Difference between revisions of "ELTB worksheet"

Revision as of 12:14, 2 May 2023

INTRODUCTION

God wants everyone to know him. So he made the world. [1] Everything he made teaches about him. [2] It is difficult for us to learn about God from stars and stones. It is easier to learn through words and actions.

He chose some people to teach about him, but they didn't know what to say. They did not know him very well themselves. So God used them like actors in a play.

Their lives became a parable to teach us of God. [3] In the play, we learn from stones and stars through what God said about stones and stars.

God hid lessons for us in the history of Israel. In this book we will look at the things that the Hebrews could eat or not, and see what they teach about God.

star kowkab כוכב - Son of God כ explaining ו the revelation ר by becoming man כ and teaching man ב

stone abed אבן - father אב son בן

THE LAW AND THE PLAY

The first section of the Bible contains many laws that God gave the Hebrews telling them how to live. Some of these laws told them what to eat and what not to eat, called "Dietary laws".

When the Hebrews followed these laws, they showed us the character of God in a riddle. So the Dietary Law is not about eating. It is more like a play. The laws were the script for the play, and everyone had a role. God chose priests to be the directors of the play, telling everyone how to do their parts.

The lives of the Hebrews were the play. [1] The audience, everyone else, would learn from it. [2]

Symbols and riddle make up the play. [3] [4] For the audience, the Dietary Law says nothing about what we can eat. Instead, eating is a symbol for learning what God says. It tells us who we should learn from, and who we should not learn from .

Each animal is a symbol for a different type of teacher. The clean animals (the ones the Hebrews could eat) symbolize the people we should learn from. The unclean animals symbolize people who teach things that God doesn't want us to learn. these were the animals the Hebrews could not eat.

This isn't the first time that eating symbolized 'learning' in the Bible. Do you remember Adam and Eve, and the tree they were not supposed to eat from? [1] You could say that the tree was unclean.

Let's talk about the different animals that are part of the play, and what they teach about God.

eat akal אכל - smite אכ the teaching ל

--- MEDITATE ON THE WORD OF GOD

Clean animals are the ones the Hebrews could eat. They symbolize the people we should learn from. [1]

The clean animals of the Bible are cows, sheep, goats, and deer. These animals 'chew the cud'. They eat something and then burp it up to chew it again. If you are a clean animal, you learn from God's word, then you 'chew the cud' by thinking about it over and over again.

We remember to learn from people who meditate on God's word by the symbols of the cow, sheep, goat, and deer . [2]

Clean animals also walk on split hooves. These symbolize a 'separated walk' or life. The way you walk is a symbol for the way you live. [3] [4] [5]

If you have a separated life, you are living a life for God, separated from the things that distract us from God. You learn to walk with God by meditating on his word. A good teacher is like this.

cud gerah גרה - pursue ג the revelation ר which was not understood ה

UNCLEAN ANIMALS DON'T BE LIKE THEM

The 'unclean' animal doesn't chew its cud or it doesn't have a split hoof. [1] Some animals are unclean even if they chew the cud because they do not have a split hoof. These are like the scribes in the day of Jesus. They knew the scriptures but it did not change the way they lived.

Others thought they had a split hoof, like the Pharisees, who were the most religious people of the day. But their righteousness, or goodness, was not based in the scriptures that God gave them. They would make up their own rules instead. They were self-righteous.

The Hebrews weren't allowed to eat unclean animals. This was to remind us to avoid these types of teachers. When we eat a clean or unclean animal, we remember the Hebrews taught us that the word of God should change our lives. [2]

Camel

CAMEL: THE JUDGE

The camel is an unclean animal. The Hebrews did not eat it because it walks on two toes, but doesn't have a split hoof. The camel is the symbol of a judge.

Though the camel is unclean, this doesn't mean that judges are bad. They teach us something about what God doesn't want us to learn. He doesn't want us to learn to judge other people. Judging is God's job, not ours. Jesus said that God would judge us, if we judge others. [1]

The Bible describes God as a judge. Some people think that he is a great and terrible judge. But he is a loving judge. He judged us all already, and forgave us through Jesus on the cross. [2] This is his love.

God;s teachers teach his love, the Gospel, by showing his forgiveness through the cross. But he doesn't want us to become judges. He wants us to forgive others as he forgave us. [5]

When thinking about a camel, we remember that we should not learn to be a judge.

camel gimel גמל - recompense, to give what is due

Coney

CONEY: THE BITER

The coney is another unclean animal that the Hebrews did not eat. When Adam named the coney, he must have seen the coney take a treasure into his den. Then he watched it return to the opening to defend it with bared teeth. His name means 'hide the treasure' but it also means 'mystery of the biting teeth'. The coney is a symbol of a teacher who hides the Gospel.

In the Bible, God tells us that he is both holy and love. Law and judgement describe holiness . Judgement expresses that his ways are not our ways. The law shows that his thoughts are not like our thoughts. [1] *

A teacher bites us like a coney with teeth if we only hear the law. [2] The treasure in God's word is his love. The teacher who hides the love acts like a coney.

The coney is like the teacher who always tells you what you did wrong, and never tells you how much Christ loves you. You can't find the treasure.

The Gospel is this: God shows himself through the cross of Christ. He teaches that he is holy because he punishes sin. He teaches that he is love, because Jesus volunteered to take our punishment. This would be like your mother punishing herself when she caught you doing something bad.

The coney-like teacher uses the Bible as a weapon. They never tell you how to receive the love of God.

You receive his love by 'eating his body'; a symbol for learning from then cross where he died because he loves you. [3]

coney shaphan שפן - hide, treasure coney shaphan שפן - mystery פ of the binding teeth ש()ן