In Leviticus, Animals that may and may not be eaten; Seafood that may or may not be eaten; Birds that may or may not be eaten; Insects that may or may not be eaten…

This is where I become a little bogged down reading The Bible and tempted to think that this has nothing to do with me and stop reading the Good Word.

Clean and unclean, way back in biblical times, what does it have to do with me and my life today?

That you may know the differences of the clean, and unclean, and know what you ought to eat, and what to refuse.

Do not defile your souls.

For I am the Lord your God: be holy because I am holy.

And then it hits me like a ton of bricks that my body, mind, voice and soul belong to God, not me. I am only here on earth for a short period of time in this human body called Andy Reistetter. My body is God’s Temple and not meant to be defiled in any manner, at any time. But, of course, I do so because of my sinful nature, Silly Ego and stupid ways of thinking.

Do I apply this same sort of biblical detailed analysis to what I eat and drink, to what my thoughts are, and the words that come out of my mouth? So much more than what they ate back in biblical times defiles my soul today. What do I see or watch on TV? What do I hear? What situations do I allow myself to be drawn into?

Ironically, this is all good food for thought, or clean food, as they said in The Bible.

Be aware: speak to yourself about these opportunities, and let God direct and power your ways to health and prosperity.

PS: I hope and pray that one day soon God will unlock the mysteries of cancer to us as he has for the leprosy of the biblical times.

Day 37: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Acts, Thoughts, & Words that may or may not be Lived…

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Leviticus Chapters 10-14

Bible Notes:

This Book of Leviticus is so called, because it treats chiefly of divine worship for which God had chosen the tribe of Levi.

After describing the ordination of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, it records the Mosaic laws of sacrifice, of legal purity, of holiness, of vows, and of tithes.

 

Leviticus Chapter 10: Destruction of Nadab and Abiu; Intoxicating drinks forbidden to priests; law of eating oblations; oblations not eaten by Aaron and his sons.

Nadab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron

Offering before the Lord strange fire: which was not commanded them, and fire coming out of the Lord destroyed them, and they died before the Lord.

I will be sanctified in them that approach to me, and I will be glorified in the sight of all the people.

And when Aaron heard this, he held his peace.

The Lord also said to Aaron: You shall not drink wine nor any thing that may make drunk, thou nor thy sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of testimony, lest you die…

Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons that were left.

How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies, having a sorrowful heart?

Leviticus Chapter 11: Animals that may and may not be eaten; Seafood that may or may not be eaten; Birds that may or may not be eaten; Insects that may or may not be eaten; A law of uncleanness; Uncleanness of reptiles; The touching of dead beasts; Creeping things are abominable.

Say to the children of Israel:

Hoof divided and cheweth the cud, you shall eat.

Cheweth the cud—partially digested food regurgitated from the first stomach of cattle and other ruminants to the mouth for a second chewing. 2. chew the cud, to reflect or think over something.

Camel, you shall not eat, but reckon it among the unclean

Cherogrillus—the shãphãn is not the porcupine, but a very peculiar animal of about the same size, dwelling among the rocks, and in holes, and called in Israel “bear-rat”, on account of some resemblance with these two quadrupeds.

Has fins and scales, you shall eat; others unclean.

Eagle, osprey, vulture, heron shall not eat.

Hath the legs behind longer, wherewith it hoppeth upon the earth, that you shall eat.

Touch the carcasses of them… he shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until the sun set.

Do not defile your souls.

For I am the Lord your God: be holy because I am holy.

That you may know the differences of the clean, and unclean, and know what you ought to eat, and what to refuse.

Leviticus Chapter 12: Purification of women after childbirth; Offerings of women after childhood.

Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:

Man child; She shall be unclean seven days, according to the days of separation of her flowers; three and thirty days in the blood of her purification.

Maid child, unclean two weeks, sixty-six days.

So she shall be cleansed…

Leviticus Chapter 13: Discerning leprosy; Diagnosis of leprosy; Studying an ulcer for signs of leprosy; Discerning leprosy in a burn; Discerning leprosy in the head or beard; Fate of lepers; Disposal of leprous garments.

The man in whose skin or flesh shall arise a different color or a blister…

The stroke of leprosy

And upon his (Aaron the priest) judgment he shall be separated

He shall declare him clean because it is but a scab.

Shall be judged an inveterate leprosy, and grown into the skin.

Whiteness

For the plague of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer.

Because the evil of leprosy is broken out in the scar.

The bald head or bald forehead

Shall have his clothes hanging loose.

Al the time that he is a leper and unclean, he shall dwell alone without camp.

He shall judge it (garment) unclean, and shall burn it with fire.

Leviticus Chapter 14: Law of cleansing the leper; Marking the cleansed leper; The cleansing of a leper who is poor; leprosy in a house; Cleansing leprosy from a house; If the Leprosy has spread; If the leprosy has not spread.

Per Wiki, leprosy is a long-term infection by bacteria. Initially, infections are without symptoms and typically remain this way for 5 to 20 years. Symptoms that develop include granulomas of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This may result in a lack of ability to feel pain, thus loss of parts of extremities due to repeated injuries or infection due to unnoticed wounds. Weakness and poor eyesight may also be present.

