Adam and Enosh Revisited
Have already talked about Adam and Enosh — the two fathers who head the biblical genealogies and whose names mean ‘mankind’. And after today’s Torah reading (פרשת ויגש Parashat Wayyiggash), which recounts the reunion of Joseph and his family, I began to see how this reading not only ties into the whole panorama of Messiah (as the rabbis realized) but also was typed by Adam and Enosh. Adam (אדם ’ādām), remember, is he who was placed in the Garden and given dominion over all God’s creatures (Gn 1:26-28; Gn 2:18-20; Ps 8:1-9), and yet he incurred the wages of sin and was cast out (Gn 3:23), “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” Enosh (אנוש ’ĕnôš), whose name suggests ‘mankind in his struggles’, initiates another trend (Gn 4:26), “And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos [אנוש ’ĕnôš]: then began men to call u...
Getting Past the Trinity
Was thinking (yes, I know, it’s dangerous) how that, even though there was error in our particular Puritan past that’s hard to unlearn now, we might begin by acknowledging how much truth there really was.We knew, for example, that the Father and the Son are distinct Persons/Beings (1Cor 8:6), that their oneness consists of unity through the word (Jn 17:22) — not Aristotelian substance (οὐσία), and that the Holy Spirit is not a Person/Being but rather the power of God as expressed through that very unifying word. And we were not Arians in that we knew that Jesus had not preexisted as an angel — we knew he is now a divine Son sitting at the right hand of his Father in heaven (Ps 110:1), and that he showed the way for us to inherit the same, exact sonship (Rm 8:29). But we erred by not rejecting the trinitarian dogma that had “the God of the Old Testament” incarnated as Jesus. Also, ironically, our doctrine paralleled ...
The Priesthood of the Firstborn
I believe that what I'm about to say — you got a minute? this could get lengthy — was the understanding of the apostles. It pertains to the priesthood chapters in the book of Hebrews, but I'm only going to give the background — you can fill in the details and apply to the book of Hebrews yourself. And if this isn't your cup of tea then toss it and we'll call it even. Anyway I have just three points: 1) The priesthood of Aaron is forever, 2) Jesus was not eligible to serve in that priesthood, and 3) Messiah's priesthood was anticipated by another type — the priesthood of the firstborn. Let me cover these in more detail.1. The priesthood of Aaron is foreverGod made Aaron's priesthood an eternal priesthood at the time Phinehas displayed his fierce zeal for God (Nm 25:11-13): "Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jeal...
It is a Sign between me and the Children of Israel
Was musing on the three days — Friday, Saturday, Sunday — that mark off the children of Abraham into three warring camps. The Christians celebrate Sunday, the Muslims gather on Friday, and the Jews keep the Sabbath — or at least, as the Jews themselves say, the Sabbath has kept the Jews far more than the Jews have kept the Sabbath. Now, as we all already know, one bad thing about Sunday is its anti-Semitic origins — it began with 2nd century Christian bishops anxious to separate themselves from the Synagogue — anxious for two reasons: 1) their writings show that they wanted to exercise greater power over the Christians, and 2) they wanted to avoid the persecution being meted out against the Jews. I find it amazing their justification! Perhaps the earliest reference to Sunday is to be found in the Epistle of Barnabas, where it looks like the eighth day celebrates the fact that our salvation awaits the eighth millennium! “... So then, children, in six days, that is in six thousand y...
Heavenly Jerusalem
Perhaps you remember my saying that "Jerusalem ... above ... the mother of us all" cannot also be "the Lamb's wife". The Lamb is not going to marry his mother but rather "a chaste virgin" (2Cor 11:2). Just as we all have the same spiritual Father (Ep 4:6; "one God and Father of all"), so also we all have the same spiritual Mother (Gal 4:26; "the mother of us all"). Messiah ben Joseph who was the "firstborn from the dead" was not illegitimate. God was legally married (Jer 3:14; "for I am married unto you") at Sinai before he became a Father. Well, if you folks werent so kind you might have shoved my nose into Revelation 21 where the angel says to John (Rv 21:9-10), "Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God". Surely this must be the same as "Jerusalem ... above ... the mother of us all" (Gal 4:26). But how can th...
