Author: eejoseph

Think Abraham, Eat and Drink Blessing

eejoseph

Blessings stream around Abraham.  The human family, every family, owes Abraham an award for the blessing.  Since the man from Mesopotamia is not God whence is he the source of blessing?  From being old man with an old wife Abraham goes on to be the focal point of the Hebrew people’s 400 year sojourn in Egypt,  their 40 year journey to the promised land,  their production of David’s family, and the security against their neighbours.  If one listens to James alone one would never guess that Abram was a man that God saved from sin, and the neo-Pharisee would have people believe that the bottom line of godliness is one to ten commandments, or perhaps a package of hundreds.  That is an incredibly nourishment poor life to live in a land of bread and wine.

The endurance of favour to Abraham

Despite the Lord’s anger being kindled against Israel, and although He had repeatedly given them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael (2 Kings 13:3, NASB) His policy towards Israel included an apparent endless regard for Abraham.

22) Now Hazael king of Aram had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23)  But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now. (2 Kings 13:22-23, NASB)

2) And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3) And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

Genesis 12:2-3, NASB

The food and drink in Abraham’s blessing

18) And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19) He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20) And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.

Genesis 14:18-20, NASB

There is nothing the Aaronic (Levitical)  kingdom could add to Abraham’s estate.  The writer of Hebrews makes the case for the great Levitical priesthood to be subject to the figure who blessed Abram.

“Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils.”

Hebrews 7:4

9) And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, 10) for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”

Hebrews 7:9-10

The endpoint is not Levitical

Perfection and commandments are terminal concepts.  Four  Greek terms entole, teleios, telos, teleiosis are related to the proto-root TEL.  These four terms, (1) command, (2) a perfect or mature person or thing, (3) a goal or end, and (4) maturity or perfection are performance trackers.  Grace, on the other hand delivers irrevocable gifts.

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?

Hebrews 7:11, NASB

Now since perfection has not come and cannot come through the Levitical priesthood there is no quest for a new  priesthood, but there is a new and superior one.  All the shadows of the levitical system, it is furnishings,  processes and chronology are mere picturee or shadows of the end of all things..  But let us return to the substance of blessing.

Mere talk that truly matters

Both barak and eulogeo BLESS are terms defining speech.  A simple thing like saying “good morning ” is a blessing, as are way more consequential speech like eulogies. When GOD pronounces someone blessed it is necessarily consequential, ant not mere words for a good feeling. So how are Abraham, his descendants and believers eulogized?

Divine eulogies

Abraham blessed and blessing others

Who is going to forget that Yeshua connected the dots of eating and drinking with apparent no regard for one of the Levitical system’s most traditions, the ban on ingesting blood?  In fact, the blood ban goes all the way back to the early days of the post flood world.  Who is going to forget that after Yahweh’s words of blessing to Abram (Genesis 12:2 and 3) Melchisedec blessed Abram with bread and wine (Genesis 14:18-20)?

Christ turns away condemnation and blesses all

Who is going to forget that Yeshua gave his flesh and blood as food for the nourishment of the elect, or that he is a beautiful shepherd whose duties are feeding and guarding his flock? Bread and wine, food and drink are in a new place, far from the shadows, figures and types.

Christ is not enough?

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Tacking on anyone or anything to the apostolic message is pure and mindless imitation of ancient Israel.  God’s will, as performed by the Lord Christ, is also his (will and) testament. Christ’s death changes everything: the covenant, the glory and the adoption. By dying he opened the way into God’s family and he left no stone unturned.

Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31, NASB

What else can people be legitimately  interested in?  A phony kind of love seems to be a popular target, but loving God apart from loving people is an abortion pill.

