A young woman, richly robed in blue, stands on a silver-gray ground,
holding a martyr is palm in one hand and a green branch in the other; the latter
recalls the branch held by the courtier who personifies the month
of April in the Belles Heures(Timothy B. Husband,
The Art of Illumination:
The Limbourg Brothers and theBelles Heures of Jean de France,
de Berry, 2008)
In his Etymologiae, the seventh-century encyclopedist Saint Isidore of Seville
explains that when the
sun is in this sign the heat-scorched earth is barren;
hence the constellation is named Virgo, or the Virgin.
Another encyclopedic work, the thirteenth-century Breviari amor, concurs in this explanation, adding that it is the dryness of the season that keeps the earth from bearing fruit.
However, this sterility is belied by the personification of the sign in medieval
Books of Hours, where the young virgin represented often holds green fronds or branches,
with or without fruit, and may also be shown with wheat sheaves.
The palm frond, an emblem of victory and an attribute of
virgin-martyrs, as well as a symbol
of the Virgin Mary herself; was given to Virgo.
Wheat, too, was identified with the Virgin,
and these Christian elements were incorporated into the
calendar tradition inherited from antiquity
40 Hagios;
Sacred, Holy
Womb Forty Weeks
Forty;
Fort-strong, Vigorous, Powerful
Hagios: Sacred, Holy
ἅγιος, ία, ον
Set Apart
by (or for)
God, Holy, Sacred
40 hágios –
Properly, Different (unlike),
Other
("otherness"), holy; for the believer,
40 (hágios)
means
"Likeness of Nature with the Lord"
because
"Different from the World."
The fundamental (core) meaning
of
40 (hágios) is "different"
Thus a Temple in the 1st century was hagios ("holy")
different from other buildings
In the NT, 40 /hágios ("holy") has
the "technical" meaning
"different from the world" because "Like the Lord."
40 (hágios) implies something
"Set Apart" and therefore
"different(distinguished/distinct)"
– i.e. "other,"
Special to the Lord.
Word Origin from a prim. Root
Definition Sacred, Holy
Holy (92), holy (62), Holy of Holies (1),
holy one (5), holy ones (1), holy place (7), most holy (1),
saint (1), saints (59), saints' (1), sanctuary (2).
Thayer's Greek Lexicon; NT 40: ἅγιος
ἅγιος
from τό ἀγός religious awe, reverence;
ἄζω, ἅζομαι,
to venerate, revere, especially the gods, parents (Curtius, § 118)
Rare
in secular authors; very frequent in the sacred writings;
in the Sept. for קָדושׁ; 1.
properly reverend, worthy of
veneration:
τό ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ,
Luke 1:49; God, on account of his incomparable majesty,
Revelation 4:8 (Isaiah 6:3, etc.), equivalent to ἔνδοξος.
Hence, used:
a. of things which on account
of some
Connection with God
Possesses a certain distinction
and claim to reverence,
as places
Sacred to God
Which are not to be profaned,
Acts 7:33; τόπος ἅγιος the temple,
Matthew 24:15(on which passage see βδέλυγμα, c.);
Acts 6:13; Acts 21:28;
the holy land, 2 Macc. 1:29 2Macc. 2:18;
τό ἅγιον and τά ἅγια
The Temple,
Hebrews 9:1, 24 (cf. Bleek on Heb. vol. ii. 2, p. 477f);
specifically that
part of
The Temple or Tabernacle
which is called
'The Holy Place'
(מִקְדָּשׁ, Ezekiel 37:28; Ezekiel 45:18),
Hebrews 9:2 (here Rec.st reads ἅγια); ἅγια ἁγίων
( Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:10, etc.)
The most Hallowed
Portion of the Temple
'The Holy of Holies,'
(Exodus 26:33 (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 3, 6, 4)),
Hebrews 9:3, in reference to which the simple τά ἅγια is also used:
Hebrews 9:8, 25; Hebrews 10:19; Hebrews 13:11;
figuratively of Heaven,
Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:8, 12; Hebrews 10:19;
ἅγια πόλις Jerusalem, on account of the temple there,
Matthew 4:5; Matthew 27:53; Revelation 11:2;
Revelation 21:2; Revelation 22:19 (Isaiah 48:2; Nehemiah 11:1, 18
τό ὄρος τό ἅγιον,
because
Christ's transfiguration
occurred there,
2 Peter 1:18; ἡ (Θεοῦ) ἅγια διαθήκη i. e.
which is the
More Sacred because
made by
God Himself,
Luke 1:72; τό ἅγιον, that
Worshipful
Offspring of Divine Power
TRINITY SUM
888
The profound Bible meaning
of the number
888
is directly linked to the
Manifestation of God
in the flesh to
Save mankind of its sins
As Joseph ponders whether to divorce his
new but pregnant wife Mary, an Angel
Appears in his
Dreams to alleviate his concerns.
This messenger informs him that his wife, ". . .
shall give Birth to a Son,
and you shall
call His name Jesus"
(Matthew 1:21)
Jesus' Name,
in the
original Greek language from which
The New Testament was written,
is spelled
Ι (Iota), η (Eta), σ (Sigma), ο (Omicron), υ (Upsilon) and σ (Sigma)
or
Ιησουσ
(Strong's Concordance #G2424)
Their numeric equivalents of
10, 8, 200, 70, 400 and 200 add up to 888
Surprisingly, other 888 related Bible names used for Jesus
also have a factor of eight within them when we add the
numeric equivalents of the Greek letters.
These include Christ
(1480 or 8 times 185), Lord (800 or 8 times 100),
Messiah
(656 or 8 times 82) and others.
Number 888 and Prophecy
The number 888 has an interesting link to
King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
of a statue symbolizing
world-ruling empires starting with Babylon
(Daniel 2).
The king challenges his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers to
both reveal what he dreamt and what it means
(Daniel 2:2 - 11)
The Babylonian "wise men" respond to Nebuchadnezzar by stating no ruler has ever made such a demand as his that is impossible to fulfill.
Angered by their response, the king commands all wise men, which includes
the Prophet Daniel and his three friends, to be killed.
Daniel,
after requesting additional time, seeks out his friends so
that they can all Pray about the situation.
Then Daniel went to his house
and made the matter known to
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that
they might Pray for the
Mercies of God in heaven concerning this secret . . .
(Daniel 2:17 - 18, HBFV)
The Hebrew spelling of Daniel's name, using Gematria, adds to 95.
Hananiah adds to 120, Misael's equals 381 and Azariah's is 292.
Together they total 888. God ultimately answered their prayers,
revealing both the dream and its meaning.
888
Three eights, or 888, also symbolize the
Mighty Prophetic Power of God
through his Prophet
Elijah and his successor Elisha
The first 8 of 888 represents the number of
major miracles performed by Elijah
(1Kings 17:1, 14 - 16, 17 - 23, 18:37 - 38, 41 - 45, 2Kings 1:10, 12, 2:8).
Elisha, before Elijah was
taken away
in a Chariot of Fire,
asked to
receive a double portion
of the
Same Spirit that was in his mentor.
His request was granted through
God allowing him to perform
Sixteen
(8 + 8, a double portion)
significant
Signs and Wonders
The first set of eight Elisha miracles
are his
Dividing the Jordan River
(2Kings 2:14), healing bitter waters (verse 21),
having two she-bears punish mockers (verses 23 - 24)
and providing water for three kings (3:16 - 17).
He also miraculously
produced oil
that was sold to pay a debt
(4:1 - 7),
Raised a widow's son from the dead
(verses 32 - 37),
healed a pot of deadly food
(verses 38 - 41) and fed 100 men (verses 42 - 44).
Elisha's second set of Eight miracles, representing the
Third 8 of number 888,
is the healing of
Naaman's leprosy (2Kings 5:1 - 19), causing his
servant to have leprosy after he pursued forbidden money
(verses 20 - 27)
and causing a heavy iron axe head to float (6:1 - 7).
Elisha also made it possible for one of his servants to
See spiritual
Horses and Chariots
(verses 15 - 17),
caused the Syrian army to be blind (2Kings 6:18)
then
Restored their Sight (verse 20). He lastly foretold
Samaria's Famine would End
(chapter 7)
and his
bones brought a Dead man back to Life
(13:20 - 21).
All this makes for
888
The Menorah
(/məˈnɔːrə/; Hebrew: מְנוֹרָה mənōrā,
Hebrew pronunciation: [menoˈʁa]) is a
Seven-branched candelabrum
that is described in the Hebrew Bible
and in later ancient sources as having been used in the
Tabernacle
and in the
Temple in Jerusalem.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the
Menorah was made out of
Pure Gold,
and the only Source
of
Fuel that was allowed to be used to
Light the Lamps
was
fresh Olive Oil
The menorah was placed in
the Tabernacle
Biblical tradition holds that Solomon's Temple
was home to ten menorahs, which were later plundered
by the Babylonians; the Second Temple
is also said to have been home to a menorah.
Following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
in 70 CE,
the menorah was taken to Rome;
the Arch of Titus,
which still stands today, famously depicts the menorah
being carried away
by the triumphant Romans along
with other spoils of the
Destroyed Temple
Magdala
was an ancient Jewish city on the
shore of the Sea of Galilee,
5 km North of Tiberias. In the Babylonian Talmud
it is known as
Magdala Nunayya, and which some historical geographers
think may refer to Tarichaea, literally the
place of
processing Fish
It is believed to be the Birthplace
of
Mary Magdalene
Magdala was a major first-century Port on the
Sea of Galilee,
a centre of trade and commerce, and an exporter
of Salted Fish
to markets as far away as Europe.
Archaeological discoveries early in the 21st century have made it a
burgeoning pilgrimage destination.
Mary Magdalene by Pietro Perugino
(Palazzo Pitti, Florence)
Magdala’s Fame down the centuries
rested on one notable person,
Mary Magdalene. This enigmatic Woman
Revered as a Saint
By the Orthodox,
Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran Churches
was one of the Few Persons
Named in the Gospels as Being Present
at
Christ’s Crucifixion
and the
First recorded WITNESS
of his
Resurrection
The city, on the western side of the Sea of Galilee between
Tiberias and Capernaum, is mentioned only once in
The New Testament.
The Gospel of Matthew (15:39) says Jesus went there by Boat --
but even this reference is uncertain, since some
early manuscripts give the
name as Magadan
Synagogue Uncovered at Magdala
(Seetheholyland.net)
Both Matthew and Mark say
Jesus Preached in Synagogues
“throughout
Galilee”, and Magdala
was only 10 kilometres
from Capernaum, where he Based his Ministry
The Jewish historian Josephus says
Magdala had a population of
40,000 people
and a fleet of 230 boats about 30 years after Jesus died.
Mary was Called Apostle
of the Apostle
’Carved Stone decorated with Menorah
(© Moshe Hartal, Israel Antiquities Authority)
All Four Gospels refer to a Close Follower of Jesus called
Mary Magdalene.
Luke says she had been Cured of “Seven demons”
and he lists her
First among the women who
Accompanied
Jesus and supported his ministry from
their own Resources
(8:2-3).
After Jesus died she was one of
the women who
Took Spices for Anointing to the Tomb.
They Found the tomb empty,
but “two men in Dazzling Clothes” gave them
the
NEWS that JESUS had RISEN
(Luke 24:1-12)
Later Jesus Appeared to
Mary
At first she thought he was the gardener, but she
recognized him when he spoke her name.
Then she announced to the disciples,
“I have SEEN the Lord”
(John 20:1-18)
By the 3rd century, Mary Magdalene was described
as the
“APOSTLE of the Apostles”.
The city that gave its name to Mary Magdalene
became a fortified base
for Rebels during the First Jewish Revolt in AD 66-70,
even engaging the Romans in a disastrous sea battle.
According to the historian Josephus — who commanded
the
Jewish forces in Galilee —
the
Sea of Galilee
became Red with Blood and
“Full of dead bodies”.
Of the survivors, emperor Vespasian sent 6000
to build a canal in Greece and ordered
more than 30,000 to be sold as slaves.
Beginning in the 1960s, Franciscan archaeologists
discovered Magdala’s ancient port and a city grid,
with paved streets, water canals, a marketplace,
villas and mosaics — one depicting a sailing boat.
Buried in the mud Covering a thermal
bath complex were
Ceramic crockery, Perfume Jars, Jewelry,
Hairbrushes and Combs,
and
Bronze applicators for make-up.
The discovery of the massive foundations
of a tower-may
account for the city’s name.
Both
Magdala in Aramaic and Migdal in Hebrew
mean Tower
Three interconnected
Ritual Baths
Were Discovered, the first Found in Israel
using
Ground-water from Springs —
which for
Purification Purposes was
considered
“Living Water” — rather than Rainwater.
In the remains of one building,
under a thin layer of soil,
excavators found a stone block engraved with motifs including
a Seven-branched Menorah,
the type
of Lampstand
Used in the Temple. This significant
Find Led to the
identification of the building as a synagogue.
Boat-shaped Alter in Duc in Altum Church at Magdala
(Seetheholyland.net)
Unlike other first-century synagogues
Found in Galilee,
The Magdala building had ornate
mosaics and frescoes.
In 2021
a second synagogue
dating from the Second Temple
period was
Found at Magdala
It was smaller and not so ornate as the first one,
with an earthen floor that had been plastered.
Archaeologists believe both existed at the same time,
from about 50 BC until AD 67.
In 2014 the Legion opened a new church on the site, simple in design
but also rich in mosaics and murals, focusing especially on
women in the Bible. It is named Duc in Altum
Latin for “Put out into the deep”, from Christ’s words
in Luke 5:4
The altar is in the shape of a first-century boat, standing in front of an
infinity pool leading the eye to the lake beyond.
In the crypt is an ecumenical worship space, called the
Encounter Chapel, paved with stones from
Magdala’s first-century marketplace.
Magdala’s port, now submerged in the beach, had a
stone breakwater that extended into the sea
and curved around the harbour to
protect boats from the sudden storms that buffet
the Sea of Galilee.
In 1983 the hull of the so-called Jesus Boat, a fishing boat
old enough
to have been in use during the time of Christ,
was found in the lakebed near the ancient port of Magdala.
Mary Wrote John,
''Adam and Eve are Mary Magellan and Jesus,
waiting to be reunited at the fullness of the Age
Jesus gives his Mother to John until he returns
When Jesus Spirit work is fulfilled on earth, he returns to the Father,
As Jesus Returns to Mary,
to complete the second part of the Wedding
The Magdala Stone
is a carved STONE block
unearthed by archaeologists in the Migdal Synagogue
in Israel, dating to before the destruction of
the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70.
Imagine a first-century Jew
living in the land
near their Temple in Jerusalem,
yet they are too far
away to make frequent visits.
What did the Temple represent in their
daily life?
Did they locate God’s presence
in the Jerusalem Temple alone or also in their midst
when they gathered in the synagogue?
For a people living in the diaspora, unable to visit the
Temple frequently, what kept the memory and
centrality of the Temple fresh in their minds?
An intriguing stone uncovered at
the site of Magdala on the western shores of
the Sea of Galilee in
September 2009 might offer a clue.
Carved with symbols from the Temple,
the quartzite stone was discovered
in the middle of an ancient synagogue.
The Magdala Stone is a stone block carved
with
symbols of the Temple in Jerusalem, with
the CORE of the Temple represented
(the Hall, Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies).
The stone measure 1.8 by 2 feet with a height of 1 foot.
Found almost in the CENTER of the synagogue,
the Magdala Stone is believed to be a piece of
ceremonial
furniture on which the Torah and other
SACRED SCROLLS were placed
But is it simply a bimah
(a traditional holder for the Scrolls),
or does it have some deeper significance?
Dr. Rina Talgam of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
a
forerunner in research on
the Magdala Stone,
Believe that the Magdala Stone may
indicate an
Early Jewish Movement
in which the synagogue was perceived to be a
"Minor Temple.”
Gathering together with Scripture could
be conceived
as a form of spiritual worship in
lieu of a ritual sacrifice offered in the Temple.
It begs the question:
Was there an evolving concept of worship
in the diaspora?
Was there an understanding of
God’s presence in the midst
of those who revered Scripture?
Can this be considered a form of prayer within a
first-century synagogue?
The front of the Magdala Stone
displays an obviously Jewish symbol, the menorah.
It is currently the oldest carved image of
the Second Temple’s seven-branched menorah
found in a public place.
Its TRIPOD base indicates the likelihood
that the
ARTIST saw the
ACTUAL menorah in the Temple.
The menorah on the Magdala Stone appears to
rest on top of a decorated square—symbolic of
the altar of sacrifice.
It is flanked by Two Jars
perhaps
Representing the WATER and OIL
used in the Temple.
If a rabbi stood in front of the stone,
facing the menorah, he would set his gaze
south toward Jerusalem, as though
entering the Temple itself.
Along the sides of the stone, the onlooker sees
several pillared archways and another set of
archways within,
giving it a three-dimensional feel
(see image). Talgam speculates that these
archways represent the gates of the Azara,
or the wall around the Sanctuary and the
wall of the Sanctuary itself.
A small object at the
start of these archways has the
shape of an oil lamp
from the Herodian period.
One can imagine walking through the
Temple’s passageways illuminated by
oil lamps
Engraved are Two clusters of three hearts--
six hearts in total.
Are they ivy leaves? Are they bread loaves?
Could they be Mary and Jesus's
Twin Sacred Holy Hearts?
Motti Aviam, Professor of Archaeology at Kinneret College
on the Sea of Galilee,
interprets these as bread loaves that were
offered on the shewbread table.
Splitting each heart in half
conjures up an image paralleling the way
bread was offered on the shewbread table:
two sets of
six bread loaves.
The symbols representing the shewbread tables
look like upside-down cups.
Finding this symbol on
ancient coins gives credence to this interpretation.
Another fascinating symbol dominates the
center of the top of the Magdala Stone:
a six-petaled rosette.
It is flanked by columns with palmette capitals,
echoing ancient Jewish historian Josephus’s
description of the area
directly before the Holy of Holies.