Leprosy is spread between people. This is thought to occur through a cough or contact with fluid from the nose of an infected person. Leprosy occurs more commonly among those living in poverty. Contrary to popular belief, it is not highly contagious.

Leprosy is curable with a treatment known as multidrug therapy. These treatments are provided free of charge by the World Health Organization. Globally in 2012, the number of chronic cases of leprosy was 189,000, down from some 5.2 million in the 1980s. The number of new cases was 230,000. Most new cases occur in 16 countries, with India accounting for more than half. In the past 20 years, 16 million people worldwide have been cured of leprosy. About 200 cases are reported per year in the United States.

 

Growing up at 2 Florence Street, I felt we were somewhere between riff raff and hifalutin.

We weren’t poor but we weren’t rich.

There was a sense of community with a willingness to help those willing to be helped and accept and respect those that didn’t want to be helped.

On both ends of the spectrum and for us in the middle we had a good, meaningful and fun life most of the time.

I love that Binghamton, New York is my hometown, sort of a Mayberry, or better yet Raleigh of the North!

Don’t we all think we are a prophet, especially in our personal lives and career disciplines? If we have done something for so many years, aren’t we the expert?

“A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and among his own kindred, and in his own house,” mused Jesus. He could not work any miracles in his hometown of Nazareth except a few by laying hands upon them.

And he marveled at their unbelief.

Jesus was astonished, surprised that his own neighbors did not honor him or give him his credit due. So much so his MOJO was impacted and he could not work any miracles.

Don’t get so hifalutin’ with me, may have been the attitude of the Nazarenes. You are the same as me as we were both born here in Nazareth!

Maybe they were riff raff and missed an opportunity to become saved?

Who knows what belies a person that returns to his or her hometown. For what purpose? For what motive?

Aren’t we all prophets that predict our future and that of the world from our heart-based thoughts and prayers?

Looks like the disciples had an internship to test the waters to see if they liked the work and if Jesus liked them.

And he summoned the Twelve (disciples) and began to send them forth two by two; and he gave them power over the unclean spirits.

Two by two; I wonder what the pairings were.

And the apostles came together to meet Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.

Mission accomplished. Internship completed and successful Full time job may be available after graduation. Stay close. Stay tuned in.

From Riff Raff to Hifalutin; Prophets to Disciples to Apostles…

There is no Riff Raff or Hifalutin or in-between as we are all same-level Children of God!

And each one of us is a Prophet, Disciple, and Apostle too!

Who are You?

Past, present, future?

For all of Eternity, be like Jesus!

Day 38: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; From Riff Raff to Hifalutin; Prophets to Disciples to Apostles; Who are You?

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Mark Chapter 6.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

Saint Mark, a convert of Saint Peter, was the son of a certain Mary, whose house in Jerusalem was a gathering place for Christians.

His Gospel, based on Saint Peter’s preaching, aims to prove to the Gentiles the divinity of Christ, be recounting His numerous miracles and examples of His power over devils.

 

Matthew Chapter 6: Jesus of Nazareth; The mission of the Apostles; Herod hears of Christ; John the Baptist imprisoned by Herod; John the Baptist beheaded by Herod; Return of the disciples; Jesus preaches to a large crowd; He desires to feed them; Jesus feeds five thousand; Jesus walks o water; Other miracles

He went into his own country…

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon? And are not also his sisters here with us?

“A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and among his own kindred, and in his own house?”

And he marvelled because of their unbelief.

Marvelled—to wonder at (usually followed by a clause as object): I marvel that you were able to succeed against such odds; to wonder or be curious about (usually followed by a clause as object): A child marvels that the stars can be. Noun: something that causes wonder, admiration, or astonishment; a wonderful thing; a wonder or prodigy: The new bridge is an engineering marvel.

And he summoned the Twelve and began to send them forth two by two; and he gave them power over the unclean spirits.

And he instructed them to take nothing for their journey, but a staff only… but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

“Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you leave the place. And whoever does not receive you, or listen to you go forth from there, and shake off the dust from your feet for a witness against them.”

And going forth, they preached that men should repent, and they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many sick people, and healed them.

It is John whom I (Herod) beheaded; he has risen from the dead.”

Because of Herodius, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.

“It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.”

For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and protected him…

When Herod on his birthday…

Herodius’ own daughter having come in and danced, she pleased Herod…

Ask of me what thou willest, and I will give it to thee.

To her mother, What am I to ask for?

“I want thee right away to give me on a dish the head of John the Baptist.”

And the apostles came together to meet Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.

Hifalutin’—pompous; bombastic; haughty; pretentious.

Alteration of high-fluting. In his book, The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg records that in a nascent America, when the well-to-do travelled by steamboat, said passengers were referred to as highfalutin due to the high fluted funnels on the boats. Compare riffraff.

Riffraff—people, or a group of people, regarded as disreputable or worthless: a pack of riffraff; the lowest classes; rabble: the riffraff of the city; trash; rubbish.

To trace this one, we have to start in medieval French. There was then a set expression rifle et rafle. These words are from the verbs rifler, to spoil or strip, and raffler, to carry off. The phrase referred to the plundering of the bodies of the dead on the battlefield and the carrying off of the booty.

And they had no leisure even to eat.