The law is not enough

Of all the things Christ could be for humanity Creator and prosecutor are a couple for which we need no fanfare. Maybe one for the upcoming creation; but what purpose does that serve in the current season of earth’s history? Definitely no fanfare for Christ as prosecutor. That role he leaves with Moses.  Yes, Christ cannot simultaneously be the accuser and defense lawyer.  The diabolic nature of the false teaching about Christ as inscribed of the Sinai Covenant on human hearts can hardly be more graphic.   Nobody gets the Holy Spirit from Christ because they kept the law of Moses, neither ten Commandments, nor statutes nor judgments.  It has to be a demon who tells people that they, having received the Spirit of apart from any kind of law,  need the law to maintain the new status.

Who, if not the Nazarene?

Despite the expulsion from Eden and the flaming sword blocking the way back, God’s actions demonstrated his primary interest in the preparation of the family through which his Son would be born. God did not expose Abraham to Melchizedek or include Rahab in the family that moved into Canaan because he wanted to create a racist heaven in Canaan. The law, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, their expulsion from Canaan, the destruction of the temple were obviously not feathers in Moses cap. As Luke says, the convincing proofs (Acts 1:3) of Christ’s identity and our destiny are within reach of all who care sufficiently to give a little attention to the narratives of the Risen Christ. Of course, he is enough.

Cheers! Raise a chalice!

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“I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of the Lord.” (Psalms 116:13, NASB)

This seems to be the call of the saved.  “Cup of salvation” signifies a toast for the experience.  One does not take the cup to get saved, one drinks to recall and memorialize, repeatedly, as indicated by the imperfect tense of נשא, nasa, אשא. essa

It ought to be apparent cup experience that this does not call for raising a literal cup as in the communion service when one wants to memorialize Salvation. It should mean primarily that Christ as Saviour is the savour or flavour of our praise. Why shouldn’t Christ be the centre of upward praise?

Grace better than life

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1) O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2) Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3) Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4) So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. (Psalms 63:1-4, NASB)

When a person has an encounter with GOD he or she finds that a thirst sets in.  Things previously unnoticed come to light.   This psalm has a number of these – pleasant – surprises. The inscription of this song says that David was in the wilderness and he experienced some kind of deliverance from his enemies.  But then he talks about the holy – place – and one thinks that this the sanctuary.  However there is no sanctuary in the wilderness of Judah. 

David is obviously excited about divine holiness, gracious holiness.   The tent was not particularly comforting or satisfying, since it was a place where God makes clear that people are guilty and that only blood will satisfy his demand. The repeated sacrifices every year shows that holiness was never accomplished.  Israel never became clean or free of guilt. To this day they still speak about rebuilding the Temple so they can offer a blood sacrifices. How much of the psalmist’s satisfaction can we say people occupied with the tabernacle had?

The exceedingly wonderful grace of Zion’s king

Pity the person who is still stuck on the golden rule as God’s standard, even after hearing “no greater love…lay down his life” and “not even for a righteous or good man will a person dare to stand in”. Loving oneself does not amount to much. Does not love of self facilitate ignoring others who are in distress, and what might godliness be if it is not caring for others? Grace, as given to us, and dispersed to others is better than life.

What dare I call life that is not rooted in the Beloved?

As far as the believer is concerned the price tag of life begins with his helplessness. “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6, NASB). It is not pegged at waking up this morning but glued to rising from the dead with Christ when we first believed. There is no particular assent to a kingdom teaching or demonstration of consistent discipleship necessary. The gift of life is that extreme in value: better than life.

A sacred vote? Really?

eejoseph

I do not know how many Toms, Dicks, and Harrys in Canada are talking about the divided country, but the news broadcasters allow pundits and simple news readers to jump in and give the impression that something strange is happening because diverse opinions and violently opposed residents can be shown in audio and video clips.  It makes one think that all the talk about friendly debate is just malicious window dressing.   We are certain to hear more than a few experts claim to have predicted the unhinged passion that ends in bloody confrontations and civil war.  If when we say we agree to disagree it is a matter of high principle then are not divided legislatures a good thing to be treasured?  We keep plodding along with division as normal but we disrespect Canadians who deliver a minority government.  The thing that makes democracy worthwhile and sacred is not the name of the winner or the loser.  It is the privacy of the ballot.

