God designed you to think together with Him in love. Why would you desire to think any other way? God designed you to walk together with Him in love. Why would you desire to walk any other way? God did not design you to be alone. He made all people everywhere to be of one blood. The soul of life which God created is in the blood. All people were made to be together, together with God, to think with God, to walk with God, to be born, to live, to practice love with one another with God and not to die. Why would we desire to go it alone without God, so that when we fail and fall not be able to rise up again? Read more...
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Series: What Is The Meaning of the Word, "Corporate," When Applied to Humanity? #1
From Adam to Abraham
Anthropology may speak of Individualistic or Collectivist cultures. The meaning of these terms can help us think about the Biblical definition of Humanity. The Bible defines Humanity as being corporate. In the Bible the individual human being is not the definition of what Humanity is or is all about. The Torah states definitively about the creation of the first Adam that it was not good for Adam to be a solitary individual. The narrative is teaching that the solitary individual human being does not represent God's design of Humanity. A cultural norm that is built on this idea is therefore not based on the Bible. Nor is a collectivist cultural norm based on the Bible that is an expression of an attempt to counter or correct individualist alienation in a social structure by collecting many individuals together through human artifice in some hierarchical structure or some other structural network.
The Bible does not reveal a design of Humanity that establishes a whole by collecting individuals together but a design of Humanity that grows individuals out of an original organic corporate whole. The male/female structure of Humanity, the marriage structure, is the basis of the corporate nature of Humanity. As Paul said in Athens in Acts chapter 17, God made all Humanity of one blood.
When God made His One Eternal Covenant with Abraham and with Israel He began the corporate redemption of Humanity. This introduces a great mystery and difficulty into the challenge of understanding the corporate nature of Humanity itself, into the very meaning of the word, "corporate," in relation to Humanity, as defined by the Bible.
The Galut as Helping To Define the Meaning of the Word, "Corporate"
The promise of the land to Abraham is at the heart of the One Eternal Covenant. That the Land would itself expel the people if they did not prove faithful to the covenant is also therefore of the essential nature of the covenant. In terms of the Covenant and the Land, both in receiving the people of Israel and in expelling them if they prove unfaithful, the Land only recognizes the people corporately.
When Israel came up on G-d's eagle wings, so to speak, out of exile, the galut of Egypt, a representative corporate part of Humanity, of Adam, was being redeemed, in accordance with G-d's one eternal covenant. When Israel camped before the mountain to receive the Torah, Israel did so as if one person, one body. This is made clear by the singular form of חנה Chanah (khaw-naw') in the expression, וַיִּחַן-שָׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל "and encamped there Israel" in Shemot/Exodus 19:2. This says that Israel received the Torah in the singular, corporate form. In Israel's receiving the Torah, it was not every individual being addressed first in isolation and then asked if they would, or even told to, come together, form a collective and create a nation. Every individual was addressed because the corporate whole of the nation was addressed as the nation was defined by the word of G-d, by the one eternal covenant of G-d. There would be laws that were only for priests, laws that were only for kings, laws that were only for judges, etc. All 613 commandments would have to be fulfilled, all at their proper times, forever, and it would require one corporate nation to do this. Thus, taken as one, the whole Torah was a commandment of unity and a definition of Humanity as G-d defined it.
When Israel came up out of Egypt and received the Torah as one corporate entity, she was in the process of being redeemed. This stage of her redemption was only fully accomplished when she actually crossed the Jordan river and entered into the Holy Land. We will see that just as the exile, the galut, can only be a corporate action, so redemption can only be a corporate action. Theories of redemption and of atonement that centre on the individual human person, at best, only point toward the truth. Adam was not yet fully Adam, not yet the finished creation of Humanity, when he was alone.
Friday, July 15, 2011
How Could Abraham Know He Would Possess The Land?
The promise of eternal, universal blessing which G-d gave to Abraham, overthrowing the curse of death, was made to be the one eternal covenant to Abraham and his seed in response to Abraham's question asking G-d how he could know that he would possess the land. Abraham had fully believed God, now he desired to add knowledge to his faith.
How are we to understand Jeremiah 31:1-4 and Jeremiah 16:14-15 with Isaiah 42:13 - 44:23 in light of the covenant that G-d made with Abraham in answer to Abraham's question?
Here is the premise of our understanding as brought to us through Jeremiah's prophecy of a new, fresh form of the covenant: As Israel went into captivity to the nations under the form of the covenant given at Mt. Sinai, it could not be that same form of the covenant by itself that would draw them out of the captivity of the nations, but must be a new, fresh form of the covenant of the Torah, one that revealed salvation not only from Egypt and the nations but from sin itself.
It should be recognized from this that the terms of the covenant that G-d made with Abraham were themselves making reference to the terms of the covenant that would be given at Mt. Sinai, and at the same time, to the new, fresh terms of the covenant that would be made with the house of Judah and the house of Israel at a later time. In other words, when G-d expressed the terms of his covenant with Abraham, saying that after his nation was in captivity in a foreign nation they would be redeemed and brought out from there to serve Him, he was referring to Mt. Sinai and to the Torah form of the covenant to be revealed at that time to the whole house of Israel. It would be that Torah form of the covenant that would literally draw Israel up out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai to receive it. But though Israel would receive the Torah, how would Abraham know that his nation would go on to observe the Torah and inherit the Land and serve God there in fulfilling the eternal, universal promise of blessing?
It is the answer to this question that the prophets spell out for us. A new, fresh form of the covenant that would write the Torah on the heart and hearts of Israel would draw them up out of all nations and out of sin itself, to serve God in the Land of Promise. It is in this way that G-d's one eternal covenant with Abraham assured Abraham that he would inherit the land, that not merely his converts would inherit it, but his own seed would inherit it. For it is in this way alone that the blessing could overcome the curse.