New Jerusalem and the First Resurrection
Do all in the 1st resurrection share offices in the Bride of Christ which is the New Jerusalem? My assumption has always been -- Why YES of course. But I'd like your input. It may not be that important a question. But yet if there is an obvious answer then I'd say we had best know it. Don't know how impressed any of you are with the millennial interpretation of the Seven Churches -- none of you have excommunicated me yet -- but different rewards do seem to be linked to different churches. In Genesis 1 both Adam and Eve are created at the end of the SIXTH DAY -- "the Sabbath was made for Adam [it comes just after Adam and Eve are created and thus for their benefit]" -- and 1 Corinthians 15 sees this as a type of the second coming and of the resurrection of the dead. And so, interestingly, the Church of the Sixth millennium specifically inherits offices in the Bride (Rv 3:12): "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I wi...
Jerusalem's Two Faces
A woman in biblical imagery is a city, meaning an organized group, a body, a social structure, a two tiered public association composed of governors and the governed. When God covenanted with Israel the crucial element was the body of elites, for, as we all know all too well, people indeed are sheep -- they follow their leaders. So -- haven't I pointed this out before? -- the significance of Jethro's counsel to Moses which takes up the entire chapter preceding the chapter of the Covenant -- (Ex 18:24-26): "So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves." And so when God concludes his proposal to Israel with (Ex 19:6), "These are the words which thou shalt speak...
The Blood and the Body
These lengthy tirades naturally don’t get read, but they do provide an opportunity to clarify my thoughts (clarify! you say [you nonreaders] — would it were so!). But with your permission I’d like a word anyway in regard to the blood and the body. Is the soul immortal? No! we say — “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ez 18:4, 20) But wait a minute! Does the soul die the first death? I say no! That death is inevitable whether or not we sin (Hb 9:27): “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”. Adam did not fall from an original state of immortality — rather he incurred a penalty which in the book of Revelation is called “the second death” (Rv 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8). Adam would have to have taken of the tree of life to have obtained immortality (Gn 3:22). Jesus said (Mt 10:28), “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Only God...
Is Sinai Sufficient?
All the children of Abraham acknowledge Abraham’s God. But under this patriarchal unity lie deep filial fissures as defined by these three negatives: the Jews believe that Jesus is NOT the Messiah, the Muslims believe that the Jews are NOT chosen, and the Christians believe that Sinai is NOT sufficient. The family of Abraham will be united in the world to come when all three negatives are negated.Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and — most of them today I’d say — believe that the Jews are somehow chosen. So let’s take a moment and look into that third negative — can it be turned into a positive? Can we affirm with Maimonides (cited from the ArtScroll Stone Edition Torah):“I believe with complete faith that the entire Torah now in our hands is the same one that was given to Moses, our teacher, peace be upon him.”“I believe with complete faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, nor will there be another Torah from the Creator, Blessed is His Name.”The Husband at Sinai...
Lest he Smite Israel with a Curse
Should Israel ultimately fail, then would God abandon his plan and throw away the world?Well, the thought of this frightening possibility comes drifting back in this present urgency on the part of Pres. Clinton and the Israeli "doves" to surrender Jerusalem to Amalek.Think of it this way: God has restored Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to Judah. The conquest in 1967 marked the third time in history that God had given his city to the Jews -- first to David (2Sm 5:7) and then to the Jews returning under Ezra and Nehemiah and then in our time to those Israeli Jews in the Six Day War which set in motion (Mt 24:34) "This generation [which] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." OK -- but what if there are no Jews willing to hold on to this pearl of great price?What if they all should count their calling and election not as sure but rather as worthless and toss it to the dogs?What happens when a man is spurned by the girl he loves? Especially should that man be God and involve ...