And had compassion on them for they were like sheep without a shepherd

“You yourselves five them some food.”

And they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties.

Now those who had eaten were five thousand men.

Walking upon the sea, and he would have passed them by

“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.”

And they were utterly beside themselves with astonishment, for they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was blinded.

And as many that touched him were saved.

Prophet—a person who speaks for God or a deity, or by divine inspiration.

Disciple—one of the 12 personal followers of Christ; one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1; .any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime; any follower of Christ;  (initial capital letter) a member of the Disciples of Christ; a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower: a disciple of Freud.

Apostle—any of the early followers of Jesus who carried the Christian message into the world; (sometimes initial capital letter) any of the original 12 disciples called by Jesus to preach the gospel: Simon Peter, the brothers James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot; the first or the best-known Christian missionary in any region or country; Eastern Church. one of the 70 disciples of Jesus; the title of the highest ecclesiastical official in certain Protestant sects; (among the Jews of the Christian epoch) a title borne by persons sent on foreign missions; one of the 12 administrative officials of the Mormon Church.

The Dynamics of Our Life Prevent Us from Going Back, Only Forward…

But which way is forward

Trying to understand all the men and women sexual uncleanness in Leviticus Chapter 15 took me back to my early high school years going to the library and sneaking a look at a certain book in hopes of figuring out the birds and the bees. Years later I would find the little red book that my Dad gave me in that regard. When I opened it to read it, the first thing it said was to not just give this to your son!

The mystery of life unravels naturally when we follow our natural instincts and let nature take its natural course hopefully without any excesses of those natural instincts and with love for God, self and neighbor as so well stated in the Big Bible Book.

I am the Lord your God. Keep my laws and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them.

Speaking to the children of Israel, God said through Moses that you shall not do according to the custom of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelt: neither shall you act according to the manner of the country of Chanaan, into which I will bring you, nor shall you walk in their ordinances.

Wait a minute, Israel was Jacob and Jacob was the son of Isaac who I think was from Chanaan. It strikes me odd at first that everything didn’t just fall into place when the Israelites returned home from Egypt. There is no back to the future or back to the past in life. Everything is dynamic and ever changing. God returned a new people with a new but old covenant to their land of origin.

So to be it with the dynamics of the Old Testament and the Old Covenant and the New Testament and the New Covenant.

No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, to uncover her nakedness.

 

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, thy mother, thy father’s wife; thy sister by father or mother; thy son’s daughter; thy father’s wife’s daughter; thy father’s sister; thy mother’s sister; thy father’s brother: neither shalt thou approach to his wife, who is joined by to thee by affinity; thy daughter in law: because she is thy son’s wife, neither shalt thou discover her shame; thy brother’s wife; thy wife and her daughter; her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to discover her shame: because they are her flesh and such copulation is incest.

Thou shall not approach to a woman having her flowers, neither shalt thou uncover her nakedness.

Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbor’s wife.

Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination.

Thou shall not copulate with any beast, neither shalt thou de defiled with it.

Some things explicitly stated in the Old Testament are trumped by the two Golden Commandments to love God and love your neighbor. Not to judge so that we are not judged.

I don’t think anything in the Old Testament trumps anything in the New Testament.

Who am I to judge what two human beings consent to behind closed doors?

The Dynamics of Our Life Prevent Us from Going Back, Only Forward…

Day 39: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Dynamics of Our Life Prevent Us from Going Back, Only Forward…

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Leviticus Chapters 15-18

Bible Notes:

This Book of Leviticus is so called, because it treats chiefly of divine worship for which God had chosen the tribe of Levi.

After describing the ordination of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, it records the Mosaic laws of sacrifice, of legal purity, of holiness, of vows, and of tithes.

 

Leviticus Chapter 15: Uncleanness of men in their issues; Offerings of men cleansed of their issues; Uncleanness of women in their issues; Offerings of women cleansed of issues; Warning against uncleanness.

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The man that hath an issue of seed, shall be unclean. And then shall he be judged subject to this evil.

‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge, such a discharge is unclean.’

If he who suffereth this disease be healed…

The man from whom the seed of copulation goeth out.

The woman, with whom he copulateth, shall be washed with water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

The women, who at the return of the month…

In the days of her separation

If a man copulateth with her in the time of her flowers…

To take heed of uncleanness, that they may not die in their filth…

The law of him that hath the issue of seed, and that defiled by copulation

And of the man that sleepeth with her.

Leviticus Chapter 16: The Day of Atonement; Vesting of the high priest; Casting lots for the two goats; Entry into the Holy of Holies; The emissary goat; The date of the feast.

When they were slain upon their offering strange fire…

The emissary goat…

Emissary—a representative sent on a mission or errand: emissaries to negotiate a peace; an agent sent on a mission of a secret nature, as a spy.

That he may pour out prayers upon him, and let him go into the wilderness.

And may expiate the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and from their transgressions, and all their sins.

And when the goat hath carried all their iniquities into an uninhabited land, and shall be let go into the desert…

Accomplish the atonement

And this shall be to you an everlasting ordinance: The seventh month, the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work…

Afflict—to distress with mental or bodily pain; trouble greatly or grievously: to be afflicted with arthritis; Obsolete:  to overthrow; defeat; to humble.