The rosette itself symbolizes
the actual veil
before the Holy of Holies.
Josephus describes this veil
as being decorated with flowers—perhaps with
this very rosette.
Curiously, the rosette is a common Jewish motif
found on
ossuaries, sarcophagi and monumental tomb façades
from the
late Second Temple period to the second
century C.E. Considering this connection,
one wonders if it signifies a passing
Through the “Veil”
Of this life into the Presence of God,
just as passing through the veil into the
Holy of Holies is an entry into
God’s Glory
localized in the Temple.
This brings us to the final symbol representing
the deepest part of the
Temple on the Magdala Stone:
the Holy of Holies.
Two wheels appear suspended in the Air
with triangular shapes underneath,
representing Fire (see image). Early Jewish writings
use this imagery to represent the heavenly realm.
The wheels are interpreted
as the
bottom of the Chariot,
symbolizing God’s Throne.
The
Fiery Chariot described in Ezekiel 1 and 10
gives credence to the symbol
representing God’s presence dwelling
both in
The Temple and in the Heavens
The Richness and SUM Completeness
of the
Symbols forces the question:
Did the Jewish people in Magdala
Believe
God’s Presence was Among Them
in a particular
Way as they Gathered around Scripture?
If so, Magdala offers more than
mere first-century archaeology.
The site allows us also to
ponder the
CROSS Road in Biblical History
of HOW
Gods People Encounter
the
True and Living
God of Israel
The Stone is also notable
for having the earliest known images
of the
Temple Menorah to be found in a synagogue.
The Stone is approximately
0.6 m. (24 in.) long, circa 0.5 m. (20 in.) wide and
stands 0.4 m. (18 in.) high.
The facade of the stone, on the side that Faces Jerusalem,
features an Arch supported by a
Pair of Pillars.
Within the Arch a seven-Branched menorah
sits atop what
appears to be a pedestal, flanked by
a
Pair of Two-Handled JUGS which may be
sitting on some sort of stands.
Dr. Avshalom-Gorni called the discovery
"An Exciting and Unique Find."
This may be the oldest depiction of a menorah
decoration and
is the first menorah to be discovered in a Jewish context
that dates to
the Second Temple period and the beginning of the
Early Roman era, the period when the Temple was still standing.
"We can assume that the engraving that appears on the stone,
which the
Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered, was
Done by an
Artist who SAW the
Seven-branched menorah with HER
OWN
Eyes in the Temple in Jerusalem"
The stone's side panels are identical; each shows an
arcade of Four Arches. Interpretations of the carvings vary.
While some have interpreted the sides as showing
Three Arches Filled with sheaves of Grain
(probably Wheat),
and a Fourth with a HANGing object thought to be
An Oil Lamp,
others, including Rina Talgam and Mordechai Aviam
see it as an architectural image.
According to Aviam it shows an arcade through
which
is seen a second arcade of arches which the viewer is
meant to understand
as the
Entrance Arches of the Holy of Holies.
What are The Six StoneWater Jars
at
Cana in John2?
John’s remarkable ability in story-telling,
where he combines an intense attention
to realistic detail
with powerful evocation of the scene. In 11 short verses,
we are taken into both the
reality and the emotion of the event,
so it is no wonder that the story is so
WELL known
that the phrase
‘turning Water into Wine’
(like ‘walking on water’)
has become something of a cultural trope.
We have become used to reading
John’s gospel on two levels,
the literal and the symbolic, and so it is not surprising
that we should be alert to anything that might
suggest symbolic significance in this story.
Already John the Baptist has proclaimed Jesus as the
symbolic ‘lamb of God’
(so we are not surprised when we later read that
Jesus dies in John’s chronology at the time
of the sacrifice of the Passover lambs),
and the first disciples ask Jesus ‘Where are you staying?’ (John 1.38)
using the word later translated ‘abiding’, which becomes a
symbolic term for the incorporation of
the faithful disciple in the presence of God
through Jesus in John 15.4.
The Cana episode is introduced with one of
John’s characteristic temporal
markers: ‘on the third day…’ (John 2.1).
Mark Stibbe and C K Barrettdisagree on whether this
implies the wedding takes place on the
sixth or seventh day of the narrative so far, as indicated
by the cumulation of temporal markers:
Day 1John 1.19John’s testimony to the Jewish leaders
Day 2John 1.29‘ the next day’John’s declaration of
Jesus as lamb of God
Day 3John 1.35‘ the next day’The disciples seek Jesus
Day 4John 1.43‘ the next day’ Jesus leaves for Galilee
Day 5 The Sabbath?
Day 6John 2.1‘ on the third day’. The first day of the week?
(If ‘the third day’ implies an interval
of two days between this and the previous event,
then we are on to
Day Seven in this ‘week’ of Jesus’ ministry.
Jo-Ann Bryant, Paideia p 55 and other recent commentators agree with Stibbe, that this is indeed Day Seven.)
But Stibbe and Barrett do agree on the significance of the phrase
‘on the third day’,
anticipating the day of resurrection,
the first day of the week and the first day of
the
New Creation
brought about by
Jesus’ dying and Rising again.
Stibbe takes this further, and
sees the
Wedding Itself as presaging
the eschatological Wedding Banquet
of
God with his people
(compare Rev 19.7–9)
We find this double meaning repeatedly
as the gospel unfolds:
Nicodemus, dimly grasping Jesus’ teaching,
meets him in the twilight in chapter 3, the
usual time for a meeting in a hot climate,
whilst the woman by the
WELL
SEES the LIGHT of the world
by the
Light of the Noonday Sun in chapter 4,
an unusual Time demonstrating
she is outcast;
in John 9.7 the man born blind in chapter 9 is sent to
the Pool of Siloam (which means ‘sent’, of course!);
and
when Judas goes
out to
BETRAY Jesus ‘it was Night!’
(John 13.30)
which it was both literally and metaphorically.
So it is not surprising that many
interpret the SIX stone water jars symbolically
Six, being less by one and
SEVEN, the number of completeness and
PERFECTION,
would indicate that the Jewish dispensation,
typified by its ceremonial water, was
Partial and IMPERFECT.. So Far
(p 191)
Augustine goes much further, connecting
the six jars with the six ages of the world
up to the TIME of Jesus:
But observe what Himself says,
The things
which were written in
The LAW, and in The PROPHETS,
and in
The PSALMS concerning ME
And we know that the law extends from the
time of which we have record, that is,
from the BEGINNING of the world:
In the beginning GOD MADE the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Thence down to the time in which we are
now living are six ages, this being the sixth, as you have
often heard and know.
The FIRST age is reckoned from Adam to Noah;
the SECOND, from Noah to Abraham; and, as
Matthew the evangelist duly follows and distinguishes,
the THIRD,
from Abraham to David;
the FOURTH,
from David to the carrying away into Babylon;
the FIFTH, from the carrying away
into Babylon to John the Baptist;
Matthew 1:17 the SIXTH, from
John the Baptist to the end of the world.
Moreover,
God made man after His own image on the sixth day,
because in this sixth age
is manifested the renewing
of our mind
through the GOSPEL,
after the
image of Him who CREATED us;
Colossians 3:10 and the
water is turned into wine,
that we may taste of CHRIST,
now manifested
in the law and the prophets.
Hence there were there
Six water-pots, which He bade be
Filled with Water
Now the Six water-pots
signify the Six Ages, which were
not without prophecy.
And those six periods, divided and separated
as it were by joints,
would be as empty vessels unless they
were filled by CHRIST.
Why did I say, the periods which would run fruitlessly on,
unless the
Lord Jesus were preached in them?
Prophecies are fulfilled, the water-pots are full;
but that the
water may be turned into wine,
CHRIST must be understood in that
whole prophecy.
(Tractates on John 9.6)
And in popular preaching, this symbolic number is hard to resist.
The Jewish system of the LAW is
all about ritual;
it separates people
into the
clean and the unclean,
and so
dehumanises them;
and
Jesus comes to do away with the lot.
There are multiple problems with this kind of reading. Theologically, we need to reflect on the origin of ‘the law’. In the OT, it is clearly seen as a gift from God—so in this reading we must believe that Jesus is doing away with a nasty, dehumanising system which originated with God himself. Canonically, there is a difficulty posed by Jesus’ insistence that he ‘has not come to do away with the law, but to fulfil it’ (Matt 5.17), and by Matthew and Paul’s insistence (strongly implied by all the other gospels) that Jesus’ life and ministry ‘fulfilled’ or was ‘according to’ the Scriptures (1 Cor 15.3–4)—a belief that marks out canonical from non-canonical texts.
Within John’s gospel, despite the language of ‘the Jews’ (John 2.6), we find a very Jewish message which insists on the primacy of Jewish understanding (‘salvation is from the Jews’ John 4.22) and which centres around the Jewish pilgrim feasts. And in this narrative, absolutely nothing whatever is made of the number six—most notably, Jesus changes the water into wine within the six jars, and does not add a seventh. If we are to take the six as symbolising the apparent ‘incompleteness’ of Jewish belief prior to Jesus, then Jesus’ completion of it involves using what is already there—and not adding anything to it! Reading carefully, we also notice that the climax of the story is not the contrast between water and wine—but that the best wine has been kept until last. Just as John 1.16 (now rightly translated in modern versions) talks of Jesus bringing grace (the grace of the gospel) in place of (Gk: anti) grace (the grace of the law)—and not grace in place of legalism—so this miracle compares Jesus with the law as the best wine following good wine.
In his fascinating paper given
at a recent Tyndale New Testament Study Group,
Richard Bauckham brought two other factors into
play in reading this story historically. The first relates to
the stone water jars themselves,
about which much
has been written in scholarship in recent years.
There are several things to note.
First, the importance of
stone vessels
is that they are not subject
to the
impurity laws in Lev 11.32–35
Which
demand that clay vessels
which become
unclean must be smashed.
So though they are much more expensive to make
in the first place, in the long term they are more
economic because they can be used repeatedly,
even if they come into contact with things
which are ceremonially unclean.
So their presence indicates
either that we are in a priestly household,
or at least a
household concerned with PURITY
Second, these very large vessels
are very difficult to make,
since they must be carved from a
single piece of stone.
A quarry and workshop producing stone vessels
was recently discovered not far from Cana in lower Galilee.
But the technology to produce large vessels needed the
kind of lathes that
were used by the Romans in making stone columns--
so these large stone vessels
indicate quite a specific time period of the
Roman occupation of Judea and Samaria.
Thus John’s mention of them is pointing to a particular and
limited historical period.
Thirdly,
because these items were expensive, it was thought that they might be ostentatious luxuries which were put on display—and in fact you can see from the examples in the picture above that they were finely made, with a consistent and sophisticated design around the rims, for example.
But archaeological evidence, particularly from the
Burnt House in Jerusalem
(a first century dwelling destroyed in the Roman siege of 70 AD)
shows that the large stone jars (qalal in Hebrew)
were in the working areas of the house.
In other words, they had a practical importance,
rather than being for display.
But Richard added another dimension to this discussion.
In 1 Chron 24.7–18 are listed the
24 ‘priestly courses’ or divisions (Hebrew mishmar)
which set out the pattern of duties of the priests
through the year,
with each ‘course’ doing duty for two weeks each.
Although there is some doubt in scholarship as to whether
this was a historical reality in the time of the first temple,
or an idealised reconstruction by the writer of Chronicles
after the destruction of the temple and the exile, the pattern
became important in
the Second Temple period--
and in fact allows us to determine the approximate
date when Jesus was born.
But why would such a schedule be so important if all the priests lived in Jerusalem? In fact they didn’t, and so this schedule allowed them to know when to travel to the city to complete their duty. A number of inscriptions have been found in synagogues from the period (and later) which list these divisions, include the names of the towns related to each division, and include an additional column of names, which Richard argues are the particular families within the divisions who lived in the various towns listed, and so were the ones actually travelling to perform their duties.
Why are these lists so important? Firstly, because they have a good claim to indicating actual historical practice at the time of Jesus, not least because no
Towns
established after 70AD are included.
They all date from the Hasmonean period, when priestly
families settled throughout the country.
Secondly (something I pointed out and Richard agreed with),
these lists show the connections between
Galilee and Jerusalem,
with the priestly families settled in the region
providing a link with the temple.
This is important given John’s focus on Jerusalem--
and Richard’s argument that
John’s gospel was not written by John the apostle, brother of James,
but by someone based in Jerusalem, which accounts for
the focus on Jerusalem throughout the gospels,
in contrast to the focus on Galilee in Mark, and
the importance of the pilgrim festivals.
Thirdly, Cana
is listed as one of the
24 towns
in which priestly families lived.
Put together with the role of stone jars,
it looks quite likely
(though of course not provable) that
the wedding in CANA was taking place
in the
house of this priestly family,
which accounts for the presence of
JARS themselves
because of the family’s concern
for ritual purity.
And why, then, does John record that there
were SIX?
Because, as in the picture of the Burnt House above,
that is how many there happened to be!
Although there is much symbolism in John’s gospel,
we are increasingly realising that there
is also much history.
Why does John note (in John 5.2) that the
Pool of Bethesda has FIVE stoa
(colonnades or porticos)?
Until the 19th century, there was no evidence outside of
John’s Gospel for the existence of this pool;
therefore, scholars argued that the gospel was written later,
probably by someone without FIRST-hand knowledge
of the city of Jerusalem,
and that the ‘pool’ had only a metaphorical,
rather than historical, significance.
But when the site was excavated,
it was discovered that
it did indeed have FIVE colonnades--
not in a pentagon, but as a
rectangle with one colonnade crossing
the middle.
(See to the right my photograph of the scale model
in Jerusalem taken last year, with the Antonia Fortress
behind the Pool of Bethesda.)
And why does John note (John 5.5)
that
the man had been there
for
38 years?
Probably simply because he had.
The name of the pool is said to be derived from the
Hebrew-and/or Aramaic language. Beth hesda (בית חסד/חסדא),
means either house of mercy or house of Grace.
This meaning may have been thought appropriate,
since the
location was seen as a place of disgrace due to the
presence of invalids, and as a
place of grace due to the granting of healing.
Alternative renderings to the name Βηθεσδά (Bethesda), appearing
in manuscripts of the Gospel of John,
include Βηθζαθά (Beth-zatha = בית חדתא[8]),
a derivative of Bezetha,
and Bethsaida
(not to be confused with Bethsaida, a town in Galilee)
, although the latter is considered to be a metathetical
corruption by Biblical scholars.
Franz Delitzsch suggested that the name comes
from a mishnaic Hebrew loanword from Greek, estiv/estava,
that appropriately referred to stoa (στοά).[citation needed]
Identification of the biblical site
According to the Gospel of John, Bethesda
was a bathing pool
(Greek: κολυμβήθρα, kolumbethra) with five porticoes
(translated as porches by older English Bible translations)
Until the 19th century, there was no clear archaeological evidence
for the existence of such a pool.
The Pool of Bethesda was
sometimes identified by commentators with the modern so-called
Fountain of the Virgin,
in the Kidron Valley, not far from the Pool of Siloam,
or alternatively with the Birket Isrâ'il, a
pool near the mouth of the valley,
which runs into the Kidron south of St. Stephen's Gate.
Others identified it with the twin pools then called the Souterrains
(French for "subterranean"),
under the Convent of the
Sisters of Zion;
subsequent archaeological investigation
has identified these with the later
Struthion Pool.
When reading John, and the other gospels,
we need to be alert to their symbolism.
But we also need to take them with their full historical
seriousness too--
as previous generations have often failed to do.
There are a number of other things to note about the passage.
Having introduced the episode
by careful temporal and geographical markers,
the writer introduces the characters in a way which
anticipates the following action.
The mother of Jesus is mentioned first;
there is no particular significance in the omission of her name,
and it would be appropriate to refer to her in relation to Jesus,
since he is the principle focus here.
It places her in a role of importance,
but not central to either the narrative or the gospel;
she makes a significant contribution,
but there are limits
to her understanding of the situation.
Jesus is introduced next, and it is
he who has been invited to the wedding as a guest
(the verb is singular)
whilst the disciples as tagged on, almost as an afterthought.
As often happens in this gospel,
the disciples are largely by-standers rather than major actors;
their function here is to witness what has happened,
and ‘believe’. As in the episodes in chapter 1, we
find here a close juxtaposition between
the ‘mundane’ reality of kinship obligation
(as Jesus attends the wedding, most likely of a relative)
and the
cosmic significance of the action that
Manifests his ‘Glory’, that which he has shared
with his Father in John 1.14 and which will be
made Fully manifest (paradoxically) when
Jesus is lifted up on the cross
(John 17.5).
The wine fails; the term here, hustereo, can have
a sense of
lack of quantity or lack of quality.
Mary’s statement to
Jesus suggests the former,
whilst the final response of the steward suggests the latter.
Within the first-century honour/shame culture,
it would not be
appropriate for a mother to make
a demand of her adult son,
so Mary’s comment is a statement,
though clearly with the expectation of some response.
Typical of the Fourth Gospel’s realistic speech,
Jesus’ reply is expressed in a semitic metaphor:
‘What to Me and to You?’
an expression we find in exactly the same form in
Hebrew in Judges 11.12, 1 Kings 17.18 and 2 Kings 3.13,
all with the sense of
What is there between us?’
Given the context of these examples, we would be right to interpret Jesus’ address to her as ‘woman’ in a negative way;
he is resisting her suggestion,
since she does not fully understand
what the coming of ‘his hour’ will involve.
Nevertheless she clearly expects him to do something dramatic,
hence her instruction to the servants.
Although there are no particular linguistic connections,
the volume of the jars and the action of the
servants in filling them ‘
to the very top’,
beyond the point where you would
normally fill them,
points to the later language of
‘life in abundance’ (John 10.10).
Once again, the honour/shame dynamic plays its part.
The steward does not know where this best wine has come from,
and credits its supply to the bridegroom, whose honour is thereby
left intact since the humiliating failure is not made public.
