Mt 1:1 ¶ The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew had several years to study the scriptures after Mark wrote his gospel. He included material not covered by Mark because he saw that the life of Jesus fulfilled scripture and he included enough information to show the hermeneutic tool he used to gain his insights.

Compare the verse above with :

Ec 1:1 ¶ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Both Ecclesiastes and Matthew are the books of the son of David. Ecclesiastes speaks of the kingdom of the earth and concludes that it is all vanity. Matthew talks about the kingdom of heaven.

The Hebrew preacher is one who spoke publicly to gatherings. After Matthew takes care of some prophetic riddles he will portray Jesus as the preacher with the sermon on the mount.

In addition to these interesting observations, the two books play into the first-son, second-son theme. This is where the second son obtains the inheritance or promise where the first son loses it. The second book of the son of David show Jesus as the king, the second book of the son of David.

The word generation in Hebrew is toledoth. It is more properly interpreted as “the record belong to or written by”. Mt 1:1 can be read “The book of the record of Jesus Christ…”. Now rather than read the list of names as a genealogy, Matthew points back to the OT record of these men and calls attention to the first/second son theme.

He specifically declares that the book is the record of Jesus. Matthew particularly calls attention to the book of the son of David, even though he wants to start with Abraham. Why? Because it is required to solve the riddle. He will later say that there are 42 ‘records’ (genreations/toledoth) of Jesus, but he will have only listed 41… unless you count the book of Matthew itself as the missing record.

Mark quoted scripture “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”

Isa 40:3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isa 57:14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

Mal 3:1 ¶ Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

The first thing you notice is that Marks quote doesn’t look much like a direct quote. Get over it. Standards for quoting, avoiding plagiarism, etc. simply did not exist. Even Jesus paraphrased scripture rather than directly quote it. God’s word does not return void. Every translation of scripture is a paraphrase. If you understand scripture, share it. Don’t let your inability to quote the English paraphrase word for word stop you.

But, the differences are not attributable to simple casual use. Jesus taught his disciples that all the scriptures spoke of him. ^{[1] [2]}Each one of the prophecies speaks of Christ.

John is the messenger who prepares the way. He comes before “the Lord”, “our God”, “my people (Israel)”, and “me”. Each is a reference to Christ. Mark has identified each prophecy as speaking of Christ. He summarizes them all and addressed them to Christ in “thy face”.

Mark had declared Jesus to be the Lord and God. He has equated Israel, which was called the son of God, with the Son of God. And he has Identified him as both the speaker and the subject of the prophecy of Malachi.

The first lesson in hermeneutics is that all scripture speaks of Christ. They are Christocentric.

References

1. Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
2. Lu 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

First the gaps between the beginnings of each gospel will be examined. Beginning with Mark, the additional material from Matthew, then Luke, then John will be examined to see the tools they used as they studied the scriptures. Their hermeneutic will become evident from the Old Testament text using the tools that we mentioned previously.

NT authors saw history as prophecy

NT authors point to OT patterns

NT authors play with riddles

NT authors read meaning from Hebrew letters

Mark began his gospel with the preaching of John the Baptist and relates it to the prophecy of Isaiah. ^[1] And his costume and behavior was intended to elicit thoughts of Elijah. ^[2] The tools Mark used will be identified.

Matthew begins with a reference to Abraham. ^[3] Between Abraham and Isaiah and Elijah, there is a lot of history. The mystery in the history that Mark missed will be examined, as well as the tools which make them known.

Luke begins his story with Adam, even though his gospel has some introductory remarks. The material he includes between Adam and Abraham will be examined for the mystery and the tools which reveal it.

John starts his gospel off using Ge 1:1. The material included from creation to Adam will be examined to demonstrate his mastery of the mystery. John introduces many doctrinal novelties when compared to previous authors: The Logos, Light, Bread, Door, etc. He had access to tools that the previous authors did not. But he had many more years, and many of those in isolation, to study the mystery in depth.

References

1. Isa 40:3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
2. Mr 1:6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
3. Mt 1:1 ¶ The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

 

Many Biblical scholars look for subtle ways to discredit the Bible. Such is the invention of the ‘Q’ document. It is an imaginary document said to predate Matthew and Luke, from which Matthew and Luke drew their material. They theoretically used it to embellish the Book of Mark to produce their own books.