Link here to go to the Hearing Seven Thunders site and link into the series on The Judgements in Exodus and The Revelation.
How are we to understand Jeremiah 31:1-4 and Jeremiah 16:14-15 with Isaiah 42:13 - 44:23 in light of the covenant that G-d made with Abraham in answer to Abraham's question?
Here is the premise of our understanding as brought to us through Jeremiah's prophecy of a new, fresh form of the covenant: As Israel went into captivity to the nations under the form of the covenant given at Mt. Sinai, it could not be that same form of the covenant by itself that would draw them out of the captivity of the nations, but must be a new, fresh form of the covenant of the Torah, one that revealed salvation not only from Egypt and the nations but from sin itself.
It should be recognized from this that the terms of the covenant that G-d made with Abraham were themselves making reference to the terms of the covenant that would be given at Mt. Sinai, and at the same time, to the new, fresh terms of the covenant that would be made with the house of Judah and the house of Israel at a later time. In other words, when G-d expressed the terms of his covenant with Abraham, saying that after his nation was in captivity in a foreign nation they would be redeemed and brought out from there to serve Him, he was referring to Mt. Sinai and to the Torah form of the covenant to be revealed at that time to the whole house of Israel. It would be that Torah form of the covenant that would literally draw Israel up out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai to receive it. But though Israel would receive the Torah, how would Abraham know that his nation would go on to observe the Torah and inherit the Land and serve God there in fulfilling the eternal, universal promise of blessing?
It is the answer to this question that the prophets spell out for us. A new, fresh form of the covenant that would write the Torah on the heart and hearts of Israel would draw them up out of all nations and out of sin itself, to serve God in the Land of Promise. It is in this way that G-d's one eternal covenant with Abraham assured Abraham that he would inherit the land, that not merely his converts would inherit it, but his own seed would inherit it. For it is in this way alone that the blessing could overcome the curse.
Link here to go to the Hearing Seven Thunders site and link into the series on The Judgements in Exodus and The Revelation.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Peah
From Tractate Peah, Babylonian Talmud
{See my notes below}
Mishna one
These are the things that have no measure:
The Peah of the field, the first-fruits, the appearance,
[at the Temple in Jerusalem on Pilgrimage Festivals],
acts of kindness, and the study of the Torah.
These are things the fruits of which
a human being enjoys in this world,
while the principle remains for them in the World to Come:
Honouring father and mother,
acts of kindness,
and bringing peace between a man and his fellow.
But the study of Torah is equal to them all.
Explanation
The first part of the mishnah lists things that have no measure: the size of a field’s “corners,” whose produce is left for the poor; how many “first fruits” to bring to Jerusalem as an offering; and how often to appear at the Temple during Pilgrimage Festivals, or how large an offering to bring when one appears. “Acts of kindness” and “study of the Torah” also have no predetermined legal measure, but rather each person decides how much to do.
The second part of the mishnah lists acts which benefit a person both during his lifetime and in the World to Come. The “principle” of the heavenly reward for these deeds is reserved for the World to Come, while the “fruits” (i.e. the profits or interest) are enjoyed during his lifetime.
That have no measure: That is, they are things whose value cannot be measured.
Peah: The namesake of this tractate, the Peah is the "corner" of a farmer's field that must be reserved for the poor.
First-fruits: When the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, Jews would bring the first fruits of their produce to a kohen on Shavuot in the early summer, after which the kohen would ask them to explain the Torah. The amount of first-fruits that would be given to the kohen would be up to the individual, hence its inclusion here in things which lack measurability.
From Wikisource > http://bit.ly/hoOTza
Mishna two
One should not make the Peah less than
one-sixtieth of the entire crop,
And though there no definite amount is given for Peah.
It is all based upon the size of the field,
the number of poor who will be collecting it,
and the abundance of the crop.
Explanation
This Mishna says that when one fulfills the commandment of Peah he is obligated to give at least one-sixtieth of his crop (In Jewish law, one sixtieth is a common basis number for giving a minimum) as Peah. The Mishna goes on to say that if one has a big field with only a few poor coming to pick up food the sixtieth is based on the size of the field. If though one has a small field and more poor people coming to pick up food, one should base the sixtieth on the number of people coming. Additionally one with the later case should try to give more than the bare minimum. The Mishna concludes with the fact that one may not choose the Peah from only the inferior part of the crop and must include better produce also.
From Wikisource > http://bit.ly/fWBFrO
My notes =
Since the Torah is Written on the Heart
Since the Torah is written on the hearts of believers who follow Yehoshua the Messiah of Israel they look from the heart for how they might leave the corners of their fields of work for the poor. This requires rectification on the corporate level. Why? Because it is a mitzvah of the land of Israel. This is the blessing of Abraham. In order for the blessing of Abraham to be realized the time is come for the need of all the families of the earth to be blessed through Abraham to be realized and satisfied.
How do we know this? Mashiach is come, having given himself a ransom for Israel, though concealed for the sake of salvation by the gentleness of grace, until the hour when "the iniquity of the Amorites is full".
Peah is a Mitzvah of the Land of Israel
What does it mean that the mitzvah of peah is a mitzvah of the land of Israel? Simply, the Torah is commanded to Israel and the mitzvah of peah cannot be carried out in exile by the Jewish people. Nevertheless, insomuch that hope is in the heart of every Torah-hearted believer, Jew or Gentile, there is a desire for social justice.
