How do you see......... God? --- Hebrews 9:24, Isaiah 12, John 10, Genesis 22:1-14

In the fracturing?  oh! yes............ there is so much of that.......  More and more I hear the words tumbling out of my heart and out past the reach of my lips - - again and again.....:

"We live in a broken world."

He called out to us and said, "Despise not...... Despise not the least of these!"

But each of us knows down deep, that we are each the least of these.......  Yet we are all despised........ and each of us in our own turn, we despise......

And in the despising and being despised, and out from the despising and being despised, the fracturing was begun...... and the fracturing continues, ........ more fracturing day after day.... for out of the despising arises......... the offense........ and out of the offense......... all is hindered....... all are hindered........ from coming to Him........

But that is not a fracturing He is willing to leave to itself........

And so He whose love does not end........ who does not despise though He is despised........ He moves to end the fracturing, to establish the place of healing........

And that's where we might begin to see the clearest glimpses of the mist of His shroud....... His Holy shroud......

The beauty of His holiness........... has a heartbeat.......... a heartbeat of love....... a True Love that could not be conquered....... a True Love that by dying another's death conquers all.........

?.... By dying.........  Aye, because True love conquers even death........  In conquering death for Himself, He conquered it for his bride!

And as the earth shuddered and broke in despair when the purest of all hearts stood still.......... and became quiet.........  It was then that only living blood was finely sprinkled on the mercy seat......  - - no one saw it done....... but it was the most holy thing ever to grace this world.........  And the Holy of Holies was never the same again.......

Yes, the veil was rent!  But...........

The walls did not fall............

And now, this week, when He asked me to drop to my knees and ponder why the walls did not fall....... when this astonished heart kept asking Him how this amazed heart could know  ---- How could the heart of this broken child give answer for the intricacies of His handiwork?  ...... But He asked again....... and His words echoed back to Him - but not void.....................

While listening to the echoes ....... it was heard again!  What was it?  Oh! It was His heartbeat again.....  His heart!  Beating again and again and again and again and again!  For True Love truly does conquer all.  True Love even conquered death.  The heart of True Love could not remain stopped...........

And that's when He took this aching heart back.......  back in a flashback........ back in time......... back to the gate of the tabernacle........

And standing back in awe, looking in through the gate - where the one, the only, the singular veil, the only way in........ the Dalet....... The Door ------ opened ......... the light of hope clearly glowing inside......... glowing warmly and welcomingly....... the light of His promise of so long ago.........  the light of the promise of providing Himself a lamb.............   the light of hope held out to a broken people........... a people utterly fractured...........

Yes, The Door opened to the people........ to the fractured, weary, broken people..... and in the brokenness, they began to see the beauty of true love......... reaching out to heal........

So they saw the hope!  And in the midst of that hope, He called to them - - - to enter His gates with Thanksgiving! and they entered His gates with thanksgiving and praise............  that they may see Him!

But how could they dare to come before the Holy of Holies......... without their own heart stopping - with no hope of life again........ unless they came before the mercy seat for others........... and not only for themselves............

But who can stand before such holiness when we are, oh!, so... fractured............ who can do such a task?  It is fraught with utter danger...............

So He called on only One to finish the work............. but while we, in brokenness waited for Him....... one by one........... one would dare to to answer His call, and to come before the mercy seat.......... utterly unworthy, but in hope, coming on behalf of others............ while everyone else prayed for mercy upon mercy upon mercy, not only for themselves, but also for that one........  and also for that One!

..........

But when He came....... When He came to that Holy place...... When He came with that Holy heart.......... When His heart was breaking for us........ When He was torn for us.......... When He was broken for us........?  Then who prayed for the one coming to sprinkle precious, pure lamb's blood upon the mercy seat?

He was so despised............ So rejected........ So offended.......... So hindered from gathering Jerusalem as He so longed to do.............. to be in their midst....... with them!  But, alas, .......... He was sent out from the midst of them instead...............


And who prayed for Him?


Ahhhh!  But who lifted Him up!?!


The one who loved Him........ who loved Him forever ago......... who loves Him still.......... and who will ever love Him forever and ever......... with an undying love!!!!!  Who knew Him as holy long before any created one knew Him or called Him holy!

