See other versions of this on 7 Laws and 7 Thunders, Study on the Great Assignment, etc.
http://7with7.blogspot.ca/?m=1
on Acts 15:1
Certain people came down from Judea… This even ought not to be understood retroactively from the point of view of Christian theology 1500 to 2000 years later. What it meant for gentiles to be saved to Jews who believed in Moses and Mashiach must be understood in distinction from its meaning during centuries of the development of christian theology. The most important aspect of this issue is that salvation first and foremost to the Jewish people has always meant salvation of the nation, of all Israel, not primarily salvation of the individual. Therefore, for a gentile to be saved they had to be grafted into the nation of Israel and included in the salvation of the nation. It seemed completely clear from Moses that this meant that gentile men would have to be circumcised. Had something changed? Paul and Barnabas were insisting that something had changed, not in the fact that individual gentiles had to be included in the salvation of Israel in order to be saved, but in how this was now accomplished. If the reader sees these certain people who came down from Judea as being evil decievers (reading the text with the eyes of later gentile christian theology), the whole story of what was taking place here will be confusing and hardly credible. In fact, the Jerusalem council took both sides of this question very seriously and did not resolve the issue easily or superficially. In truth, the profound nature of the resolution that the council came to will go unappreciated by all those who choose to simply think of Paul's side as the good christian side and the side of those who came down from Judea as the bad Judaizing side. Only when it is fully understood how both sides represented distinct understandings and visions of Judaism will it be possible for the reader to clearly see the pivotal story for all ages taking place here in Acts 15.
In verse 5 we are being told that representatives in Jerusalem itself of the same party, (though they were different people), as were referred to in verse 1began to engage in the debate with Paul and Barnabas about how gentiles who had come to faith in Yehoshua as the Messiah of Israel were to be included within the nation of Israel and the salvation of Israel. When these Yehoshua-believing Pharisees stated that the gentiles who believed and were being converted needed to be circumcised and to begin to keep the whole Torah, they understood this to be because they were being saved through their faith in the Messiah Yehoshua. This was so because they believed the nation of Israel was saved and being saved through the Messiah Yehoshua. Only when this is clear will Peter's answer to them, culminating here in verse11, be clear.
Peter is speaking directly to these Yehoshua-believing Pharisees, and to everyone else only indirectly, (verse 7). His argument is that Israel, itself, is being saved and has been given the Spirit of Mashiach only through the unmerited grace of Adonu Yehoshua. This point is the premise of Peter's argument and it is essential to understand clearly what this means in order to be able to understand clearly the conclusion of the argument he makes about the salvation of the gentiles based on this premise. Salvation in this narrative of Acts 15 is represented by the gift and Presence of the Holy Ruach, the Holy Spirit as conveyed to Israel through the promise of Mashiach. Peter is saying that this Holy Presence is come to Israel through G-d's grace and not through Israel's success in perfectly observing the Torah. In no way does Peter diminish the importance of observance of the Torah in Israel. His argument is that since the Holy Presence is come to Israel through the promise of Mashiach through unmerited grace and not through success in perfect observance of the Torah, this same salvation of the gift of the Holy Presence is come to those gentiles seeking and believing in the salvation of Israel through the same grace. It cannot be put upon the gentiles that they should seek to attain what is already given to Israel and to them by the mercy of grace through seeking to become perfect in Torah observance. Peter is implying that there is a great mystery here and that there is a great revelation to be understood through this mystery. He is not demonizing one side or the other in this controversy. For it is the argument on one side and on the other that creates the articulation of this wonderful mystery. In the following verses the council of the Emissaries of Yehoshua the Mashiach will point the way toward the full revelation of this mystery of G-d's grace toward all the nations in the salvation of Israel.
It is essential to understand that James/Yaacov and all of those whom he spoke to were in agreement about the meaning of this prophecy from Amos — that it referred to the salvation of Israel that they were witnessing in their day, which would develop more and more, until All Israel was saved. The vision of this salvation which was given to them has been somewhat concealed to us through history, but this concealment is also an aspect of the Divine Promise of Israel's redemption. This concealment of the orignial vision of the salvation of Israel given to the Emissaries of Mashiach was and is one of the keys of the Malchut/Kingdom which was given to Kefa/Peter and to the twelve talmudim/diciples of Yehoshua. This key, this concealment of the "Apostolic" vision of Israel's salvation, is one of the keys to the fulfillment of the later part of this very prophecy of Amos: "that the rest of humankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name…" Understand: "the rest of humankind," that is, after and through the rebuilding of the fallen succah/tabernacle/tent of David, the kingdom of David, through the promised Son of David, the Mashiach, over the House of Judah and the House of Israel, then "the rest of humankind," the Gentiles who bear my name, who are converted to faith in his name, may, as a result of hearing of this Good News of Israel and her Messiah, turn to seek the Lord. Therefore, since the first measure of this salvation of Israel, the gift of the Holy Ruach/Spirit was come through grace, the first measure of the blessing of all the families of the earth must also be understood to be already come through grace. On the basis of this understanding, James/Yaacov will go on to give the full decision as to how to go forward toward the full revelation of the redemption of Israel and the salvation of all the world.
