. It comes from “souls” married to Yahweh, communicating with other “souls” that have been led to that same arrangement. That which has been “spoken” is the truth of Scripture and the proposal of marriage, agreeing to the Covenant.

The separation by commas and the capitalization of “Corinthians,” gives the impression [the separation is omitted from the NRSV translation] of a group of recipients of a letter in Corinth. The separation and capitalization makes this name have a divine elevation in meaning, more than a plural number of people in the place named Corinth. While there is nothing clearly stated as to what Corinth was named for [its meaning], the prefix, “kar-,” is said to mean “point,” or “peak.” [source]

Due to the position of the place being where the Isthmus of Corinth joins Peloponnese, that geographical aspect means the divine statement says a “Corinthian” is at the “Peak” or the lead “Point” for a collection of souls marrying Yahweh. This is then the model of a community of Christians, indicating there were many who were ‘converted” when Paul went there in his ministry.

That conjecture is then assisted by the following segment of words that refer to the “heart,” where “kardia” means “inner self” or “soul.” This says the ‘lifeblood’ of Christianity pumped through such places, where souls willingly accepted news of a marriage proposal made by Yahweh. This makes Corinth be symbolic of the “heart” of the Church that would truly be “Christian,” as all members were of a like mind – all the wives of Yahweh, all in divine ministry together.

Verse twelve then literally states, “not you are compressed by our souls ; you are made narrow on the other hand with these inner affections of your souls”. In a way, these opposite uses of the Greek word “stenochōreisthe” can be seen as the pumping rhythm of a heart muscle, where it compresses or contracts and then releases, pushing red blood out [arteries], as it draws blue blood in [veins]. Paul was saying their presence that touched those Christians with Yahweh’s love were not owed anything in return. However, once touched, those true Christians knew it was vital to continue ‘beating’ so Christianity thrived and grew. That growth would demand a free flow of Yahweh’s love for others to feel.

The final verse in this reading selection then has Paul writing: “that now the soul reward , like as to children say , loving growth kai your soul.” In this translation, the Greek words “autēn” and “hymeis” have been translated as “soul.” The word “autēn” is rooted in “autos,” which means “self, same.” The word “hymeis” is rooted in “su,” as the second person plural form of “you,” or “yourselves.” Wherever these words are written, the intent is to read a “self” as a soul. Thus, saving a “soul” is the “reward” or “recompense” of service [ministry] to Yahweh. Along that path after divine spiritual marriage, one is renewed, “like to children” being restored, who say what comes into their minds. It is a marriage based on “loving growth” to Yahweh, one’s Husband [regardless of human gender], and that is all important [“kai”] to one’s “soul” or “self.”

As the Epistle selection for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when ministry to Yahweh should be underway, this lesson from Paul speaks loudly of what it takes to become a minister and what one should expect afterwards. The whole New Testament, after the four Gospels, is about the “Acts of the Apostles,” such that touching souls to marry Yahweh is the mission one is sent out to do. Writing letters of fellowship and encouragement is continuing part of that ministry. This loudly screams, “BEING A PRIEST IS NOT SOME ALL HOLY JOB THAT KEEPS YOU FROM GOING TO SEE PEOPLE IN NEED, INCLUDING COMMUNICATING WITH ALL YOU HAVE CONVERTED!!!” The problem that exists these days is nobody is pumping the blood of Christianity. It has been hooked up to artificial pumps, meaning it is on life support.

Language, Mark, Teaching

Mark 4:35-41 – Taking a boat ride with Jesus

January 6, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

——————–

This is the Gospel selection for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 7], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. There will be read aloud an Old Testament and Psalm preceding this reading, chosen from three optional pairings. Those are too numerous to quote from now, but they deal with the boy David and Yahweh responding to Job’s pleas for explanation. They will be presented before the Epistle reading from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, where he quoted Yahweh speaking to Isaiah, saying, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

In this reading from Mark, we have a second Sunday in a row where the Gospel selection comes from Mark’s fourth chapter. Last Sunday I pulled from earlier in Mark 4, where Mark wrote that Jesus spoke to his apostles in parables. He then told the two parables of the seed growing to harvest and the mustard seed growing to become the largest tree in the garden. In between that reading’s ending and this reading’s beginning are these two verses:

