Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — not Entertainment
PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE: BREAD & WINE #4
A Gourmet Meal — dessert and liqueurs
THIS IS THE LAST OF A NUMBER OF ARTICLES ON SOME OF THE PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE AND THEIR IMPORTANCE.
I bit off more than I should have in this project but it just kept growing. This post is a long and heavy read but it’s time to get out.
Spoiler Alert! The patterns are a record of God keeping His Promises.
Articles already published are:-
WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? Someone with a different logic to you. (Pattern: Out of Egypt I called my son)
PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE: THIRD DAY #1 The Good Samaritan — shades of mercy
PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE: THIRD DAY #2 Third day: Signature for Christ
PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE: BREAD & WINE #1 A Gourmet Menu
PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE: BREAD & WINE #2 A Gourmet Meal — and it is outrageous
PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE: BREAD & WINE #3 A Gourmet Meal — beyond Cordon Bleu
Trigger alert! This is more of a teaching blog than an entertaining one. It may not be an easy read because there is more here than a normal, well adjusted person would generally want to know. But the time will be well spent. The detail which makes me a boring person brings the Bible alive for me. If, however, you happen to like what you read, there’s more to be found here.
[NOTE: Important words analysed below are identified with Hebrew/Greek transliterations into English and Strong’s Numbers so that whoever wants to can check them out — the recommendation is that you do. I use the Blue Letter Bible (https://www.blueletterbible.org/ BLB)]
Let’s bring it all together
The focus for the last several articles has been on Luke 22:19 || And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
I don’t know about you but I’ve been doing that for years but with only a vague notion of what it meant. The savagery of the Cross? Yes, I get that a bit but am learning more about it as it is being revealed through the meetings with the Chief Editor, Who is also the Copyright Owner, the Holy Spirit. (If you haven’t yet met The Personality when you open His Word, you have a treat in store.) But, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” ??? What does that mean?
Remember what?
There is so much.
• He was a great teacher — True
• He was a great healer — True
• He was a loving person — True
• He accepted those who came to him — True
• Son of God — which is True
• Resurrected from the Dead — which is true
• The King Who is coming in Glory — which is true
And it is written in John 21:25 || And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
So many nuggets — so little time.
So is there a clue as to what we should remember?
My reading of the pattern of the Bread and Wine #1 was that the end of the pattern is Hebrews 10:19–20 || Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh…” And Bread & Wine #3 finished with the importance of the Written Word of God in the symbolism demonstrating the Spiritual aspect of Communion. So, because of the relevance of the Bread & Wine pattern to Communion, the ripping of the Veil is the clue to what to remember. But there is something dangling. Did I stop too early? I’m open to correction but I haven’t noticed that the Holy Spirit is into dangling.
What words unspoken would the recipients of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Jews) have heard that we (Torah-fied Gentiles) miss?
You may choose to accept or reject that the Hebrews were well conversant with Torah and had heard the Gospel. They knew the design of the Tabernacle, including the Veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.
Figure 1: The Tabernacle
They would also have known about the exclusion of Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life. They may not have been able to link these together during the Era of the Law(read Torah) and the Prophets but that had ended, as is written in Luke 16:16 || “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.
If you subscribe to the content of The Bread and Wine #3, you will be thinking in terms of the spirit and not the flesh. Because of their exposure to the Gospel, the Hebrews would have been in that head space, as well.
What would the Hebrews see?
In my humble opinion, English does not convey ALL of the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God (Romans 11:33–34). Not everyone agrees with this, and I respect that opinion, but delving into the original languages is the only arrow in my quiver so, to those who are about to leave, May God shine His Face upon you as He Blesses you according to His Wisdom and His Mercy.
But first a bit more pain — agonizing detail.
This is My body, has been covered, to a certain extent, already in the previous posts. Let’s zero in on the final phrase.
Do (poieō) this in remembrance (anamnēsis) of Me.
Do: G4160 — poieō, a verb
• Plural Number, 2nd Person: Jesus is speaking to all the Saints. Still speaking today — not just those back then.