And there is an inversion of revelation,
in that
it is the servants
who Really Know the
Truth
But Jesus himself does not accrue honour in the social sense.
Instead, he
reveals his ‘glory’ to the disciples
(who presumably have also observed the action).
This first sign
points forward to the time
when Jesus will be shamed
rather than
honoured in human terms,
but
the glory of God’s grace
in the
life and forgiveness that flow from
Jesus’ crucified body--
another juxtaposition of ‘blood and water’--
will be fully revealed.
In a previous posting of this piece, Colin Hamer
(who has published a fascinating study of marital imagery in the Bible ) offered this further observation about symbolism in the episode:
When asked to make up the shortfall of wine Jesus is said to declare that ‘My hour is not yet come—Jesus is nonetheless recorded as performing the miracle and when the wine is produced the master of the feast comments on its quality and assumes it is the bridegroom who has made the provision
(vv. 9–10). Brant Pitre (Jesus the Bridegroom,
35–39;
also: McWhirter,
The Bridegroom Messiah and the People of God,
57) suggests that this was in accord with the
Jewish wedding tradition where it was the
bridegroom’s responsibility to provide the wine
(as inferred in v. 9).
It follows that Mary had been, in effect,
asking Jesus to act as if he was on that day the bridegroom--
such an analysis would explain his enigmatic reply to her.
(Mary and Jesus Wedding)
Pitre further suggests
Mary’s reference to the lack of wine
is an echo of Isaiah 24:7, 9, 11—Isaiah subsequently
describing a future restoration of Israel when
Yahweh will ensure wine will be in abundance
(Isa 25:6–8).
Thus Pitre sees that
the writer of the fourth Gospel,
in recounting
such an extravagant supply of wine,
is employing contemporary
Jewish marriage traditions
to portray
Jesus as the divine bridegroom
self-consciously taking the role occupied by Yahweh
in the Old Testament imagery.
I think that that is a plausible observation, but with one qualification:
why should we see this symbolism only as the
creation of the gospel writer, rather than as something
in the mind of Jesus
to which the gospel writer is alert?
I always find it odd when we ascribe
theological sophistication
to later characters rather than
to Jesus himself!
Luke 1:35;
The Blessing
of the
Gospel,
Matthew 7:6; ἁγιωτάτῃ πίστις,
Faith
(quae creditur i. e. the object of faith)
which came from God
and is therefore
to be heeded Most sacredly,
Jude 1:20; in the same
sense ἅγια ἐντολή, 2 Peter 2:21; κλῆσις ἅγια,
because it is the
invitation of
God and claims us as His,
2 Timothy 1:9;
ἅγιαι γραφαί(τά βιβλία τά ἅγια, 1 Macc. 12:9),
which came from God and
contain
His Words, Romans 1:2.
b. of Persons whose Services God Employs;
as for example,
Apostles,
Ephesians 3:5;
Angels
1 Thessalonians 3:13; Matthew 25:31 (Rec.);
Revelation 14:10; Jude 1:14;
Prophets,
Acts 3:21; Luke 1:70 (Wis. 11:1);
(οἱ) ἅγιοι (τοῦ) Θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι, 2 Peter 1:21 (R G L Tr text);
worthies of the O. T.
Accepted by God for their Piety,
Matthew 27:52; 1 Peter 3:5.
2. Set Apart for God, to be, as it were,
exclusively his;
followed by a genitive or a dative: τῷ κυρίῳ,
Luke 2:23; τοῦ Θεοῦ (equivalent to ἐκλεκτός τοῦ Θεοῦ)
of CHRIST,
Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34, and according to the
TRUE reading in
John 6:69, cf. John 10:36; he is called also
ὁ ἅγιος παῖςτοῦ Θεοῦ,
Acts 4:30,
and simply ὁ ἅγιος, 1 John 2:20. Just as the Israelites
claimed for themselves the title οἱ ἅγιοι, because
God selected them from the other nations to
lead a life acceptable
to him and rejoice in his favor and protection
(Daniel 7:18, 22; 2 Esdr. 8:28),
so this appellation is very often in the N. T.
Transferred to Christians,
as those
Whom God has Selected
ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου (John 17:14, 16),
That under
The influence of the Holy Spirit
they may be rendered,
Through Holiness, Partakers of
Salvation
in
The kingdom of God:
1 Peter 2:9 (Exodus 19:6), cf. Exodus 19:5; Acts 9:13, 32, 41; Acts 26:10; Romans 1:7; Romans 8:27; Romans 12:13; Romans 16:15; 1 Corinthians 6:1, 2; Philippians 4:21; Colossians 1:12; Hebrews 6:10; Jude 1:3; Revelation 5:8, etc.;
3. of sacrifices and offerings;
Prepared for God
with
Solemn Rite, Pure, Clean
(opposed to ἀκάθαρτος): 1 Corinthians 7:14 (cf. Ephesians 5:3);
connected with ἄμωμος, Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 5:27;
Colossians 1:22; ἀπαρχή,
Romans 11:16; θυσία, Romans 12:1. Hence,
4. in a Moral Sense,
Pure, Sinless, Upright, Holy:
1 Peter 1:16 (Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 11:44); 1 Corinthians 7:34;
δίκαιος καί ἅγιος, of
John the Baptist, Mark 6:20; ἅγιος καί δίκαιος,
of
Christ,
Acts 3:14; Distinctly of Him,
Revelation 3:7; Revelation 6:10;
of
God Pre-eminently,
1 Peter 1:15; John 17:11; ἅγιαι ἀναστροφαί, 2 Peter 3:11; νόμος
and ἐντολή, i. e. containing nothing exceptionable,
Romans 7:12; φίλημα, such a
kiss as is a
Sign of the Purest Love,
1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; Romans 16:16.
On the phrase τό ἅγιον πνεῦμα and τόπνεῦμα τό ἅγιον,
see πνεῦμα, 4 a. Cf. Diestel, Die Heiligkeit Gottes, in Jahrbb. f. deutsch. Theol. iv., p. 1ff; (Baudissin, Stud. z. Semitisch. Religionsgesch. Heft ii., p. 3ff; Delitzsch in Herzog edition 2, see 714ff; especially)
(translation of 2nd edition, p. 84ff; Oehler in Herzog 19:618ff; Zezschwitz, Profangräcität as above with, p. 15ff; Trench, § lxxxviii; Campbell, Dissertations, diss. vi., part iv.; especially Schmidt, chapter 181).
- The first word God uses to describe his character in Exodus 34:6-7
is “compassionate,” closely related to the Hebrew word for “womb.” - Most often, the word “compassion” and the deep emotion it conveys is associated with God. The Bible gives many pictures of God’s compassion—as a parent, a father, and even as a nursing mother.
- God’s compassion isn’t just a feeling; it’s deeply connected to acts of forgiveness and deliverance, seen most clearly in the cross
The Psalms offers,
"Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of
Your steadfast love,
For they have been from of old.”
The original words used here for
Steadfast love, hesed, and Mercy,
rechem, are
unbroken tropes throughout the
Hebrew Bible
Hesed
refers to
The ever-present love of God
Uniquely
BENT in our direction
Rechem
Signals the concept of the Womb
The psalmist evokes the
vitality of
God's “womb compassion,”
the eternal love
that a mother possesses for children
Proverbs 31:1-31
The words of King Lemuel.
An oracle that his mother taught him:
What are you doing, my son?
What are you doing, son of my womb?
What are you doing, son of my vows?
Do not give your strength to women, your ways
to those
who destroy kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for
kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink,
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and
pervert the rights of all the afflicted. ...
Numbers 11:4-6 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said,
“Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the
fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up,
and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 13:1-58 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ...
Genesis 1:1-31 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The sound “cha” in “ra-cha-mim”
is pronounced like the Spanish “ja”
in the word
“Jalapeño.” “Ra-cha-min” is a noun,
but it can also be used as a verb, as it often
happens in prayer.
When it is a verb, we say:
“ra-chem” for “have mercy.”
It is amazing that the emotion
“mercy” or “compassion,” “ra-cha-min,”
is derived from the name
of the
most motherly organ
in the
human body: The womb,
“re-chem.”
This is where the strongest connection of compassion
and love are bonded between the
mother and the baby, respectively.
Men may need to learn this, but if you are a mother,
no further words are necessary; you have experienced
this compassion first hand.
A good word about English: This language recognizes
this connection between the mere words
“woman” and “womb.”
This is compassion
And indeed, every woman has more
of the
Divine Gift
of compassion, not only Mothers
“Ra-chem,”
(Give or have Mercy)
The imperative form is considered
an actual tense in
Hebrew, in
additional to Past, Present and Future
Example of Ra-chem” (verb):
1. “Is Ephraim My Dear Son?
Is he a Darling Child?
For whenever I
Speak of him, I earnestly Remember him
Still
therefore my inward parts are troubled for him;
I will Surely have
Mercy upon him, says the Lord”
(Jeremiah 31:20).
He Cried Out,
Jesus, You Son of David,
have
Mercy on Me!’
(Luke 18:38)
Example of “ra-cha-mim” (noun):
1. “And I will Show Mercy to You.” (Jeremiah 42:12)
2. “I have compassion on the Multitude, because
they have Stayed with Me now Three Days,
and have Nothing to Eat”
(Mark 8:2).
It is interesting to mention that in all occurrences
of “ra-cha-mim”
in the
Old Testament, it is mentioned as a Gift
where
the Text says Give Mercy
The Hebrew Text actually
Says:
“And I will GIVE Mercy to YOU….”
Note that there is a difference in showing mercy
(which indicates emotion) to giving mercy
(which indicates a Choice of Action).
A Mother Represents a baby's
initial relationship and orientation
to the world.
Maternal imagery and symbolism
for God foreground the impact of mothers,
which ripples into myriad facets of their offsprings’ lives.
The womb offers a
baby a safe place to develop and grow
into its life, likewise, God’s
Mercy develops and Grows
What of hope when Life proves so delicate and brittle?
The apocalyptic tone of
Jesus’
Urgent Words
in the
Gospel passage gestures toward the
sheer fragility of existence racked by mass inequality,
unchecked corruption, and painful precarity.
Advent must respond in some consequential way to the
widening uncertainty of the living of our days.
In the womb of compassion, the violated and sinned
against receive life-sustaining nutrients.
The Word of God
is
Lady Wisdom
Food is vital for sustaining life.
Without proper nourishment, the human body becomes
weak and cannot function properly.
People must take care of their bodies through eating right
and consuming key nutrients,
so they not only live but thrive in healthiness.
The same principle applies to one’s spiritual life.
A proper diet of spiritual food is needed so Christians
do not become weak and weary,
but rather thrive spiritually in their relationship with God.
Regular nourishment for the soul is vital for the Christian life, just
as physical food is for the body.
Jesus emphasized the importance of spiritual food when
He was tempted by Satan:
"Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that
comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4, NET).
Man is both physical and spiritual,
which is why spiritual food
is just as important as physical nourishment.
This spiritual food
is “every word that comes from the mouth of God”
God has spoken to us in His Word,
The Bible.
His Word imparts Life
(John 6:63).
The Bible often speaks of the spiritual food we need:
God’s Word Provides Milk
(1 Peter 2:2);
it is meat (1 Corinthians 3:2)
and bread (Deuteronomy 8:3; Job 23:12);
and it is
Sweeter than Honey (Psalm 119:103).
The prophet Jeremiah wrote,
"When your Words came, I ate them;
they were
My Joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear
Your Name, LORD God Almighty”
(Jeremiah 15:16).
Scripture’s use of food metaphors demonstrates the
importance of
Ingesting God’s Word,
of
Making it a part of us.
Scripture is not something merely to
study or read but
to be “eaten” by God’s people.
We read the Word,
but we then
Pause to “chew on it” like an Apple,
while, meditating and Reflecting
on the
Meaning and Application of what we’ve Read
(see Psalm 1:1–3)
On a couple occasions,
Jesus spoke of a type of spiritual food.
After Jesus spoke to the
Samaritan woman
at The Well
the disciples brought Him some food from
Town, But He did not partake, saying,
"I have food to eat that you know nothing about”
John 4:32
This puzzled the disciples, whose minds were stuck on
physical food, and Jesus explained:
"My food is to do the Will of Him
who Sent Me
and
To Accomplish his Work”
(verse 34, ESV).
Later, after feeding the 5,000,
Jesus referred to faith, salvation, and His sacrifice
using a Food metaphor:
“Whoever eats my flesh and
Drinks
My blood has eternal life,
and I will
Raise them up at the Last Day
For my flesh is
Real Food and my blood is Real Drink”
(John 6:54–55)
We need spiritual food—that
is to say we Need the
Word of God,
we Need to Do The Will of God,
and we Need
Jesus Himself
The Book of Proverbs
provides a
Vivid Portrait of a Lady,
Wisdom Personified
In Proverbs 1–9 she makes a number of appearances,
portrayed as the life of the party,
as someone who is out there, accessible to all, and a
desired companion with lots to offer.
Lady Wisdom offers many good things
(life and blessing, insight and understanding,
long life and prosperity)
to those who take her hand
and allow her to guide them through
the winding paths of life.
However,
Wisdom is a complicated woman.
We will see this already in Proverbs where
at points she appears
indistinguishable from Lady Folly
(her doppelganger of sorts).
Moreover,
Lady Wisdom makes cameo
appearances in
Job and Ecclesiastes,
and in these books,
Wisdom’s complexity becomes
even more obvious.
Hagioshag'-ee-os
most holy thing, a saint
fortificationin
(ˌfɔrtəfɪˈkeiʃən)
1. the act of fortifying or strengthening
2. something that fortifies or protects
3. the art or science of constructing defensive military works
4. (often fortifications)
military works constructed for
the purpose of strengthening a position; a fort
Supposedly impregnable, the fortifications were quickly overrun
5. a strengthening or improvement, as by addition
of or
intensification with another ingredient
The fortification of milk with vitamin D
The fortification of wine with alcohol
4. fortress, citadel, stronghold, bulwark.
Mem
is the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Numerical value: 40
Meaning:
1. Water
2. Mashiach
On the
21st
day of the Seventh
Month,
this message from the LORD came to Haggai:
“Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor
of
Judah, and to Joshua
son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the people. Say this: ‘
How many of you people look at this Temple and
try to compare it to the beautiful Temple that was destroyed?
What do you think?
Does this Temple seem like nothing when you compare it with
the first Temple? But the LORD says,
“Zerubbabel, don’t be discouraged!” And the says,
“Zerubbabel, don’t be discouraged!”
And the LORD says, “Joshua son of Jehozadak, you are the high priest.
Don’t be discouraged!
And all you people who live in the land,
don’t be discouraged!
Continue this work,
because
I AM with you.”
This is what the says, “Joshua son of Jehozadak,
you are the high priest.
Don’t be discouraged! And all you people who live in the land,
don’t be discouraged!
Continue this work, because I am with you.”
This is what the LORD All-Powerful said.
“‘I made an agreement with you
when you left Egypt,
and I have kept my promise.
My Spirit is with you, so don’t be afraid!’
This is what the LORD All-Powerful said,
‘In just a little while, I will once again SHAKE things up.
I will SHAKE heaven and earth, and I will SHAKE the sea
and the
dry land. I will shake up the nations, and they will
come to you with wealth from every nation. And
then I will fill this Temple with GLORY.’
That is what the LORD All-Powerful said! ‘
All their
SILVER really belongs to ME!
And all the
GOLD is MINE!’
This is what the LORD All-Powerful
said.
And the LORD All-Powerful said,
‘This LAST TEMPLE will
be
More Beautiful
than
The First one, and
I Will
Bring PEACE to this Place.’
Remember, this is what the All-Powerful said,
‘This last Temple will be more beautiful
than the first one,
and I will bring peace to this place.’
Remember, this is what the LORD All-Powerful said.”
Ephraim was the second son of Joseph and a grandson
of
Jacob, His Name
means
“Double Fruitful,”
because
“God has made [Joseph] Fruitful in
the
Land of [his] Suffering”
(Genesis 41:52).
When Ephraim was born to Joseph and Asenath (Joseph’s Egyptian wife),
Joseph was a foreigner in Egypt, yet he had gained a
high position in Pharaoh’s court.
Ephraim was the younger brother of Manasseh.
In Genesis 48:5,
Jacob blessed Ephraim as an
adopted son, saying to Joseph,
“Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt
before I came
to you here will be reckoned as mine;
Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as
Reuben and Simeon are mine.”
Later, as Jacob’s health was failing, Joseph brought
Manasseh and Ephraim
to him for a patriarchal blessing.
Being the
First Born, Manasseh would normally
have
received the bigger blessing, but
Jacob SWITCHED things up
on PURPOSE
As Joseph guided his two sons toward Jacob,
he made sure
Manasseh was on Jacob’s Right side
and Ephraim, the younger of the two sons,
was on Jacob’s Left
(Genesis 48:13).
But, as Jacob extended his hands, he CROSSED his arms so that
his RIGHT hand was placed on Ephraim’s head.
Joseph began to object, but his father
assured him that
he Knew what he was doing (verses 17–19).
In THIS WAY
Ephraim was given
Precedence over his Older Brother,
Manasseh
(Genesis 48:14)
Descendants of Ephraim became known as the
Tribe of Ephraim,
which is designated as One of the
Twelve Tribes of Israel
They settled in central Canaan, just northwest
of the Dead Sea
The tribe was bordered by Manasseh on the North and
Dan and Benjamin on the south (Joshua 16; 19:50).
Ephraim became the leading tribe of the
Northern kingdom (Joshua 17:15; Judges 3:27),
and the
capital, Samaria, was located in
Ephraim’s territory.
In fact, Scripture sometimes refers to
Israel as
simply “Ephraim,” due to
the
SIZE of the Tribe
(e.g., Isaiah 11:13 and Jeremiah 31:6)
The
Tribe of Ephraim was chastised for idolatry
(Hosea 4:17)
and their
partnership with heathen nations
(Hosea 12:1).
The tribe of Ephraim was taken into captivity by the
Assyrians in 722 BC when the
Northern kingdom of Israel was conquered.