“With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.” (Mark 4:33-34, NRSV)

By seeing that synopsis leading to the first verse in this reading: “When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.”’ It becomes important to see a positioning of Jesus as his presenting parables from the mountain leading up from the northeastern shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had moved to that higher position to preach, after first speaking to the crowd from a boat that had taken him there. He spoke from a boat to keep the crowd from mobbing him; but the ‘sermons from the mount’ indicated Jesus moved to a higher platform from which to preach, so the crowd would not attempt to climb up. Additionally, from that position the acoustics were perfect for a crowd below to clearly hear everything he preached. It was then in the safety of the mountain that Jesus would dismiss the crowd and then privately talk with his disciples. Therefore, “to go across to the other side” has the logistical meaning of sailing via boat from the northeastern shore (where an open floodplain afforded space for a large crowd, when the dry season had come), to the western shore where the docks at Capernaum were and where the boats of the apostles were kept moored.

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale A tale of a fateful trip …”

While this logistical meaning is certainly one true way to read this, it is important to remember that Mark is (as I call him) the Sergeant Friday [Dragnet reference] of the Gospel writers, where he only wrote “just the facts,” with nothing superfluous attempted. This means the first verse, which seems rather tame and scene setting, is adding an element of specificity that should not matter overall. Therefore, it needs to be questioned, as to why Mark saw fit to add this as a “fact.”

That close inspection shows that the first word [omitted by the NRSV] is a capitalized “Kai,” which is the marker word that signals importance to follow, where a capitalized marker word means much importance, more than normal. By looking at the Greek text written, one sees that more of this first verse has been omitted, such that Mark actually wrote: “Kai legei autois en ekeinē tē hēmera , opsias genomenēs , Dielthōmen eis to peran .” This literally translates to state: “Kai he said to them on that one same day , evening having come , Let us pass through into this beyond”. The NRSV includes a translation of the first segment of words, but the Episcopal Church has omitted them from presentation; and, they need to be understood as pertinent.

The great importance that must be seen in this reading is stated in the words “legei autois,” which translates as “he said to them.” “He” is Jesus and “them” are his apostles, but that is on the physical level of understanding. This whole reading needs to be understood on a Spiritual level of meaning.

These exact same words are written by John, when he said Jesus mysteriously appeared in the place where his apostles were holed up. The mystery of that appearance is it was an apparition, as a Soul-Spirit. Thus, when John wrote, “legei autois , Eirēnē hymin,” or “he said to them , Peace to you,” there was nothing orally spoken aloud. [from John 20:19] Everything communicated was telepathic, from one Soul-Spirit to other souls. Therefore, the Greek words “autois” and “hymin” need to be grasped as equally translating as “selves” and “yourselves,” with “selves” being understood as meaning “souls.” Therefore, what Mark says is of great importance as “Jesus spiritually commanded souls on that one same day.”

In that important segment of words, the words that say “same day” [“tē hēmera”], the translation of “tē” as “same” is allowable, where “the one” becomes an indication of that day when Jesus explained the parable of the mustard seed to them. Still, the element of “day” must be seen as less a time when the sun was shining in the sky, and more as a statement of how Jesus’ explanation of a parable became a light of truth shone in their souls [hearts]. That dawning of “day” meant they had understanding. It says the willingness of the apostles to listen to the truth being exposed to them [their souls] made them become enlightened.

That enlightenment then became symbolic for their “evening having come,” which is metaphor for their last hours of light [evening of day] as human souls led by a human organ of flesh – their brains. In all their lives [however many years they each had lived], the disciples had used their brains to memorize Scripture, but they had never been able to understand the meaning the words of Scripture contained. Jesus explained that meaning in parables, so each who listened would have to ponder the meaning of a comparative story and reach a personal conclusion of the truth. The apostles asked to be told more, in clearer communication; and, Jesus filled them with spiritual insight that expanded their knowledge. Therefore, they had entered into the dwindling time when their souls were controlled by their fleshy brains alone.