Consider the ramifications if that were true. It would mean that there was a source which was more authoritative than Matthew and Luke which has been lost. The reason given that no one mentions it is that it was confusing, and Matthew and Luke had to make it’s teachings more understandable.

The claim then is that God inspired a work which no one could understand and so the Greeks had to interpret God to man in a way he could understand. Furthermore, it implies that many jots and tittles from Gods word were lost. ^[1]

The reason scholars need to believe in mythical scriptures is because they do not understand where Matthew and Luke (and John), many years later, got the material that wasn’t available to Mark.

The answer is plain. The mystery which was hidden from the beginning was revealed through Christ and the cross. The apostles did not get magic knowledge, or a tiny taste of omniscience, but they studied the scriptures in the context of the resurrection, to understand the mystery. The more they studied, the more they understood. ^[2] The more they studied, the more the Holy Spirit brought things to remembrance that they had been taught ^[3] and so the more they shared.

As mentioned earlier:

Mark wrote that the story began with the preaching of John the Baptist. ^[4] Later, with more time to study, they saw the prophetic riddles extending back to Abraham. Matthew begins his gospel there.^[5] With more time, Luke was able to push the beginning of the story back to Adam. ^[6] And with the most time, and isolation on a prison island, John was able to push the start of the story all the way back to the first words of Genesis. ^[7]

The differences in how stories are told between the gospel authors tell us how much more they could understand the prophetic riddles of the Old Testament. They were able to correlate even more details concerning the life of Christ with the prophetic riddles. Some details did not need repeated since they were well known from previous teachings.

It is a simple thing to scoff at the myth of the Q-document. It is another to actually produce the additional information from the Old Testament by studying it the way that Jesus taught them to. By studying the ‘new’ material from one gospel to the next, and examining how subjects handled in both are treated differently, we can discern the proficiency with which they could handle the mystery at that snapshot in time. Evidence can be shown they could use the same tools more proficiently, and that they discovered new tools with time.

References

1. Mt 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
2. 2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
3. Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
4. Mr 1:1 ¶ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; Mr 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
5. Mt 1:1 ¶ The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
6. Lu 3:38 Which was [the son] of Enos, which was [the son] of Seth, which was [the son] of Adam, which was [the son] of God.
7. Joh 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The shin ש is drawn with a vav descending down the right side (God speaking into the void) and two zayins ז returning. God’s word does not return void, but brings back an increase. ^[1]

John recognizes it as the Spirit in the word for heaven shamayim שמים. ^[2] It is likely he obtained this from the formation of the word ‘heavens’ in Ge 1:2 where the Spirit ש moved on the face of the waters ‘mayim’ מים.

As a metaphor it can be expressed as a marriage (the increase), as in the name Yeshua (Jesus) which is Yahweh with a marriage ש in his heart, fulfilling the prophecy of “God with us”.

Tradition now says that it can be pronounced as a ‘sh’ or a ‘s’. The word shibboleth means an ear of corn, or stream. If it is pronounced as a ‘s’ it sounds like Sibboleth, which means a single grain. The difference is the difference between life and death. ^[3] It is a question of what do you say of Christ, who is he? Is he the single corn that died, or is he the ear of corn which is fruitful in resurrection?

Why would such a tradition arise? Could it be that men who did not want to proclaim Christ as the Messiah choose to say Sibboleth?

The word ‘name’ meaning reputation is shem שם. God’s reputation is based on him completing ם (obtaining a people) the fruitfulness of his word ש.

One of the primary metaphors of the aleph was separation. ‘Lift up’ sa שא is what happens to the bride as she is raptured and separated from the earth.

The gift ‘shay’ שי to the bride ש is a new life י.

References

1. Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.
2. 1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
3. Jud 12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce [it] right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

The qof ק is drawn as a kaf כ with the tail going to the grave, and then springing to life again to return to heaven. The two aspects of the metaphor is the death and the resurrection of the Son of God. The name of the letter means encompass or surround. This is another way of saying that we are in him. ^[1]

It should be no surprise that “he arose” is the word kuwm קם, or he finished the work in the flesh ם by dying and rising again ק.

The “end” qetz קץ is another way of saying “It is finished” ^[2]  It is the death ץ during the death and resurrection of the Son of God ק. This word means “the end (of time)”.

The word for “glowing embers” is qed קֵד; meaning the law ד after the resurrection קֵ. Who can live by the law after the resurrection?