Poverty and Inequity Are Not the Normal Design of Corporate Adam
What does the desire for social justice imply? It implies the lack of social justice. Poverty and inequity are not normal to the design of corporate Adam. This is the primary shofar cry of the Torah. What then is this cry for? It is for restorative justice. Wherever there is desire for social justice there is at the heart of this desire the root desire for restorative justice. Before there can be complete Biblical social justice, there is a need for the wrong that has come into the world to be rectified through the manifestation of true Biblical restorative justice. The need for the justice that can rectify the unrighteousness of corporate Adam is revealed by the desire found in all Torah-hearted people for the social justice promised by the Prophets.
The Refreshed Covenant
The Torah is in our hearts. This is the fist part of the Refreshed Covenant. The second part is "You will no longer say, 'Know the Lord!' They will all know Me - from the least to the greatest." This second part builds on the first part. This second part begins with the regeneration of the spirit of all Israel and goes on from this to the manifestation in all matters of complete equity in the practices of life which are involved in knowing the Lord, complete equity between the least and the greatest souls in Israel. The Vine with all its branches will be fully alive and bearing its complete abundance of fruit. This is the whole covenant that God made with Abraham and with all Israel on Mount Sinai refreshed in the blood of Mashiach.
The Regeneration of the Spirit of All Israel
What does it mean to speak of the regeneration of the spirit of all Israel? Even while the Torah is written on the heart of believers in the covenant word of God, of Jewish and non-Jewish believers, while Mashiach is concealed in heavenly places, the corners of the field of the whole land of Israel do not yet come together in covering the whole land.
What is this saying? It is saying that perfect social justice is not yet accomplished, even in any one particular act where it is whole-heartedly intended. Even in that righteous act social justice is not perfect yet. For no act of justice is complete until all is complete in all the land. This means that the regeneration of the spirit of all Israel, though it exists now cannot be entirely seen now. This does not mean that its power is any less.
Biblical Restorative Justice: The Blessing of Abraham
We still struggle from the heart for a Torah-true social justice that can prepare us for the dissolution of this world and the translation of all redeemed life into the new heavens and the new earth, where selfishness is gone and cannot return. That we still have this struggle is representative of the truth that Abraham is not fully blessed until all the families of the earth are fully blessed by blessing themselves through Abraham. That is to say, through the one covenant of God, the covenant that God made with Abraham.
There is, so long as Mashiach is concealed and revealed only to faith a need for restorative justice in the earth to be revealed, a justice that can manifest the rectification of the wrong that exists between Adam and God that is brought about by Adam, by the whole family of Adam. Only when this Biblical restorative justice is manifested can the hoped for social justice be manifested. The revelation of Mashiach is the midpoint between these two.
Seeing From the Vantage Point of The World To Come
Until then we continue to struggle with the exile wherein Israel is divided into two houses and one of those houses is constitued by the word of God for the time being as being non-Israel. Only from the vantage point of the world to come can it be seen that this "half" of Israel, which is under the branch of Joseph, has always been truly constitued as Israel, just as the other "half" which was openly preserved in this world under the branch of Judah.
From the vantage point of this world it cannot be seen. For this is a matter of the resurrection of the dead. Nevertheless, it is seen by God and by anyone who sees with God by faith that both houses are already as one in Mashiach. But again, this is concealed from sight as Mashiach is concealed from sight in the present hour.
Let Us Go On
This does not diminish the salvation that is in him, nor the unfolding of that salvation wherein the nations are corpartely blessed in that they are attached to the branch of Joseph, all under the name, Egypt, and Abraham's covenant is eternally refreshed. So, let us go on, toward the hour of the removal of the blindfold that is upon the world, when the justice of God that restores all things will be seen and God's social justice can be estabished in all the land of Israel, when the Redeemer reigns in Jerusalem, and brings his justice in all the earth, and the four corners of the field of righteousness in all the earth are all made to overlap one another, when in the Land of Israel Adam is restored whole, through the justice of God.
{See my notes below}
Mishna one
These are the things that have no measure:
The Peah of the field, the first-fruits, the appearance,
[at the Temple in Jerusalem on Pilgrimage Festivals],
acts of kindness, and the study of the Torah.
These are things the fruits of which
a human being enjoys in this world,
while the principle remains for them in the World to Come:
Honouring father and mother,
acts of kindness,
and bringing peace between a man and his fellow.
But the study of Torah is equal to them all.
Explanation
The first part of the mishnah lists things that have no measure: the size of a field’s “corners,” whose produce is left for the poor; how many “first fruits” to bring to Jerusalem as an offering; and how often to appear at the Temple during Pilgrimage Festivals, or how large an offering to bring when one appears. “Acts of kindness” and “study of the Torah” also have no predetermined legal measure, but rather each person decides how much to do.
The second part of the mishnah lists acts which benefit a person both during his lifetime and in the World to Come. The “principle” of the heavenly reward for these deeds is reserved for the World to Come, while the “fruits” (i.e. the profits or interest) are enjoyed during his lifetime.
That have no measure: That is, they are things whose value cannot be measured.
Peah: The namesake of this tractate, the Peah is the "corner" of a farmer's field that must be reserved for the poor.
First-fruits: When the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, Jews would bring the first fruits of their produce to a kohen on Shavuot in the early summer, after which the kohen would ask them to explain the Torah. The amount of first-fruits that would be given to the kohen would be up to the individual, hence its inclusion here in things which lack measurability.
From Wikisource > http://bit.ly/hoOTza
Mishna two
One should not make the Peah less than
one-sixtieth of the entire crop,
And though there no definite amount is given for Peah.
It is all based upon the size of the field,
the number of poor who will be collecting it,
and the abundance of the crop.
Explanation
This Mishna says that when one fulfills the commandment of Peah he is obligated to give at least one-sixtieth of his crop (In Jewish law, one sixtieth is a common basis number for giving a minimum) as Peah. The Mishna goes on to say that if one has a big field with only a few poor coming to pick up food the sixtieth is based on the size of the field. If though one has a small field and more poor people coming to pick up food, one should base the sixtieth on the number of people coming. Additionally one with the later case should try to give more than the bare minimum. The Mishna concludes with the fact that one may not choose the Peah from only the inferior part of the crop and must include better produce also.