You shall humble your souls…

Leviticus Chapter 17: Laws for slaying of animals; Sacrifices to devils forbidden; Eating of blood forgiven.

Shall be guilty of blood: as if he had shed blood, so shall he perish from the midst of his people.

And they shall no more sacrifice their victims to devils, with whom they have committed fornication.

If any man… eat blood, I will set my face against his soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

Let him poor out its blood, and cover it with earth.

You shall not eat the blood of any flesh at all, because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whosoever eateth it, shall be cut off.

Leviticus Chapter 18: Imitation of Gentiles forbidden; Prohibited marriages; Unlawful lusts; Punishment for unlawful lusts.

You shall not do according to the custom of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelt: neither shall you act according to the manner of the country of Chanaan, into which I will bring you, nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall do my judgments, and shall observe my precepts, and shall walk in them. I am the Lord your God. Keep my laws and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. I am the Lord.

No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, to uncover her nakedness.

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, thy mother, thy father’s wife; thy sister by father or mother; thy son’s daughter; thy father’s wife’s daughter; thy father’s sister; thy mother’s sister; thy father’s brother: neither shalt thou approach to his wife, who is joined by to thee by affinity; thy daughter in law: because she is thy son’s wife, neither shalt thou discover her shame; thy brother’s wife; thy wife and her daughter; her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to discover her shame: because they are her flesh and such copulation is incest.

Thou shall not approach to a woman having her flowers, neither shalt thou uncover her nakedness.

Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbor’s wife.

Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination.

Thou shall not copulate with any beast, neither shalt thou de defiled with it.

A woman shall not lie down to a beast; nor copulate with it: it is a heinous crime.

Jesus is all about heart, not body, not belly.

A heart-led mind and the thoughts, words and actions that emerge.

“There is nothing outside a man that, entering into him, can defile him: but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile a man,” said Jesus.

Then explaining to His disciples: “For it does not enter the heart, but his belly, and passes out into the drain.”

Only our True Self and God control our hearts, hopefully with a touch of our Eternal Child Within.

“For from within, out of the heart, come evil thoughts, adulteries, immorality, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, shamelessness, jealousy, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile a man.”

And within, for me at times, is a sinful and selfish nature. That’s why I have to trust God and try to emulate Jesus in my thoughts, words and behaviors the best that I can. Even if woefully short of that shining standard, it may be alright to find a ‘reasonably happy’ life as proclaimed in the extended Reinhold Neibuhr Serenity Prayer.

 

And supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next.

Trust is the big word here to understand God’s plan for my life.

Even the disciples ever so close to Jesus did not fully comprehend and embrace the trust needed in a loving relationship, especially with Christ.

Why do you argue because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive, nor understand? How is that you do not understand?

Jesus challenged the disciples.

Trust in the Lord!

“If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Coming from our heart inside-out to the world is a good start for the above proposal for discipleship!

Day 40 Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Coming from our Heart inside-out to the World!

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Mark Chapters 7-8.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

Saint Mark, a convert of Saint Peter, was the son of a certain Mary, whose house in Jerusalem was a gathering place for Christians.

His Gospel, based on Saint Peter’s preaching, aims to prove to the Gentiles the divinity of Christ, be recounting His numerous miracles and examples of His power over devils.

 

Matthew Chapter 7: The Pharisees question Jesus; Jesus calls them hypocrites; He accuses them of breaking God’s law; Jesus speaks to the crowd; Jesus explains a parable to His disciples; The Canaanite woman; Healing of a deaf-mute.

Why do not thy disciples walk according to the traditions of the ancients, instead of eating bread with defiled hands?

“Why did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written. This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; and in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men.”

“Any support thou mightiest have had from me is Corban (that is, given to God). And you do not allow him to do anything further for his father or mother. You make void the commandments of God by your tradition, which you have handed down; and many suchlike things you do.”

“There is mothing outside a man that, entering into him, can defile him: but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile a man.”

Explaining to His disciples: “For it does not enter the heart, but his belly, and passes out into the drain.”

“For from within, out of the heart, come evil thoughts, adulteries, immorality, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, shamelessness, jealousy, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile a man.”

“Let the children first have their fill, for it is not fair to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.”

Yes, Lord, for even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.

“Because of this answer, go thy way: the devil has gone out of thy daughter.”

He put his fingers into the man’s ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue. “Be thou open.”

And he charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, so much more did they continue to publish it,

Matthew Chapter 8: Jesus has compassion on the crowd; Jesus feeds four thousand; The Pharisees ask a sign; The leaven of the Pharisees; A blind man at Bethsaida; Peter’s confession.

“I have compassion on the crowds…”

And the Pharisees came forth, and began to dispute with him, demanding from him a sign from heaven, to test him.

And sighing deeply in spirit, he said. “Why does this generation demand a sign? Amen I say to you, a sign shall not be given to this generation.”

Why do you argue because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive, nor understand? How is that you do not understand?

Entreated—to ask (a person) earnestly; beseech; implore; beg:  to entreat the judge for mercy; to ask earnestly for (something): He entreated help in his work.

And applying spittle to his eyes

“I see men as though they were trees walking about.”

“Who do men say that I am?”

“But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ.”