Acts 15:13
The conclusion that James/Yaacov comes to must be studied with great care. What was the understanding among those present about what the teachers of the Torah call the Noahide, or universal commandments? This statement by James/Yaacov is undisputedly a reference to these Torah requirements, as understood by the Torah teachers, for righteous gentiles. Gentiles who were thieves, murders, sexually immoral, propagators of idolatry, etc. were not sanctioned by the Torah as being welcome strangers and pilgrims in the Holy Land of Israel. For such iniquity G-d had removed the Canaanites from His Holy Land. For gentiles who were dwelling in the Land who committed such crimes there also had to be some legal rulings for justice which was distinct from those by which the Torah ruled over the lives of the Jews. The same applied to those gentiles who desired to live among the Jews in their communities in exile. It is not about judging an individual's standing before G-d. It is about the testimony of the word of G-d in Israel to the truth of the One true G-d, for the purpose of the salvation of the world. This in itself is very significant, as it is the basis upon which Paul built his mission to the nations. However, the way in which James/Yaakov chose to refer t the commandments required of the righteous gentiles was equally, if not even more significant.
The commandment not to commit blaspheme against the Name of the Creator of heaven and earth, the G-d of Israel, usually heads, and is always included, in any list of the Noahide laws. James/Yaakov, however, does not mention this commandment. It cannot be that the Apostles/Emissaries of Yehoshua did not consider it to be essential. Paul, in fact, requires obedience to this commandment explicitly in the congregations among the nations that he establishes, even turning certain individuals over to the satan in order that they might learn not to blaspheme. The Revelation entrusted to Yochanan/John also explicitly mentions blaspheme as one of the sins that G-d requires the gentiles to repent of. That James/Yaacov does not mention the prohibition of blasphemy here in the context of the question of circumcision and conversion of the gentiles could be understood as being because he intended to say that there was no need to require the gentiles coming to faith in the Messiah of Israel and his salvation of Israel to abstain from blasphemy, as these were people who, individually and together, all called upon the name of the Lord. In the same way, they would not be suspected at all of being thieves and robbers, nor of being rapists and murderers. Even though this is so, because of his choice of words and the context within the Oral Torah, James'/Yaakov's reference to abstaining from "blood" can be seen as a possible allusion to abstaining from murder, or revenge killings, etc., even if it should be read more literally as a dietary rule and in association with the prohibition of eating things strangled. This overlap between prohibition agains violence and eating blood can already be seen at the source prohibition or commandment that James/Yaakov is pointing to. This source commandment is the Noahide commandment not to eat a living limb torn from an animal. Understood as a commandment against cruelty it is also a commandment against predatory violence. In Torah mitzvot/commandments for Israel, the commandments regarding kosher slaughter go deeper and broader in speaking to this same concern. The language that James/Yaakov chooses to use in framing the prohibitions he states suggests that he is concerned with there being a bridge and a dialogue between the Noahide expression of the commandments about regard for the soul being in the blood and the Torah commandments about this. The Noahide commandment to establish courts of law is also not mentioned by James/Yaakov, as this commandment is being transposed into the Messianic community by this very council in Jerusalem at which he is giving the final word on these issues.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Way of Love Is Prepared
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? Why would we desire to only trust ourselves, our own eyes, our own sense of touch and testing, our own consciousness, and others only so long as they continue to prove themselves to us? Why would we desire to become lost to God, so that we cannot even always know for sure if there is a God who loves us? If we now live in a world full of accidents, where an accident could happen at any time that has the potential even to destroy our homes and our lives, is this because the greatest power in the universe is the power of cold and heartless chance, or is it because we have chosen not to think with or walk with or know the God of love? Love will not force you to love but if you choose another way to think than love, another way to live than love, love will remain love and will suffer a long time waiting for you to return, enduring all things necessary in order to open all possible ways for you to return. God did not design you to die but to learn life with Him in love. For this reason God called Abraham out from among all people and promised him and his offspring blessing and life in the midst a world breaking apart through accidents and death. God gave His word to Abraham. The promise of redemption and recovery, the promise of the blessing of the God of love will be kept for all Humantiy. The way is prepared. The way of the God of love is in the world. You can find it.
Read this on Hearing Seven
Read this on Hearing Seven
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Organic Learning
sourced at
HOW WE THINK OF SPACE
"If there is space between two objects—if there are two birds in the sky and one is way off to your right and the other is way off to your left—we can and do consider the two objects to be independent. We regard them as separate and distinct entities. Space, whatever it is fundamentally, provides the medium that separates and distinguishes one object from another. That is what space does. Things occupying different locations in space are different things."
"But a class of experiments performed during the last couple of decades has shown that something we do over here (such as measuring certain properties of a particle) can be subtly entwined with something that happens over there (such as the outcome of measuring certain properties of another distant particle), without anything being sent from here to there."
"But a class of experiments performed during the last couple of decades has shown that something we do over here (such as measuring certain properties of a particle) can be subtly entwined with something that happens over there (such as the outcome of measuring certain properties of another distant particle), without anything being sent from here to there."
Physics would describe reality as being the physical universe without God. Instead of God being before and beyond 'Einstein's' space-time universe, the science of physics imagines a big bang from extremely dense order to a universe of ever less order. These ideas influence our understanding of the way our minds work in perceiving reality. They influence our ability to think about the ways we learn. They influence us to imagine reality in reductionist terms, and if to frame our thought in terms of the big picture to do so analytically in frames of discrete lines and points. Even Quantum Physics, as discussed in the paragraph above, frames its observations beginning from reductionistic assumptions. There are theistic models of Creation, and even some non-theistic models of the universe, which try to cultivate more holistic or even organic ideas of how we may be conscious and how we might be able to learn without only being sequential and linear. However, these models are all very hard to make work for one reason. God cannot be made into a theoretical item. Thought must come from God and not just be thought about God, much less merely thought about the idea of God. However, even though organic models of Creation or of a non-theistic notion of the universe, do not work well because of this, they can work well enough to show that reductionist models of thought, reality and learning, do not represent the only possibility.
In an organic model of reality one would not speak of a seemingly mysterious connection between two apparently independent objects at a distance. One would expect there to be a relationship between all aspects of the world organically and it would be the sinews that connected one nexus of functional design elements with another which would be the focus of attention and learning, not those 'points' or 'lines of force' as independent objects in themselves.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Corporate Body
The individual body is not the essential definition of the body according to the Book dictated by the Creator, the G-d of Israel. The Bible's definition of the body includes the individual body but is more essentially the corporate body. When it was stated by the Creator that it was not good for Adam to be alone it was not just due to psychological reasons. Adam was not finished. The essential commandment of goodness, for Adam to be fruitful and multiply, was not possible for Adam alone. An amoeba that is alone can multiply. Adam cannot. The Creator designed the body of Adam to be a corporate body.
When the Bible speaks of the body of the Messiah as being the bride of the Messiah it is not just using metaphorical language. the body of the Messiah is the most literal body of all bodies. Every other body is to some degree a metaphor in relation to that body. Even the corporate body of the first Adam is less literal than the eternal body of the Messiah.
When the Bible speaks of the body of the Messiah as being the bride of the Messiah it is not just using metaphorical language. the body of the Messiah is the most literal body of all bodies. Every other body is to some degree a metaphor in relation to that body. Even the corporate body of the first Adam is less literal than the eternal body of the Messiah.
The Objective
The objective is to be selfless, but if you are selfless and you are alone you are no more than death and the actions that you perform can be no greater than the actions of the angel of death. Thus, the objective is not to be selfless and alone but to be selfless and be with God and have God supply your identity to you as his gift to you. Then your actions can be actions of pure giving. This is the objective.
The Body
As the Word of G-d became flesh and dwelt among us, the body cannot be understood as a mere garment fo the soul or spirit in a dualistic sense. If it is to be understood as a garment or a house for the soul, then the sense in which it is to be understood must be in a non-dualistic sense, where the house or garment is itself an essential aspect of the person. This will be seen clearly in the resurrection of the dead, where the body will be eternally perfect while the soul is still learning and growing in ever higher levels of perfection. The present situation, where the soul is struggling to elevate the flesh into spirituality, will then, in the resurrection, be reversed and the soul will be learning from the body. Without making reference to Yehoshua, as I have done here, Rebbe Schneerson of the cHaBaD Hassidim has taught this principle based on the text in Isaiah 1:27.