From Wikisource > http://bit.ly/fWBFrO
My notes =
Since the Torah is Written on the Heart
Since the Torah is written on the hearts of believers who follow Yehoshua the Messiah of Israel they look from the heart for how they might leave the corners of their fields of work for the poor. This requires rectification on the corporate level. Why? Because it is a mitzvah of the land of Israel. This is the blessing of Abraham. In order for the blessing of Abraham to be realized the time is come for the need of all the families of the earth to be blessed through Abraham to be realized and satisfied.
How do we know this? Mashiach is come, having given himself a ransom for Israel, though concealed for the sake of salvation by the gentleness of grace, until the hour when "the iniquity of the Amorites is full".
Peah is a Mitzvah of the Land of Israel
What does it mean that the mitzvah of peah is a mitzvah of the land of Israel? Simply, the Torah is commanded to Israel and the mitzvah of peah cannot be carried out in exile by the Jewish people. Nevertheless, insomuch that hope is in the heart of every Torah-hearted believer, Jew or Gentile, there is a desire for social justice.
Poverty and Inequity Are Not the Normal Design of Corporate Adam
What does the desire for social justice imply? It implies the lack of social justice. Poverty and inequity are not normal to the design of corporate Adam. This is the primary shofar cry of the Torah. What then is this cry for? It is for restorative justice. Wherever there is desire for social justice there is at the heart of this desire the root desire for restorative justice. Before there can be complete Biblical social justice, there is a need for the wrong that has come into the world to be rectified through the manifestation of true Biblical restorative justice. The need for the justice that can rectify the unrighteousness of corporate Adam is revealed by the desire found in all Torah-hearted people for the social justice promised by the Prophets.
The Refreshed Covenant
The Torah is in our hearts. This is the fist part of the Refreshed Covenant. The second part is "You will no longer say, 'Know the Lord!' They will all know Me - from the least to the greatest." This second part builds on the first part. This second part begins with the regeneration of the spirit of all Israel and goes on from this to the manifestation in all matters of complete equity in the practices of life which are involved in knowing the Lord, complete equity between the least and the greatest souls in Israel. The Vine with all its branches will be fully alive and bearing its complete abundance of fruit. This is the whole covenant that God made with Abraham and with all Israel on Mount Sinai refreshed in the blood of Mashiach.
The Regeneration of the Spirit of All Israel
What does it mean to speak of the regeneration of the spirit of all Israel? Even while the Torah is written on the heart of believers in the covenant word of God, of Jewish and non-Jewish believers, while Mashiach is concealed in heavenly places, the corners of the field of the whole land of Israel do not yet come together in covering the whole land.
What is this saying? It is saying that perfect social justice is not yet accomplished, even in any one particular act where it is whole-heartedly intended. Even in that righteous act social justice is not perfect yet. For no act of justice is complete until all is complete in all the land. This means that the regeneration of the spirit of all Israel, though it exists now cannot be entirely seen now. This does not mean that its power is any less.
Biblical Restorative Justice: The Blessing of Abraham
We still struggle from the heart for a Torah-true social justice that can prepare us for the dissolution of this world and the translation of all redeemed life into the new heavens and the new earth, where selfishness is gone and cannot return. That we still have this struggle is representative of the truth that Abraham is not fully blessed until all the families of the earth are fully blessed by blessing themselves through Abraham. That is to say, through the one covenant of God, the covenant that God made with Abraham.
There is, so long as Mashiach is concealed and revealed only to faith a need for restorative justice in the earth to be revealed, a justice that can manifest the rectification of the wrong that exists between Adam and God that is brought about by Adam, by the whole family of Adam. Only when this Biblical restorative justice is manifested can the hoped for social justice be manifested. The revelation of Mashiach is the midpoint between these two.
Seeing From the Vantage Point of The World To Come
Until then we continue to struggle with the exile wherein Israel is divided into two houses and one of those houses is constitued by the word of God for the time being as being non-Israel. Only from the vantage point of the world to come can it be seen that this "half" of Israel, which is under the branch of Joseph, has always been truly constitued as Israel, just as the other "half" which was openly preserved in this world under the branch of Judah.
From the vantage point of this world it cannot be seen. For this is a matter of the resurrection of the dead. Nevertheless, it is seen by God and by anyone who sees with God by faith that both houses are already as one in Mashiach. But again, this is concealed from sight as Mashiach is concealed from sight in the present hour.
Let Us Go On
This does not diminish the salvation that is in him, nor the unfolding of that salvation wherein the nations are corpartely blessed in that they are attached to the branch of Joseph, all under the name, Egypt, and Abraham's covenant is eternally refreshed. So, let us go on, toward the hour of the removal of the blindfold that is upon the world, when the justice of God that restores all things will be seen and God's social justice can be estabished in all the land of Israel, when the Redeemer reigns in Jerusalem, and brings his justice in all the earth, and the four corners of the field of righteousness in all the earth are all made to overlap one another, when in the Land of Israel Adam is restored whole, through the justice of God.
Friday, February 25, 2011
The One Eternal Covenant in Psalms 20
May He send your help from the Sanctuary and support you out of Tziyon. Psalms 20:3
ישלח-עזרך מקדש ומציון יסעדך
May He send your help from the eternal Sanctuary above and support you out of the eternal Sanctuary below.
Much confusion and destruction has come into the world due to guess-work readings of the words in the Bible that speak about the one eternal covenant - guess-work readings that have been taught with assumed authority, as if they were not guess-work readings at all but explanations of the truth. Virtually all of these guesswork readings are based on the idea that there is more than one covenant of God. This notion can arise when we listen to the sound of the language in the Bible about God's covenant making instead of listening first and foremost to what is said.