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things…

And what he said he spoke openly

Jesus rebuked Peter” “Get behind me satan, for those dost not mind the things of God, but those of men.”

“If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

The Old Testament is a tale of repetition!

Repetition in the sense that God continually wanted to establish a covenant, an understanding, with his chosen people, the children of Israel.

Continually wanted to perfect a relationship with us even though we are imperfect—a so-called imperfect perfection?

God tells us “I am the Lord your God” thirteen times alone in Leviticus Chapter 19.

More repetition. In some ways I get tired of repetition, forgiving myself and others and starting anew again hoping for better relationships in the future. There is a time and place for everything or said another way, a season for everything. It’s summer now so if I am looking for it to snow I will be waiting for a long time or at least six months.

He tells us to fear the Lord thy God two times.

And he tells us to love strangers and out neighbors as ourselves.

Yes, we do need to fear somethings in life to shake us out of our bad habits and boring repetition at times.

Be ye holy, because I the Lord your God am holy.

And to be holy because He is.

Seek the higher standard, grow in the right way and in the right direction, knowing we will never reach it. We will never ever be perfect!

How then do we deal with our mistakes, our imperfections?

Huge question once we accept that hardships is the pathway to peace and fulfillment in life!

Lots of law and order, high standards and fear do fill this part of The Bible.

But there is always hope and always love, God’s love for you and me, for us!

And oh, by the way, according to God, Moses, and Aaron, priest may marry, may have spouse per Leviticus, Chapter 21 of The Holy Bible.

He shall take a virgin unto his wife, but a widow or one that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of his own people.

God, Repetition, Fear and God, Repetition, Fear and… of course change, hopefully and lovingly change for the better! With God comes hope and love, always and that’s always good to hear! Say that again and again and again…

Day 41: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; God, Repetition, Fear and God, Repetition, Fear and-

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Leviticus Chapters 19-23

Bible Notes:

This Book of Leviticus is so called, because it treats chiefly of divine worship for which God had chosen the tribe of Levi.

After describing the ordination of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, it records the Mosaic laws of sacrifice, of legal purity, of holiness, of vows, and of tithes.

 

Leviticus Chapter 19: Holiness required; Fear of parents and observance of Sabbaths; Idols forbidden; Peace offerings; Helping the poor; Stealing, lying, and deceit; Swearing falsely and profanity; Oppression and payment of wages; Treatment of deaf and blind; Judging; Talebearing; Hatred and criticism; Love of neighbors; Mingling; Immorality with servants; Eating of fruit; Eating blood and interpreting dreams; Shaving and haircutting; Disfiguring the body; Morality of daughters; Sabbaths and the sanctuary; Wizards and soothsayers; Honoring old age; Treatment of strangers; Weights and measures.

Be ye holy, because I the Lord your God am holy.

Let every one fear his father, and his mother.

I am the Lord your God.

I am the Lord your God.

Nut shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers to take.

I am the Lord your God.

I am the Lord.

Calumniate—to make false and malicious statements about; slander.

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I am the Lord.

Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. But judge thy neighbor according to justice.

I am the Lord.

Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself.

I am the Lord.

Thou shalt not make thy cattle to gender with beasts of any other kind.

And the priest shall pray for him and for his sin before the Lord, and he shall have mercy on him, and the sin shall be forgiven.

I am the Lord your God.

You shall not divine nor observe dreams.

I am the Lord your God.

I am the Lord.

I am the Lord your God.

Honor the person of the aged man.

Fear the Lord thy God.

I am the Lord.

If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not upbraid him, but let him be among you as one of the same country: and you shall love him as yourselves; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Upbraid—to find fault with or reproach severely; censure: The military tribunal upbraided the soldier for his cowardice.

I am the Lord your God.

I am the Lord your God, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. Keep all my precepts, and all my judgments, and do them.

Precepts—a commandment or direction given as a rule of action or conduct.

I am the Lord.

Leviticus Chapter 20: Punishment for offering children to Moloch; Punishment for consulting magicians; Punishment for cursing parents; Punishment for unlawful lusts; Laws to be obeyed; Death for diviners.

Give of his seed to the idol Moloch, dying let him die: the people of the land shall stone him.

And hath defiled my sanctuary, and profaned my holy name.

To commit fornication with Moloch

Moloch—is the Biblical name relating to a Canaanite god associated with child sacrifice

Magicians and soothsayers

Soothsayers—a person who professes to foretell events.

Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy because I am the Lord your God

Let them be put to death, both the adulterer and the adulteress

If anyone lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination, let them be put to death.

Hath uncovered the shame of his own flesh

You shall be holy unto me, because I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from other people, that you should be mine.

A man, or woman, in whom there is a pythonical or divining spirit, dying let them die: they shall stone them.

Pythoinical—gigantic or monstrous.

Divining Spirit—One of the only named spirits in the Bible, the python spirit is a coiling spirit that works to squeeze out the breathe of life (the Holy Spirit) and cut off your lifeline to God (prayer).

Leviticus Chapter 21: Mourning of priests; Holiness of priests; Wives of priests; Daughters of priests; Things forbidden to priests; Marriage of priests; Priests with blemishes.

But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing that may make him unclean.

They shall be holy to their God… and therefore they shall be holy.