• Imperative Mood: It is a command. “God is asking you to . . .” is a lie from the pits of Hell.
• Active Voice: It is the Saints who do it.
• Present Tense: do it and keep on doing it continuously. The flavour is that of a perpetually spinning wheel — never stop — always do it.
Remembrance: G364 — anamnēsis, a noun = a remembering, repeated recollection, the noun form of the verb G363 — anamimnēskō = to remember and weigh well and consider, a reflex recollection. The equivalent in Hebrew is H7911 — šāḵaḥ. It is used by Yehovah 13 times in Deuteronomy where He warns Israel to “not forget.”
A characteristic of the human brain is that, once a pattern is recognised, it can’t be unrecognised.
|AN ASIDE: This is why the study of patterns in the Bible is so important. For one thing, when the Preacher says something that doesn’t fit a pattern, it is like sand screeching across glass. It must be investigated. Either it is a pattern you haven’t encountered yet, or the Preacher is in error. (The same applies to what I say in these posts.)|
The annual repetition of the Torah reading portions is Yehovah’s teaching method. A weak analogy is the training of bank employees to recognise forgeries. They only handle the real-deal notes so that they can easily sense anything out of the ordinary. “I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t feel right.”
What would have tickled the Hebrews’ fancy?
The recipients of the Epistle to the Hebrews knew Torah. If my hypothesis is correct (you must decide for yourself) it is necessary to go back to the beginning, Genesis 1 and 2.
There are those (both inside and outside the church) who ridicule the Torah because it apparently has two Creation stories. Many of the modern Gentile Intelligentsia argue that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 show these are two mutually exclusive creation accounts derived from different sources — thereby gutting the Divinity of the Bible. But the commentary by one of the most venerated Jewish Sages, Rashi (a.k.a. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki 1040–1105), [Rashi https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/rabbi-shlomo-yitzchaki-rashi] had no problem with bringing the two together as a natural consequence of Hebrew Logic, as discussed in “WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? Someone with a different logic to you,” mentioned above. But then, Hebrew was his mother tongue, and he was living a millennium closer to the writings. Not a Seminary graduate skilled in the art of Higher Documentary Hypothesis. What would he know? But let’s just pretend that he did know a bit. Just so we can chuckle at what is coming next.
What was the original relationship between God and Humanity?
Genesis 2:7 || And the Lord God formed (H3335 — yāṣar) man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
H3335 — yāṣar = to form, fashion, squeeze into shape, to mould into a form; especially as a potter.
This word has the flavour of an intimate relationship and personal interest.
“The Lord God breathed.” A legitimate Hebrew translation of this is Ruach Ha Yehovah Elohim. A variation of Ruach HaKadosh, Holy Spirit. It was a Spiritual relationship between Humanity and God from the start. While it is true that ALL oxygen breathing animals are fungible carbon (all occupy the same general environment) a closer look at what happened on the Sixth Day is interesting.
What happened on Day Six
Creation of humans: Genesis 2:7 || And the Lord God formed (H3335 — yāṣar וייצר) man of the dust of the ground . . .(This spelling of H3335 is mentioned in Leningrad Codex only once.)
Creation of non-humans: Genesis 2:19 || Out of the ground the Lord God formed (H3335 — yāṣar ויצר) every beast of the field and every bird of the air . . . ( This spelling is mentioned in Leningrad Codex eighteen times.)
As can be seen, there is an extra yod (י) for the human.
The coarse description of the architecture of Humanity
It is written in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 || Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, there are those who obviously do not have the Spirit of God in them because they actively operate against the Kingdom of God. So it is possible to have a functioning spirit that is dead. (Luke 9:60)
Back to Day 6
This spelling is weird to me.
Can it be interpreted that:-
וייצר is symbolic of body containing soul+spirit?
ויצר is symbolic of body containing only soul?
וצר is symbolic of body?
The mystic in me says, “Yes,” but, unfortunately, no matter how much I torture them,וצר cannot be forced to mean body at my level of competence. But people who actually know what they are doing may fare better. Check it out yourself. Let me know if you have success.
Whatever, it shows that humans have always been different from non-humans in the Eyes of God; regardless of the self-loathing that is rampant in the Western World today.
But what if the Bible was just one book among many written by humans?
There is a total of 419,687 words in the Hebrew text for all versions of Christian and Jewish Bible translations today, The Westminster Leningrad Codex. From all of these, there is only one instance of this word, with it’s unique spelling, occurring. Also, it applies to the Creation of Humanity. One letter, the size of an apostrophe, in ½ million words — but in the exact, perfect, word?
I’m open to explanations.
The definition of life
[NOTE: Forget secular dictionaries. They were once the jealous custodians of the meanings and use of words. They now take delight in keeping score of the misuse of words. The Bible concordance an Lexicon are the only reliable places to investigate words in the Bible.]
There is no mention of breathing the Spirit of God into the non-humans. This leads to a reasonable deduction that life is having the Spirit of God in you. (Of course, I’m open to correction for anyone who can produce evidence and not just opinion.)
If this is taken as true, the converse is that death is the absence of God’s Spirit.
The condition of Humanity: before and after the Fall
BEFORE THE FALL
Genesis 2:25 || And they were both naked (H5903 — ʿêrōm), the man and his wife, and were not ashamed(H954 — bûš).
H5903 — ʿêrōm = exposed.
H954 — bûš = state of being in disgrace; dishonour, insult, loss of esteem or reputation. (They were exposed but had nothing to hide from each other or God.)
Man = Adam = H120 — ‘āḏām noun form of the verb H119 — ‘āḏam, dyed red
Son of Man = ben Adam.
Adam = Ben HaElohim = The Son of God, a direct creation of God (from Job 1:6)
AFTER THE FALL
Genesis 3:7 || Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew (H3045 — yāḏaʿ) that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
H3045 — yāḏaʿ Intimate knowledge — could not be ignored.
Now exposed, they knew they had something to hide. God was the only one of the trio not involved, so He is the One they are hiding from. But fig leaves whither and die very quickly when they are off the tree — useless — they have to be perpetually replaced. You cannot hide your sin from God by hiding behind vegetables.
Man = H582 — ‘ĕnôš noun form of the verb H605 — ‘ānaš = to be incurable, to be sick, desperate, desperately wicked, woeful, very sick.
Son of man = ben ‘ēneš
‘ēneš H606 derived from H605 — ‘ānaš = to be incurable, to be sick, desperate, desperately wicked, woeful, very sick.
Before the Fall they were like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wonder Woman buffed up and in their prime. After the Fall they were like Danny DeVito and his twin sister on their worst day of Covid. The Prime Specimens of today’s world are at death’s door compared to Adam and Eve before the Fall. (A bit of free translation here. Even then, it is a poor comparison.)
God rescues Adam and Eve from religion
Upon seeing their predicament, Yehovah Elohim intervened personally, as is written in Genesis 3:21 || Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made (H6213 — ʿāśâ) tunics (H3801 — kutōneṯ) of skin, and clothed them.
H6213 — ʿāśâ, similar to H3335 — yāṣar, an intimate, personal flavour about it, as mentioned above.
H3801 — kutōneṯ a long shirt-like garment usually of linen (obviously not this time) that covers the now corrupted flesh. It is part of the Garments of the Priests in the Tabernacle/Temple. The Saints are a Royal Priesthood and it is commanded in Romans 13:14 || But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts. This command is something that each Saint must choose to do in Faith because no human can follow the “teachings of Jesus” under their own steam — Israel failed miserably — the Church isn’t doing any better. He says bluntly, “Without me you can do nothing.” Hence, the indwelling Holy Spirit. A weak analogy of the Holy Spirit is power steering in a car. We decide in our heart to do something, start to make a move, then the Holy Spirit takes over. Galatians gives instructions about walking in the Spirit, and 1John explains the reality of it but that is for another time.
