TYMK - The testimony of the Son
- Isa 43:10 Ye [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I [am] he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
The Hebrew word for 'believe' aman אמן means to trust. It is not merely an intellectual agreement to a propositional statement. It also means 'turn to the right'.
Contents
We are goats and sheep
The theologians would have us believe that we are sheep, and those people over there, who don't look or act like us are goats destined to slaughter. This is completely inconsistent with the God of the Bible. God tells us that he is the one who decides what is good and evil. He tells us not to judge others. He would not tell us that WE are sheep and THEY are goats, since it would tempt us to judge others.
We are both a goat and a sheep. Our flesh is the goat. The flesh would make us to be a god. The flesh protects, feeds and pleasures itself. It is our instinctive nature. The flesh is at war with God. [1] The flesh is not subject to the law. It is unthinking instinct. You cannot appeal to it since it has no rationality. You can only train the flesh.
You are a goat on the left side, and a sheep on the right side. [2] We are not speaking of your literal left and right sides, but left is a symbol of the flesh, and right is a symbol of the spirit.
'Believe' or 'trust' אמן 'aman' means to turn from the goat to the sheep; 'turn to the right' אמן 'aman'. [3]
The Son makes us trust the Father
- Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
The Son's sole purpose is to make the unseen Father known to his creation. He does this through teaching. Teaching is an appeal to the spirit. Theologians are aware of the teachings of the Son through the red letters of their Bibles. But they are largely ignorant of the teaching of the Son through the mystery which was hidden from the beginning. This is why they cannot read the scriptures the way Jesus and the apostles did.
The Son of God watches the Father work invisibly behind the scenes in the history of Israel, and he guides the writing of that record, such that the mystery is hidden within. The teaching he did in the temple when he was twelve years old, and later during his ministry, draw from and reveal that mystery. He has no new teaching. He only does what he sees the Father doing. The teaching, which we call the new teaching, has been hidden in the history, poetry and prophecy from the beginning. It is so tightly coupled with the words and strokes of the letters that it's meaning can be known surely. It is reproducible and verifiable. Even if you cannot exegete [4] it yourself, you can verify that it is true.
When we can finally see the mystery, we see that no man could have invented it. It is woven in the history by the Father, and recorded for teaching by the Son. There is no free-for-all allegory, though the lazy will say it is. It is not the allegorical teaching of Origen. It is not the wild Midrash of the rabbis. It is not the ethereal wishful nonsense of the mystics. It is firmly grounded what the Son inspired to write, using the words of a language the Son gave, formed and given meaning by the letters of the alphabet, which themselves were formed from the strokes of his name.
That was a mouthful. So I'll say it in smaller parts.
There are two strokes which form all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The yod י is the first. The vav ו is formed by extending the yod. The yod represents (in metaphor) God's first thought of creation, or the void within him self that he formed in order to have a place for the universe. The second is his voice projected into the void to form all that there is from nothing. These two letters form the unpronounceable name of God יוי. It is unpronounceable because they form the first letter of the alphabet, the aleph א, which is a silent letter. If we tried to pronounce it, it would sound similar to Yahweh. But it cannot be said, since it is a silent letter. Yahweh is the name that can be said, and which Moses was commanded to use.
The letters, are all formed from these two letters which are strokes. the letters get their meaning from the strokes. The letters then combine their metaphors as they form words to give meaning to the words. None of this can be understood, without an understanding of the cross.
The language was formed with a knowledge of the cross, the history was formed with a knowledge of the cross, the OT scriptures were written with a knowledge of the cross, before any man knew anything about the cross.
This is the testimony of the Son. You can trust the Father, because there is incontrovertible proof, hidden in the mystery, that he alone is God and has been intimately involved in the history of man from the beginning.
All of creation was spoken into existence with words made from the meaning of the letters, made from the meaning of his name. The word for 'name' in English as well as Hebrew also means 'reputation'. Creation and all that is in it, is the reputation of God, that he alone is God, and he is the creator; He is holy. [5]
Turn to the right
The word 'believe' means 'trust' and 'turn to the right'. Stop feeding the goat and feed the sheep (on the right) more. The goat only trusts himself and looks after himself. The sheep trusts the shepherd. Because the sheep trusts the shepherd, he can also put others ahead of himself.
You don't have to fight over food like children. Even if there is not enough for all, you can let others have it because you trust the shepherd to feed you. This is an act of the will, not of instinct. Trust is a choice, not a feeling.
Next: TYMK - The testimony of the Spirit
References
- ↑ Ro 8:7 Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
- ↑ Mt 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
- ↑ Yes. The Hebrew word for 'believe' also means 'turn to the right'.
- ↑ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exegesis
- ↑ Ro 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: