Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — not Entertainment
WHO WROTE THE BIBLE?
Someone with a different logic to you.
THIS IS THE FIRST 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; “From out of Egypt I called my son,” three days, bread & wine, communion, 70 times 7, Genealogy of Christ.
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)]
Who wrote the Bible?
People who were trained in Hebrew logic.
Why does that matter?
We are trained in Greek logic.
So?
There is often a clash of logic which causes befuddlement. NT Saints often miss what the Author is saying.
But the Holy Spirit has been sent to teach the Saints understanding of the Scriptures, hasn’t He?
Absolutely true. 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, endeavour, give diligence. It is ultimately derived from a word, pous (G4228), having the flavour 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.
The mood is imperative; that is, it’s a command that the disciple must spoudazō. The command is from the Holy Spirit, not Paul. He merely scribed the letter.
The voice is active; that is, the disciple is the one who must spoudazō.
The tense is a strange one. It is aorist; that is a completed action. The disciples must have done the spoudazō so they can present themselves pleasing to God. We have all experienced an unprepared preacher.
But there is a richer flavour to the word. It is written in Matthew 13:12|| For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. On the spiritual level, an interpretation of this verse is, God will give you an insight into Himself; depending on what you do with that Wisdom, He will decide whether to give you more. With more practice at being attuned to Vibes of the Holy Spirit, the Hebrew Logic becomes easier to spot. Unfortunately, we Western Saints are more attuned to the secular wavelengths because they just pound, and pound, and pound. But, with spoudazō, the skill can be learned surprisingly quickly.
So what is the difference in the logic patterns?
A look at the different approaches to Prophecy is a good example.
Figure 1 is a schematic showing the Greek pattern. Beginning — middle — end, beginning — middle — end, and so on . . .
Figure 1: Greek prophecy pattern
Figure 2 shows the Hebrew pattern of beginning — middle — beginning — middle — beginning — middle — beginning…, trending toward an end.
Figure 2: Hebrew prophecy pattern
I’m not Jewish but I’m told that, to the Rabbinical mind, Pattern-is-Prophecy-is-Pattern.
So? Show these patterns?
First there is a Theological Concept that requires explanation if it is new to you, Expositional Consistency. When the Holy Spirit establishes an idiom, it remains constant throughout the Bible. The key is provided by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:4 || “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” Now, if you have been doing more than just skimming, every time you encounter written, “Rock,” you will read, “Christ.” Judaism have technical terms for that phenomenon, Ketiv (“what is written)”and Qere (“what is read”) .
A pattern: “From out of Egypt I called my son.”
Both Jews and Christians claim this verse as validation for their title regarding Messiah. (Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15) If you have not heard a preacher wonder about the inclusion of this verse in Matthew, you have been blessed.
But Hebraic Logic sorts it out for us in the Epistle to the Hebrews where it is written in verses 7:9–10 || Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. (The episode of Melchizedek is found in Genesis 14:17–20.) It can be seen that the Author explains that the Priest in the Order of Melchizedek is superior to that of the Order of Aaron because Levi, a grandson of Abram, the latter being yet childless, was already an established part of the family in the opinion of the Author. This is strange by our logic. But it leads to an interesting side-bar.
Who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews?
This has become a bone of contention over the last Century. There are strong arguments that it was Paul, but I think any discussion about this topic misses the point. Hebrews is a letter intimately explaining Who Christ is. In my opinion, the only person Who can give definitive information about a member of the Trinity is another member of the Trinity. Although a human obviously scribed the Letter, it is my strong opinion that the identity of the actual scribe is deliberately hidden and we can reasonably deduce that we are reading the Logic of the Holy Spirit — no matter how weird our logic says it is. But that is only my opinion. I have no Theological Qualifications.
The pattern
If you choose to subscribe to this logic, tracking the egress after any ingress of Abraham’s descendants (particularly Judah) from Egypt would satisfy the statement, “From out of Egypt I called my son.” And there are a number:-
• Abram in, and out of, Egypt. Genesis 12:10–20.
• Jacob in, and out of, Egypt. Genesis 49:29–50:14
• Joseph (A type for Jesus) in, and out of, Egypt. Genesis 50:24–26.
• Joseph’s brothers, in and out. (Genesis 42–45)
• Abraham’s people in Egypt for 400/430 years Genesis 15:12–16, Exodus 12:40, Acts 7:17–19
In all of these instances, according to the Rabbinical reasoning, Jesus was always in the loins of Abraham and Jacob and Judah so had been brought out of Egypt.
• Jesus, Himself, out of Egypt. Matthew 2:14–15
Glance back at Figure 2.
Now things elevate to the Spiritual Realm.
The Levitical metaphor is ultimately extended to the Church by way of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 10:17, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 4:12, Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:24, Hebrews 13:3), being delivered from the Bondage of Sin.
The analogies of Egypt being the World defiant of God, Pharaoh being Satan, and sin being bondage, all oppressing Humanity, are well known. What God has done, for those who trust that God does not lie, is neatly encapsulated in these two verses:-
Deuteronomy 6:12 || then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Deuteronomy 7:8 || but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Faith without reason is unreasonable faith
Figure 2, viewed alongside Matthew 2:14–15, is pictorial representation of God’s Faithfulness. He has been trustworthy from Genesis 12 to Matthew 2. The pattern is established. The evidence is there that those who call upon His Name have reason to have faith His Purpose will be completed in them. If you are interested in the Biblical definition of faith, perhaps you could try this post.
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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