Even so,
the Lord declared, “
Is not
Ephraim my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
Though I often
speak against him, I still remember him.
Therefore my Heart yearns for him;
I have Great Compassion for Him”
(Jeremiah 31:20).
Notable figures from the Tribe of Ephraim
include
Joshua (Joshua 19:50);
Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1); and
Jeroboam I, the first king of the divided kingdom
in the North
(1 Kings 12:25).
After the Babylonian captivity, some of the descendants of
Ephraim resettled in Jerusalem
(1 Chronicles 9:3).
The Most Holy Place
or the
Holy of Holies contained
the
Ark of the Lord
The Bible significantly mentions seven times that the
Lord dwelt between
the
cherubim of the Mercy Seat
on
Top of the Ark
This is therefore highly significant for the
end-times
which we are very rapidly approaching
(Revelation 11:19).
God often spoke with
Moses ‘face to face’ as a friend and, on occasions,
from between the cherubim,
“And I will Meet with YOU there,
and I will
Talk with you
from
Above the Mercy-seat, from between
the
TWO Cherubs
on the
Ark of The Testimony,
of all things which
I will Give You
in
Commandment
to the
Sons of Israel”
(Exodus 25:22).
Only the High Priest was allowed access beyond the vail
into the Most Holy Place and only once a year,
on the Day of Atonement, for the annual complete cleansing of Israel,
on the 10th day of the 7th month.
On the Day of Atonement the High Priest
sprinkled
the blood of a lamb seven times on the
Mercy Seat which spoke of the
completeness of the work of the
blood of
The Most Holy Place
was the innermost sanctum of the
Tabernacle of
Moses and Solomon’s Temple.
It represented the
Very
Presence of God in the Midst
of the people
It was separated from
the
Holy Place by a Heavy Veil,
embraided with cherubim,
signifying restricted access
(Genesis 3:24);
God threatening that He would
strike anyone down
who entered unauthorized.
When Jesus died on the cross this
enormous veil
in Herod’s Temple was torn by heaven
from top to bottom signifying
that now all would have access to
Approach the
Throne of God if they were Covered
with the
Blood of Jesus.
This examines the validity for the dimensions
(10x10x10 cubits)
assumed by many scholars
for
The Most Holy Place
The Tabernacle of Moses,
in the wilderness, contained the world’s history and time-line
in secret code which is why God was so adamant
that Moses follow all the regulations concerning
offerings and build it
exactly according to instructions
God jealously guarded
the
specifics of holiness,
even the composition of the sacred incense, associated
with worship in the Tabernacle.
Anyone caught mimicking the incense would
be cut off from Israel
(Exodus 30:34-38; 37:29).
He struck down two priests with fire from heaven,
the sons of Aaron, the brother of Moses, because they
dared to enter with unauthorised fire in their censers
(Leviticus 10:1-5).
Such was the jealousy of God over the
rituals, measurements,
types and colours of
materials employed
in the
construction of the Tabernacle.
Knowledge of all these
aspects are necessary to identify
which
Part of the Tabernacle
could be associated with a particular era in history.
The Temple of Solomon was held in the
same esteem by God
because it hides information on end-times,
including the
Revelation of 12
end-time
apostles of the Lamb
to lead the church through its darkest hours
when the Dragon
Attempts to destroy her and her Fruit
(Revelation. 12:1-16).
Through its design the Tabernacle of Moses prophesied
a broad framework: the 1500-year
period of the
Law from Moses to Jesus,
the
2000 years from the crucifixion of
Christ to His Second Coming,
and the duration of the 1000-year
Millennium during which we will
spend in the
Presence of Christ on this Earth.
Satan will be
chained up for the 1000-year period (Revelation 20:1-6).
It will therefore be
Truly a day of total rest
in the
Very Presence of God
In this regard the dimensions of the Most Holy Place,
in cubits,
have been crucial to decode this mystery.
The Most Holy Place in the
Temple of Solomon
was a
Perfect Cube
(20x20x20 cubits).
The New Jerusalem
in Revelation 21:16 is symbolically also
described as a cube.
A cube, with all its Three
dimensions Equal,
is considered
geometric Perfection
in classical mathematics
and is a
Fitting tribute to
the
Triune God who is ONE
in ALL aspects of THOUGHT
and
Purpose
A cube has six sides,
six being
the number of man in Bible code.
Thus we see man in Total
Unity with God,
in the city of the
New Jerusalem,
even as we see that
Jesus is both
God and perfect man in
one;
God in the Flesh
It is a Fitting Place
where
Jesus and the Bride in
All her Glory
will Reside in Paradise
where
Redeemed man will be
in the
Very presence of God
In agreement with many scholars,
The Most Holy Place
in the
Tabernacle of Moses
was symbolically described
as a CUBE
Bible scholars generally accept that the dimensions of the
Most Holy Place was 10x10x10 cubits,
but some dispute this conclusion citing that
eight vertical boards, of equal size, 8x1.5 cubits
of unknown thickness, made up the west (end) wall of
The
Most Holy Place which defined the width of the Entire
Tent of Meeting,
situated within the Outer Court. In their reckoning the
width of the Tabernacle was therefore
12 cubits (8x1.5)
What such people gloss over is that the
west side consisted of 6 boards,
with an extra two singled out for special use
as corner boards,
“And for the sides of the tabernacle
westward you shall make six boards.
And you shall make Two boards for the Corners
of the
tabernacle in the sides
And they shall be
Coupled together Beneath
and they shall be
Coupled Together Above
the
Head of it to One Ring
So it shall be for them Both
They shall be for the Two corners.
And there shall be Eight boards,
and their sockets of Silver
Sixteen Sockets
Two sockets under one board, and
Two sockets under another board”
(Exodus 26:22-25)
The corner boards were fastened to the
Two sides of the
Most Holy Place
using a
Ring on top and a Ring on bottom
(verse 24)
Because they were ‘boards’ their
thickness would be considerably less than their width.
I therefore Propose
a thickness of 0.5 cubits for all the Boards of
The Tabernacle,
(as indicated in my diagram and in keeping with the faith of most scholars)
Giving the Most Holy Place a
CUBIC structure (10x10x10 Cubic Cubits)
and the
Holy Place the dimensions
20x10x10 = 2000 cubic cubits
- The wooden boards were gold plated signifying divinity and holiness.
- By assuming a thickness of 0.5 cubits the cross-sectional area of each board has a proportion of 3:1 mirroring the Trinity, 3 yet one.
- The corner is bound by a golden ring which signifies no beginning nor end. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. The underlying wood speaking of the cross: a measure of His love (John 3:16).
- In Jesus was revealed the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to mankind, the fulness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9).
- The ring binds 3 equal boards with maximum overlap for stability in the desert wind (the three-fold cord of Ecclesiastes 4:12).
- In the heavenly Temple Jesus is the corner stone; mentioned 7 times in the New Testament (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11, 26:26; 1Peter 2:6 and also verse 7). The number 7 is the number of perfection or consummation of all things.
- The boards are 10 cubits high. Throughout the Bible the number 10 signifies a test or trial. The symbolism here is that Jesus passed every test and therefore Satan could not hold him in Hell.
- The dimensions of the Tent of the Tabernacle make prophetic sense regarding the time-line of the Church Age (20x10x10 cubits) and that of the Millennium which covers a period of 10x10x10 years (Psalm 90:4; Hebrews 4:1-9; 1 Peter 3:8; Revelation 20:2-7).
- Other prophetic signposts that confirm the dimensions and time-lines are described in "Patterns in the Six Days of Creation", the "Creative and Redemptive Weeks", the measures of the Brass Sea "In Solomon's Temple" , in "Book of Life" and in the prophecies of Jesus having their foundations in the books of Hosea, Psalms and 2 Peter Chapter 3 as elaborated in "New Heaven and New Earth". They all corroborate the same thing!
- The New Jerusalem is symbolically described as a cube, as explored in the section below highlighting holiness and the very presence of God.
The east end of the Tent served as the entrance to the Holy Place. The posts for their curtains rested on sockets of brass indicating the repentance was required when entering the Holy Place from the Outer Court, Exodus 26:37. The posts for the curtains of the Outer Court also rested on sockets of brass signifying the same thing. The same was true for metals used in the Temple of Solomon where entrance to the Holy Place was guarded by two huge pillars of brass (Jachin and Boaz).
CUBIC STRUCTURES
the description of the New Jerusalem; - “And the city lies four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadia. The length and the breadth, and the height of it are equal”
(Revelation 21:16).
Based on ancient structures some suggest the measures to be that of a pyramid but I would oppose that for several reasons. Pyramids epitomize pecking order and the working man’s desire to climb the corporate ladder. Egyptian Pharaohs selfishly sacrificed people and their nation’s resources in the hope of personally ascending to great heights in the afterlife. Man’s greatest rebellion was the desire to reach the heavens and worship their own works by building the Tower of Babel in Mesopotamia (Genesis 11:1-9)
“And they said, ‘Come, let us build us a city and a tower, and its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole earth’” (Genesis 11:4).- A cubic structure is fundamental to the New Jerusalem and to the Most Holy Place in both the Tabernacle of Moses and in the Temple of Solomon. In the case of the New Jerusalem, the dimensions are a symbolic description of the holy city, something to do with the 144,000 and the 12,000 members coming from each of the 12 tribes (Revelation 7:4-8; 14:3). Even these numbers are symbolic because there would be more of the redeemed than just these on the face of the earth at that time;
“Do NOT hurt the earth or the sea, or the TREES until we have SEALED the SERVANTS of our God in their foreheads”- (Revelation 7:3).
- “After these things I looked, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of all NATIONS and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the THRONE and before the LAMB, clothed with WHITE ROBES with palms in their hands. And they cried with a LOUD voice, saying, ‘SALVATION to our God sitting on the THRONE, and to the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:9-10).
“And I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, ‘O my lord, what shall be the end of these things’? And He said, ‘Go, Daniel! For the words are closed up and sealed until the end-time’”
(Daniel 12:8-9).
The
New Temple 40
In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year,
on the tenth day of the month,
in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down,
on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me,
and he brought me to the city.
In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel,
and set me down on a very high mountain,
on which was a
structure like a city to the south.
When he brought me there, behold, there was a man
whose appearance was like bronze,
with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand.
And he was standing in the gateway.
And the man said to me,
“Son of man, LOOK with your eyes, and
HEAR with your ears,
and SET your HEART upon all that I shall SHOW YOU,
for you were BROUGHT HERE in order that
I might show it
to you.
DECLARE all that you SEE
to the
HOUSE of Israel.”
Ezekiel's Temple (Ezekiel 40-48)
is a
Figurative Description of the Mystical
Union of
Christ and His Church
1. Picture yourself as a Jew that just lost your home. How would you feel if your pastor told you that you were going to inherit invisible land and an invisible temple after your family was murdered and lost your home? Can you picture someone sarcastically saying wow thanks Ezekiel.
We are enjoying the benefits of this invisible temple (sarcasm). There needs to be detail because you want to tell these broken and traumatized people that this Temple will exceed all expectations. You need the numbers to see how huge this reality is. Your definition of big is not my definition of big. That's why there are numbers for the spiritual temple.
God is explaining a spiritual reality in human terms.
2. Jesus used Temple metaphors on himself- Example:
the Tearing of the Veil.
See Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45,Hebrews 10:20
3.The Zadok priests are in the Temple ( like how Christians are in Christ).
See verses for example-2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 2:10,Romans 8:1-2, Galatians 3:26
4. The Ezekiel Temple is the perfect Temple from Heaven (Christ) patterned after the Earthly Temples in the Letter of Hebrews. (Hebrews 8:5)
5. Ezekiel 40-48 is not about an earthly millennium kingdom and memorial sacrifices, but about Jesus' first coming imitating Solomon's (The kings of Israel/Judah) Temple Dedication/Kingdom inauguration ceremony in 1 Kings 8. Further support for this position can be seen in 2 Chronicles 29:20-36 and 1 Chronicles 16.
Jesus is reserved the highest right to
dedicate his
Own Temple (Church) like the
Kings of the
Northern and Southern Kingdoms
of
Israel/Judah
6. Ezekiel 40-48 is about the
Perfect sacrifice (Jesus) by
the
Perfect person (Prince Jesus) and at
the
Perfect Time (The Cross) for
the eventual
Perfect Temple
(The Union of Jesus and his Church)
7. The Prince is in The Temple
like the
Holy Spirit is in Christ
See Luke 3:22, Matthew 3:16-17, Mark 1:9-11, John 1:32
8. The majority of the numbers are multiples of 5
used for the Temple,
distance, land, and the River being measured.
9. Every inch of this Temple is approved by God.
10. The measurements make a shape of
a cube to describe
God's approval and to remember
the
Holy of Holies
This Temple is an enlarged, expanded
Holy of Holies
You need measurements
to
Know it's a Cube
11. The numbers are needed
to see the
Perfection
of
"The Ezekiel Temple"
in comparison to the old Temples for their past inferiority of size and protection. There was never a thorough description of the measurements of the old Temples because they were not perfect.
12. The Jews were involved with the Temple construction,
so they had a good idea about the comparison and it reminded
them a time of prosperity when Solomon was King.
They yearned for that time again.
13. In exile, The Jews were worried about how they were
going to fulfill the annual sacrifice without a
King, High Priest, and a Temple.
God assured him his Prince (Jesus) will take care of them.
14. The Jews were never rebuked and condemned by God for not
building the Ezekiel Temple.
15. If Jesus said that He was greater than the Temple why do we
need to build a Temple of stones again? Why do we return to
the "Types and Shadows" of the
Old Covenant?
Matthew 12:6- I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
Colossians 2:17-These are a shadow of the things to come, but the
substance belongs to Christ.
16. God is our sanctuary in the wilderness. The Temple was not a necessity.
Ezekiel 11:16- Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the
countries where they have gone.
17. Ezekiel was taken to a mountain like
John's vision in Revelation.
Therefore, this vision is symbolic and figurative.
18. In Zechariah 2 (See also Jeremiah 31:39 for further support) a
man is rebuked by an Angel for attempting to measure Jerusalem.
A different measuring system was
needed for a proper measurement.
In addition, Jerusalem is described as a village without walls
in Zechariah 2:4-5nand Ezekiel 38:10-13.
19. The Temple is never instructed to be built, but to be "measured" and "observed" throughout Ezekiel 40-48.
20. Jesus is the assigned builder for the "Ezekiel Temple" according to Zechariah 6:12-13, 2 Samuel 7:5-13, 1 Samuel 2:35.
21. Ezekiel 37:26 & Luke 17:20 have a connection with
The
Kingdom of God
- Ezekiel 37:26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary IN THEIR MIDST (within them) forevermore.
- Luke 17:20-21 20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is IN THE MIDST OF YOU (within them).”
22. Believers can't go back to types and shadows. The old covenant is obsolete. Holy Communion points forward. Therefore,
there is no need for memorial sacrifices.
23. Jesus calls himself the Temple and the Living water in the Gospels
- Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,3 and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they BELIEVED THE SCRIPTURE AND the word that Jesus had spoken. John 2:19-22
(There is an Old Testament reference-Ezekiel 40-48 in
agreement with Christ's statement)
- John 7:37-38 - On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, AS THE SCRIPTURE HAS SAID, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’
- John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
24. In Daniel 9, The phrase the Most Holy has been
translated as the
Most Holy One and the Most Holy Place
This is
Christ as the GOD-MAN and THE TEMPLE
at the same time. This is why it confuses translators.
- Daniel 9:24 24 Seventy ‘Sevens’
- Are decreed for your people and your
Holy City to FINISH- Transgressions, to put an end to sin,
- to Atone for wickedness, to
- Bring in Everlasting Righteousness,
- to
-
- Seal up Vision and Prophecy
- and to
- Anoint the Most Holy
25. The "Ezekiel Temple's" central function is sacrifice
Little worship is described in
Ezekiel 40-48. The emphasis is on provision and safety of God's people.
26. The Prince is Jesus. See Ezekiel 37:24-28 and Ezekiel 34:11-24
- Genesis 22:8 Abraham said, “God will PROVIDE for himself the LAMB for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together
- Ezekiel 45:22
- On that Day The Prince shall Provide for Himself
- and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering.
- Isaiah 53:10 ...YET it was the
- WILL of the LORD to CRUSH HIM
- he has
- Put Him to GRIEF; when his Soul Makes
- an
- Offering for GUILT,
- He shall SEE
- HIS OFFSPRING; he shall PROLONG HIS DAYS;
- the will of the
- LORD shall PROSPER in HIS HAND
- Ezekiel 46:16-18 16 “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of HIS SONS as his inheritance, it shall belong to HIS SONS. It is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty.
Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to HIS SONS. 18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give HIS SONS their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.
See Galatians 3:26
The gematria,
or number value in Greek, of the
name of
Jesus in the Bible
is 888
Each Greek and Hebrew letter had a numerical value
so that Words had numerical value,
the Patterns are the Same within the other books
of the 'authorized' Bible.
The study of gematria is remarkable in itself.
Three 8’s
is a
Perfect Witness
All these
'coincidences' corroborate
the
Divine Authorship of the Bible
‘On the 17th day
of the
Seventh Month the Boat
came to
Rest on a Mountain
in the
Ararat range’ (Genesis 8:4).
The Seventh Month indicates that it
is linked with
The End of Time or Fullness,
the
SUM or Completion
of Time, as in
the Book of Revelation
The 17th day confirms
our time-chart and the Book of Life.
The Righteous will be Resting on the 17th day, FREE of sin.
Seventeen of God's days
are the
Entire history of the old Earth that is to be consumed by Fire
at the End of the 17th Day
The Number 8, of New Beginnings,
coinciding
with the first day after the week,
The Eighth Day after Sukkot
(Booths) in
The Feast of Tabernacles
in the
7th Month when Everything was Liberated
Speaks of
ANew Creation
A 3rd Creation -
ANew Heavens and ANew Earth
at the
End of the Millennium
Number 3
symbolizes the overseeing
Perfection
of the New Creation by the
Trinity
Therefore we have a
Three-fold Witness of God's Power:
1. The Week of Creation
2. The Week of Redemption or creative Restoration
through the Blood of Christ
3. Creation of the new heavens and the new earth
‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
And the sea no longer is.