Especially in English and in other foreign languages, (much more than in Hebrew), the sound of the language can lead the natural mind to jump to the conclusion that because there is more than one covenant making event on the part of God there is therefore more than one covenant of God. Bible interpreters can easily assume that because the language sounds like God is making a covenant with Noah, a covenant with Abraham, a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, a covenant with David, and promising a new covenant by the prophet, Jeremiah, and because human beings will sometimes make various covenants, that God is just like human beings and makes more than one covenant. To come to this conclusion is to misunderstand the nature of the covenant of God.
In fact, it is possible to speak accurately of God making a covenant with Abraham on the one hand, and then to speak, say, of God making a covenant with David, on the other hand, but it is the act of making that is distinct and different, not God's covenant itself. Indeed, the nature of a covenant is that it is essentially a promise. It is essentially giving one's word to another.
If God had simply said to Noah, to Abraham, to Israel, to David, "I give you my word", we would not think that there was more than one eternal word of God. The only difference in God making a covenant is that in making a promise to someone God is saying to them, as it were, "I am not only giving you my promise, I am giving you myself, my whole person, in my promise. If my promise is not true, then neither am I true."
This is the meaning of God making a covenant. He illustrates this clearly in the form that He uses to make a covenant with Abraham. When God makes a covenant He is pledging His word, and His whole being with His word. It is not then that there is more than one eternal word of God, that God should pledge a different part of Himself to different parties on different occasions. God is one. His word is one. The promise of God is one.
What is different is what the promise of God means to different people at different times and on different occasions. For God to pledge Himself to Noah meant that Noah and his children did not have to fear that the end of the world would come through dissolution by water. The world would indeed end, but it would not end by being dissolved back to the condition where it was empty and formless. However it would end it would end with some of its characteristics still in place. God was pledging Himself to Noah to say that He was committed to redeem something of the world that He had preserved Noah and his family to live in. There was a reason to live and to try to build a better world. In the end, there would be something that would be saved.
When God pledged Himself to Abraham it was on a much higher order of revelation. He pledged Himself to Abraham as though He were a man pledging Himself to a spouse. As God had made the heavens His sanctuary in Creation, so Abraham and his offspring would be God's sanctuary on earth. This level of the revelation of God's word, His promise, His pledge of Himself, His covenant, was so high that it would require many generations and events and further expressions of His covenant in order to teach human beings the consciousness that they would require in order to fully receive it. Nevertheless, it was a pledge that was as certain as God's very existence. It was His covenant.
Still, someone will say, But was not the covenant at Mount Sinai different? Was not that covenant conditional, dependent on Israel keeping the commandments? Whereas God's covenants with Noah and with Abraham were unconditional. The appearance of conditions has caused anyone who asks this question to overthrow the revelation that God is one and His covenant, His word, is one. God is not a God who can give His word here unconditionally and there conditionally. At Mount Sinai God gives His word unconditionally, just as He gave it unconditionally to Abraham.
It is immeasurable grace that God should reveal, wholly and in great detail, the nature of His wisdom, His mind, His will to Israel in the form of His Torah. When they do and believe His commandments, if they believe and do His word, they will know that His covenant is one, unconditional and eternal. When they sin they will be corrected.
This is also the way the apparent conditions of God's giving His covenant to David and to his house are to be understood. This covenant that God is making with David and his house is, and can only be, the one covenant that He made with Abraham and with All-Israel. When any son of David serves God in the work of God keeping His word to Israel they will know that God's word is a word of unconditional grace. When any son of David sins and strays from this service they will be corrected.
Even so, someone will say, But does God not say to Israel by the prophet that they broke His covenant? If it is only one eternal and unconditional covenant, how could Israel be in a position to break it? Anyone who asks this question has allowed the sound of words to overthrow the understanding of those words in their mind.
If we know that God is one and that His word is one and that He has pledged His whole Self to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, and to their offspring, then we must understand that this language is divine metaphor, like all language that seems to limit God, but does so only for the sake of our understanding. What, then, is this like?
What are we to understand when we read that God said to Israel, You have broken my covenant? We are to understand this as though it said, You have broken my heart. You have treated me as though my word was nothing, as though I did not exit, as though I were nothing. But all of this is metaphorical language. For we know that God's word cannot be broken.
Someone will still ask, But if there is only one covenant, why does Scripture speak of a new covenant? Again, the Scripture speaks with divine poetry, the poetry with which God is redeeming the world. It is as if to say, Because in your heart, My Israel, you did not believe My word, you made my word to be as if it were old. You made my covenant as if it were a thing of the past. Therefore, I will make my covenant forever new. I will write my Torah upon your heart. I will pledge of Myself to you to bring forth new heavens and a new earth, where no sin can enter in, where righteousness dwells alone.
There is no other help. There is no other support, than the one eternal covenant of God.
May He send your help from the Sanctuary and support you out of Tziyon. Psalms 20:3
ישלח-עזרך מקדש ומציון יסעדך
May He send your help from the eternal Sanctuary above and support you out of the eternal Sanctuary below.
ישלח-עזרך מקדש ומציון יסעדך
May He send your help from the eternal Sanctuary above and support you out of the eternal Sanctuary below.
Much confusion and destruction has come into the world due to guess-work readings of the words in the Bible that speak about the one eternal covenant - guess-work readings that have been taught with assumed authority, as if they were not guess-work readings at all but explanations of the truth. Virtually all of these guesswork readings are based on the idea that there is more than one covenant of God. This notion can arise when we listen to the sound of the language in the Bible about God's covenant making instead of listening first and foremost to what is said.