SEE my studies on this in my Evernote files here:
SEE ALSO: Anticipating the Redemption by Menachem Mendel Schneerson
or
http://sichosinenglish.org/books/anticipating-redemption-1/02.htm
Sunday, September 25, 2011
On the Messages to the Seven Assemblies
∞ Revelation 1:1-2
Mashiach has one angel for his revelation, even as he chose one apostle. There are many who receive the testimony. Many will serve the testimony. Many will be served by it.
Rev. 3:1 "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars"
Rev. 4:5 "From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God..."
Rev. 5:6 "And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth."
The revelation brings the greetings of grace and peace from the Eternal. The Eternal is bringing His Presence to meet with you in time. This is the meaning of "Who is, Who was and Who is to come".
His Presence is represented in the seven-fold spirit of His throne: coming from His throne in the form of flashing lightning, pealing thunder, torches of fire; at the same time, the same seven-fold spirit is the spirit of the eyes and the horns of the Lamb, who is in front of the throne – and thus also being the extension of the throne.
These references to the seven eyes of G-d, seen by Yochanan (John) as the seven spirits of G-d, are G-d's references to His prophecy which He gave to Zechariah. This seven-fold spirit is representative of the whole vision of this, the Revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach of Israel, as G-d gave it here to Yochanan (John).
The points of reference are found in Zechariah 3:9 and Zechariah 4:10. The stone upon which the eyes are found there is, by allusion, the plummet stone, and more immediately, the cornerstone by which the Temple will be rectified. The association showing that with G-d the plummet stone and the cornerstone, by both of which He rectifies His Temple, are one is in Isaiah 28:16-17.
Here, therefore the plummet stone is the sevenfold spirit and the cornerstone is the Lamb. In Zechariah the prophecy was given for assurance and full understanding of the bringing back of the captivity from Babylon. Here all the captivity of Israel in Mystery Babylon is in view. In the prophecy referenced in Isaiah, and in all of these prophecies from Zechariah as well, it can be seen that G-d's building of His Dwelling Place in the earth involves a work of judgements upon the nations and always first upon Jerusalem and her children > 2 Kings 21:10-18 > 1 Peter 4:17: Judgment begins first at the House of G-d.
The seven assemblies, as addressed, are still in the captivity of Mystery Babylon, but in a stage of the first wave of redemption, like that which Zerubbabel and Judah were in at the time the prophecy was given through Zechariah. A knowledge of that prophecy will inform us that we are immediately in touch with the two witnesses seen in chapter 11, even as we open this book and begin to read it. The seven assemblies are to be immediately aware of the two witnesses.
∞ Revelation 1:3-4
∞ Revelation 1:5-6
Mashiach is the faithful witness that the sentence of G-d upon Adam was passed just as G-d said and that the serpent was a liar from the beginning. Adam was cut off from their root in G-d the very day, the very hour, the very moment that they ate the fruit that was forbidden to them. He is the faithful witness that the G-d of Israel is the one G-d of truth.
Mashiach is the firstborn from the dead. The foundation of Creation is the firstborn. Creation does not rest on eternity directly but is called forth out of nothing. Yet nothingness is not the foundation of Creation. For the Creator designed all things upon the foundation of the firstborn of Adam, the Son of Adam, who is able to emerge even out of death through his faithful testimony to the word of God.
Mashiach is the ruler over the kings of the earth, not by might nor by power, but by the sevenfold Holy Spirit of the God of Israel.
Mashiach loves us. His desire to be anointed with Jerusalem's love is his desire to sustain the very existence of Creation. To give himself up entirely for Jerusalem and for Israel in order to arose his people from the sleep of death and awake them in love was the passion of his whole existence, the passion which lays at the foundation of the universe.
Mashiach has freed us. There was no one among us who had any right to speak to us about our sins except the angel of death. And no one among us said anything of true consequence about our sins except the angel of death. Then the Mashiach of Israel appeared on the horizon of the world. He stood at so far off at first that when Abraham looked and saw the glowing of his light on the horizon it was all that he could see. But G-d made Abraham believe in his heart that He said to him, He is your coming son, and he is mine. Turn away from the world I have cursed with death and walk through the land in which my Anointed one will live and die and live again and never leave you or forsake you. And Abraham obeyed what he believed in his heart. And Mashiach came and died and rose again and was taken up to the throne of G-d, never leaving Abraham nor forsaking him. And having something of great consequence to say to us about our sins, he speaks to us about them and has freed us from hearing no voice speak to us about our sins but the voice of the angel of death.