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of Heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband.
And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
And there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out,
nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away’
(Revelation 21:1-4)
• Jesus rose on the 17th day –
following the
end of the 16th day of world history
will be our resurrection.
We will rise early in the 'morning' of the
17th day.
Jesus was slain on the evening of the 14th day, as was the first Passover lamb in Egypt, and rose on the 17th day of the month Nisan. On the Hebrew calendar Nissan (or Nisan - is also known as Abib after the Babylonian captivity) is the first month (Exodus 12:2) of the ecclesiastical year and the 7th (or 8th month in a leap year) of the civil year.
‘After the Sabbath, as Sunday morning was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb’ (Matthew 28:1). The 16th day of Earth history will lead to the Millennium the 17th day, when we will be spending 1000 years with Christ on the Earth in our resurrection bodies (ie. at/after the first resurrection). All the wicked will be resurrected at the end of the 17th day for final judgment, 1000 years later. This resurrection of the wicked is called the second resurrection. You wouldn't want to be part of that!
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead, who were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire' (Revelation 20:11-15).
• 17 silver shekels to redeem the land – renewed Earth on/or during 17th day
When God sent Judah into captivity for 70 years He commanded Jeremiah to purchase land in Judea from a kinsman as a prophetic sign that all will be restored and that Israel would rejoice again. We have been captive to sin, but for the 17th day of Earth history the redeemed will have been perfected in their resurrection bodies,
‘The LORD told me that Hanamel, my uncle Shallum's son, would come to me with the request to buy his field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin because I was his nearest relative and had the right to buy it for myself. Then, just as the LORD had said, Hanamel came to me there in the courtyard and asked me to buy the field. So I knew that the LORD had really spoken to me. I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the money on scales. Then I took both copies of the deed of purchase---the sealed copy containing the contract and its conditions, and the open copy--- and gave them to Baruch, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence of Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and of the people who were sitting in the courtyard. Before them all I said to Baruch, "The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, has ordered you to take these deeds, both the sealed deed of purchase and the open copy, and to place them in a clay jar so that they may be preserved for years to come’ (Jeremiah 32:6-14).
• On 17th day Israel eats the first fruits of the Promised Land -
during the Millennium rest
The manna that God gave from Heaven during the days in the wilderness ceased, the sixteenth day of Nisan after the people ate of the old corn of the land; the day following was the 17th of Nisan, the day when the children of Israel ate the first fruits of the Promised Land (Joshua 5:1012).
• During the 17th day the Jews have victory over Haman - Millennium rest.
Haman is defeated (Esther 3:1-6). In the Book of Esther Haman plotted to kill all the Jews in Persia and Media. Haman had ten sons (Esther 9:12). By this we can tell that Haman is a type of the false Messiah (antichrist). A decree was sent out on the thirteenth of Nisan that all the Jews would be killed (Esther 3:12). Upon hearing this news, Esther proclaims a three-day fast, which would be Nisan 14-16 (Esther 4:16). On the sixteenth of Nisan, Esther risked her life when she came to King Ahasuerus. The king asked her, in effect, “Tell me what do you want?” Esther said, “If it please the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him” (Esther 5:4 NAS). This was the sixteenth day of Nisan. At the banquet the king again asked Esther what she wanted and she asked the king to come to another banquet to be held the next day, the 17th of Nisan. On this day Haman (a type of the false Messiah or antichrist, as well as of Satan) is hanged (The last two items were obtained from, https://www.feastsofthelord.com/live/biblical-feasts/first-fruits/ ).
• Jesus deliberately delayed and raised Lazarus after 4 days – 4 days from Adam to Christ
In John chapter 11 Jesus deliberately delayed going to Lazarus to raise him from the dead. Both the disciples and the sisters of Lazarus were dismayed why Jesus took so long to come when He could have been there much sooner. However, everything that Jesus did was according to the Father’s will and timing is everything. His delay of four days was a prophetic flashback to give us understanding why His birth was also delayed for 4 1000-year periods of God's days. Adam sinned on the 10th day, but Jesus was hidden till the end of the 14th day.
The blood sacrifices, over 4 days of Earth's history from the time when God shed blood to provide skins as a covering for Adam and Eve unto the shedding of Christ's blood at Calvary. Jesus was born to die on God’s altar of choice; the number 4 signifying that all this was done for humanity world-wide. When He resurrected Lazarus Jesus took this opportunity to declare that 'I am the resurrection and the life'. There is no other way to be saved except through the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). For reasons of political correctness, people, and even some carnal Christians, will call Christians divisive and unwanted in the liberal and multi-cultural setting that we have today, especially in Australia. People don't want to hear about the prospect of eternal judgement.
• Jesus stayed for 2 days with gentiles: The 2000-yr church age
Jews were not to speak to Samaritans because of their hostile and pagan history. When the northern kingdom of Israel, comprising of 10 tribes (Number 10 again because they did not remain faithful to the Lord), was dispersed throughout Asia and the world by the Assyrians, their land was repopulated by pagans, who over the centuries, picked up some of the Jewish customs. This was clear from the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well. The Samaritans were a mixture of races as is the gentile world today.
So, when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them and Jesus stayed there two days’ (John 4:40). This is true today too, since it speaks prophetically of the church age, which ministers mainly to gentiles until Jewry comes in at the end. The two days speak of the 2000-year period of the church age. He spoke to her about ‘living water’.
• Marriage on the third day – Millennium is the extended wedding feast with guests
‘And the Third Day
There was a Marriage
in
Cana of Galilee
And the Mother of Jesus was there’
(John 2:1).
The bridegroom takes the Bride of Christ,
at the end of the second day, into the third day,
the Millennium when she will rest and rejoice with the
friends of the bridegroom for
1000 years in the presence of Christ.
This again confirms our time-chart. Who are the wedding guests?
Perhaps the five foolish virgins of Matthew 25:2?
They were refused entry to come into the
bridegroom’s presence.
The other five
He received with joy.
‘He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend
of the bridegroom
who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.
Then my joy is fulfilled’
(John 3:29).
‘When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert where she will be taken care of for three and a half years safe from the dragon's attack. And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman so that it would carry her away. But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are
faithful to the TRUTH revealed by Jesus’
(Revelation 12:13-17). ‘And it was given to it to war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given to it over every tribe and tongue and nation. And all dwelling on the earth will worship it, those whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear’ (Revelation 13:7-9).
• Hosea 6:2 and Luke 13:2
(From Calvary Bible College, Night Bible School, Wonga Park)
‘After two days will he revive us: in the
third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight’.
After two days refers to the 2000 years of the Gospel (Church)
Age while the third refers to the Millennium; revive us
implies restoration and raise us up implies
resurrection.
The Restoration of “all things”, Acts 2:38 and the “first resurrection”,
Revelation 20:4-6, are both evidences of the
Second Coming and Millennial Kingdom.
‘Go ye and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out
devils and I do cures today
and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected’.
meaning; 2000-year
dispensation of the Holy Spirit and the
manifestation of the body of Christ
which shall be
perfect for the 3rd day.
Acts 2:17-21. Since some of what Peter the apostle mentioned
(such as the elements and the universe melting in fire)
has not yet come to pass,
how can it be the Last Days? :
Peter lived in the 5th day (of the Redemptive Week or really the 15th day according to the whole world time chart) of God’s plan and the church lives today in the 6th day (16th day); hence, both the early church and today’s church live in ‘the Last Days’ of Earth's 17 days of existence.
And God said,
“Let there be Light,”
and
There was Light
And God saw that the light was good. And God
separated the light from the darkness. God called the LIGHT Day,
and the darkness he called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning,
God is unbelievably unique
He is a single being, and yet
He is the
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit
simultaneously. Deut. 6:5 says that
God is “One,”
but the Hebrew word that is translated
as “One” in our
English Bibles refers to a plural being.
God is a mystery
We should not be surprised that we do not understand Him.
We know that He is a spirit. He is a plural-one.
God is the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
So when God created
Adam and Eve, the Father, Son,
and
Holy Spirit all created them.
That is the meaning of
Genesis 1:26.
Then God said,
“Let Us make man in Our image,
according to
Our likeness;
and let them rule over the fish of the sea
and over the
birds of the sky and over the
cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.” (NASB)
Genesis 1:26
Father & Spirit Created
Genisid 1:1 makes it clear that God created everything,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(NASB)
Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:2 makes it clear that the HOLY Spirit existed before
Adam and Eve and was present and actively involved
in the creation too!
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was
over the surface of the deep, and the SPIRIT of GOD was
moving over the surface of the waters.
(NASB) Genesis 1:2
But the strongest statement about the
Holy Spirit being involved in the creation
comes from
Ps. 104:30.
You send forth Your Spirit,
they are created; and
You renew the face of the ground
Psalm 104:30
Here we are told that the Spirit creates too! Before we leave
our discussion about the
Holy Spirit, it is also important to note that the
Holy Spirit was active throughout the Old Testament
(Ex. 31:3, 31; Num. 11:25-29; Judg. 3:10; 11:29; 10:6; 2 Chron. 15:1)
before Jesus was ever born.
Jesus Created Too!
In the New Testament we are also told that
Jesus created
the
heavens and earth.
In the first passage we are told that
Jesus is the image of the invisible GOD –
that is, God is invisible to us and
Jesus is completely
and
Totally God
He is of the SAME ESSENCE and SUBSTANCE with the
SAME POWERS and attributes as GOD the Father.
There is no difference.
When we read in this first passage that
Jesus is the “FIRSTBORN” of creation, it does not mean that
Jesus was born or born first. The Greek word translated
as “firstborn” means that Jesus is the PRIORITY ONE.
The passage also tells us that Jesus created EVERYTHING.
That is, He was there in Genesis 1:1.
He was involved in the creation.
He is the image of the invisible GOD, the
FIRSTBORN of ALL CREATION
For by Him all things were CREATED, both in the
HEAVENS and on EARTH, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities–
ALL things have been
CREATED THROUGH Him and FOR Him.
He is before ALL things,
and IN HIM
ALL things HOLD TOGETHER.
Colossians 1:15-17
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels
around the throne and the living creatures and the elders;
and the number of them was myriads of myriads,
and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom
and might and honor and glory and blessing.
” And every created thing which is in
heaven and on the earth
and under the earth and on the sea,
and all things in them, I heard saying,
“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,
be blessing and honor
and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
Revelation 5:11-13
This means that Jesus existed before Adam and Eve.
In fact, He has always existed.
Regarding your last question, Genesis 18:2 tells us that three “men”
visited Abraham.
These beings were not really humans. Gen. 18:33 reveals that
one of them was the LORD, or the
Lord Jesus Christ, and Gen. 19:1 tells us that the
other two were angels.
This was an Old Testament appearance of
Jesus Christ along
with
Two angels
In theology it is called a
theophany.
Jesus created and He appeared in the Old Testament
as a theophany.
:God the Father, God the Son,
and
God the Holy Spirit
created the world and they created
Adam and Eve
“Let us . . .” This must be true, since God is a plural-one or a
triune being.
Since God is eternal, God the Father, God the Son,
and
GOD the HOLY SPIRIT are ETERNAL.
They have always existed, and they will always exist.
These are fundamental
TRUTHS
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
My ways higher than your ways and
My thoughts than your thoughts. Is. 55:9
In 1929, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, came to
visit the Jews in America.
The chassidim asked him to deliver a maamar,
a Chassidic discourse. He responded that he must
first immerse in a mikveh, a ritual bath.
Normally, my grandfather charged
ten cents for usage of the facilities,
but not when a Rebbe used it. When he heard the
Lubavitcher Rebbe was coming,
he prepared the room in honor of the Rebbe
as one would for a king.
On the way out of the mikveh, the Rebbe handed him
a five-dollar bill (a lot of money in those days).
Hersh-Meilech refused to take the money and
asked for a blessing instead.
The Rebbe blessed him and said,
“Your grandchildren will become my chassidim and will
learn in (my yeshivah) Tomchei Temimim.”
And so it came to pass.
The letter mem
is the thirteenth letter of the alef-beis.
There are two forms of the mem:
the open mem and the closed mem.
As the Talmudexplains, the open mem represents
the revealed Torah and the closed mem
represents the Torah’s secrets
The AriZal states:
“It is a mitzvah to reveal the secrets of Torah.”
Being that we now find ourselves in the Messianic era,
it is not just permitted, it is an obligation to experience a foretaste
of the teachings of Mashiach,
which are the secrets of the Torah.
This level of Torah is represented by the closed mem.
The Rambam begins his first book, the Mishneh Torah, with a section of laws entitled “The Foundations of Torah.” In this section,
he discusses G‑d, the angels, and the heavens, and explains:
“This that I told you up until now is called
‘the secrets of Creation and the secrets of the Chariot.’ ”
These mystical insights are complex Kabbalistic concepts.
Yet the Rambam decided to teach them as a foundation—a prerequisite for everyone who studies the Torah. The apprehension of
G‑d’s awesomeness, of His stirring and unfathomable ways,
must precede even the essential laws of
the revealed Torah,
such as the Shema, Shabbos and tefillin.
Additionally, the
mem represents the womb5--רחם (rechem)
which ends with a closed mem.
The closed mem represents
the
40 weeks
when
the womb is closed.
The open mem represents the period of
childbirth,
when the womb is open
The gematria of mem is forty
Forty
is the number of days it rained upon the earth
during the Flood.
Forty is also the number of days Moses spent
on Mount Sinai.
Moses actually ascended the mountain three separate times.
The first forty-day sojourn took place when he received the Torah.
Then Moses descended with the Tablets, but shattered them
when he saw the Golden Calf that the people had made in his absence.
The following morning
Moses returned to the mountain for another
forty days to pray on behalf of the Jewish people.
When Moses returned to the encampment, G‑d called out for him
to return to the mountain, this time, with his own tablets.
So Moses dug under his tent and found
two sapphire stones.
He brought them up with him to Mount Sinai for the third and
final forty days, and G‑d engraved
the Ten Commandments on them.
It was the tenth of the month of Tishrei when Moses came down
from the mountain with
G‑d’s law
after these final forty days.
G‑d declared, “I have forgiven [the Jewish people] as you have asked.”
The culmination of
these three forty-day periods,
the tenth of Tishrei,
Yom Kippur, is thus the day we as the Jewish people
Fast and Pray
to
Atone for our sins
There are other significant references to forty in the Torah:
Moses’ spies scouted the land for forty days.
The Jews were in the desert for forty years.
And a mikveh, a ritual bath, is made up of
forty se’ah (about 200 gallons).
Forty represents a metamorphosis, a
transformation.
After forty days, the embryo of a child begins to
assume a recognizable form.
Additionally, a mikveh (with its forty se’ah) has the
ability to change an individual
from a state of impurity to purity.
And if one wants to undertake a conversion,
one must immerse in a mikveh,
whereupon his or her Jewish soul is revealed.
G‑d brought a flood upon this world for
forty days and forty nights.
The waters of the flood
were not for revenge, as is commonly assumed,
but for atonement,
to purify and transform the world, in much the
same way
a mikveh purifies a person.
Because 40 appears so often in contexts dealing with
judgment or testing, many scholars understand it to be the
number of “testing” or “trial.”
“Forty days” means “forty days,” but it does seem that
God has chosen this number to help emphasize
times of trouble and hardship.
In the Old Testament, when God destroyed the earth with water,
He caused it to rain 40 days and 40 nights
(Genesis 7:12).
After Moses killed the Egyptian, he fled to Midian, where he spent
40 years in the desert tending flocks
(Acts 7:30).
Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights
(Exodus 24:18).
Moses interceded on Israel’s behalf for 40 days and 40 nights
(Deuteronomy 9:18, 25).
The Law specified a maximum number of lashes
a man could receive for a crime,
setting the limit at 40
(Deuteronomy 25:3).
The Israelite spies took 40 days to spy out Canaan
(Numbers 13:25).
The Israelites wandered for 40 years (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).
Before Samson’s deliverance, Israel served the Philistines for 40 years
(Judges 13:1).
Goliath taunted Saul’s army for
40 days before David arrived to slay him
(1 Samuel 17:16).
When Elijah fled from Jezebel, he traveled
40 days and 40 nights to Mt. Horeb
1 Kings 19:8
The number 40 also appears in the prophecies
of Ezekiel (4:6; 29:11-13) and Jonah (3:4).
In the New Testament,
Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights
(Matthew 4:2).
There were 40 days between
Jesus’ resurrection and ascension
(Acts 1:3)
Our gestational period is 40 weeks.
We are the only species with this time period.
Cattle are the closest to us but there is still several days’ difference.
Is 40 weeks
some random number on which God decided?
No, God does nothing randomly.
David, the Psalmist declares,
“As God is perfect
so are his works perfect.”
Aviv (Hebrew: אביב)
means
"barley ripening",
and by extension "spring season"
in Hebrew. It is also used as a given name, surname, and
place name, as in Tel Aviv.
The first month of the year is called the
month of
Aviv in the Pentateuch
The month is called Nisan in the book of Esther,
and in subsequent post-exilic history up to the present day.
These names are sometimes used interchangeably, although
Aviv refers to the three month season, and
Nisan is called
the
"first month of Aviv."
- The basic meaning of the word aviv is the stage in the growth of grain when the seeds have reached full size and are filled with starch, but have not dried yet. During the plague of hail (Exodus 9:31), the barleywas said to be [in the] aviv [stage] and the flax [in the] giv`ol. This resulted in their destruction.