Who a person chooses to vote for is a private matter for a noble reason.

Abhorrent political interference with my vote

During the last election in Ontario the corporation behind the Ford campaign sent me an SMS asking me if the PC party could count on my vote. I chose not to dignify that intrusion with a reply.

The win by Ford was the outcome of an appeal to people’s emotions with traditional empty slogans. The current (July 2022) outbreak of covid19 variants, the gouging of consumers by oil and gas companies, the continuing shortage of firstrate health-care, are evidence of the government surrendering people’s health to business interests. We are not that blind. People have thrived in Ontario before there were truckers, large corporations and anarchists.

Politics is not warfare and governments represent all the people

The price we will pay by supporting big and small business over people, single or families, will be a slave economy which will fail the test like ancient Israel did. The perennially tempestuous relationship between government and labour is part of the DNA that has made Canada the latest confirmed genocidal beast.

Who gets my vote is a private matter

I say ban public displays of political persuasion. Debates should only identify the candidates. The audience should be polled anonymously. Division, as we can see from the American quagmire, is neither funny, inspiring, nor helpful for a nation that wants to keep bloodshed and deceit out of the public and private life.

Senator’s job

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Lindsey Graham does not remember being all in with insurrection and mayhem on January 6, 2021, but he ran like hell’s freezing with “Count me out” on January 7th when the brave police officers had kept the Republican homicidal patriots from bullying VP Mike Pence into rejecting the votes of the American people which put the freaky 45th in his place.

Let’s be sure: one can only be counted out when one was in

Law and order Republicans? Ha! Ha! Blunder thunder! What is that job he and his partisan siblings want to be left alone to do?

Kings and the law

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Modern rulers are jokers when it comes to knowing the business of governing. Most are merely lining their pockets and trying to look like absolute sovereigns. Many are so out of touch with their people and the particular prescriptions for national health the chances of them being confronted with the claims of the true God and so much as battng an eyelash or having Israelite king Josiah’s response are remote as a heatwave in Antarctica.

When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

2 Kings 22:11, NASB

What makes a king rip his clothes? Outrage that his people had been kept in the dark. Josiah had become king at age eight, and he is reported to have copied the ways of David. He is in his mid twenties when this incident occrurred. Egypt had raided the temple (1 Kings 14:25-27); the temple was in disrepair and Josiah was preparing to repair it (2 Kings 22:3-5). He was on the highway, with one exception. The law was not the featured light it was designed to be. Hilkiah the priest had found a coipy of the book of the law, and Shaphan the scribe had broght it to the king and was reading (a portion of?) it (2 Kings 23:8-10). King Josiah was ripping his clothes because he realized that the people had been violating it.  He had been kept in the dark about the monarch’s obligation to have a copy of the law.

Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

Deuteronomy 17:18, NASB

“…וְכָ֨תַב ל֜וֹ אֶת־ מִשְׁנֵ֨ה הַתּוֹרָ֤ה הַזֹּאת֙…

“and he must write for himself a copy of this law”

This indicates that (a) the kings were expected to write a copy of the law, and (b) that the content was the Pentateuch (this law, at the time of Deuteronomy). In writing it he would have became familiar with the content. 

Solomon’s familiarity with this convention

The king of Israel (God or the Messiah) is not a sinner, but the kings of Israel were all sinners: the law of God is not a terror to Yahweh’s anointed.  Still, we have to make up uour minds whether wisdom in any nation’s head includes monotheism. Solomon clearly did not get it, even though he had intimacy in dream and sacrifice, and of course excellent judgment to lead a nation..