The high priest, that is to say, the priest who is the greatest among his brethren

He shall take a virgin unto his wife, but a widow or one that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of his own people.

Because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary

Leviticus Chapter 22: Priests who are unclean; Eating sanctified things; Animals must be without blemish; Age of animals; Eating of the victim; Sanctity commanded.

In whom there is uncleanness, shall perish before the Lord

Or that suffereth a running of the seed

Leviticus Chapter 23: Holy days; The Sabbath; The Passover; Offerings of firstfruits; Pentecost or Feast of Weeks; Harvesting; First day of the seventh month; The Day of Atonement; Feast of Tabernacles.

These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy.

Because it is the rest of the Sabbath, shall be called holy. You shall do no work on that day.

The solemnity of the unleavened bread of the Lord

The firstfruits of your harvest

It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your dwellings and generations.

The sound of trumpets

The day of atonement… you shall afflict your souls on that day.

The feasts of the tabernacles

The day of assembly and congregation

I made the children of Israel to dwell in tabernacles.

“I do believe; help my unbelief,” said the father of the boy with an evil spirit honestly in a reply to Jesus questioning if all things are possible to those who believe.

Yes, I believe!

No, I do not believe but want to believe, help my son!

Jesus cast out the devil that the disciples were unable to although they had been successfully casting out devils as empowered by Christ himself.

“This kind can be cast out in no way except by prayer and fasting,” was Jesus’ explanation!

Prayer can move mountains.

Fasting, or in my case, tracking closely what goes into my body temple, certainly puts me in a clear, present mindset to meditate and pray.

When Jesus shared the second prediction of the passion, the disciples did not understand but were afraid to ask him.

Afraid of what—embarrassment, the answer, Jesus ridiculing them? Did Jesus ever ridicule any one?

I have been afraid to ask certain people if they really loved in fear that the answer would be ‘no.’ What do you say when someone says ‘no, I do not really love you?’

Look at how Jesus responded to betrayal and denial. Don’t react, just act from the inside out. Act from the inside where Jesus is in your heart. In the end we die no matter how much other people love us.

There is no fear in trusting Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord.

The disciples were arguing on the way to Capharnaum about which one of them were the greatest. Jesus said “If any man wishes to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”

Do not envy but realize that, as Jesus said, “He who is not against you is for you.”

Gentler, more compassion, less violent perspective of the law than in the Old Testament. Bit knowing that the pain of the perpetrator is real and present whether or not the person thinking, saying, or doing something bad. Once aware, the pain that comes from within is the most hurtful, then the pain inflicted on the outside from the avenging victim or society in general. That’s why we need Jesus firmly and securely in our heart and God in our thoughts and The Holy Spirit throughout our being.

A more fire and brimstone God came to the rescue on how to avoid scandal.

“If hand, foot, or eye is an occasion of sin to thee cut it off, cut it off, pluck it out, better for you to enter life, enter into life everlasting, and enter into the kingdom of God then to be cast into hell of unquenchable fire. Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.”

But what is the hand, foot or eye is a thought, a past word spoken, or a past action taken only to be regretted?

Cut it out, pluck it out of your memory. There is no further use for it.

The Old Testament, in light of the New Testament, reveals that our creating God was and is always first a loving, compassionate and accepting God that will never abandon us. He never did trying as he did to share his wisdom and design for life.

There is a new covenant, a new opportunity each and every day we wake up to.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Forget about messing up yesterday or fearing tragedy coming tomorrow.

Today is the day, let’s live it with God’s power and in His direction!

Amen. Al-le-lu-ia!

Day 42: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; “I do Believe, Help my Unbelief!”

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Mark Chapter 9.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

Saint Mark, a convert of Saint Peter, was the son of a certain Mary, whose house in Jerusalem was a gathering place for Christians.

His Gospel, based on Saint Peter’s preaching, aims to prove to the Gentiles the divinity of Christ, be recounting His numerous miracles and examples of His power over devils.

 

Matthew Chapter 9:  Jesus transfigured; On the coming of Elias; Disciples unable to cast out devil; The faith of the possessed boy’s father; Jesus casts out the devil; The second prediction of the passion; Against ambition; Against envy; Avoiding scandal.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a mountain off by themselves, and was transfigured before them.

And there appeared to them Elias with Moses, and they were talking to Jesus.

For they were struck with fear

“This is my beloved Son; hear him.”

When he shall have risen from the dead,” might mean…

My son, who has a dumb spirit

Have compassion on us and help us

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

I do believe; help my unbelief.

“Thou deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him and enter him no more.”

“This kind can be cast out in no way except by prayer and fasting.”

When Jesus shared the second prediction of the passion, the disciples did not understand but were afraid to ask him.

The disciples were arguing on the way to Capharnaum about which one of them were the greatest. Jesus said “If any man wishes to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”

“Whoever receives one such little child for my sake, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

“For he who is not against you is for you.”

“If hand, foot, or eye is an occasion of sin to thee cut it off, cut it off, pluck it out, better for you to enter life, enter into life everlasting, and enter into the kingdom of God then to be cast into hell of unquenchable fire. Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.”