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? קֵד.

No one, for the law kills:

2Co 3:6 ¶ Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

The voice qal קל is the teaching ל of the death and resurrection ק.

And after the death and resurrection ק, if you understand ח, he “takes you” qech קח.

References

• Ac 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

 

The pe פ is drawn as a kaf כ with a yod י hanging from it. The Son of God כ would do a new thing י:

Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.

The pe פ represents allegory ^[1], parables and dark sayings [riddles] ^{[2] [3]},types ^[4] , shadows ^[5], as well as the mystery ^[6] itself.

The visible yod י hanging from the kaf כ produces an invisible yod in the body of the pe פ. The allegory, parables, riddles, types, shadows and mystery speak of invisible things using visible things. They speak of the heavenly things using earthly things.

The name of the letter pe means eye and answer. Seeing is a metaphor for understanding. The literal historical record is only part of what is being said in scripture. True understanding comes from the wisdom of God expressed in allegory, parables, riddles, types, shadows and the mystery, which all speak of Christ.

Observe two words for mouth: peh פה and pum פם. The first is the mystery which is not understood. The second is the mystery being fulfilled. When Jesus understood ח the mystery פ it ensnared pach פח him to the cross. ^[7]

Many theologians completely misunderstand why Jesus spoke in parables. They say that he did so in order to better communicate with simple people. This error prevents them from seeing the deep mysteries of the OT scriptures. Jesus said he spoke in parables so that they would not understand:

Lu 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Mt 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mt 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Mt 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Some say that he hid the meaning from those who did not want to hear. The problem is that the answer ignores the fact that none want to hear:

Ro 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Jesus instructed his disciples in the mystery, knowing that they would forget it until reminded by the Holy Spirit after he rose from the dead.

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

No one was to understand the mystery, and get saved, without the cross. Jesus had to die alone first. Then the mystery was revealed.

Ro 16:25 ¶ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

The Old Testament is like a “where’s Waldo”book, but no one knew they were supposed to look for Waldo, and they only had hints of what he would look like if they did. The testimony of the Apostles tells us what we are supposed to look for.

References

 

 

• Ga 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
• Ps 49:4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
• Ps 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
• Ro 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure [type] of him that was to come.
• Heb 10:1 ¶ For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
• Ro 16:25 ¶ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Ge 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

 

The ayin ע is drawn with two vavs ו which join above the lower horizontal, and then touch it farther to the left than in the corner where most letters touch. I call that right lower corner, the point of the cross, where the word of God meets man. the aiyin misses it. It’s origins start apart from each other along the upper horizontal representing holiness and love.

The primary metaphor is that holiness and love are joined, but not at the cross. This is the symbol of mixing. All the laws against mixing prohibit mixing holiness and grace. We cannot comprehend them if they are mixed apart from the cross.

Though Jesus was without sin in his life on earth ^[1], it was insufficient to save us. He was holiness and love reconciled in his flesh, but we still did not understand it. The lower part is in the earth, but not of it (slightly above). At the end of the tail (his life) he bore our sin and was made equal to us in sin as well.

As with many metaphors, there is a positive and negative way to express it. Water destroys and gives life, fire destroys and purifies. The ayin not only represents Christ in the flesh, but also the flesh itself and religion without the cross (which puts the self/flesh first). Evidence of these meanings comes from the word barah ברע, meaning in evil or son of evil.

The Hebrew word rea רע means evil, thought, neighbor, shout. Isn’t it interesting that when Jesus said to love your neighbor, he could also have said to love your enemy just by using the word rea. By the letters it says: revelation ר in the flesh ע. The carnal mind (in the flesh) is war with God.^[2]

The word ed עד means testimony. By the letters it means the flesh ע speaks ד.

The word eth עת means time or era. By the letters it means the purpose or end ת of flesh ע.

The word ol על means yoke. By the letters it means to the flesh ע teaching ל is a yoke or bondage על.

The word ar ער or er ער means awake. By the letters the flesh ע received a revelation ר .

The name of the letter ayin means humiliation and depravity.

References

• Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.

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.

 

The samekh ס is like the final mem ם but it has rounded corners instead of square. It’s meaning is the same as the final nun; the son completed the promise of the Father. The mem is the completion in the flesh, and the samkh, the completion in the spirit.