The Father who must surely have felt the piercing in His heart of hearts!  Certainly that beloved Father must hold that blood which was let out for others as ................  Holy, Holy..........

Worthy of service in the Holy of Holies..........


And now, with His most holy and precious blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat........ blood poured out when His heart skipped ---- to a stop, .............. for us..........

And now, with His most holy heart renewed! .......... still aflame with love for us, with His most holy heart beating in heaven yet again ..........

Those of us from a world of brokenness; Those of us who are ourselves utterly broken; Those of us who are...... fractured?

Those of us in desperate need of hope?

Now we dare to enter His gates with victorious thanksgiving!  With victorious thanksgiving and praise!

And what do we see upon entering the gate?  What do we see in the warm and welcoming light of true hope - utter hope - which brings comfort to every weary heart that enter?

We begin to see a little..............

A little of the glory of His majesty.
A little of the glory of His goodness.
A little of the glory of His sacrifice.
A little of the glory of His love.

And we begin to see.........

A growing sense of the travesty.
A growing sense of the deadness.
A horrid sense of the depth of vice.
The horror of the characteristic.......  of...........

...........us.

And if it were not for the light, our hope would utterly fade.  But as our eyes become accustomed to the light of His hope, we sense the Spirit of the Sanctuary.........and we see........ yes, we behold......... everywhere we turn............. the power of His Testimony.........

His Testimony of......

The Way.....
The Truth......
The Life......

The way of lowering one's self for others.........
The way of not being 'as God'........
--Rather than lifting up one's selfs for one's self........
--Seeking to vault ourselves up as God........

The truth that love bears one another's burdens.........
--Rather than loading another with our burdens..........

The life that comes by giving one's life for many.........
--Rather than using up the life of others for one's gain.......

And on and on it goes..............

.............

And in this we see the unity of the Father and the Son and the Spirit........
And now, we are finally drawn in by the beauty of the holiness and purity of His sacrifice.......
Drawn in now.......... no longer afraid........
Drawn in........towards the holiness.......... towards the holy place.........

Drawn in............  And we begin to weep with joy, knowing He will dry our eyes!  And we sing the Song of Isaiah.......

O Lord, I will praise thee: 
though thou wast angry with me,
thine anger is turned away,
and thou comfortest me.

Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and not be afraid:
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength
and my song;
He also is become my salvation.

And in that day shall ye say, 
Praise the Lord, call upon His name,
Declare His doings among the people,
Make mention that His name is exalted.

Sing unto the Lord;
for he has done excellent things:
this is known in all the earth.

Cry out and shout,
thou inhabitant of Zion:
for great is the Holy One of Israel.......

...........in the midst of thee!!!!!

Cry out and shout!
For great is the Holy One of Israel.........!!!!!!



Into the dwelling of the Most High!

Drawn to the heart......... of God

If you love me, you will keep my ...... connections John 14:15....

What is a mitzvah?  What are the many mitzvot?  What was the purpose of the mitzvot in regards to the process of redemption in the Old Testament?  What is the purpose of the mitzvot in regards to New Testament living?

Christians scholars regularly identify 'mitzvot' as Old Testament commandments, with most Christians in my world distancing themselves from those mitzvot as much as possible.

As for the mitzvot and today, II Timothy 3:16 relates directly, though I'm not sure exactly how directly and/or indirectly; when directly, and when indirectly.....:  "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."

So you see, I still have some questions about those mitzvot......  And no, please don't throw those tomatoes this way  (would that fulfill the Jesus version of the shama anyway?).......  And yes, please remember that I said, "I have some questions...."  Okay?

For one thing, I'm trying to make sense of what Jesus meant by the word 'commandments' in John 14:15 when He said, "If you love me, keep my commandments......."

Now, I know we have been freed from the law of sin and of death.... (Romans 8:2, at least, we have been if we hold fast the word which has been preached to us, rather than having the seed sprout up and then die off..... I Cor 15:1-2, not that the work of sanctification is a work of the flesh, Galatians 3:2-5).