In the spiritual command given by Jesus, Mark capitalized the word “Dielthōmen,” which is the second aorist active subjunctive first person plural, meaning Jesus made a suggestion that was relative to the future state of the apostles’ souls. By hearing his say, “Let us pass through into this beyond,” this was him talking to their souls, not their flesh. This is then elevated to a divine level of understanding [the indication of capitalization], such that the suggestion was greater than him orally saying, “let’s get in the boats and sail over to the other side of the sea.”

It becomes Jesus telling his apostles they would begin to intuit what he knew, as one together. As “Us pass through” the separation that existed between their brains and the Mind of Christ that was possessed by Jesus dissipated in a dream or vision. As “Us,” the divine elevation was the souls of the apostles would become one with the Soul of Jesus, so in that Spiritual pairing all would be found “going beyond” that which was ordinary, entering “into the extraordinary” that was divine possession.

When this is seen, the reading takes a higher level of meaning, even as the basic meaning is still the truth of one event in ancient history. This then says the words that say, “And leaving the crowd behind,” or more accurately: “kai having left alone this common people,” this importantly states Jesus and his apostles were no longer one with the world of humanity, but instead one with the Spiritual realm.

At this point, Mark then wrote what is translated to say, “they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.” Again, knowing the physical logistics of the Sea of Galilee and some apostles were fishermen who owned boats, one of which took Jesus to the floodplain where he would preach and teach those who followed him there, this needs to now be seen in a higher spiritual way. In that approach, the Greek text must be realized, such that a literal translation actually has Mark writing: “they received his soul like as it was in this vessel ; kai other vessels he was with of soul”.

As that translation makes this verse be more clearly stated in a spiritual sense, the symbolism of a “boat” must be seen more generally as a “vessel.” In this, one must realize that the church “nave” is shaped like a “boat,” which makes it symbolic of riding in a vessel with Jesus. Rather than be a physical boat, the meaning is a transcendental elevation of the souls of the apostles, so their souls were with the Soul-Spirit of Jesus. Thus, following the semi-colon and the use of “kai,” the importance that needs to be understood is there were “several souls” [intuited from “other vessels”] that were each one – collectively and individually – with Jesus spiritually. They were all in the same Spiritual “boat” together.

With all of the apostles having been [basically] put into a divine trance, where this experience seemed to each as a real event, it must be understood that each element of this imaginary series of threats [storms and waves, impending doom] was a premonition of the future, brought to all of them by Yahweh. To better understand the segments of this ‘dream’ or ‘vision’ is to break down verses 37 to 41 in a literal translation, which differs from the translation offered by the NRSV. That presentation is as such [please read slowly, with thought, while comparing that below with any other English Bible translation]:

37. Kai becomes a whirlwind great breath ,

kai these waves were thrown over into this vessel ,

therefore now at length is being filled up this vessel .

38. kai soul he was on this stern ,

upon this pillow sleeping .

kai they raise up soul kai them saying to soul ,

Master ,

not is it anxiety to you that we perish ?

39. Kai having been aroused completely he warned this breath kai commanded to this sea ,

Silence ,

be muzzled .

kai was stilled this breath ,

kai there became calm great .

40. Kai he brought word to souls ,

Why cowardly are you ?

not yet possess you faith ?

41. Kai they were frightened causing fear great ,

kai were answering towards one another ,

Who therefore here exists ,

because kai this breath kai this sea harken to soul ?

In this presentation, where each segment is presented separately and each use of “kai” is made readily visible as a marker, not a simple conjunction, this makes it easy to see a divine vision being shown to all of the apostles. The “storm” actually translates to “a whirlwind,” which is what Yahweh came from, when he spoke to Job [a possible accompanying Old Testament reading]. It was not a physical tornado or hurricane or squall line of “wind,” but the marriage of a soul to Yahweh’s Spirit. As such, the Greek word meaning “wind” has been modified so it matches the Hebrew word “ruach,” which means “wind, breath, spirit.” This substitution is so the presence of the “whirlwind” brought forth the “great breath” that is eternal life.

The metaphor of “waves” that were filling the “vessel” can then be seen as the verses of Scripture that Jesus had been explaining to his disciples. One after another, Sabbath after Sabbath, the deeper meanings were coming into their souls, which were all part of the Soul-Spirit of Jesus [his vessel]. Because they were on the sea in the ‘ship of Jesus,’ understanding was filling them with Yahweh’s Spirit. It was growing so great it was seeming to be too much, as all-engulfing them, because this absorption of new knowledge was new to them all.

