Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — not Entertainment
PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE: BREAD & WINE #3
A Gourmet Meal — beyond Cordon Bleu
THIS IS PART OF AN UNDECIDED NUMBER OF ARTICLES ON PATTERNS IN THE BIBLE AND THEIR IMPORTANCE.
Spoiler Alert! The patterns are a record of God keeping His Promises.
There are many patterns so only a few will be presented including; three days, bread & wine, communion, 70 times 7, Genealogy of Christ.
Already published are:-
WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? Someone with a different logic to you.
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
Brace yourself! 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)]
A scandalous suggestion. Who would want to join this religion?
“Eat my flesh and drink my blood.”
This is just so weird it has to be examined. If, for nothing else, it is just another one of those contradictions in the Bible. Don’t Christians know that Torah expressly forbids consumption of blood from any source, let alone human?
But, Praise the Lord, it was established in the previous post, BREAD & WINE #2, that Jesus was not referring to human cannibalism.
So what was He on about?
The story so far
In John 6:22–68, it is recorded that, when Jesus first mentioned this concept, many of His Disciples walked away from Him because it violated Torah. Naturally, this is understandable. But the important point is that not everyone left even though they knew Torah as well as those who did. The relative proportion of goers and stayers is not important. Two important points are:-
1. there were stayers
2. this would not be the natural thing to do for a Jew. What was different?
Jesus expands their understanding of Spirit and flesh
His inner circle was wobbly but He explains to them something they have never heard. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life.”
He had already told the Samaritan woman in John 4:24 || “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
So Messiah declares that there are two states of being — flesh (death) and Spirit (life), and He wants us to be in Spirit.
Who were the stayers?
It is written in John 1:11–13 || He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in HIS NAME: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The stayers were the ones given the right to be children of God, born by the Will of God from above. God is Spirit (John 4:24), so they are now operating on a spiritual level.
Saints are spiritual beings still in a body of natural flesh.
We are in the world, not of it, because it is written in Philippians 3:20 || For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
Would you rather be natural or spiritual??
1 Corinthians 15:42–44 || So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
Spiritual
It is written in Genesis 21:33 || And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the God everlasting.(El Olam H410 + H5769)
H5769 ʿôlām + H410 ‘ēl, El Olam, Everlasting God — God over eternal things. God of today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Natural
Further, it is written in Job 7:17 || “What is man (H582 — ‘ĕnôš ), that You should exalt him, That You should set Your heart on him.”
H582 — ‘ĕnôš noun form of the verb H605 — ‘ānaš = to be incurable, to be sick, desperate, incurable, desperately wicked, woeful, very sick.
Being in the spiritual realm seems the prudent choice.
So what is His Name?
John 1:11–13 is plump with Theology because it tells exactly who the Saints are in Christ. It contains 58 words, 16 of which are well worth the effort to investigate.
But only two, His Name, are examined here.
It is written in Revelation 19:11–13 || Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. [The text of Revelation 19, and the rest of Revelation, makes it obvious this is Jesus Christ.]
Who is the Word of God?
John 1:1–5 || In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
What is a name?
Because of the complexities with the Jewish pronunciation of יהוה it is easy to offend an observant Jew. The only universally acceptable title for the Lord is HaShem (The Name).
There is only one Name for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He states, “I AM the God you need when you need Me”. The Name shows the reputation, fame, glory, authority, ability, and willingness (read ‘eagerness’) of The Name to do what The Name has revealed.
• It is always the correct name for the situation.
• It is always singular.
• It always shows His person.
• It always shows His qualities.
• It always shows His doctrine.
• It always shows His ethical and moral standards.
• It is not always the Name we would expect for that situation.
The Name of God is His Promise. When we pray in His Name we remember His Promise — therein lies the Power of Prayer.
Are all humans God’s children?
John 8:43–45 || Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
And it is written in Matthew 12:30 || He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
So, as far as Jesus is concerned, there are only two categories of people. All humans are God’s Creations but only those who receive Him, and believe in His Name, are God’s Children. (That exposes another of the lies from the father of lies.)
Children of God have been elevated from worldly things to Spiritual things by the Will of God because they are humble enough to accept The King.
Different diets
Natural man
• Those who dwell on the Earth
Philippians 3:18–19 || For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame — who set their mind on earthly things.” Food and clothing are the main thing. “Do I feel good, do I look good.”
• Sojourners passing through
Matthew 6:25 || “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Food and clothing are necessary but not the main things.
Spiritual man
John 4:32–34 || But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know. . . . My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
Big scoops of obedience is the diet of the Saints.
Symbolic not literal
The narrative of Elisha informs us that there is a spiritual beyond the spectrum of our natural sensibilities. 2 Kings 6:17 || And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
So Jesus speaking of the Things of the Spirit in the natural environment is using symbolism because we can’t normally see or hear the goings-on in that other realm.
This Food had been offered to Israel when they came out of Egypt, but they didn’t recognise it and rejected it
Deuteronomy 8:3 || So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna(H4478 — mān) which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
manna H4478 — mān; meaning, “What is it?” At that time Israel was in disobedience. They could see the Shade by day and the Glow by night but refused to recognise Yehovah. Nevertheless, He provided for them.
This is the Spiritual food spoken of
It is Christ, Who operates in the Spiritual Realm. His ways are always above our ways.
John 6:32–35 || Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
1 Corinthians 10:1–5 || Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
John 1:3–5 || All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Where to find the spiritual food?
I’m open to correction but the pattern I see — My word, food, manna — points to ample evidence that the Written Word of the Living Word of God is the place to go foraging for good, wholesome, nourishing food for our spirit.
Isaiah 55:11 || So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
John 5:24 || “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life.
John 8:30–32 || As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Hebrews 4:12 || For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Is this type of eating & drinking something to do once every few weeks?
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 (G4160 — poieō) this in remembrance of Me.”
G4160 — poieō, a verb = do.
• Plural Number, 2nd Person: Jesus is speaking to all the Saints. Still speaking — 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.
Nobel Literature Prize winner for The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, quipped “The Bible is more known about than known.” And in a YouTube debate a Jewish Apologist berated his mainly Christian audience with, “Christians think too much about the Bible when they should be thinking with the Bible.”
So, no, it is not a spasmodic practice. It is more than just a World View, it is a way of life.
Finally Brethren
In Luke 22:19 is the phrase, remembrance of Me. What does that mean? That is the final course, the dessert. And by coincidence (the Rabbis say, “Coincidence is not a kosher word”) it alludes to the theme of the recent contributions of several other stable mates in The Dove.
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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