But is there any relationship between the commandments Jesus spoke of in John 14:15 and any of the mitzvot?  Are the only 'commandments' the Jesus version of the shama  (Mark 12:30-31):  the command to love, God, others, and ourselves with everything we have with which to love - which sums up all the other commandments?  Is the commandment just 'eternal life'?  John 12:50 says that His commandment is eternal life.......  I admit to feeling a bit silly thinking of God on His throne saying, "Live!  Live!  Live!"...... but it does seem that there is something at least vaguely akin to that in the essence of His commandment.....

As for the "scripture's original text's term for 'commandments'", at least in John 14:15, it is in the Greek language.   [Or so it has been thought for some time.  However, today, there are growing, well studied arguments that Jesus would have lived in a polyglot world in Israel, much like the polyglot world in the Israel of today.  In such a world, one would likely have spoken at least broken Latin in official settings, Aramaic in some trading situations, but still speak Hebrew in familial & social circles.  But most notably, they would likely have spoken Hebrew most particularly in religious circles (which is very similar to the practices of polyglot-lifestyles in Israel today).  Frankly, I've kind of suspected that for quite a while, after all, the precious Torah scrolls would have been pulled out in the synagogues and read in Hebrew often - even in Jesus day....., would they not? And the subsequent Jewish styled discussions of all the particulars that might be drawn from the Torah would have to be held in the Hebrew language for the most part, wouldn't they? Just sayin'....]

Those who argue for such a view of polyglotal linguistic inclinations in Jesus' day also argue that the 'original Greek' renderings of the New Testament will best be understood by considering what those texts would say in Hebrew, because Jesus probably spoke them in Hebrew.  If that is all true, then the gospels were probably first written in Hebrew, and there is even evidence of such an 'original text in Hebrew' if one looks at the Greek renderings and considers that, given the words used in the Koine Greek, they are highly likely literal translations from Hebrew.......  (or so say the scholars at the last link above)...

All that said, this debate is not going to be settled on this blog.  However, having read about these ponderings about a polyglot Israel in Jesus' day, the idea that the gospels were first written in Hebrew is a strong consideration in my heart and mind.

All of which might seem like meaningless dithering.... after all, while there are solid arguments that Jesus likely used the term 'mitzvot' in John 14:15, it is admitted that, for now, the only relatively early texts of John are in Greek.  So in what is often deemed to be 'the original texts', the term for 'commandments' is not, of course, the term 'mitzvot'.

So, knowing that *I* do not know yet what 'commandment' in the New Testament always means, and knowing from Romans 8:2 that we are free from the law of sin and of death, and knowing that all things are lawful for us but not all things are expedient......., it is time, at least for a moment, to move on from this unconfirmable series of questions.

The next pair of questions the arises then are:

Is there such a thing as 'sin' for an unbeliever?

If so, what does that mean about the New Testament use of the words 'commandment'/'commandments'?

In Romans 14:23 Paul says that 'and whatever is not from faith is sin' when he is talking about believers with strong and/or weak faith.

So we know something about 'sin' from that, but what of 'commandment'?

NT:  What is the New Testament era's understanding of 'commandment' and/or 'sin' to be?  It is interesting to note that even Wikipedia pointed out that, in the book of Mark as it comes down to us in the Koine Greek, there are no references to Greek or Roman literature, but only to Jewish scriptures, (though it seems that they were mostly referenced in their historically well known Greek form).  Therefore, one might conclude that the term 'commandment', while rendered in the Greek language, likely ought to be thought of in the context of the Old Testament, thus in the mindset of the Jewish meanings of the various scriptures.... Yes?  ..... No?   ...... Hmmmm......

OT:  As I make inquiries as to the meaning of the Old Testament term for commandment, it turns out that throughout the ages, the Jewish people also knew the mitzvot to have been an integral part of man's connection with God - a way of having a relationship with God.  But why did they think that?