Especially in English and in other foreign languages, (much more than in Hebrew), the sound of the language can lead the natural mind to jump to the conclusion that because there is more than one covenant making event on the part of God there is therefore more than one covenant of God. Bible interpreters can easily assume that because the language sounds like God is making a covenant with Noah, a covenant with Abraham, a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, a covenant with David, and promising a new covenant by the prophet, Jeremiah, and because human beings will sometimes make various covenants, that God is just like human beings and makes more than one covenant. To come to this conclusion is to misunderstand the nature of the covenant of God.
In fact, it is possible to speak accurately of God making a covenant with Abraham on the one hand, and then to speak, say, of God making a covenant with David, on the other hand, but it is the act of making that is distinct and different, not God's covenant itself. Indeed, the nature of a covenant is that it is essentially a promise. It is essentially giving one's word to another.
If God had simply said to Noah, to Abraham, to Israel, to David, "I give you my word", we would not think that there was more than one eternal word of God. The only difference in God making a covenant is that in making a promise to someone God is saying to them, as it were, "I am not only giving you my promise, I am giving you myself, my whole person, in my promise. If my promise is not true, then neither am I true."
This is the meaning of God making a covenant. He illustrates this clearly in the form that He uses to make a covenant with Abraham. When God makes a covenant He is pledging His word, and His whole being with His word. It is not then that there is more than one eternal word of God, that God should pledge a different part of Himself to different parties on different occasions. God is one. His word is one. The promise of God is one.
What is different is what the promise of God means to different people at different times and on different occasions. For God to pledge Himself to Noah meant that Noah and his children did not have to fear that the end of the world would come through dissolution by water. The world would indeed end, but it would not end by being dissolved back to the condition where it was empty and formless. However it would end it would end with some of its characteristics still in place. God was pledging Himself to Noah to say that He was committed to redeem something of the world that He had preserved Noah and his family to live in. There was a reason to live and to try to build a better world. In the end, there would be something that would be saved.
When God pledged Himself to Abraham it was on a much higher order of revelation. He pledged Himself to Abraham as though He were a man pledging Himself to a spouse. As God had made the heavens His sanctuary in Creation, so Abraham and his offspring would be God's sanctuary on earth. This level of the revelation of God's word, His promise, His pledge of Himself, His covenant, was so high that it would require many generations and events and further expressions of His covenant in order to teach human beings the consciousness that they would require in order to fully receive it. Nevertheless, it was a pledge that was as certain as God's very existence. It was His covenant.
Still, someone will say, But was not the covenant at Mount Sinai different? Was not that covenant conditional, dependent on Israel keeping the commandments? Whereas God's covenants with Noah and with Abraham were unconditional. The appearance of conditions has caused anyone who asks this question to overthrow the revelation that God is one and His covenant, His word, is one. God is not a God who can give His word here unconditionally and there conditionally. At Mount Sinai God gives His word unconditionally, just as He gave it unconditionally to Abraham.
It is immeasurable grace that God should reveal, wholly and in great detail, the nature of His wisdom, His mind, His will to Israel in the form of His Torah. When they do and believe His commandments, if they believe and do His word, they will know that His covenant is one, unconditional and eternal. When they sin they will be corrected.
This is also the way the apparent conditions of God's giving His covenant to David and to his house are to be understood. This covenant that God is making with David and his house is, and can only be, the one covenant that He made with Abraham and with All-Israel. When any son of David serves God in the work of God keeping His word to Israel they will know that God's word is a word of unconditional grace. When any son of David sins and strays from this service they will be corrected.
Even so, someone will say, But does God not say to Israel by the prophet that they broke His covenant? If it is only one eternal and unconditional covenant, how could Israel be in a position to break it? Anyone who asks this question has allowed the sound of words to overthrow the understanding of those words in their mind.
If we know that God is one and that His word is one and that He has pledged His whole Self to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, and to their offspring, then we must understand that this language is divine metaphor, like all language that seems to limit God, but does so only for the sake of our understanding. What, then, is this like?
What are we to understand when we read that God said to Israel, You have broken my covenant? We are to understand this as though it said, You have broken my heart. You have treated me as though my word was nothing, as though I did not exit, as though I were nothing. But all of this is metaphorical language. For we know that God's word cannot be broken.
Someone will still ask, But if there is only one covenant, why does Scripture speak of a new covenant? Again, the Scripture speaks with divine poetry, the poetry with which God is redeeming the world. It is as if to say, Because in your heart, My Israel, you did not believe My word, you made my word to be as if it were old. You made my covenant as if it were a thing of the past. Therefore, I will make my covenant forever new. I will write my Torah upon your heart. I will pledge of Myself to you to bring forth new heavens and a new earth, where no sin can enter in, where righteousness dwells alone.
There is no other help. There is no other support, than the one eternal covenant of God.
May He send your help from the Sanctuary and support you out of Tziyon. Psalms 20:3
ישלח-עזרך מקדש ומציון יסעדך
May He send your help from the eternal Sanctuary above and support you out of the eternal Sanctuary below.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Melekizedek and The Priesthood of the Firstborn
Updated June 11, 2014
Part I From Adam To Sinai
Introducing Melekizedek In The Book of Hebrews
The Book of Hebrews asserts, in the mystery of Melekizedek, that he is one who is without ancestry. This statement, just as the title, Melekizedek itself, pertains to the office. In that office he was as a person who was first, who had no human father. He was in the office of the seed of the woman, like unto the son of G-d.
The person who filled that office, who came out an met Abraham to bless him, who was a king in the then Jebusite city of Salem. It will be seen through a study of the priesthood of the firstborn and through the received tradition of the sages of Israel that this king of Salem was Shem, the firstborn son of Noah.*
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Background of the Mystery of Melekizedek
The priesthood of Melekizedek is mysterious because it is the priesthood of Adam* after Adam was sentenced to death for sin. More, it is mysterious because it was instituted by Adam before Adam had been given any direct authorization by God for such a priesthood to represent the possibility of hope.