What the servants of Messiah were sure to encounter

Not one of Yeshua’s disciples in the Bible calls for loyalty to Moses. “Keep my commandents” from Yeshua could not possibly mean “Get circumcised and keep all that Moses said”. Observing all that Moses taught will eventually get around to the word of that prophet (Deuteronomy 18:18ff, Acts 3:21-22, 26) whose word is essential and final for any hopes of passing from the childish (Paul’s analog) cycle of festivals, sacrifices, food and drink and carnal (bodily) ordinances.

8) But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9) realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers 10) and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,” (1 Timothy 1:8-10, NASB)

Not many people are so naive as to believe that Yeshua is simply restoring Israelite kingdoms and covenants. The few who do are vociferous and certain that they alone have the orthodox view, even though in every case, their opinions derive from extra-biblical “authorities” such as visions and books. When a person runs into Messiah one finds that there is no one else in the mix as guide and help.

What the kings of Israel were sure to encounter

Law is not for justified people, no-one can claim to have kept the law, and the law is a witness against its main witnesses

Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.” (Deuteronomy 31:26, NASB)

Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us. (2 Kings 22:13, NASB)

The wisest king, without controversy, was Solomon, and we can see that attention to law was not a strong pillar in his administration. The man was wise, but not unto salvation. He was definitely not a worshipper of one God. He knew God but only as the God of his father David, who gave him a charge he took to heart with zeal, temple-building. Now one greater than Solomon has come. He brings the law to its end: Messianic atonement and Holy Spirit residence apart from the law’s hundreds of injunctions and prohibitions. His great love accomplishes all.

Just another blah, blah, blah?

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Some legislator in the United States is trying to jump ahead of the righteous judgment of God by recognizing fetuses as persons.  Sure, it will spin off financial benefits for some one, but it will do nothing for the untold millions who have come from the womb into life under the sun,  who have no prrotection from police brutality, from deceitful preachers and from corrupt lawyers.  Every blah, blah, blah, book, podcast and television program is not from a decent or honest place.  There are hundreds of blurbs, series and traditional sentiments that fail to put truth and reality first.  They are not harmless diverse views.  These are dangerous demon-inspired or demon-influenced blahs that we are warned to avoid with a ten-foot pole. 

Imagine an unborn citizen of any country

The idea of a fetus being a person had to be cooked up by a brain cooked by the fires of a desolate land.  Did anyone not hear the Creator say it was better for certain individuals who offend the living to have not been born?  Did the Lord of life mean born or conceived?

Anything will be the cause of American decline except slavery and Jim Crow, hijacked religions, and First Nations genocide

If Christ could say to his disciples before the Pentecostal Event that they were salt, light, and friends, to what end does anyone invite believers to be “like Jesus”?  Believers are children of God, are people passed from death to life, have God’s seal of approval, have his seal of the best-yet-to-come, and have his authority.  Anything more than mutual encouragenment to keep pressing forward is sure to be an attempt to mislead.  All the beauty of Yeshua is equally avalable to all his disciples.  The believer who displays more compassion than his brother is not any more a disciple than his brother, and we had better stop wasting time asking God for more of what we have full and unrestricted access to.  Find a dumpster and flip the blah, blah, blah into it.

Stop devaluing the Messiah to make yourself look legit

Few people are interested in a hero who pokes massive holes in their most sacred traditions, demonstrates that hundreds of “words” about sin, leprosy, and other gods is maximized window dressing, proves that  rivers of blood are incapable of atoning for sin, and gets convicted of capital crime.  Few people indeed.  One Messianic saying goes, “Many are invited, but few are selected”; it runs against the grain of the faiths and spirituality woodworks.  There is no such thing as a faith that seeps into national or tribal culture.  Sooner or later,  the enforcement  used to make people religious, spiritual or faithful becomes an open book for the world to see. Since being in the Way is not confirmed by good deeds – bad people do good things too – the blah, blah blah of sages, seers, and zealous peers, written or spoken, does not amount to a hill of beans.