While they were busying taking it all in, Jesus was not leading them. He had left them alone to ponder what he offered, so they could see what he was seeing, on their own. The metaphor of Jesus sleeping says Jesus had died. That becomes prophetic of that “beyond,” which is the future. Jesus was not harmed by this death, as he was comforted by Yahweh – his pillow. Jesus’s death had him positioned in the rear of this most holy vessel of union, which is symbolic of the soul of Jesus being one with the souls of the apostles, where they were “in the name of Jesus,” but not appearing like Jesus physically. The symbolism is their bodies of flesh had become the kingdoms of Jesus, where his soul was merged with their souls; so, the soul of Jesus was resting within their beings. The rebirth of Jesus within their souls meant he was there, but not oppressively commanding their souls to do this or do that. Jesus asleep in the stern says he was there with them all, but they had the responsibility of sailing the vessel that was Christianity [living righteously].

To have their fears [pressures to sin] make Jesus “awaken” says all worldly threats will always bring about the soul of Jesus to raise up and direct the soul of a disciple. In the vision, the apostles all confessed Jesus to be their “Master” and “Teacher,” which says their souls were indeed married to Yahweh’s Spirit. Jesus’ soul was resurrected in each [all at once, individually and collectively] as the consummation of that new Spiritual marriage. The question asking, “Are you not worried that we will perish?” is about the inability of a soul alone to prevent worldly sins, which means death will bring the judgment of recycling a soul [reincarnation]. Still, their asking that question was a sign of doubt, as if Jesus was the only way a sinking ship [one’s soul] could be saved from death [drowning in a world of sin], when their marriage to Yahweh should lead them to never question, especially not from fear, because their souls would have the utmost trust in their Spiritual Husband’s protection.

When there is mention of the “sea,” this must be seen as the metaphor David used in a psalm, where the Leviathan swam. The “sea” is the collection of all souls created by Yahweh, where those that have married Yahweh [His “hands” on earth] will find the Leviathan is the deep swimming possessor that protects those wifely souls, as His Spirit. For lost souls, in need of salvation, those who reject divine union with Yahweh will be possessed by evil spirits, making the Leviathan become a monster.

As such, the great importance of verse 39 is Yahweh coming forth as the fiery serpent of divinity that warns all who question the promise of immortality in His breath of life. Thus, the command to the sea is to the collection of souls promised Salvation, where Yahweh commands, “Silence, be muzzled!” With that command, all worldly fears cease to be perceived as anything to worry about. The souls have “Peace.” It will also be the command given by Yahweh when Peter tried to be important Simon bar Jonas and figure a thing or two out on his own, when he would see Jesus with Moses and Elijah. “Silence” is how Ezekiel responded when Yahweh asked, “Mortal, can these dry bones live?” “You know, Yahweh” is the response of true faith that is “Silently muzzled.”

In verse 40, this is still the voice of Yahweh speaking to souls, even if Jesus spoke to his apostles in the same way, about their same fears of the world. The first question takes a harder translation than simply stating them being “fearful.” The Greek word “deiloi” says, “cowardly, timid, fearful.” This is a question that askes all of Jesus’ apostles souls, “Why would anyone ever fear something lesser than Me, unless one is cheating on Me?” Keep in mind that even the soul of Judas Iscariot had this experience. This says doubt becomes the weakest link in one’s ‘chain of life lessons’ towards true faith; and, Judas was that weakest link. Thus, the follow-up question was asking, “Who will change or leave so faith can be found?”

Verse 41 can then be seen as the collective realizing that a total commitment was demanded to ride in the vessel of Salvation, as each soul was responsible for having complete trust in the Spirit of Yahweh, just as Jesus was demonstrating to them as a physical manifestation. They then turned to each other and questioned who was there who did not have complete faith in Yahweh? There can be no one who exists eternally [a soul, breath, wind], whatsoever, without Yahweh. It is vital to have the breath of eternal life. Therefore, is is important to know becoming a water droplet in the “sea” of lost souls demands that soul “harken,” or be cast out [evaporation into the belly of the Leviathan?].