- The month in the Hebrew calendar when the barley has reached or passed this stage (Exodus 13:4;23:15) is called Aviv, or the "month of the aviv", which is the biblical lunar new year. 12:1–2, which is the Jewish religious new year (Rosh Hashanah (tractate) 2a). (The civil Babylonian year began with Tishrei, the seventh month, which is understood by rabbinic judaism to be the universal new year and day of judgement) Aviv begins about the time of the Northern spring equinox (March 21). Since the Babylonian captivity, this month has mainly been called Nisan (Nehemiah 2:1, Esther 3:7). On the “day after the Shabbat” (the 16th of the month of Nissan according to the rabbis, and the first Sunday of Passover according to the Karaites[1]), the harvest was begun by gathering a sheaf of barley,[2] which was offered as a sacrifice to God (Lev 23:4–11), when the Temple in Jerusalem existed.
Karaites searching for Aviv barley at Ain Mabua, Judean Hills, Israel on 21 March 2019
- Abib or Aviv may also be the same star as Spica which is the ear of grain in the constellation Virgo/Virgin/Woman.
- "Aviv" in modern Hebrew accordingly also means spring, one of the four seasons. Thus the major modern Israeli city of Tel Avivmeans "Spring Hill".[3]
- Since Passover is always celebrated on 15–21 (or 22 outside Israel) Nisan, near the beginning of spring, "Holiday of Aviv". Pesach or Passover is always on the 14th of Nisan. The first day of Chag ha Matzoh or the Feast of Unleavened Bread is always the day after that, the 15th of Nisan.[4] Hebrew: חג האביב, romanized: Chag Ha'Aviv is an additional name for Passover
(1) Throughout the whole of creation we see numbers are not used haphazardly, but with significance. In fact, Isaiah says,
“God comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure and
weighed the hills in a balance.”
(2) If God has measured the dust, how much more concerned is he with the details of our own physiology?
The Psalmist says,
“I meditate on all thy works.
I muse on the works of thy hands.”
(3) Let’s muse for a moment on the significance of
40 weeks.
Numbers in Scripture have special meaning.* For instance, each time the number 40 is used throughout the Bible,
it denotes testing, probation, or preparation.
It rained for 40 days and 40 nights at the time of the flood.
Israel experienced 40 years of probation by trial as they
wandered in the wilderness. Moses endured the deserts of Midian
for 40 years, and spent 40 days with God on the mountain of Horeb.
The people of Nineveh were given 40 days of probation
to decide whether to repent or perish.
Satan tempted Christ for 40 days in the wilderness.
There were 40 years between
the crucifixion and the destruction of Jerusalem.
We may glean from this that a child's
40 weeks inside the womb is an example of testing
The gestation period, is 280 days,
40 x 7
God uses seven -
which means spiritual perfection or completion -
over and over again in creation.
Seven is the number that regulates every period of
incubation or gestation in insects, birds, animals and man.
Moses declared that the number of
man’s days are “three score years and ten”
which is sixty plus ten, i.e.,
70 years (7 x 10). (5)
In seven years all the cells in the body are replaced.
Science reveals that man is created on a seven-day principle.
In various diseases, for example,
the
7th, 14th and 21st days are critical.
God has told us to rest one day in seven; The fact still remains,
that according to the medical profession,
a seven-pound baby is the perfect size to push through
the birth canal.
Our 40 weeks start with an unfertilized EGG.
In the first two weeks, fertilization has not yet taken place.
Still, this unfertilized egg is
counted as part of the pregnancy.
This is more proof that God knows a person
before fertilization even happens, and counts the
Egg as Life
God also looks at the male seed in a similar way.
Multitudes of times in the Bible, God addresses the seed
as though it is already human life.
Everything God does
has
Meaning and Purpose
All of His works were and are done
in the
Right Order
and in
The Right Number
“He counts the number of the stars…
He brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name…
He establishes a weight for the wind, and
weighs the waters by measure.”
[1] Psalm 18:30, 2 Isaiah 40:12, 3 Psalm 77:12, 4 Deuteronomy 30:19,
5 Psalm 90:10; 6 Psalm 147:4, Isaiah 40:26; Job 28:25
For your interest, here are a few other numbers
and their meanings:
5 = grace, 6 = man, 7 = spiritual perfection, 8 = new beginnings,
10 = law or ordinal perfection as in the Ten Commandments,
12 = governmental perfection
as in 12 tribes, 12 apostles
As I read Pearl’s article I am reminded of
Hosea 9:11 where God pronounces judgment upon Ephraim.
He says that because of their sin He will take away their glory.
And what is their glory? “
Birth… pregnancy, and conception.”
Isn’t it amazing that
God calls
Birth and motherhood
the
Glory of the nation?
Isaiah 8:18 where God refers to children
as “signs and wonders”
God Creates anew Life
in the Womb
and then brings the baby safely forth at birth.
Truly each new child is a sign and a wonder.
They are born to declare the
Glory of God –
His love, His truth and His salvation
in the earth.
There are only two stories in
all of scripture
that mention Sabbath in a context that
can be certainly dated in
relation to a day of the lunar month.
These are the first
Giving of the Manna
and
The death and Resurrection
of Jesus
See Ex 16:23-29 and Mt 28:1; Mr. 15 42; 16:1; Lu 23:54-56; Jo 19:31.
In Scripture, the Hebrew word for
mercy is related to the word for womb.
Thus, to live within God’s compassion is to
Rest within God’s Womb
A reassuring image of God’s mothering love.
It is suggested that Sabbath falls
on the
15th of
three Biblical months in a row
(the three months beginning with the Exodus from Egypt).
As Moon Cycles are only 29.5 days long, the
Sabbath could not fall three times in a row on the
15th unless the Sabbath was lunar based.
- It is asserted that no Sabbath in scripture can be shown to occur on any day other than an 8th, 15th, 22nd, or 29th of a lunar cycle. As only about 15% of Gregorian-style Sabbaths fall on those days, this is taken as corroborative evidence for lunar Sabbaths.
- It is asserted that the lunar calendar was essential to the determination feast days in the Old Testament. As such, it must be a valid calendar. And if the calendar is right for calculating feast-day dates, it must be right for calculating Sabbath dates as Sabbaths are among the feasts.
- It is asserted that ancient authorities trace the seven-day week to Babylonian sources and that the Jews anciently kept the Sabbath on a lunar basis. This Jewish habit was changed by the Roman power and is the reason that Jews currently honor Saturday as found on the Gregorian calendar.
- Circumstantial evidence, it is asserted, points to Lunar Sabbaths in the time of Joshua, Solomon, and Hezekiah, and Paul.
- The New Moons do not count as “working days” and so there are still 6 working days in each weekly cycle in the new moon calendar.
Genesis 8:13
Noah removed the covering of the ark, a great feat.
Numbers 1:1 The men of Israel were counted on the first day of the week.
Ezra 7:9 Ezra was traveling on two new moons.
The sixth point in the short list of lunar Sabbath evidences is
based on a single verse in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 46:1 Thus saith the Lord GOD;
The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall
be shut the six working days; but
on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the
new moon it shall be opened.
The week was being counted before the creation
of the time-keeping pieces of the
sun and the moon.
The Sabbath, like marriage, comes to us from the
Garden of Eden
It has always had faithful observers.
When light shown on the Law of God in
fulfillment of Revelation 11, the
Sabbath truth was revealed to many of
God’s people around the planet.
40 weeks Nov-September
In Isaiah 66:23, we read:
"It shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another,
and from one Sabbath to another,
shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord."
The setting of this verse is obviously
in the new earth state.
Why, then, should
new-moon worship be mentioned along
with Sabbath worship?
Does this not smack of ceremonial observance?
It may be asked first,
Why is Sabbath worship forecast?
A rational answer is that the weekly Sabbath was a part of
God's original creation
and was constituted a day of rest and worship
before sin came in.
When the earth, therefore, is restored to its primeval state, it is altogether consistent that the Sabbath should continue to occupy the same place in
God's plan for the new earth that it did in the beginning.
There is no reason to believe that any other part of
creation will be changed from what it was before sin entered,
so why should not the Sabbath also continue in perpetuity?
But, granting this, why should there
be worship at the time of the new moon?
Let us consider.
The moon, too, was a part of
the original creation,
and, along with the sun, was said
to be for signs, for seasons, for days, and
for years,
as well as for light.
The sun marks off
the day by the
Rotation of the Earth
It marks off the
year by the revolution of the earth.
The Sabbath
marks off the week by its recurrence
every seventh day.
But what marks off the month—the moon--
from which the word "month" comes?
Under the ceremonial
law the
Day of Atonement
was a
yearly observance.
The Sabbath was recognized as a nonceremonial weekly
observance by the doubling of the burnt offerings on that day, and the
altar service was carried on daily.
But how was the month recognized?
By an observance of the time of
the new moon.
This observance, however, was mainly by burnt offering,
though a sin offering was added afterward,
as in other occasional feasts, that is,
feasts to be observed on certain
fixed occasions.
Now, the offering of the "burnt offering" was essentially an
act of worship, repeatedly defined as an
offering of "a sweet savour unto the Lord,"
that is,
an offering of praise and consecration.
Even in the sin offering it is represented by the - burning of the fat on the altar of burnt offering (after the sin offering is made), as an act of thanksgiving and consecration for the forgiveness of sin.
On the appearance of the new moon, therefore,
the burnt offering for this occasion was made as an act of
praise for
the blessings of the past month
and of renewed consecration
for the month to come.
But why is worship at the time of the
new moon associated with worship on the
Sabbath in the new earth,
as it is in Isaiah 66:23? The answer is clearly suggested in
Ezekiel 46:1-3.
Here the weekly Sabbath is plainly specified in verse one as the
Sabbath under discussion.
The gate of the
inner court of the temple
was to be
open on the (weekly) Sabbath,
but also
"in the day of the new moon."
Here, On both occasions,
the prince was to come first and
"worship at the threshold of the gate,"
then after him the people.
Verse 3 reads,
"Likewise the people of the land shall worship
at the
door of this gate before the Lord
in the
sabbaths and in the
new moons."
On both these occasions the service is called an act of "worship," and the burnt offering is called "voluntary," with no mention at all of a sin offering in Ezekiel's record. But why are these two occasions singled out for "worship"?
Manifestly they are the only
two dates
fixed directly by
the movement of heavenly bodies--
the Sabbath by the sun, and
the
"first day of the month"
by
The Moon
Their observance at these times is distinctly said to be an act of worship. Although ceremonial service was held on the weekly
Sabbath, the Sabbath itself was not created for ceremonial
service but was established at creation
as "an everlasting statute."
While ceremonial service was held on the day of the new moon, the moon on its first appearance as new was not originally made or
appointed for ceremonial purposes,
but was made at creation to "rule the night" as perpetually
as the sun was made to "rule the day."
Hence, when the "handwriting of ordinances"
was nailed to the cross,
both the new moon and the Sabbath
remained as they were
before the ceremonial law was given or observed.
Hence, also, when the new moon and the Sabbath appear in the new earth state, there is no ceremonial service attached to either, and they continue to function normally for the
original purpose for which each was created in the beginning
and before sin entered.
Now, what kind of calendar will be used in the new earth appears not to be fully revealed but only suggested here.
If the Lord continues to set His clock in the heavens, as
He did at creation, the inhabitants will have no difficulty in determining the beginning of the Sabbath day (at the setting of the sun), or the
beginning of the Sabbath at the
seventh sunset, or the
beginning of the week at the first sunset, or the
beginning of the month at the new moon.
Since God has already chosen the Sabbath as a time of
worship as a "statute forever," if
He choose to add "the day of the new moon" as a
monthly time of worship in the new earth,
we can conclude several things:
I. That the clock of time for worship will be a natural one,
visible by everyone everywhere.
2. That God will have chosen the only two heavenly bodies that He originally appointed to give light and mark time, to serve as a worship chronometer
in the new earth.
3. That we need have no confusion of mind whatever as to whether the worship either on the day of the new moon or on the weekly Sabbath in the new earth is of a ceremonial nature, but rather that these are natural and normal times to be observed as if sin had never entered.
4. That all the people will sense anew that all the handwriting of ordinances was "done away in Christ" at the cross, never to reappear with its dark shadows evermore.
5. That, perhaps best of all, what God originally created will continue "eternal in the heavens," whether it be new moon or Sabbath, and that we shall be supremely happy in following whatever program of worship and life His sovereign will and wisdom may ordain.
In Leviticus 23:1–2, the Lord told Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them:
These are my appointed times, the times of the LORD that
you will proclaim as sacred assemblies” (CSB).
“Appointed Times”
were the
Holy days, feasts, and festivals that
God required the people of Israel to
Set Aside
as
consecrated to the Lord and to
observe
faithfully throughout the year
Part of ancient Israel’s commitment to worship and
holy living involved the proper observance of sacred days and
annual religious gatherings.
The appointed times corresponded with the Jewish calendar and were
tied to lunar and solar cycles.
The Lord called these solemn observances
“my appointed times,”
indicating that the focus of the gatherings would be on Him.
They included the weekly Sabbath and the
monthly new moon festival.
The annual spring festivals were the
Lord’s Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread,
Feast of Firstfruits, and the Feast of Weeks, which was
called Pentecost in the New Testament.
The fall festivals consisted of the Feast of Trumpets or
New Year’s Day, the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur,
and the
Feast of Tabernacles or Booths
The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3)
was an important religious celebration for the Hebrews because it was observed every week as a sign of Israel’s covenant relationship with God
(Exodus 31:12–17).
On the Sabbath, the Israelites were forbidden to do any work at all,
whether plowing or reaping (Exodus 34:21),
baking or food preparation (Exodus 16:23), lighting a fire (Exodus 35:3),
or gathering wood (Numbers 15:32–36).
Sabbath comes from a Hebrew word that
means
“To Rest, to cease from Labor.”
The Sabbath remembered God’s rest on the seventh
day following the six days of creation (Exodus 20:11)
as well as
God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt
(Deuteronomy 5:15).
The New Moon observance
marked the first day of every new month.
During the new moon festivals, several different
sacrifices were offered (Numbers 28:11–15),
trumpets were blown (Numbers 10:10),
all labor and trade were suspended (Nehemiah 10:31), and
feasts were enjoyed (1 Samuel 20:5).
The appointed time of the Passover
(Leviticus 23:4–5) was at the beginning of the bright season of the year when the moon was full in the first month of spring. The name Passover originates from the Hebrew term pesach, meaning “to leave or spare by passing over.” This great festival commemorated Israel’s salvation and deliverance from Egypt. Along with the Feast of Weeks and Tabernacles, it was one of three annual pilgrimage festivals (Deuteronomy 16:16) in which all Jewish males were required to travel to Jerusalem to worship.
The seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread
(Leviticus 23:6–8) immediately followed Passover and was always celebrated as an extension of the Passover feast. During this week, the Israelites ate only unleavened bread to commemorate Israel’s hurried departure from Egypt. On the second day, Israel incorporated
the Feast of Firstfruits
Leviticus 23:9–14) when the priest presented the first sheaves of grain from the spring harvest as a wave offering to the Lord. The Jews could not partake of their crops until the first fruits had been given. This act symbolized that the first and the best of everything belongs to God and that Israel would put the Lord first in every part of life. It was also an expression of thanksgiving for God’s gift of the harvest and for supplying their daily bread.
The next appointed time on the Jewish calendar was
the Feast of Weeks
(Leviticus 15—22; Deuteronomy 16:9–10), which fell in late spring, on the fiftieth day (or a full seven weeks) after the Feast of Firstfruits. In the New Testament, this commemoration is called “Pentecost” (Acts 2:1), from the Greek word meaning “fifty.” As one of the harvest feasts, the Feast of Weeks involved offering the first loaves of bread made from the wheat harvest to the Lord. On this day, the Israelites also read from the book of Ruth and the Psalms.
The Feast of Trumpets
(Leviticus 23:23–25; Numbers 29:1–6) or Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day), which was observed in the fall, marked the start of a new agricultural and civil year in Israel. This appointed time was announced with the blast of trumpets, commencing ten days of solemn dedication and repentance before the Lord.
The Day of Atonement
(Leviticus 23:26–32; Numbers 29:7–11) or Yom Kippur was the highest and holiest day of the Lord’s appointed times, falling ten days after the Feast of Trumpets. This day called for solemn fasting, deep repentance, and sacrifice. Only on this day, once a year, could the high priest enter the holy of holies in the tabernacle or temple and make an atoning blood sacrifice for the sins of all the people of Israel. As a complete Sabbath, no work was done on the Day of Atonement.
Five days later, Israel celebrated its most joyous appointed time of the year with the fall harvest festival (Sukkot), also known as the
Feast of Tabernacles
(Leviticus 23:33–36, 40, 42–43; Numbers 29:12–40) or Feast of Booths. During this week-long celebration, the Jewish people built small, makeshift shelters where they lived and ate their meals as a reminder of God’s provision and care during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness when they lived and worshiped in temporary tents.
The Lord’s appointed times were
celebrations of
God’s divine protection and provision
Each one recognized different aspects of
God’s work of salvation in the lives of His people.
Ultimately, these holy days, feasts, and festivals
Found their fulfillment
in the
life, ministry, death,
and
resurrection of Israel’s Messiah,
Jesus Christ
Together, these observances prophetically convey
the message of the CROSS,
THE GOOD NEWS
of
SALVATION through FAITH
in
Jesus CHRIST,
and the
GLORIOUS PROMISE
of
His second coming.
As we gain a richer, fuller understanding of the Lord’s
appointed times, we are
rewarded with a more complete and
unified picture of God’s plan of salvation
as presented throughout the
whole of Scripture.
There are only two stories in
all of scripture
that mention Sabbath in a context that
can be certainly dated in
relation to a day of the lunar month.
These are the first
giving of the manna
and
the death and resurrection
of Jesus.
See Ex 16:23-29 and Mt 28:1; Mr. 15 42; 16:1; Lu 23:54-56; Jo 19:31.
The moon, too, was a part of
the original creation,
and, along with the sun, was said
to be for signs, for seasons, for days, and
for years,
as well as for Light
The sun marks off
the day by the
rotation of the earth.
It marks off the
year by the revolution of the earth.
