● Separation arouses bitterness. It creates opposition. That is why we have to do three things. The first is that we must recognize the Truth in God’s separations. The second is where the separations of God are clear, to submit to them. The third is to be very balanced in our assessment of separations/choices, to go slowly and ask for God’s guidance in making decisions when they are not so clear. (God lets Cain and Abram know of what displeases and pleases him. He also lets us know if we are patient to await answers.)
① Recognize the Truth in God’s separations (this is obviously the major thrust. If we truly recognize these, the other two should follow.)
② Where the separations of God are clear, submit to them
③ If not immediately clear, go slowly and ask for God’s guidance
I am breaking my usual pattern here and leading with some verses from the GS. Please recognize I am not trying to force any person to say that Yeshua/Jesus was God or was not God. The point here, as always, is to tie together messages in God’s word to help make it more understandable. Put aside your crossed-arm stance and simply look at the theme that ties passages together.
John 18:37
37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
What Truth did he bear witness to, that ties in with entry in Blogs #70? Recall we spoke a lot about “the world,” in particular the Tyre influences, the Babel influences, the Egyptian influences of money and power, and favoring some people over others, having our hearts set (stone-like) in a certain way, with crossed arms, raised fists, ready to fight for “my stance,” together with those that I have identified myself with (my “house,” the mindset I am in).
Matthew 10:26-28
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Luke 12:4-7
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Note the reflection here of Deuteronomy 1:17
17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.
Matthew 10:38
38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Mark 8:34-37
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
Luke 9:23-25
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Some connections:
Isaiah 8:11-15
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
Isaiah 51:12-16
12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
13 and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the LORD your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
Jeremiah 1:4-17 – (The Call of Jeremiah)
4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the LORD said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”
9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” 12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
((1 Samuel 3:19
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.))
1 Peter 3:13-17
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
It does indeed get back to knowing good from evil. But we cannot know it of ourselves by eating of the tree of knowledge, though we eat and eat and eat. We must depend on God’s definitions of good and evil.
Know that the serpent’s primary means of deception is to get you to question the first of these points we are discussing:
① Recognize the Truth in God’s separations (this is obviously the major thrust. If we truly recognize these, the other two will likely follow.)
② Where the separations of God are clear, submit them
③ If not immediately clear, go slowly and ask for God’s guidance
“Did God really say?” This is where the first couple that God breathed his life into failed. But this is also where I am telling you to check your assumptions. Recall that there has been a lot of religious interpretation by mankind piled up over thousands of years over exactly what God did say. There is a lot of personal bias in black and while, sectarian bias, dividing bias. And not even necessarily willingly, a lot of the same that has been shared from a raised platform, a bema, pulpit, lectern, simply because of traditions having been passed along. Are we able to sort out this question?
The LORD (יהוה) began to speak with people, from God’s distance, to be sure, but nevertheless began to speak directly with them, shared in the two contexts where the Ten Words (better known as the Ten Commandments) are written. Look at the entire context in each case, Exodus and Deuteronomy, but we will focus first on the people. I will highlight those areas.
Exodus 19:21-25
21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Exodus 20
1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
22 And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’
Deuteronomy 5
1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
6 “‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 “‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
17 “‘You shall not murder.
18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery.
19 “‘And you shall not steal.
20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
22 “These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ 32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
“Right” in Dt5:28 is h3190. יָטַב yâṭaḇ:
And notice the LORD’s comment about the heart (h3824. לֵבָב lêḇâḇ) in Dt5:29.
Parallel with what led into the discussion in the last entry regarding God’s warning about kings, passed through Samuel.
1 Samuel 8:1-10 – (Israel Demands a King)
1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
(Samuel’s Warning Against Kings)
10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him.••• we shared the next part in #70.
See the similarities in what we shared about Free Will regarding Abraham and Sarah, the people and their desire for a king, and these passages where God speaks directly to the people but they request Moses as the intermediary. The LORD (יהוה) does not necessarily indicate that this is what he would prefer, or he would likely not have tried to speak with the people directly from the start. But he is acquiescing to their Free Will and saying to Moses, give them what they ask for. (This is my interpretation and based on these other witnesses I have shared. Please investigate for yourself. God will speak with you directly if you do it willingly. Willing hearts are God’s desire••• hearts of flesh.) The key is the combination of being very observant and discerning of what is occurring around you and becoming familiar enough with God’s Word (Scripture) to go to God both in the written Word and in prayer.
So, let’s go back to those three points:
① Recognize the Truth in God’s separations (this is obviously the major thrust. If we truly recognize these, the other two should follow.)
② Where the separations of God are clear, submit to them
③ If not immediately clear, go slowly and ask for God’s guidance
These are my take-aways from what I am learning. Please do not listen to me. Listen to God. The LORD (יהוה) will speak to you directly in your life. Yes, God cares that much. It will be much more trustworthy than what I say for your life, what your pastor or rabbi says for your life, because God knows you intimately (see Psalm 139!). What God says to you, you have to listen for, wait for, and may not like. It may make you tremble and ask for an intermediary. In God’s graceful way, you will receive that, but it may or may not be as accurate as if you trust to the One who knows you inside and out.
