Holy Hormones Bible Study: If your book isn’t a buzz, it’s not the Bible.
GOOD AND BAD SEX
Did the Earth move for you?
There has been a swarm of intellectual scholastic posts on this platform defending the postulation, “Homosexuality is not a sin, and this is affirmed by the Bible.” One in particular took umbrage with the “Christian” translation of Leviticus 18:22, expanded here.
The bone of contention being, H4904 — miškāḇ מִשְׁכָּב (inflection מִשְׁכְּבֵי), translated “as with.”
The author goes on, “so the reader thinks two kinds of sex — a good kind and a bad kind — are being compared.”
I’m not going anywhere near what is good and bad sex but there are two legitimate categories in the Bible — sanctified and unsanctified sex.
What’s the difference?
I have it from the highest authority in the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe that the Greek words for LOVE in the NT are, agapē (divine love), erōs (romantic love), stourge (parent-child love), and philia (friendship).
But the Bishop was only spreading gossip.
A bit of investigation shows that, contrary to popular belief, the Greek word erōs does not appear at all in the New Testament nor the Septuagint. Simply put, erōs, is pagan sexuality. It is the Greek word for our natural, self-centered sexual lust based on physical attraction and is a passionate, erotic emotion that has an intoxicating effect on us. In Greek mythology, Erōs was the Greek god of sexual gratification.[1]
If erōs is not mentioned in the Word of God, it is not sanctified. Human opinion means nothing.
What is sanctified sex?
It is written in Genesis 4:17 || And Cain knew (H3045) his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.
Knew: H3045 — yāḏaʿ. She conceived so there was obviously some “nudge! nudge! wink! wink! say no more” going on there. Anyone who has watched the TV sitcom, “Seinfeld,” knows the euphemism, “Yada yada yada.” (The corresponding word in the LXX is G1097 — ginōskō. Follow it up in the LXX and NT.)
So, this verse shows that sanctified sex is between a husband and wife. Male and female, He created them (Genesis 1:27) so they could obey the first three commandments given to Humanity.
If God was against sex, how could He expect Humanity to obey the first three Commandments He gave Adam and Eve immediately after their creation — the first Words they heard?!!! Give Him credit for having some sense!!!
But there are other meanings of yāḏaʿ.
The KJV translates H3045 as know (645x = times), known (105x), knowledge (19x), perceive (18x), shew (17x), tell (8x), wist (7x), understand (7x), certainly (7x), acknowledge (6x), acquaintance (6x), consider (6x), declare (6x), teach (5x).
Which is the correct translation?
The late English Thinker about thinking, Tony Buzan, said, “If you come to a point where the thinking becomes so strenuous that you know there is more, but you just give up and say, ‘It must be,’ it means you have come to the end of your interest or your imagination or have found something that helps push your barrow.”
It is written that Yehovah says, “If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me.” When you maintain your interest, He will Inspire your imagination.
Before we continue, some words about words
The secret of fire for Bible Study is the Words, and there are two important things about words: -
1. A WORD CAN HAVE MORE THAN ONE MEANING.
For the technically minded this is called The Semantic Spectrum and occurs in all languages. We are dealing with at least three languages so there is a cloud of meanings from which to choose.
H3045 — yāḏaʿ is an interesting case that shows how one size does not fit all.
• Genesis 4:17 || And Cain knew (H3045) his wife . . . (sex!)
• Genesis 19:5 || And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know (H3045) them . . . (sex? Interrogate?)
• Genesis 19:8 || See now, I have two daughters who have not known (H3045) a man . . . (sex!)
• Jeremiah 9:23–24 || Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows (H3045) me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (deep knowledge!)
It shows that you can’t choose the meaning you desire out of a selection offered. It must convey the intended meaning of the writer/speaker at that time. (Capital W & S in this case. Unless, of course, the Holy Spirit was not involved, and the Bible is just a collection of thought bubbles assembled by a progression of humans over time.)
A WARNING
Be careful about “knowing God.”
A web search will produce quite a number of scholastic papers showing that Jesus was well past being queer. Recent research at the prestigious Cambridge University shows that He was trans.
The newspaper story.
In November 2022, Dr Joshua Heath, a junior research fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, gave a sermon on a Sunday’s Evensong using this painting to claim that Christ had a ‘trans body.’
The dean of Trinity College said such a view was ‘legitimate.’ The article shows that Dr Heath’s PhD was supervised by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, the Reverend Doctor Rowan Williams.
Cambridge is an influential ‘top-of-the-pile’ Grey Brick University in the UK (and the world). Recent Congressional Hearings in the US indicate it would fit well into the Ivy League in the US.
There is a moral here!
Choose your scholars and archbishops carefully.
This leads to the second point about words: -
2. A WORD HAS ONLY ONE MEANING IN A PARTICULAR CONTEXT.
It is our job to choose the correct meaning corresponding to the context.
The Semantic Spectrum vs Interpretive Ambiguity.
The Bible is the Word of God translated by man. Even if we ignore countless translations and the evolution of language itself, this means the Bible can be interpreted in different ways, leading to what is called Interpretive Ambiguity. However, the Holy Spirit chooses His words well and provides the High Beam Illumination for those who choose to use it.
But why would God do it this way?
I don’t know but He does. Anyone who has studied the Book of Job will remember that he had a whole lot of questions that he wanted to ask God. There were a lot of good theological discussions between him and his mates beforehand. But when God showed up, He completely ignored Job’s questions and went on to Proclaim His own Glory. When He had finished Job said, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. . . My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”
Job had come to understand that God doesn’t tell us everything, but He tells us enough.
INSTRUCTION ON THE WAY TO BE SAVED IS SO SIMPLE EVEN A CHILD CAN UNDERSTAND.
After that, every Christian is expected to grow. For it is written in Proverbs 25:2 || It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out,
And the kings are identified.
It is written in 1 Peter 2:9 || But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The Holy Spirit has been sent to teach the Saints the understanding of the Scriptures.
And Apostle Paul tells us how it’s done in 2 Timothy 2:14–16 || “Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent (spoudazō G4704) to present yourself pleasing to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.”
spoudazō (G4704), verb, sometimes translated, ‘study’= to hasten, make haste, exert one’s self, endeavor, give diligence. It is ultimately derived from a word, pous (G4228), having the flavor of disciples attentively taking instruction at the feet of the teacher. In this context the Teacher is the Holy Spirit through His Written, and sometimes Rhema, Word.
The Grammar of spoudazō is profound. Check it out here.
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime. If you have seen something you like, I encourage plagiarism. So, always check everything I say first, then please re-cycle, re-brand, re-structure, re-issue, re-label, or re-gurgitate in any manner you please. No need to acknowledge me because the Holy Spirit Who holds the Intellectual Rights.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(We all have a plank in our eye. It’s bigger than we think.)