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We first see the role of priesthood clearly in the actions of the sons of Adam, Cain and Able. The conversation of Adam and his sons that lead to their bringing sacrifices and prayers for Humanity before G-d is not revealed to us. However, we know that it was through the conversation of Adam that his sons were ordained to act as they did in the role of priests. Because Cain was the firstborn the service of Able was dependent on the service of Cain. Eve saw it as a sign of hope that a son had been born to her at all under the sentence of death. This was in accordance with the promise that G-d had made concerning her seed. Thus, the natural promise of the inheritance of the world that was carried in the birth of the firstborn was itself given new support and a new foundation of hope. In this way, the meaning of the firstborn became the order of priesthood.
The mystery of this priesthood of the firstborn became accentuated when G-d accepted Able's offering in preference to Cain's offering. It was then made evident that it was not sufficient to simply be the natural born firstborn. In order for the service of the priest to be accepted by G-d it had to have the quality of the confession that G-d desired.
Adam and Melekizedek
Part I From Adam To Sinai
Introducing Melekizedek In The Book of Hebrews
The Book of Hebrews asserts, in the mystery of Melekizedek, that he is one who is without ancestry. This statement, just as the title, Melekizedek itself, pertains to the office. In that office he was as a person who was first, who had no human father. He was in the office of the seed of the woman, like unto the son of G-d.
The person who filled that office, who came out an met Abraham to bless him, who was a king in the then Jebusite city of Salem. It will be seen through a study of the priesthood of the firstborn and through the received tradition of the sages of Israel that this king of Salem was Shem, the firstborn son of Noah.*
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*It does not add to a faithful interpretation of the Book of Hebrews to state that the Sages must be wrong and we cannot know who it was who was filling the office of Melekizedek. The meaning is that in that office Shem was not Shem, but the representative convert to the faith and hope of the resurrection of the dead.
Background of the Mystery of Melekizedek
The priesthood of Melekizedek is mysterious because it is the priesthood of Adam* after Adam was sentenced to death for sin. More, it is mysterious because it was instituted by Adam before Adam had been given any direct authorization by God for such a priesthood to represent the possibility of hope.
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*It will be seen that Adam himself personally came to act in the role of a priest. To begin with, however, in the statement that the priesthood of Melekizedek is the priesthood of Adam, the name, Adam, can be understood corporately. As such, the name, "Adam", can be translated, "Humanity".
We first see the role of priesthood clearly in the actions of the sons of Adam, Cain and Able. The conversation of Adam and his sons that lead to their bringing sacrifices and prayers for Humanity before G-d is not revealed to us. However, we know that it was through the conversation of Adam that his sons were ordained to act as they did in the role of priests. Because Cain was the firstborn the service of Able was dependent on the service of Cain. Eve saw it as a sign of hope that a son had been born to her at all under the sentence of death. This was in accordance with the promise that G-d had made concerning her seed. Thus, the natural promise of the inheritance of the world that was carried in the birth of the firstborn was itself given new support and a new foundation of hope. In this way, the meaning of the firstborn became the order of priesthood.
The mystery of this priesthood of the firstborn became accentuated when G-d accepted Able's offering in preference to Cain's offering. It was then made evident that it was not sufficient to simply be the natural born firstborn. In order for the service of the priest to be accepted by G-d it had to have the quality of the confession that G-d desired.
Adam and Melekizedek
Indeed, this priesthood, which was carried by Noah to Shem, who was Melekizedek, was ultimately based on Adam having been the first human being. It was the priesthood of the firstborn, but it was priesthood, the representation of the one person for the whole of Humanity, because it was the firstborn of Adam, the first human being, the corporate human being. However, being the first human being was no longer simply a virtue. Adam had become a sinner and was under the curse of God and the sentence of death. The hope that Adam based this priesthood on, (and then following Adam, Seth in place of Abel, and Noah and Shem), was always to be confessed as a mysterious hope. Had this priesthood not been honestly represented as mysterious by its priests, a false testimony from the order of the priesthood could have resulted. A false impression could have been given to the world by the fact of their being a priesthood of the firstborn at all that, as the serpent claimed, Adam's crime would not necessarily result in the death of all.
Although it was Able, the firstborn, who first acted as a true priest of repentance and hope toward G-d, who expressed hope through sacrifice, Adam had himself laid the foundation for this priesthood when, even after they had sinned, he named his wife cHavah, (Eve), the Mother of All Living. Adam did this after overhearing G-d promise that an offspring of the woman would destroy the offspring of the serpent. By giving to his wife a personal name that was an everlasting confession of hope and faith in redemption, Adam blessed the world in the role of a priest. While Cain was disqualified from the priesthood when he killed Able, Abel had successfully begun this firstborn priesthood of hope and, while G-d did not formally institute it from above, he did show acceptance of it, and in time Adam, as head of Humanity, instituted it from below through his own act of repentance and expression of hope in G-d, when he returned to cHavah to conceive Seth.
Adam embraced the priesthood of hope. It was carried on by other of his children, after Abel was killed. But, even when Adam fully repented and returned to cHavah his wife, so that Seth was born, God did not yet formally sanction the priesthood of Adam's firstborn, even when he saved Noah and his family from the great flood. G-d did not make the promise of the seed of the woman directly to the woman nor to the man, but spoke the promise directly to the serpent and against the serpent. The only hope that G-d gave directly to the man and the woman came in a form of concealment in a form of mitigation of judgment. All expressions of confession and prayer for Humanity after this arose directly from below, from the initiative of the man and woman themselves. In the same way, after the flood, G-d did not promise Noah that he would not destroy the world again under any circumstances. And he did not promise Noah that he would bless all the world through him. He only promised him and made a covenant that he would not destroy the world again by water.