God spoke directly to the people the Ten Words. So, it would seem that direct communication would be a True separation. So, likely it would be wise to take those to heart, and dig deeply into them to make certain they truly are as they have been presented. I’ve already told the reader that I have not followed all of those. I do totally count on the concept of repentance, that is, a changed heart, as witnessed by a change in direction (as per 2 Peter 3:9), because I truly believe that God’s desire is that none should perish. But, indeed, we are given our own free will to choose our own fate. God’s Word very clearly points out the consequences of our choices.
There is another instance of direct communication I would like to cover here.
God spoke directly to האדם – not to stir up trouble, but האדמ is correctly translated sometimes as “mankind,” and sometimes as “the man.” We know that Torah is often not chronological, but arranged topically. We don’t really know if this was direct communication only to Adam or to the couple.
Genesis 2:15-17
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:15-17
15 וַיִּקַּ֛ח יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעָבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשָׁמְרָֽהּ׃
16 וַיְצַו֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֔ים עַל־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר מִכֹּ֥ל עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן אָכֹ֥ל תֹּאכֵֽל׃
17 וּמֵעֵ֗ץ הַדַּ֨עַת֙ טֹ֣וב וָרָ֔ע לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כִּ֗י בְּיֹ֛ום אֲכָלְךָ֥ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מֹ֥ות תָּמֽוּת׃
Here, “commanded” is that root, צוה we spoke of again last time. Mankind was delegated authority but the control that God retained was the design of Creation. Going with one’s own choices leads to death. This is what serpentine tongues question, the design of Creation. And in the most crafty of ways, half-truths. Or taking truth and presenting it in a slanted way.
Genesis 3:4-5
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5
4 וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַנָּחָ֖שׁ אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁ֑ה לֹֽא־מֹ֖ות תְּמֻתֽוּן׃
5 כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכָלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י טֹ֥וב וָרָֽע׃
All the serpentine tongue needs to accomplish is to shake our faith. It is our faith (Emuna, referred to before) that gives us strength.
I may be totally off base but am simply following the interpretation guidelines I’ve discerned from the Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew. You are free to believe what I say or not. Two important points. The Serpent’s half-truth, if you translate as is typically interpreted “not surely die,” is that the serpent knows God’s penchant for forgiveness, so he knows death is not a “sure thing.” This is the same attitude that got Jonah in trouble with the LORD. Jonah 4:1-3 – (Jonah’s Anger and the LORD’S Compassion)
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”•••
Jonah 4:10-11
10 And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Easy to use that truth to make it sound like God is withholding something. The second insight I share with you (crucify me if you must) is the possibility, from using the techniques we have been sharing, to look at that word in bold, תְּמֻתֽוּן in a different way, with phonetic cognates and different order.
If we divided into תמ and תונ, changed order and replaced the tavs with other dentals, some interesting thoughts come to light.
First there is מוט and נוט.
And there is מד and נוד
And of course, there could be combinations like מד + נוט or מוט + נוד, which you can mentally combine from the above.
To me these explain many things. How Adam and Eve were separated from Eden, how Cain was sent away, the concept of putting people “outside the camp” for a time, as occurred with Miriam, or with those who were “leprous,” and why the people at Babel were fearful that they might be “dispersed.” (Gn11:4) It helps explain the various separations, and the various lengths of time for separations. It could mean the serpent had the knowledge that we are eternal beings, and that the consequences of our actions were not truly death, but were either a great loss of confidence/faith (tottering) here in this life, or potential separation from our Creator or worldly needs for an unknown period of time.
Food for thought. Was this the understanding? And if so, how does this change our lives here and now? Does it help us regain our faith? It should. Does it help us to face the challenges we currently face in life?
I share with you another word, that hopefully will help tie together several of the most recent L&S entries, including this one. This word comes from Exodus 20:20 above, in that Ten Commandments context. The word is test (h5254. נָסָה nâsâ). Go back and read it in context.
Exodus 20:20
20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test (h5254. נָסָה nâsâ) you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
Exodus 20:20 BHS
20 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶל־הָעָם֮ אַל־תִּירָאוּ֒ כִּ֗י לְבַֽעֲבוּר֙ נַסֹּ֣ות אֶתְכֶ֔ם בָּ֖א הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וּבַעֲב֗וּר תִּהְיֶ֧ה יִרְאָתֹ֛ועַל־פְּנֵיכֶ֖ם לְבִלְתִּ֥י תֶחֱטָֽאוּ׃
Verse number is different: 2. Shemot 20:16 (Mikraot Gedolot)
וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל הָעָם אַל תִּירָאוּ כִּי לְבַעֲבוּר נַסּוֹת אֶתְכֶם בָּא הָאֱלֹהִים וּבַעֲבוּר תִּהְיֶה יִרְאָתוֹ עַל פְּנֵיכֶםלְבִלְתִּי תֶחֱטָאוּ.