Sodom סדם means burning. The letters tell us that the completed work, in spirit (samekh ס) and flesh (final mem ם), of the law (dalet ד) is burning.

2Co 3:6 ¶ Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Jacob’s ladder or stairway cullam סלם says that the completed work in the spirit and flesh has teaching (lamed ל) at it heart. The teaching theme pops out everywhere. In the name Elohim, man is separated from God because they do not understand that He is Holy; confirmed by Ro 1:18ff. The solution is the kingdom of heaven which is like teaching (leaven). Jesus taught the crowds and his disciples. The New Jerusalem is the New Teaching of Peace. His disciples are to go… teaching. Leaders in the church are to teach men who can in turn teach.

No man has seen the Father, so Jesus, the Son, makes him known through teaching, with the cross being central to that teaching.

Consider creation again: The firmament and Spirit were both between the waters. With water representing the word of God, Jesus and the Spirit bridge the gap between holiness and love. The word caphim ספם means door or threshold. The pe פ in the middle (between the two fulfilled word) represents parables, riddles and the mystery hidden from the beginning. The mystery is the heart of the finished work of God in heaven and earth; in the spirit and flesh. Christ is the door^[1] He is the one who reveals the mystery, or the purposes of God in the Spirit, by fulfilling them in the flesh.

The word car ‘pronounced sar’ means sullen. The fulfilled spiritual work is that the revelation causes conviction of sin.

The word cab סב means to turn around. By the letters, the spiritual fulfillment ס is the revelation to man ב. It is preaching that calls men to repentance; to turn around. First it causes conviction with ‘car’ then as it penetrtates ‘into’ man ב, he repents.

Ro 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

When a sacrifice was made, those making the sacrifice would eat parts of it. Eating is a metaphor for learning. The cal (pronounced ‘sal’) is the basket that carried the bread of sacrifice and what Gideon used for the flesh of the sacrificial kid. By the letters it means that the fulfilled purpose of God ס is by teaching ל.

The nun נ is similar to the kaf כ with shorter horizontals. The kaf is the Son of God; the nun is the Son of Man. The long horizontals on the kaf mean taht he was fully God and fully man. The shorter horizontals on the nun mean that he was limited God and limited man. These are not contradictions, but different views of the same Christ.

The Son of God ‘closed his eyes ‘ to his divinity as he became a man.

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation (κενόω kenoo to make void), and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

He did not cease to be God. This is important to understand. Many rail against the idea, and properly so, that Jesus never ceased to be God. He did not give up his godhood. He chose not to use his attributes of divinity. One does not become blind when the eyes are closed.

Why would he do this? In order to be our high priest. He cannot be our high priest if he resisted temptation using his divinity. He would not have been tempted as we are. We would accuse him and say he does not know what it is to be man, and be tempted without the advantage that he had.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.

Those who deny his kenosis often find themselves having to defend silly ideas like a flying baby Jesus, or stories of him giving life to clay birds. They can’t really say he didn’t do these things. They can only say we don’t have authoritative sources to prove he did. And so the myths persist.

The best advocates for the anti-kenosis position have to ignore that Jesus said he only gave one sign, and attribute the rest to his personal power, rather than to the power of God through him as God worked through other prophets. This error makes them blind to the dialog between Father and Son through those same signs.

Evidence of his kenosis or emptying, is found in several places.

Jesus did not know the day of his return:

Mt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

He only performed one sign, and this at the time of his death and resurrection: Mt 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

He taught people how to read the scriptures, because he read the scriptures. It is through them, that as a boy, he learned who he was and what he was to do. The anti-kenosis crowd, believing he used his omniscience, also attribute magic knowledge as the mechanism for Biblical inspiration. They believe that the NT authors had a portion of omniscience or magic knowledge to write the scriptures. They miss the lessons of the NT authors as they teach how to read the scriptures the way Jesus did.

He was actually tempted, which is contradictory to one who is affording himself access to the attributes of deity:

Jas 1:13 ¶ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Jesus also limited himself as a man, not taking a family and having children; not building a home and earthly wealth.

The nun also has a final form where the tail extends below the line to death ן. It very closely resembles a larger vav and וis the symbol of the Son of Man on the cross. It tells us that Jesus did not use his divinity to help him through his tribulation and death on the cross.

The word nun means fish or posterity, which is why the fish was used as a symbol of the cross, and the children, or fruit of the cross… the church.