Abraham and Melekizedek
Abraham and Melekizedek
All of this changed when God called Abraham and began to clarify the mysterious hope that caused the day of Adam's personal death to be stretched out into a thousand years — and was causing the death of corporate Adam to be stretched out into seven thousand years. In calling Abraham, God for the first time gave the promise of the offspring of the woman to a specific member of the family of Adam. Before Abraham this promise had not been made as a promise to anyone but only as a promise against the serpent, which God had spoken in the Garden of Eden. Now, in Abraham and his seed, God did not so much sanction the priesthood of the firstborn instituted by Adam, as transform that priesthood into a new priesthood based on his own direct and immediate calling.
This fact is enigmatically taught by the commentary of the sages of Israel on the passage on Abraham and Melekzedek meeting recorded in Genesis. The sages teach that because Shem failed to bless God before Abraham the priesthood was taken away from him and given to Abraham. For Abraham never failed to honor God first, and therefore more than the creature.
This teaching of the sages is a necessary teaching, in that there is an aspect in which there is a cutting off of the old order and of putting the new order in its place. However, on an other level, there was also an acceptance of (Shem's), Melekzedek's, testimony that the true hope and blessing of Adam was to be found in the word of God spoken to Abraham. The accepted testimony of Shem is the prototype of the final and ultimate rejoicing of the nations with Israel in the final and ultimate redemption of Israel, because it is this that results in the blessing of all families of the earth. Here is the deepest depth of the priesthood of Melekizedek. When this is fully understood it will become possible to understand how and why it is that Mashiach is made a priest after the order of Melekizedek only through the resurrection of the dead, and how his prayers are all prayers of atonement.
And so there is a certain way in which the priesthood of the firstborn coming through Noah was redeemed and fully and formally sanctified by God, even as he was formally setting it aside for the sake of the priesthood of Abraham. For Shem, in blessing Abraham was making himself a convert to the faith of Abraham and not only himself but also the whole order of his priesthood. This was a great and mysterious act, for it was made the basis upon which Abraham's relationship to Adam would also be redeemed.
Part II From Sinai To Mashiach
When Israel was redeemed from Egypt it was on the basis of all of the firstborn of Egypt being slain, but the firstborn of Israel being preserved alive on the basis of the blood of the Passover Lamb. The death of the Passover Lamb was, so to speak, the death of the priesthood of the order of Melekizedek, which same priesthood of the firstborn was, spiritually speaking, then resurrected in the priesthood of the firstborn of Israel. For Melekizedek was the king of a Jebusite city, which, like Egypt, was a city of Adam before the covenant of redemption, and of the new Adam, was made with Abraham. The service of the priesthood of Melekizedek from Salem was also for Egypt, even as Egypt was made to represent the whole world at the time of the captivity of Israel. For the service of the priesthood of Melekizedek comprehended all Adam.
There could be a priesthood of Abraham, called to the blessing of the world, called to the certain promise of the resurrection of the dead, but only on the basis of the carrying out of God's word in the sentence of death upon Adam. Thus, the firstborn of Israel would forever always have to be redeemed by blood, in a way acknowledging the necessity of the carrying out of the sentence of death upon Adam, individually and corporately. This commandment was, therefore, the witness given with assurance through the very existence of the firstborn of Israel, that there would come a resurrection of the dead.
In this way, God had created for himself a priesthood of the firstborn, a priesthood of a certain hope. For Mashiach to be called a priest after the order of Melekzedek is to refer to him, by implication, as the Passover Lamb, which lamb represented the death and redemption from death of all of the firstborn of Israel, in a substitutionary way. Because the blood of the lamb would be seen as the blood of the firstborn of Israel, the angel of death would passover their houses. It was not that they were any less subject to the sentence of death than any other children of Adam but that they were made to be a sign of the promise of the resurrection of the dead.
In this way, the priesthood of Melekzedek was redeemed from being a priesthood of a world condemned to death and was given over to the priesthood of the firstborn of Israel as a priesthood of the certain hope of the resurrection of the dead. When Israel sinned with the golden calf the priesthood of the firstborn of the tribes of Israel could no longer serve this testimony in this office. The place and the office of the priesthood was therefore filled by the firstborn of the tribe of Levi, which tribe did not partake in the sin of the golden calf.
Now it is evident that this substitution of the firstborn of all the tribes of Israel by the descendants of the firstborn, Aaron, and by the one tribe, could only be until the one who God promised against the serpent came, the one who would be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is he who causes the firstborn of all Israel to live. Therefore it is to be understood that Israel's sin is removed through him and the priesthood of the firstborn is restored to all of the tribes. This is the redeemed priesthood of the order of, the confession of, Melekizedek. And the Mashiach of Israel, anointed by God, though not yet anointed by all the tribes of Israel, is, being the firstborn of the dead of the tribe of Judah, made the High Priest of Israel continually, eternally, in heavenly places, according to the order of Melekizedek.
Now it is evident that this substitution of the firstborn of all the tribes of Israel by the descendants of the firstborn, Aaron, and by the one tribe, could only be until the one who God promised against the serpent came, the one who would be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is he who causes the firstborn of all Israel to live. Therefore it is to be understood that Israel's sin is removed through him and the priesthood of the firstborn is restored to all of the tribes. This is the redeemed priesthood of the order of, the confession of, Melekizedek. And the Mashiach of Israel, anointed by God, though not yet anointed by all the tribes of Israel, is, being the firstborn of the dead of the tribe of Judah, made the High Priest of Israel continually, eternally, in heavenly places, according to the order of Melekizedek.
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