From my limited glimpses into Jewish literature, Jewish scholars do seem to consistently teach that there is a very close relationship between the Jewish terms 'mitzvot' and 'tzavot': with the first term relating more to command, and the second, relating to the ideas of "relationship or of a joining."  Furthermore, they claim that 'tzavot' is the root word for 'mitzvot' (as evidenced on pg. 19, paragraph 4 in this text, _Truth for Today_ by Daniel Rendelman).  Since I am not a Hebrew scholar, and I don't even have a Hebrew etymological dictionary,  I cannot draw any connection between these two Hebrew words except to surmise that if one takes the 'a' out of 'tzavot', it could realistically and quite easily be a root word for 'mitzvot' - just in a contracted form (but then, when the vowel points are not used, how 'contracted' is it?).  But that is merely surmising on my part to date. All I am confident about is that there seems to be a consistent claim that these words are related, as per both Messianic friends and from online sources.  So, to date, I believe the claim to be valid.

Thus it seems to be that the Hebrew term for 'command' has its root in the word for 'relationship' or even 'to join' - with an understood inference in the Jewish-believing-community that the purpose of man is to be joined into a relationship with God........, and that the commandments help to clarify a great deal about how that 'joining into a relationship' can be accomplished (at least, in the Old Testament covenant).

There is even strong evidence that this 'joining into a relationship through the law' was quite intentional on the part of God if one considers the following quote:  "Together, the 613 commandments forge the ideal relationship where the two parties become one. Interestingly the numerical value of the phrase "kesher echad" (one unit, or one bond) between God and man, is 613 -- the total number of Torah commandments."
With that in mind, I have a new, changing paradigm from which to ask what Jesus meant when He said:

"If you love me, keep my commandments/means-of-connections/relationship-together...."  (John 14:15)

Jesus could not have meant 'Keep the law of sin and of death' referred to in Romans 8:2.  However, Romans 8:2 also tells us that it is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (that) has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

So, what is this 'law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus' which did the work of setting us free from the 'law of sin and of death'?

When I asked my now 18 year old son about this 'new' law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, he was quick on the trigger to ask, "Why do you think you can know that it is a 'new' law?" ......  Good observation!  If it is not a new law, was 'the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus' in any way applied to Abraham as a result of Abraham's faith?  (e.g. - Genesis 15:6)

*If* so, then it would be reasonable to ask from yet another angle:  Is this 'law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus' related in any way to the 'commandments' which Jesus told us we are to keep if we love Him?

To date, it is clear that there are conflicting opinions on the subject.  It is certain that we are not to 'continue in sin so that grace may increase' (Romans 6:1)

It is certain that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that anything without faith is sin.

But what does the term 'commandment' mean in the New Testament for NT believers?

While searching the scripture, looking for scriptural insight, it is very interesting to note the difference in the NAS and the CJB in the punctuation that follows this verse and leads on to the section that says....

"......and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever......"

There is certainly a different view of scripture seen between the Christian community and the Jewish community in many ways.

...........

But the thing that most amazes me about what I have found to date about 'commandments' in the Old Testament and Jesus' version of the Shama in Mark 12:30-31, is summed up simply by this Jewish question and answer:

"Man is the paradoxical synthesis of two parts.  He has a physical body, within which pulsates a Heavenly soul.  How can these opposite forces unite?  The physical and spiritual connect in the performance of a mitzvah.  A mitzvah can be described as the action and force that expresses the spiritual world of God in the physical world of man....."

Does this 'connection' of the parts of us into an integral whole somehow relate to  how 'The law might be fulfilled in us' through faith in Christ (Romans 8:4)?

And while I might take issue with the term 'perform' in the quote above....., and while I might well state this somewhat differently myself, this tying together of that which is broken because of the sin of man?  This power to unite that which was most likely united prior to the fall of man anyway?  It seems to be an integral part of understanding the shama of Jesus:

"And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."

After all, we cannot do that without the power of the spirit living in us..... without faith in 'The Way, The Truth, and The Life' empowering our new-living-spirit to work together with 'the mind of Christ' in us, and with His Spirit working in us 'to will and to do' according to His good pleasure, as well as working with (and healing when/how He deems fit) our new heart of flesh....

One God...... Triune.........

Mankind....... made in His image...... made whole through the cross...... through His love........

Through the connecting/relational-power of His commands perhaps as well???

Just askin'................