Mission Accomplished as we read and meditate on the last chapters of The Book of Leviticus which treats chiefly of divine worship for which God had chosen the tribe of Levi. After describing the ordination of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, it records the Mosaic laws of sacrifice, of legal purity, of holiness, of vows, and of tithes.

I never knew that the original tabernacle was designed to be moved as the chosen children of God moved to The Promise Land. This was all very fascinating to me and gave me a new sense and perspective of worshiping God The Father, Jesus Christ His Son and my Personal Savior and The Holy Spirit.

To be a disciple means to be disciplined in prayer and meditation and how we live our lives.

God spoke to the Israelites as they lived near Mount Sinai in terms of “when you have entered into the land which I will give you,” and I feel the same promise of God leading me through my personal journey that we call life. But more important the being beyond what we call life, life everlasting in heaven.

“For it is a year of rest to the land,” even God taught us to let the land rest for a year every seven years. Like us, resting on the Sabbath every seven days. Or me resting this year after four years of intense world travel and an inspiration gathering-type of nomadic living. Time to rest, process the last four years and get a clear picture of what God wants me to do with the rest of my life. TROML Baby!

“Every man shall return to his possessions, and every one shall go back to his former family, because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year,” wrote God in Chapter 25 of Leviticus.

“Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfil them: that you may dwell in the land without fear.”

Maybe that is why I feel inspired to build “Close to Heaven” up on Prospect Mountain in my hometown of Binghamton, New York?

“I will give you my blessing the sixth year, and it shall yield the fruits of three years.”

God covers us in the lean years. I know this to be true!

“The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me. For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under the condition of redemption. Until the year of the jubilee. For in that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient possessor.”

Like my father said in his later years of living life in a free state of spirit, mind, and body; “Everything is Temporary.”

While America is all about personal rights and ownership, in reality because of our temporary nature, we are just renting everything, including our temple bodies. We think we own it but can’t take it with us. Ditto for working for the Lord versus whoever it is that we call our boss. God is boss and brings us home on His schedule, not ours. Ultimate control is temporary and an illusion in life.

“If thy brother, constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee, thou shall not oppress him. For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt: let them not be sold as bondsmen. But oppress not your brethren the children of Israel by might.”

Be compassionate to yourself and one another and God will be compassionate to you!

“I am the Lord your God: you shall not make to yourselves any idol or graven thing… Keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. I will give you rain in due season. And you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear, I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall be none to make you afraid. You shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you. I will look on you, and make you increase: you shall be multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you.”

Sounds like and is a good deal, teaming up with and being loyal and disciplined to God.

“Let there be equal judgment among you, whether he be a stranger, or a native that offends: because I am the Lord your God. I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off. I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”

Even in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, God was loving, compassionate and walking among us.

Mission Accomplished, A Spiritual Life in the Old Testament & Today!

Day 43: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Mission Accomplished, A Spiritual Life in the Old Testament & Today!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Leviticus Chapters 24-27

Bible Notes:

This Book of Leviticus is so called, because it treats chiefly of divine worship for which God had chosen the tribe of Levi.

After describing the ordination of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, it records the Mosaic laws of sacrifice, of legal purity, of holiness, of vows, and of tithes.

 

Leviticus Chapter 24: Oil for the lamps; Loaves of proposition; God orders Moses to stone a blasphemer; Penal code; Stoning of blasphemer.

Command the children of Israel

Being received by the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant

And when he had blasphemed the name, and had cursed it

And let them that heard him, put their hands upon his head, and let all the people stone him.

And the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses

The man that curseth his God, shall bear his sin…

Let there be equal judgment among you, whether he be a stranger, or a native that offends: because I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus Chapter 25: The sabbatical year; The jubilee year; Food for the sabbatical year; Redemption of possessions; Compassion for the poor; Treatment of servants; Redemption of servants.

When you have entered into the land which I will give you…

For it is a year of rest to the land.

Every man shall return to his possessions, and every one shall go back to his former family, because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year.

Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfil them: that you may dwell in the land without fear…

I will give you my blessing the sixth year, and it shall yield the fruits of three years…

The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me. For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under the condition of redemption.

Until the year of the jubilee. For in that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient possessor.

The house of the Levites may always be redeemed.

Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest: fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee.

If thy brother, constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee, thou shall not oppress him…

For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt: let them not be sold as bondsmen.

But oppress not your brethren the children of Israel by might.

Leviticus Chapter 26: Idolatry forbidden; Blessing for the obedient; Punishment for the disobedient; Repentance will bring God’s mercy.

I am the Lord your God: you shall not make to yourselves any idol or graven thing… Keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

I will give you rain in due season.

And you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear, I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall be none to make you afraid.

You shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you.

I will look on you, and make you increase: you shall be multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you.

I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off. I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

But if you do not hear me, nor do all my commandments… and to make void my covenant: I will also do these things to you…

I will break the pride of your stubbornness

I will send the pestilence in the midst of you

Pestilence—a deadly or virulent epidemic disease; bubonic plague; something that is considered harmful, destructive, or evil.

You shall eat, and not be filled.

So that you shall eat the flesh of your sons and of your daughters

I will destroy your high places, and break your idols.

And my soul shall abhor you

And I will scatter you among the Gentiles

Leviticus Chapter 27: Vows; Sanctified possessions; The firstborn belong to the Lord; Tithes.