The Sabbath marks off the week by its recurrence
every seventh day.
But what marks off the month—the moon--
from which the word "month" comes?
Under the ceremonial
law the
Day of Atonement
was a
yearly observance.
The Sabbath was recognized as a nonceremonial weekly
observance by the doubling of the burnt offerings on that day, and the
altar service was carried on daily.
But how was the month recognized?
By an observance of the time of
the new moon.
There are many people today who insist that Pesach (Passover) cannot be celebrated until the barley ripens in Israel. These people obviously don't realize they have misapplied Scripture and are consequently leading people astray concerning the timing of YHWH's Feasts.
YHWH our Elohim said Nisan 14 was to be His Passover (Leviticus 23:5). He never suggested the barley had to be ripe first.
It is said that in ancient times, Pesach was associated with the ripening of the barley crop. Some claim the exact date of the
biblical new year is determined in the spring by the sighting of the
New Moon
that immediately follows the
ripening of the
barley
(the aviv barley) in the land of Israel
The statement above is, in fact, partially correct. The exact date of the start of the biblical new year is determined by the new moon, but not the sighting of the new moon which follows the ripening of earthly barley crops.
Since the ripening of the barley is dependent entirely on earthly weather conditions and can be seasonally early or late, it seems far-fetched that Yahweh, the creator of all things, would require the determination of the new year be based on such a poor indicator as the ripening of man's crops.
So, there must be another mechanism...And indeed there is!
The star signs. Today, if you are like most, you know nothing about the stars. You don't need to. To determine the date of anything you simply look at a calendar. You don't even need to know how the calendar was made! But to the ancient people, they had to know the star signs and know them intimately to determine when the months, seasons, and years ended and began. To us, the art of the star signs is largely lost.
Well, the fact is this: The ancients knew when the new year started because they were able to determine the new moon closest to the Vernal Equinox. And they were able to determine the Vernal Equinox by the star signs. In ancient times, as the sun was approaching the Vernal Equinox, the tiny constellation known as the "Pleiades" began to fade into the brightness of the dusk at sunset. Thus the Pleiades announced the equinox was coming. Then the another star sign announced that the equinox had happened. That sign was the fading of the star "Aldebaran" at sunset. The Ancients used the star signs to know that Vernal Equinox was nearing and for confirmation that it had occurred!
[Note: Pressession of the Earth's axis has change the times which the Pleiades and Aldebaran set in our age. The description above is intended to broadly cover the age before Moshe (Moses) when these astronomical signs had absolute significance.]
But it's not enough! Watching the Pleiades and Aldebaran set each night as the sun set in the West cannot by themselves enable the observer to determine the date of the Vernal Equinox. Another sign, another "witness" is required. And such a witness existed - The ancients knew this!
The Witness
was the
Rising of the Star
"Spica",
in
the constellation
of
"Virgo" in the East
You see, just as the sun was nearing the date of the Vernal Equinox, Spica could be seen rising in east at sunset. And it is this combination of witnesses; the Pleiades, Aldebaran, and Spica which permitted the ancients to know precisely when the Vernal Equinox would occur. Then, though not a simple matter, they could determine which of the
new moons on either side of the date of the
Vernal Equinox
would be the
new moon for 1 Aviv
(or "1 Abib", today, "1 Nisan").
But where's the
barley?
Look up...up into the heavens where you'll find your answer!
The start of the new year was determined by star signs.
As the
Vernal Equinox is approaching, the constellation
of
Virgo is rising
"Virgo" is the "Virgin",
and in her right hand,
is a stalk of grain
(barley!)
The star Spica in the constellation
represents the grain!
So when Spica was rising in the evening sky
after sunset, night after night, until one night it
was at the appropriate location to announce the
Vernal Equinox, one can arguably say figuratively
"The Barley has Ripened"!
This meets the requirements
found in Gen 1:14 in determining
The
Father’s moedim/Feast Days/Appointed Times
While the ancients knew the stars and how to tell time by them,
the rising of Spica - i.e., the rising of the stalk of grain
in the hand of the virgin announced the new year,
and that star sign, over the many centuries became
the "ripening of the barley" -
it became confused with the ripening of the
barley crops, an earth sign.
Lest you think the announcement of the Vernal Equinox
by the setting of the Pleiades and the
rising of Spica could not possibly be twisted into
the "ripening of the barley" in the fields,
take a look at this
passage from Philo who lived in 20 BCE, from
his writings "On the Creation":
"And besides the stars above mentioned" {Philo was describing Ursa Major}
"the band of the Pleiades is also made up
of seven stars, the rising and occultation of which are the causes of great benefits to all men. For when they set, the furrows are ploughed
up for the purpose of sowing;
and when they are about to rise, they bring glad tidings of harvest;
and after they have arisen, they awaken the rejoicing husbandman to the collection of their necessary food.
And they with joy store up their food for their daily use."
Thus the ancients were able to determine not only the
new year by the rising and setting of
Key Stars,
but also the precise date of
Pesach.
Doing so they were able to place
Pesach precisely in the
middle of the month of Aviv (Nisan),
and it could be observed
at its right time.
Deuteronomy 16: 1
"Observe the month of Aviv, and keep
Pesach
to ADONAI your God; for in the month of
Aviv,
ADONAI your God
Brought you out of Egypt at
Night."
Across the spectrum of ancient cultures, the
Virgo Maiden was consistently recognized as a Great Goddess, a nurturing woman linked to fertility and the harvest, which is no surprise as, during the Sun’s transit of the Virgo constellation, it’s harvest timeSo,
when Virgo birthdays abound, around late
Summer and September, it’s time to reap the fruits of labor,
daily toil and hard work put in during the days before.
Virgo is intrinsically linked to the concept of service and daily ritual and work, so the image of the corn carry
Maiden has quite a few layers to it!
Virgo is also identified as Isis by ancient Egyptians, and Ishtar,
goddess of procreation by the Babylonians.
She is the only woman within the symbols of the zodiac,
very often seen carrying her sheaf of wheat.
Chassidic teaching has a special understanding
of that sense of loss and emptiness. In order for a person to reach any new stage, to ascend to a
higher level of insight and understanding,
Chassidism explains, there has first to be a kind of self-nullification (bitul), an emptying out of oneself to make room for the new. In other words, between the prior level and the succeeding level, there has to be what Chassidism terms a nothingness in the middle (ayin be'emtzah). This psychological principle reflects a spiritual principle, and that — in turn --
reflects a cosmological principle.
Jewish mysticism explains that the Creation of the world first occurred not through an act of G‑d's expansion and self-assertion, but the reverse — through a tzimtzum or contraction. G‑d, so to speak, first had to withdraw or contract
His infinite light and presence, and create an empty space in
order to make room for a world of finite beings.
That pattern is then followed in every aspect of existence: there has to be an emptiness in the middle in order to move from one state of being to the next. A seed has to first dissolve in the soil before it can grow towards the light and bloom. In a human being, emptiness becomes spiritual openness when one lets go, when one nullifies one's ego, when one's own ego does not try to fill and control all the space around one, but makes space for the other.
The emptiness is the necessary prelude
to an
entirely new and higher
mode of existence
We find this principle at work in the
Flood story of Genesis
The Flood
is described as lasting
Forty days and Forty nights
(Genesis 7:12).
Now clearly, if G‑d had wanted only to punish humankind
for its corruption, G‑d could have done so in a moment.
What Purpose
did a
Forty-day flood serve?
In the
Chasidic interpretation,
the
Flood was a kind of mikveh,
a Ritual Bath
Given
to the world in
order to
Purify and Renew it
One immerses oneself completely in the waters of a mikveh,
down to every last hair, nullifying one's previous state.
And by virtue of this
complete immersion and self-nullification,
one afterwards
emerges from the waters purified,
on a different level,
Anew Being
Interestingly enough, Jewish law also specifies that the
amount of gathered rainwater needed to
make a mikveh kosher is
Forty seah
The number Forty is extremely significant all
throughout the Torah:
it is associated with critical junctures
in the lives of great persons and of the
Jewish nation as a whole
Chasidut emphasizes that Moses' life and that of the Jewish people
are inter-connected in a profound way: by
virtue of the Torah, tefillah (prayer),
and
teshuvah (RETURN to GOD)
he accomplished in those three periods of forty days, all the Jewish people were also connected to those three things in relation to the number forty. For instance, the forty days Moses spent on Mt. Sinai from the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul until Yom Kippurwere established as the forty days of teshuvah and return to G‑d for all Jews throughout all the generations. And the Jews were given the Torah in the course of the
Forty years they wandered
in the desert
On a deeper level, though, what is the
link between the
idea of self-nullification, emptiness in the middle,
and the
Number Forty?
Forty As the
Completion
of
An Entire World
It's a matter of simple arithmetic but profound spiritual insight.
Chassidic philosophy, drawing on the Jewish mystical tradition, explains that all of reality can be described as divided into four worlds.
These are constituted by various states of
Revelation and Concealment
of God
[The four worlds are named atzilut (emanation), beriah (creation),
yetzirah (formation), and asiyah (action.)]
These four worlds, in turn, emanate from and are rooted in the
four letters of the holiest name of G‑d:
Y-H-V-H
A key tenet of Chassidic thought is that the microcosm emanates from and reflects the macrocosm. So we also find many other sets of fours reflected in nature. For example, Chassidut speaks of four categories of being in the natural world: the inanimate (domem); the vegetative (tzomeach); the animal (chai); and the speaking (medaber). These four types of natural existence levels also exist within each person, so to speak. Or, there are four seasons of the year and four directions of the compass. Indeed, the traditional understanding of the physical world as composed of four elements — fire, air, water, earth — could also be translated into the language of modern science: the matter of our physical world assumes one of four states: solid, liquid, gas, active combustion; or the four elements can be said to correspond to the four basic chemical elements of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen; or to the four elements of subatomic phenomena; or to the four forces known to modern physics (gravity, electromagnetic, strong, weak).
On a spiritual plane, there are numerous fours: the four matriarchs; the four wives of Jacob; the four types of sons mentioned in the Haggadah; the four components of a Torah text (cantillations, vowels, crowns, letters); the four basic levels of Torah interpretation (literal, allusion, allegory, secret), etc.
Jewish mysticism also explains that each of the four higher spiritual worlds possesses the entire spectrum of the so-called ten sefirot. The sefirot are G‑d's creative attributes or characteristics which emanate to, structure, and are reflected in all existence, including the spiritual powers of the human soul. (Materially, each thing in the world also reflects this ten-ness; it can be said to have 9 sides or dimensions: width, length, height; beginning, middle, end; and the tenth aspect is the thing itself taken as a whole).
Now four times ten equals forty; so a complete category of being or world has forty aspects. In other words, forty represents the completion of a whole mode or way of being, and when one passes the number forty, One leaves that mode of being behind and enters an entirely different level . . . another world.
So every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent from one level to the next higher one. But the attainment of a higher level can come only after first reaching and fulfilling all aspects (forty) of the previous level, and then making an emptiness in the middle to allow for the emergence of something entirely new.
An intriguing story in the Talmud subtly makes this point: When R. Zeira wanted to learn the Jerusalem version of the Talmud, he first fasted forty times to forget all he had learned of the Babylonian version (Bava Metzia 85a). Why would he have to forget his knowledge of the Babylonian Talmud in order to progress to the Jerusalem Talmud? In the Chasidic interpretation, the reason is that he wanted to absorb the Jerusalem Talmud in a profound and inner way, and he needed to be open to learning the very different style of the Jerusalem Talmud. He had to attain that emptiness in the middle, forgetting his knowledge in order to be able to ascend to the level of the Jerusalem Talmud.
Teaching and Learning Torah at Forty
What, further, are the deeper connections between Torah knowledge and the number forty? For though the Torah was given in the forty days Moses was on Mt. Sinai, it took forty years of wandering and experience in the desert for the Jews to understand it in an inner and profound way. At the end of those forty years, when they were finally about to be allowed entrance to the Promised Land, Moses gave a valedictory address. Reflecting back on all that occurred since leaving Egypt and receiving the Torah, he said to the gathered people:
You have seen all that G‑d did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants, and all his land; the great trials, which your eyes saw, the signs and those great miracles;
but G‑d has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this day. (Deuteronomy 29:1-3).
The Talmud has an intriguing comment on this verse: "One does not come to fully comprehend the knowledge of his teacher before forty years" (Avodah Zarah 5b; also Rashi on Deut 29:6). This statement connects the number of forty years to the attainment of knowledge and a new state of being.
Regarding Torah scholars, the Talmud also says that one does not become fit to instruct [in matters of Jewish law] until forty years (Sotah 22b). Rashi, the classic medieval commentator, interprets the number forty years here to mean forty years from birth. Tosefot, Rashi's disciples and descendants, dispute this interpretation and argue that the phrase forty years means forty years from the time the person begins to actually study Torah, not simply forty years from birth. And their position is supported by the Talmudic statement that one does not come to thoroughly understand the knowledge of his teacher until forty years.
How, then, do we understand and resolve this dispute about the meaning of forty years? Does it mean forty years from birth, or forty years from the time one actually begins ones studies?
There is further support for Rashi's interpretation in the Mishnah's statement that forty is the age of understanding [binah] (Pirke Avot 5:22).3 Now this implies that just as the body follows a natural, programmed course of growth, so too is there a natural and inevitable development of the intellect. At the age of forty, a person's innately given faculty of binah--
understanding one thing from another (inference and deduction)
becomes fully developed.
That is to say, the power of inferential understanding continuously
matures until it reaches its full potential
at the age of forty.
Other cultures and philosophies sense this development
as Well
The Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote that "Any man of forty who is endowed with moderate intelligence has seen . . . the entire past and future." On the negative side, George Bernard Shaw wrote, "Every man over forty is a scoundrel." But Jewish tradition is far more positive about this development. Forty is the time when a Torah scholar becomes fit to judge and decide halachic questions. Even though the scholar may have previously studied much Torah, not until this power of binah reaches full maturity at age forty can he best analyze, infer, study precedents, and render legal decisions.
Now the other Talmudic saying, that one does not come to thoroughly understand the knowledge of one's teacher until forty years, refers to something quite different. It signifies understanding the actual words and ideas of ones teacher — not just the power and potential to understand them. Through actually studying the words of one's teacher for forty years, a student finally comes to understand and fathom his or her
teacher's knowledge in depth.
In short, we resolve the dispute about the meaning of forty years by making the following distinction: at forty years from birth, one develops one's own faculty of understanding; after forty years of learning with one's teacher, one comprehends one's teacher's understanding.
It's also true, though, that profound changes and development of one's powers of understanding can take place in less than forty years. In daily life, we often find that when a matter affects a person's very essence, her or his intellectual powers undergo rapid development — as if she or he suddenly achieved the level of the knowledge of one's teacher. People who are intellectually underdeveloped or unlearned can create brilliant arguments in a courtroom when a dispute touches their very being; the pressure brings forth an intellectual power that meets the urgent need.
Creating aNew Being
But we might then also ask why the Torah appears to imply that forty is the inevitable age of understanding for everyone. For aren't these things — as well as tefillah and teshuvah— dependent on the varying intellectual and emotional qualities of different people, and their different experiences in life? Some mature more quickly than others; some have special talents, and so on.
Torah, tefillah, and teshuvah, however, all share a core point, an essence which is independent of any individual's particular measure — and that essential core is elicited through forty. That essence is a transformative power, a power through which one enters into an entirely new kind of existence. Torah gives birth to a person, so to speak; prayer takes one entirely out of one's own existence and brings one to face G‑d; teshuvahchanges one's status from that of a wicked person to that of a completely righteous person.5
The essential change from one form of existence to a new one is a kind of quantum leap, to be sure. But this new existence itself then needs to be developed and perfected, and requires the extension of forty to become firmly established. In other words, forty also represents taking the seminal idea and establishing its general form or structure. After this period of forty, much more time is required for the development of the myriad specific details.
We see this process concretely at work in the conception, formation, birth, and development of a child. The seed is fertilized in an instant, but there are many further phases in the development of the fetus until all the particular limbs and organs are fully completed. According to the Talmud, it takes forty days for the general form of the embryo to develop, and to be able to discern whether it is male or female (Berachot 60a). In Jewish law, until forty days after conception, the fertilized egg is considered as mere fluid. On the whole, an unborn fetus is considered to be a part of its mother's body and not a separate person until it begins to egress from the womb during parturition. But the unborn fetus still has a special status; if aborted after forty days of conception, the mother is required to undergo the same ritual purification process as if she had given birth to a live child.
And after a child is born, of course, it takes many more years for its innately given faculties to develop. Learning and development do not stop after forty years; neither do Torah, nor tefillah, nor teshuvah cease after the level of forty has been attained. They indeed are limitless, because they contain an ever-renewing, transformative power, and one strives for an ever deeper engagement in them all of one's days.
Growing Older; Becoming Newer
Forty, then, represents both the completion of the previous level, and leaving it behind, nullifying it (R. Zeira "forgetting" the Babylonian Talmud; the flood lasting forty days), and forty also represents the inauguration and structuring of a new existence (the Torah given in forty days, the development of the fetus, and so forth).
The moment of emptiness contains the seeds of the ascent to a higher level. Like the moon, to which the Jewish people are compared, the cycle of waning is followed by a waxing. Jewish history has had many moments of emptiness, darkness and loss, but just as the moon is renewed monthly after its seeming disappearance, the Jewish people are
ever renewed, ever reborn.
Rav Avraham Isaac Kook, the great twentieth century Jewish leader and mystic wrote of this constant renewal as key to the life of Jews and Judaism:
The perception that dawns on a person to see the world not as finished, but as in the process of continued becoming, ascending, developing — this changes him from being under the sun to being above the sun, from the place where there is nothing old, where everything takes on new form. The joy of heaven and earth abides in him as on the day they were created. . . .
The time that is an uninterrupted Sabbath [the messianic age] on which eternal peace shines, is the day when, by the nature of its creation, there pulsates a continued thrust for newness. It needs no end, no termination. It is the choicest of days, an ornament of beauty, the course of all blessings.