I am always “curious” as to why the root I think must be the most important one in the list of cognates for the trail that I’m on is not there. We discussed the “what is seen/what is not seen” technique long ago on L&S. Look for the obvious that is missing. There is both a נשאroot and a נשׂא root. The one we hope for in talking about the afterlife is נשׂא, missing above.
In our testing, the goal is that we are being raised to a higher level.
Another thing that has puzzled me through the years is (shared before) Moses saying, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
Curious as well, as the very same letters, in different order, are used for “fear” and “not fear.” The root given by BDB for the “not fear” is h3373. יָרֵא yârê’, and the root for the second, “fear” is h3374. יִרְאָה iyr’â, which is listed as the feminine form of h3373. יָרֵא yârê’. Same letters, different order “not” ניראו and without the not, יראתו. Should we be looking at each of the letters in different arrangement? Going to put the “not to do” in red, the “to do” in blue.
For “not” ניראו – possibly ניר + או
For יראתו – possibly ורא + תו – and recall, no roots begin with ו, but referred to י
Again, please look up these verses in context and draw your own conclusions. Hereis what I see, but I have a background as does each of you. Be aware of possibleassumptive reasoning, mine and yours. In the blue, we are to call God and God’s setboundaries to constant attention. This would be honoring and respecting God, asspoken directly from Mount Sinai.
In the red,
p.156 ניר
① tilling furrows
Proverbs 21:4
4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
the lamp (h5215. נִיר nîyr) of the wicked, are sin.
② bar of loom
1 Samuel 17:7 of Goliath
7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam (h4500. מָנוֹר mânôr), and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.
h5215. נִיר nîyr; from 5214; properly, plowing, i.e. (concretely) freshly plowed land: — fallow ground, plowing, tillage.
AV (4) – fallow ground 2, tillage 1, plowing 1;
tillable or untilled or fallow ground
h4500. מָנוֹר mânôr; from 5214; a yoke (properly, for plowing), i.e. the frame of a loom: — beam.
AV (4) – beam 4;
h5214. נִיר niyr; a root probably identical with that of 5216, through the idea of the gleam of a fresh furrow; to till the soil: — break up.
First, I will say that I had no idea what I would find when I embarked on this entry. I simply started writing, having come greatly to trust what is flowing here. None of this was preplanned.
Now I will say what will likely offend 90% of those who might be reading, so, be prepared. Jews and Gentiles alike seem to be proficient at doing what is in the red, what we are “not to do.” I already told you last entry I thought Sarai was given a chance to be less controlling, but did not pass that challenge. (Again, my opinion.) I think this is precisely what Yeshua spoke of when he called the Pharisees hypocrites, that they were putting heavy burdens on others. Note he said his yoke was light – did you notice yoke in that definition of h4500 above? In Deuteronomy 5:22, God did not add to the Ten Words. I’m not saying the rest of Scripture is superfluous by any means. But if we simply did what was specifically told to us, we would get an “A” on our test – we would be at 90%.
On the other hand, I do not believe that most of Christianity, in the U.S. at least, is following what Yeshua said either. What heavy burdens are you putting on others? Who told you to place those heavy burdens? Are we not to reach out to those who are struggling? Is that not what his message was all about? What requirements has your assumptive reasoning placed on others? Are you the one who judges who is separated in Sheol for whatever period of time? Others should not fear us. We are only mankind/the world. Others benefit from getting to know God. And are led there by God’s attributes, mercy, lovingkindness, patience, etc., not by being controlling. God is a God of free will, and allowing consequences to act.
The mark is to be willing to put oneself on the line for the boundaries set by God. Look at the Log in your own eye. Look at two GS verses about running the race: 1Cor9:24 and Heb12:1. We each have our own race to run. We are not to be trying to control others in their race. God controls their pace and their end point, which are both quite likely different from yours. Look at some of these verses: Mt7:2, 25:14-30; Mk4:21-25; Lk6:16-18, 6:38, 19:11-27.
Philippians 2:12-16
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
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Exodus 14:13-14
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
May we each run our own race well and lift up others who run their own races. May we put no burdens on others that are not already theirs to bear in life.
And a PostScript:
God speaks to us today. God has always spoken to us. Not many are willing to listen. When God speaks, there is inspiration. With inspiration from God much is accomplished in this world (remember 2K6:16 and context). Inspiration occurs now. See very poignant books and movies currently being made, many of which share God’s message in a subtle way, like the little Too Much Noise book I shared. This is NOT to say those are equal in weight to Scripture, but that the artists bringing them to being are inspired, and very often the content will be recognizable as referring back to Scripture (if you are familiar enough with Scripture to recognize it.)
We have been speaking of separations. Remember all the connections I have shared throughout LogAndSpeck, between the Greek and the Hebrew Scriptures (though I truly believe, personally, that all were originally written in Hebrew, we must await that revelation). Inspired writings. The separation between two “testaments” is of mankind, always wanting to protect their own territory. God spoke and there was a beginning to what we experience. God speaks in continuing our experience; there have been no interruptions on God’s part. May we be listening.
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