Mashiach has made us priests. A great mixed multitude came up with Israel out of Egypt. When the tribes of Israel were camped in the wilderness, each according to their commandment, three to the east, three to the south, three to the west and three to the north, with Levi and the ark of the covenant in the center, where were the mixed multitude camped? It was fitting for them to be camped in an orderly array, everyone being attached to a tribe according to the calling of the G-d of Israel that was upon them. In this way, whoever would be attached to the camp of Israel would be attached to the priesthood of Levi and through that priesthood and the ark of the covenant to the Presence of the G-d of Israel who lead Israel through the wilderness.
In this arrangement, why was the tribe of Levi always at the center of the camp? This question is the question of why the priesthood was only with the firstborn of the tribe of Levi and not with the firstborn of every tribe of Israel. And behind even this question is the question of why the eternal priesthood of Israel is the priesthood of the firstborn. When it is written that Mashiach is the firstborn from the dead it is being stated that it is he who leads his people to the Eternal One. The priesthood of Israel is his. Because he is the firstborn from the dead he is not the only one who will be born from the dead. It was always G-d's purpose to make all Israel to be a kingdom of priests, Exodus 19:5-6. Even now, the priesthood of Israel, of every soul in Israel, is effective so far as that soul is attached to the spirit of Mashiach, and in the day to come, the day of resurrection, the purpose of G-d for the priesthood of all Israel shall be fulfilled.
To Mashiach be glory and dominion forever and ever.
∞ Revelation 1:7-8
∞ Revelation 1:9-10
<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes:
∞ Revelation 1:11-12
<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes:
4John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which ... He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John" NASB<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes: As G-d sees Yehoshua the Mashiach of Israel, so He reveals him. As it is written in the book it will be told in the unfolding of history. Eternity will explain this - how history was precisely the unfolding of this book. Even now the Eternal One will explain many things to us to show us how history is His interpretation of this vision and of this book.
Mashiach has one angel for his revelation, even as he chose one apostle. There are many who receive the testimony. Many will serve the testimony. Many will be served by it.
"Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne..." ASVThe Seven Spirits of G-d
Rev. 3:1 "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars"
Rev. 4:5 "From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God..."
Rev. 5:6 "And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth."
The revelation brings the greetings of grace and peace from the Eternal. The Eternal is bringing His Presence to meet with you in time. This is the meaning of "Who is, Who was and Who is to come".
His Presence is represented in the seven-fold spirit of His throne: coming from His throne in the form of flashing lightning, pealing thunder, torches of fire; at the same time, the same seven-fold spirit is the spirit of the eyes and the horns of the Lamb, who is in front of the throne – and thus also being the extension of the throne.
These references to the seven eyes of G-d, seen by Yochanan (John) as the seven spirits of G-d, are G-d's references to His prophecy which He gave to Zechariah. This seven-fold spirit is representative of the whole vision of this, the Revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach of Israel, as G-d gave it here to Yochanan (John).
The points of reference are found in Zechariah 3:9 and Zechariah 4:10. The stone upon which the eyes are found there is, by allusion, the plummet stone, and more immediately, the cornerstone by which the Temple will be rectified. The association showing that with G-d the plummet stone and the cornerstone, by both of which He rectifies His Temple, are one is in Isaiah 28:16-17.
Here, therefore the plummet stone is the sevenfold spirit and the cornerstone is the Lamb. In Zechariah the prophecy was given for assurance and full understanding of the bringing back of the captivity from Babylon. Here all the captivity of Israel in Mystery Babylon is in view. In the prophecy referenced in Isaiah, and in all of these prophecies from Zechariah as well, it can be seen that G-d's building of His Dwelling Place in the earth involves a work of judgements upon the nations and always first upon Jerusalem and her children > 2 Kings 21:10-18 > 1 Peter 4:17: Judgment begins first at the House of G-d.
The seven assemblies, as addressed, are still in the captivity of Mystery Babylon, but in a stage of the first wave of redemption, like that which Zerubbabel and Judah were in at the time the prophecy was given through Zechariah. A knowledge of that prophecy will inform us that we are immediately in touch with the two witnesses seen in chapter 11, even as we open this book and begin to read it. The seven assemblies are to be immediately aware of the two witnesses.