In the Jewish view, then, getting older is also getting newer. And turning forty is indeed growing up — an ascent to a higher level. The popular saying that life begins at forty is right. Forty signifies not a period of decline,
nor should it be cause for regret. It is, instead,
both a completion and a new beginning, a
retrospective understanding and a prospective passage
to a higher level, an emptiness in the middle and the
foundation of an entirely new existence.
Matthew 1:18-24 NIV
This is how the
birth of Jesus the Messiah
came about:
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together, she was
found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law,
and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary
home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from
The Holy Spirit
She will give
Birth to a Son, and you are to give him
The Name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet:
"The virgin will conceive and give
birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel
(which means “God with us”)
When Joseph woke up, he did what the
Angel of the Lord
had
commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
'Mary (Magdalene, Virgin, Mother) as the Constellation Virgo'
Without doubt, ancient civilisations watched the night sky for several practical and more esoteric reasons.
This particular study is looking at Mary Magdalene and her role in the early Christian church and the Christian faith and its connection,
with regards symbolism to older civilizations and cultures.
My first port of call for this exploration is Leonardo Da Vinci's fresco 'The Last Supper' and its depiction of the twelve Disciples being told by Jesus Christ about an up and coming betrayal by one of his disciples. A recent debate focuses on the figure, to the left of Jesus and the identity being either
John or Mary Magdalene.
There is much evidence that Jesus Christ is based on a much earlier Solar Deity Cult. I am not suggesting there was not a historical enlightened figure but that this figure reflected some existing solar deity attributes.
The representation of the Twelve Disciples are, of course, or can be seen as similar to the 12 Zodiacal signs and it has been suggested that the Zodiacal signs 'follow' the Sun around the sky over the year.
There is much debate over the role of Mary, either as Maiden, Mother or Crone (Wisdom) in the stories from the Bible but there is no doubt that Virgo (the constellation) represents a woman and as Virgo is one of the Zodiacal signs it would suggest that a woman was a 'follower' of the
Solar deity around the Solar year.
What is interesting is that in Leonardo De Vinci's interpretation of the Last Supper, the figure of Jesus is at the mid point of the disciples, the disciples have been represented as the Zodiacal signs and is between Virgo and Libra, at the Vernal Equinox.
I must stress, that the figure on the left side of Jesus (In Leonardo's version of the Last Supper) has been interpreted as John but given I believe this represents the Zodiacal signs the figure has to be feminine.
With regards Mary as a figure symbolised by the Zodiacal sign of Virgo it seems that she represented Barley-Agriculture-Fertility as Virgo was eminent, in the Sky, at the time of the Harvest in Egypt.
With regards the precession of the equinox and the 24000-26000 year Yuga cycle, Virgo would have been between 12000-10000 BCE and
within a Golden Age.
As already stated, Virgo is in the sky at the beginning of August,
a time of Harvest (In ancient times)
and when the Sun is/was at its Zenith.
Specifically with regards to Jesus (as the Sun/Son),
Virgo could be be seen as the constellation
giving birth to the Sun at
the Vernal Equinox,
the equinox has been interpreted as the time when souls find it 'easier' to journey from the non material to the material due to the balance of day and night.
(ie 12 hours of each)
This ties in nicely with the notion of the Son of God (or the Sun) being born of the Virgin Mary as Virgo has also been interpreted as the Virgin.
Many ancient civilisation, previous to Christianity, venerated the 'Sacred Feminine' as either the Mother Goddess or the Triple Goddess'
I have enclosed further information (below) with regards the figure of Mary being that of one of the aspects of the Triple Goddess,
Mary Magdalene has been
interpreted as the
Wisdom aspect of the three phases/aspects of a woman's life:
-Maiden or Spinner
of the
Thread of Life
- Mother or Measurer of Active Life
- Older Woman representing Wisdom and Death
The Triple Goddess is a symbol of the
three aspects of
the Moon -
Crescent, Waxing, Crescent
It is my view and I am exploring the possibility that Mary, in this respect Mary Magdalene, was a significant figure in early Christianity and played a huge part either as a sponsor, a prophetess or prominent disciple as a historical figure and also symbolised an ideal version of the sacred feminine.
This union of the sacred feminine and masculine figure of Jesus would symbolise the balance that ancient civilisations pursued of chaos and order, yin and yang and other polarities.
To suggest that Mary Magdalene was an integral part of the early church is not a new idea and that to suggest that women were not a significant part of any philosophical tradition is preposterous. Women have been the backbone of all societies and families since societies were formed. That there is not not more feminine figures representing zodiacal signs probably is more representative of time rather than accuracy.
The Triple Goddess is a deity or deity archetype
revered in many Neopagan religious and spiritual traditions. In common Neopagan usage, the Triple Goddess is viewed as a triunity of three distinct aspects or figures united in one being. These three figures are often described as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the Moon, and often rules one of the realms of heavens, earth, and underworld.
The specific character of the modern neopagan Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetype is not found in any ancient sources related directly to Hecate. Both Diana and Hecate were almost invariably described as maiden goddesses, with an appearance like that of a young woman.
However, according to the 3rd century BC grammarian Epigenes, the three Moirai, or Fates, were regarded by the Orphic tradition as representing the three divisions of the Moon, "the thirtieth and the fifteenth and the first" (i.e. the crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon, as delinted by the divisions of the calendar month).
The Moirai themselves are traditionally depicted as a young girl, or Spinner of the thread of life, an older woman, or Measurer, and an elderly woman, or Cutter, representing birth, active life, and death.
Virgo the Constellation -
Virgo (♍︎) (Greek: Παρθένος, Parthenos) is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac. It spans the 150–180th degree of the zodiac. Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun transits this area on average between August 23 and September 22 and the Sun transits the constellation Virgo from approximately September 16 to October 30. Individuals born during these dates, depending on which system of astrology they subscribe to,
may be called Virgos or Virgoans; they are also represented in newspaper horoscopes with other astrological signs. The symbol of the maiden is based on Astraea. In Greek mythology, she was the last immortal to abandon Earth at the end of the Silver Age, when the gods fled to Olympus – hence the sign's association with Earth
In the Babylonian MUL.APIN (c. 10th century BC), part of this constellation was known as "The Furrow", representing the goddess Shala and her ear of grain. One star in this constellation, Spica, retains this tradition as it is Latin for "ear of grain", one of the major products of the Mesopotamian furrow. For this reason the constellation became associated with fertility.
During the Middle Ages, Virgo was associated with the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Early Greek astronomy associated the Babylonian constellation with their goddess of wheat and agriculture, Demeter.
The bright star Spica makes it easy to locate Virgo, as it can be found by following the curve of the Big Dipper/Plough to Arcturus in Boötes and continuing from there in the same curve
("follow the arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica").
Due to the effects of precession, the First Point of Libra, (also known as the autumn equinox point) lies within the boundaries of Virgo very close to β Virginis. This is one of the two points in the sky where the celestial equator crosses the ecliptic (the other being the First Point of Aries, now in the constellation of Pisces). From the 18th century to the 4th century BC, the Sun was in Libra on the autumnal equinox, shifting into Virgo thereafter.
While this is only one myth of the origin of Virgo, she is seen throughout all manner of myths. In Egyptian mythology,
the time when the Sun was in the constellation
Virgo marked the beginning of the
wheat harvest,
thus connecting
Virgo back to the wheat grain
In Christianity, Jesus was born to a virgin in the town of Bethlehem ("bread"); the ancient Zodiac ended in the constellation Leo and began with Virgo.
Virgo has the equivalent sign in
Indian astrology as the Kanya (which also means "maiden"),
and has been connected with the Virgin Mary
- Virgo with Scales denoting Balance
- Virgo with Wheat denoting Agriculture
- The Last Supper by Leonardo De Vinci
with
Virgo-Christ-
Libra ie The Start of the Year is between
Virgo and Libra ie Autumnal Equinox
- The constellation of Virgo in the night sky
- The Triple Goddess -
Symbol:
Crescent, full, and dark moon (original)
Crescent, half, and full moon (late Antiquity)
Waxing, full, and waning moons (modern)
We find these terms in the
Litany of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
(specifically the Loreto version), which was composed
in the mid-16th century. St. Peter Canisius (d. 1597)
popularized the litany in 1558 when he published it to
foster devotion to our Blessed Mother
The litany represents a compilation of titles
praising our Blessed Mother that were
used at services at the
Shrine of Loreto in Italy from the thirteenth century.
Most of the titles in question are associated with the
prophecies and symbolism of the
Old Testament which
foreshadow the role our Blessed Mother
played in the mystery of salvation.
Several of these center on her sanctity and maternity. For instance,
The Tower of David
stood prominently and strongly
on the
highest summit
of the
mountains surrounding
Jerusalem.
Such a tower was part of the defense mechanism of the city.
From it, warnings would be given of approaching enemies.
Mary is compared to the Tower of David
because of her holiness,
being recognized as full of grace
and having been conceived free of original sin.
By her prayers and example,
she is part of God’s
“defense mechanism” by which
the Kingdom of God will stand undefeated and
sin will always be conquered.
(Confer Song of Songs, 4:4.)
Similarly, Mary is also called the Tower of Ivory.
This term is also used in the Song of Songs
(7:5) to describe the beloved bride.
(A similar term, Ivory Palace is mentioned in
Psalm 45, verse 9, for the same reason.)
Both instances foreshadow
The nuptial relationship
between Christ and his bride,
the Church,
as conveyed in St. Paul’s Letter to
the Ephesians.
Here though we remember, as Vatican II taught, that
Mary is “a type of the Church”:
She conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit and through her, our Savior
entered into this world.
As such,
“The Church indeed contemplating [Mary’s]
hidden sanctity,
imitating her charity, and faithfully fulling the
Father’s will, by receiving
the
Word of God in faith becomes a mother”
(Lumen Gentium, #64)
The role of mother is particularly clear in the term
Ark of the Covenant.
Remember in the Old Testament
the Ark of the Covenant
housed the Ten Commandments, the
Law of God.
As the Israelites journeyed to the Promised Land, a cloud,
signifying the presence of God, would
descend upon or “overshadow” the tent where
the Ark was kept.
Jesus came to fulfill
the
covenant and the law.
In the Annunciation
story,
Archangel Gabriel says
to Mary,
“The Holy Spirit will come
upon you and The Power of
The Most High
will overshadow you”
(Luke 1:35),
conveying the same notion.
Therefore, Mary
“houses”
Jesus in the womb; she is the
new “Ark.”
From this foundation flow the other titles: Jeremiah
predicted that the
Messiah would be named,
“The Lord our Justice” (23:6);
Mary is the Mirror of Justice because no one
better reflected the love and devotion
to our Lord in His life than Mary.
Because of her pure love
and because she “housed” Jesus,
she is
called House of Gold.
Jesus is the Wisdom
of God,
“the Word who became flesh
and dwelt among us”
(John 1:14);
therefore,
Mary, who bore our Lord,
is
Called Seat of Wisdom
For us, Mary is also a sign of great hope.
Vatican II stated, “The Mother of Jesus in the glory which she possesses body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come.
Likewise, she shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the Pilgrim People of God” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #68).
For this reason, she is called
Morning Star,
because she is a symbol of the victorious Christian
who perseveres in faith, and shares in
Christ’s messianic authority and victory
over the darkness of sin and death.
The term is found in the Book of Revelation (2:26-28):
“To the one who wins the victory, who keeps to my ways till the end, I will give authority over the nations– the same authority I received from my Father. He shall rule them with the rod of iron and shatter them like crockery; and I will give him the morning star.”
Also in Songs of Songs (6:10) we find,
“Who is this that
comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful
as the Moon,
as resplendent as the Sun…”; as
the Brightness
of a Light penetrating the
early morning darkness,
Mary heralds the coming of
her Son,
who is the Light of the World
(cf. John 1:5-10, 3:19).
She too is the Gate of Heaven.
Mary is the means by which our Lord
came down from heaven to free us from sin.
At the end of her life,
Mary was assumed
body and soul into heaven,
a fulfillment
of everlasting life and the resurrection
of the
body promised by Jesus.
Therefore, she is the gate through which Jesus
entered this world,
and gate of fulfilled promise by
which we will share everlasting life.
Therefore, we look to
her as
The Star of Sea.
As a star guides the sailor on the stormy sea to safe port,
so Mary, through her prayer and example,
guides us along
our
Journey of life,
over sometimes turbulent water, to the heavenly port.
In all,
Mary is the Mystical Rose.
The rose is considered the most beautiful flower,
the flower of royalty
which surpasses all others in fragrance.
A rose has a delicate bloom supported
by a strong stem with thorns for defense.
Similarly, our
Blessed Mother’s soul
reflects the love of God,
while her person represents a strong woman of
firm faith
conviction ready to defend the Lord.
She has the sweetness of sanctity and
the beauty of virtues.
In sum,
all of these titles remind us of the important
role of the
Blessed Mother in our Catholic spirituality.
She is a model of virtue and sanctity
as an individual,
a spouse, a mother, and a disciple
of the Lord.
Moreover,
she is a sign of the life to come.
Matthew 1:18 Adj-GNS
GRK: ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου
NAS: to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
KJV: with child of the Holy Ghost.
INT: through [the] Spirit HolyMatthew 1:20 Adj-GNS
GRK: πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου
NAS: has been conceived in her is of the HolySpirit.
KJV: is of the Holy Ghost.
INT: [the] Spirit is Holy
Matthew 3:11 Adj-DNS
GRK: ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί
NAS: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
KJV: you with the Holy Ghost, and
INT: with [the] Spirit Holy and with fire
Matthew 4:5 Adj-AFS
GRK: εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν καὶ
NAS: took Him into the holy city
KJV: up into the holy city, and
INT: to the holy city and
Matthew 7:6 Adj-ANS
GRK: δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσίν
NAS: what is holy to dogs,
KJV: that which is holy unto the dogs,
INT: Give that which [is] holy to the dogs
Matthew 12:32 Adj-GNS
GRK: πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται
NAS: against the Holy Spirit,
KJV: against the Holy Ghost,
INT: Spirit the Holy not it will be forgiven
Matthew 24:15 Adj-DMS
GRK: ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ ὁ ἀναγινώσκων
NAS: standing in the holy place
KJV: in the holy place,
INT: in [the] place holy (he who reads
Matthew 27:52 Adj-GMP
GRK: τῶν κεκοιμημένων ἁγίων ἠγέρθησαν
NAS: bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep
KJV: many bodies of the saints which slept
INT: of the fallen asleep saints arose
Matthew 27:53 Adj-AFS
GRK: εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν καὶ
NAS: they entered the holy city
KJV: and went into the holy city, and
INT: into the holy city and
Matthew 28:19 Adj-GNS
GRK: καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος
NAS: and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
KJV: of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
INT: and of the Holy Spirit
Mark 1:8 Adj-DNS
GRK: ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ
NAS: but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
KJV: you with the Holy Ghost.
INT: with Spirit Holy
Mark 1:24 Adj-NMS
GRK: εἶ ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: who You are -- the Holy One of God!
KJV: who thou art, the Holy One of God.
INT: you are the Holy [One] of God
Mark 3:29 Adj-ANS
GRK: πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὐκ ἔχει
NAS: against the Holy Spirit
KJV: against the Holy Ghost
INT: Spirit Holy never has
Mark 6:20 Adj-AMS
GRK: δίκαιον καὶ ἅγιον καὶ συνετήρει
NAS: that he was a righteous and holy man,
KJV: man and an holy, and observed
INT: righteous and holy and kept safe
Mark 8:38 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἀγγέλων τῶν ἁγίων
NAS: of His Father with the holy angels.
KJV: Father with the holy angels.
INT: angels holy
Mark 12:36 Adj-DNS
GRK: πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ Εἶπεν Κύριος
NAS: said in the Holy Spirit,
KJV: said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD
INT: Spirit holy said [the] Lord
Mark 13:11 Adj-NNS
GRK: πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον
NAS: for it is not you who speak, but [it is] the HolySpirit.
KJV: that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
INT: Spirit the Holy
Luke 1:15 Adj-GNS
GRK: καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου πλησθήσεται ἔτι
NAS: and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit
KJV: he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost,
INT: and [of the] Spirit holy he will be filled even
Luke 1:35 Adj-NNS
GRK: αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ
NAS: and said to her, The Holy Spirit
KJV: unto her, The Holy Ghost
INT: to her Spirit [the] Holy will come upon
Luke 1:35 Adj-NNS
GRK: τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον κληθήσεται υἱὸς
NAS: you; and for that reason the holy Child
KJV: also that holy thing which shall be born
INT: the born holy one will be called Son
Luke 1:41 Adj-GNS
GRK: ἐπλήσθη πνεύματος ἁγίου ἡ Ἐλισάβετ
NAS: was filled with the Holy Spirit.
KJV: was filled with the Holy Ghost:
INT: was filled with [the] Spirit Holy Elizabeth
Luke 1:49 Adj-ANS
GRK: δυνατός καὶ ἅγιον τὸ ὄνομα
NAS: great things for me; And holy is His name.
KJV: great things; and holy [is] his name.
INT: mighty one and holy [is] the name
Luke 1:67 Adj-GNS
GRK: ἐπλήσθη πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ ἐπροφήτευσεν
NAS: was filled with the Holy Spirit,
KJV: was filled with the Holy Ghost,
INT: was filled with [the] Spirit Holy and prophesied
Luke 1:70 Adj-GMP
GRK: στόματος τῶν ἁγίων ἀπ' αἰῶνος
NAS: by the mouth of His holy prophets
KJV: the mouth of his holy prophets, which
INT: mouth the holy of old
Luke 1:72 Adj-GFS
GRK: μνησθῆναι διαθήκης ἁγίας αὐτοῦ
NAS: And to remember His holy covenant,
KJV: to remember his holy covenant;
INT: to remember [the] covenant holy of him