Progressing through the Narrative it becomes apparent that it was not that leather is more durable than fig leaves (although it is the major component of a Roman soldier’s armour and shield). It is that an innocent life is necessary to pay the penalty, and the life of the body is in the blood.
Something to ponder: Who killed the animal that provided the leather?
So — What had to be done?
Genesis 3:22 || Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know (H3045 — yāḏaʿ) good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”
This is the source of all of Humanity’s sin. Before having this knowledge of good and evil, they were amoral. They didn’t know about good or bad, they just did what the Lord told them. Now, with this knowledge, there was more than one Will operating in Humanity.
Genesis 3:23–24 || So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim (H3742 — kᵊrûḇ) at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
H3742 — kᵊrûḇ = an angelic being as flanking God’s throne
Figure 2: Cherubim guarding the Tree of Life
THIS WAS THE WORST DAY FOR HUMANITY
The design of the Veil before the Most Holy Place was Prophetic
Exodus 36:35 || And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim (H3742 — kᵊrûḇ).
Figure 3: The way to the Tree of Life has been re-opened. Ripped from top to bottom.
THIS WAS THE BEST DAY FOR HUMANITY
What would the Hebrews have known when the letter arrived?
• The exile from the Garden.
• The design of the Veil preventing access to the Mercy Seat.
It is beginning to jell.
If all that Jesus did was die, it would be useless to us. The Death AND Resurrection AND Empty Tomb are equally important. A lot of religious people have died to no advantage for the Lost. It was only when He rose again that it was demonstrated that His Offering was acceptable to the Father.
• The pattern is now accomplished.
• The cycle is now complete. The cherubim that prevented Humanity from approaching the Tree of Life have now been removed.
• The Lover of Your Soul has reopened the Way directly to the Father for the Saints, with ALL the blessings that involves.
• The Saints may now walk with Elohim, as did Enoch, (Actually they are commanded to do it daily in the verse of Luke 22:19), and look what happened to him!
• We Saints have much more than we are told. Where are the teaching priests?!!
Now it can be seen that there is Method in all those boring descriptions of the Tabernacle. There are more column inches given to the Tabernacle than anything else in the OT and NT combined. Why does it, in general, put people to sleep? Poor teaching. (I feel the love.)
Who is the Tree of Life?
The One Who sits on the Mercy Seat.
Who is the One Who sits on the Mercy Seat?
Yehovah — Jesus tells us the Father is seated in the Throne Room in Heaven, Luke 11:2. (also mentioned in Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8)
Does Yehovah have another Name?
Yes, Yeshua. If you’re not sure, you may want to read this article
How far do the Saints have to travel to get to the Veil?
Not very far at all. We surround it.
So that’s it?
No, there’s the after-eight wafer and liqueur (pun is unintentional).
In Revelation 22:1–5 is described the New Jerusalem. In that description is included:-
• River of Water of Life proceeding the Throne of God and the Lamb. (Water from the Rock in the wilderness.)
• Tree of Life bearing fruits every month. (The manna)
The Wilderness is a negative of the New Jerusalem.
The Tree that opened the Tanakh is the same one that completes The Revelation! Also, the Song of Moses which celebrated the deliverance from Pharaoh/Satan, Egypt/World, and slavery/sin (Exodus 15:1) is repeated in Revelation 15:3. The cycles are finished.
Figure 4: Remember, because of what Messiah did, we are bound for Glory.
So what does Luke 22:19 mean.
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
The patterns are there for all to see. The interpretation is important.
It took a while to get here but, for what it’s worth coming from me, I see that we are not commanded, every so often, to remember a negative, “Jesus died for my sins” (as important as that is). It is to always keep in mind, “The Promise given in Genesis 3 will be kept. In the World there may not be much good news. But, in Christ, we are safe and have much to celebrate. Let us sing and dance before the Lord!!!”
What was my mistake?
I had underestimated God, yet again, by stopping too early at the Book of Hebrews. The Written Word of God always has more to offer than we think
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.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(We all have a plank in our eye. It’s bigger than we think.)
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