∞ Revelation 1:3-4
"3 Blessed is the one who reads.... 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia..."<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes: These words must be kept together. Those who read and those who hear are first those of the addressed assemblies but not only those. Since all who read and hear are the blessed audience how are the seven assemblies representative? All concerns with G-d's assemblies, of the seven spirits of G-d, are representatively addressed. With care it is possible to recognize these.
∞ Revelation 1:5-6
{May the Blessings of this Revelation be upon you from the Eternal One and from His seven-fold spirit, the Holy Spirit of His eyes} "...and from Yehoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth".<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes: Verse five is a continuation of verse four. This revelation comes from the Eternal One, and from His Presence being brought to you who read and hear by His Spirit and His Mashiach, His Anointed One in Israel. Verse six bridges into the hights of the highest worlds above to give the glorious Mashiach of Israel all love and praise. Verses four, five and six are intended to be kept together as if in one breath, for they are two ends of one bridge.
Mashiach is the faithful witness that the sentence of G-d upon Adam was passed just as G-d said and that the serpent was a liar from the beginning. Adam was cut off from their root in G-d the very day, the very hour, the very moment that they ate the fruit that was forbidden to them. He is the faithful witness that the G-d of Israel is the one G-d of truth.
Mashiach is the firstborn from the dead. The foundation of Creation is the firstborn. Creation does not rest on eternity directly but is called forth out of nothing. Yet nothingness is not the foundation of Creation. For the Creator designed all things upon the foundation of the firstborn of Adam, the Son of Adam, who is able to emerge even out of death through his faithful testimony to the word of God.
Mashiach is the ruler over the kings of the earth, not by might nor by power, but by the sevenfold Holy Spirit of the God of Israel.
Mashiach loves us. His desire to be anointed with Jerusalem's love is his desire to sustain the very existence of Creation. To give himself up entirely for Jerusalem and for Israel in order to arose his people from the sleep of death and awake them in love was the passion of his whole existence, the passion which lays at the foundation of the universe.
Mashiach has freed us. There was no one among us who had any right to speak to us about our sins except the angel of death. And no one among us said anything of true consequence about our sins except the angel of death. Then the Mashiach of Israel appeared on the horizon of the world. He stood at so far off at first that when Abraham looked and saw the glowing of his light on the horizon it was all that he could see. But G-d made Abraham believe in his heart that He said to him, He is your coming son, and he is mine. Turn away from the world I have cursed with death and walk through the land in which my Anointed one will live and die and live again and never leave you or forsake you. And Abraham obeyed what he believed in his heart. And Mashiach came and died and rose again and was taken up to the throne of G-d, never leaving Abraham nor forsaking him. And having something of great consequence to say to us about our sins, he speaks to us about them and has freed us from hearing no voice speak to us about our sins but the voice of the angel of death.
Mashiach has made us priests. A great mixed multitude came up with Israel out of Egypt. When the tribes of Israel were camped in the wilderness, each according to their commandment, three to the east, three to the south, three to the west and three to the north, with Levi and the ark of the covenant in the center, where were the mixed multitude camped? It was fitting for them to be camped in an orderly array, everyone being attached to a tribe according to the calling of the G-d of Israel that was upon them. In this way, whoever would be attached to the camp of Israel would be attached to the priesthood of Levi and through that priesthood and the ark of the covenant to the Presence of the G-d of Israel who lead Israel through the wilderness.
In this arrangement, why was the tribe of Levi always at the center of the camp? This question is the question of why the priesthood was only with the firstborn of the tribe of Levi and not with the firstborn of every tribe of Israel. And behind even this question is the question of why the eternal priesthood of Israel is the priesthood of the firstborn. When it is written that Mashiach is the firstborn from the dead it is being stated that it is he who leads his people to the Eternal One. The priesthood of Israel is his. Because he is the firstborn from the dead he is not the only one who will be born from the dead. It was always G-d's purpose to make all Israel to be a kingdom of priests, Exodus 19:5-6. Even now, the priesthood of Israel, of every soul in Israel, is effective so far as that soul is attached to the spirit of Mashiach, and in the day to come, the day of resurrection, the purpose of G-d for the priesthood of all Israel shall be fulfilled.
To Mashiach be glory and dominion forever and ever.
∞ Revelation 1:7-8
"...every eye will see him... all tribes of the earth will wail..."
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, ...the Almighty"<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes:
∞ Revelation 1:9-10
<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes:
∞ Revelation 1:11-12
<> } Mellow Wolf - Book of The Revelation - Files > notes:
4John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.
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