It is a short and sweet reading like this that has young wet-behind-the-ears priests stand on some rise that is a podium on an alter [even the old grizzled and gray ones too], as if he or she is on the mountainside, preaching down to the ignorant masses below. Never once do they teach the ignorant masses how to become Jesus reborn. Never once do they do any more than appear for thirty minutes at a Bible study class and offer those studious disciples seeking to learn some lame excuse for the meaning of Scripture. Instead of teaching the truth, they say something like, “It is the mystery of Scripture that we find so beautiful. It can mean anything to anyone.” Not once did Jesus feed his apostles such a load of crap. The churches today have all become led by those reborn as Judas Iscariot.

By reading this portion of Mark’s fourth chapter as if Yahweh held the hand of Mark as he wrote these words, intentionally having Mark write words with a duality of meaning – two stories, both true, in one set of words. It becomes a test like verse 41 questions, “Who here exists that can harken to the meaning, because these words are spoken to the soul?” It is as Paul wrote, where two of the talents of the Spirit of Yahweh are prophesying and understanding prophecy. Scripture is prophecy written by the hand of God, demanding another hand of God explain it. That is what Jesus did in his ministry. That is what Jesus does in his continuing ministry, resurrected as a soul alongside a saved soul (the good Leviathan), who has a meaninglessly different body of flesh (one that is either male or female and one that does not look like the Jesus of the children’s church picture books). It is not what anyone else did in synagogues and the Temple. If a priest today cannot see what Mark wrote and explain it for another soul to understand, then that priest does not have his or her soul married to Yahweh. He or she is thus a hired hand or a false shepherd.

This reading selection was purposefully chosen by elders of the Episcopal Church, at a time when some of them were indeed filled with the Spirit of Yahweh and were made Saints who set up the lectionary cycle. In doing so, they decided spiritually that Mark 4:35-41 would be read on the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, because that is when a true ministry that serves Yahweh should be underway. The only reason Saints are not escalating the growth of Christianity today [as it sinks in the muck of being some social club] is because Satanic atheism and political activism wants to kill all religious influence from God that Jesus’ soul reborn into Saints has provided.

The Age of Reason has killed off most Saints, using the weapons of science and philosophy [all worshiping Big Brains; the error of rejecting divine union and eternal commitment to Yahweh]. The Republic has stolen the buildings of worship and replaced Saints with pedophiles and community organizers that condemn the very people who show up to be fed the truth of Jesus. Just like the failures of the Jewish synagogue system, where rabbis danced to the tune of the Temple scribes and political extensions from the Temple (Pharisees and Sadducees like the precursors of Democrats and Republicans), masses of people are leaving the ‘Church,’ seeking some flood plain at the base of an overarching mountain, where the voice of Yahweh will preach the truth of the meaning of Scripture, so each individual soul (be it in a male body or a female body) can be led to a total vow of commitment to Yahweh, with that marriage being consummated by the wife soul giving birth (a virgin birth, having been wiped clean by the Spirit of Baptism) to a newborn Jesus – born again from above. Alas, it is harder to find where Saints preach these days; and, short attention spans make listening to (or reading) the truth seem like a soul has something better to do.

The time has come to stand up for one’s own soul. That can only be done by questioning the true, hidden meaning of Scripture. One needs to see the truth for oneself, with one’s own eyes, processed by one’s own brain. If that does not lead one to read the accompanying Second Corinthians reading and exclaim, “That’s me!” then forget about all the pretense of being saved and going to heaven. If Paul is not speaking to one personally – soul to soul – then it means you hate most other Christians, simply because the blackness of one’s soul is too uncontrollable to keep hidden.

Explaining the Readings

Tag Archives: Proper 7 Year B

1 Samuel 17: 1-49 – The faith that slays evil

1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16 – Facing the challenges of ministry

Job 38:1-11 – Where were you when God was Creating?

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 – In a day of salvation

Mark 4:35-41 – Let us go across to the other side

1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 – Felling Goliath

1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16 – The brotherly love of souls and the demonic possession of a king

Job 38:1-11 – The truth of girding one’s loins

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 – The expectations for being truly Christian

Mark 4:35-41 – Taking a boat ride with Jesus

The Episcopal Lectionary Discerned