The man that shall have made a vow, and promised his soul to God…

And cannot be changed, that is to say, neither a better for a worse, nor a worse for a better.

If a man vow his house, and sanctify it to the Lord…

The firstborn, which belong to the Lord…

All tithes of the land… are the Lord’s and are sanctified to him.

Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?

“What did Moses command you?

Moses permitted us to write a notice of dismissal, and to put her away.

“By reason of the hardness of your heart he wrote you that commandment. But from the beginning of all creation God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore now they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”

As a person of free will that chose to become divorced, gospel readings like these have to be taken with a clear, open and present mind and with a heart full of and connected to Jesus. One realizes that mistakes, sins happen in our life because of our sinful and selfish nature. I can rationalize my divorce as just another sin yet being one of the Ten Commandments that is not easily done or should it be. The heart of the matter is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and God and my Personal Savior and God The Father and The Holy Spirit. Only through this relationship can any sin, especially divorce, be completely forgive with compassion, honesty and faith. Over time, God renews us white as snow to go on with our bright and hopeful lives as long as we do not intentionally sin and expect to be automatically forgiven without feeling remorse or pain. Let us rejoice in that we are human beings, imperfect in nature, yet made perfect each day anew in our faithful devotion to Christ, God and The Holy Spirit. Amen. Alleluia!

Yes, my heart did get hard. Yes, issues of my childhood like abandonment, isolation and despair did overtake me at that point in my life. I simply could not figure out why things were happening to me all the while forgetting they weren’t happening to me but rather were coming from me. With a hardened heart and a selfish mind one can quickly develop the wrong perspective of life and be convinced to go down the right path when it clearly isn’t the right path, but only the apparent less painful path. But life goes on and we learn from our mistakes and sins or at least hopefully we learn and live to not repeat them to any great extent.

“Why dost thou call me good? No one is good but only God.”

This is confusing to me. Isn’t God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit one God together? Maybe Jesus was just humbling himself to His Father, Our Father in Heaven who created all things and directed Jesus to come to life as a human being to show us the way. Only God is good, no one else, no other human being is as good as God, not to that extent of goodness.

Good Master, what shall I do to gain eternal life?

“One thing is lacking in thee; go, sell whatever thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.”

But his face fell at the saying, and he went away sad, for he had great possessions.

We all have our own individual cross or crosses to bear. Are we honest enough to recognize them through our human denial, justification, and rationalization? Can we grown in our relationship with Christ to trust Him enough to surrender and let go of these shortcomings. Can we begin anew in our hearts and minds each day?

Jesus predicted the passion for the third time to His disciples.

They did not fully comprehend and neither do we though we think we do. We are not God and cannot fully comprehend His mysteries of life and death and resurrection. We think we dominate and control the world collectively as human beings but we have no clue on how to change our hearts or the hearts of others. We are still killing each other savagely same as in the Old Testament times. Let’s start with ourselves, our neighbors and friends and family to be cleansed from as much sin as possible.

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the Scribes; and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and put him to death, and on the third day he will rise again.”

But I am the best, the most faithful follower of Jesus!

“But it is not so among you (the disciples). On the contrary, whoever wishes to become great shall be your servant: and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be the slave to all; for the Son of Man also has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Rich and self-centered. Not a good place to be as one enters the final phases of his or her life.

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes! Hosanna in the highest!

King of the world on our terms or King of the Heavens on His terms?

Why on earth did Jesus kill the fig tree for no apparent reason? He knew it was out of His season.

But when he (Jesus) came up it (fig tree); he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. Then he spoke to it saying, “May no one ever eat fruit of thee henceforward forever.”

Rabbi, behold, the fig tree that thou didst curse is withered up.

“Therefore I say to you, all things whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come to you.”

Did Jesus pray that the fig tree would bear fruit no more? Why?

“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of thieves.”

And the chief priests and the Scribes heard it, and they sought a way to destroy him; for they were afraid of him, because all the crowd were astonished at his teaching.

New kid on the block with the future generations’ way of living by love, not mere laws.

And the chief priests and the Scribes heard it, and they sought a way to destroy him; for they were afraid of him, because all the crowd were astonished at his teaching.

By what authority dost thou do these things?

Who gave thee this authority to do these things?

“Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer me?

If we say from heaven, he will say why then did you not believe him?

But if we say from men they feared the people; for all regarded John as really a prophet.

We do not know.

“Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Wasn’t Jesus’ situation at His Crucifixion a repeat of John the Baptist except that we the people turned on Christ?

There is a sinful selfish nature in all of us.

There is love and peace and joy and freedom in accepting Jesus Christ as your Personal Savior, trusting, letting go and living life anew this very day!

Laws and Love, I Love Being a Lawful Follower of Christ…

 

 

 

Day 44: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Laws and Love, I Love Being a Lawful Follower of Christ…

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Mark Chapters 10-11.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

Saint Mark, a convert of Saint Peter, was the son of a certain Mary, whose house in Jerusalem was a gathering place for Christians.

His Gospel, based on Saint Peter’s preaching, aims to prove to the Gentiles the divinity of Christ, be recounting His numerous miracles and examples of His power over devils.

 

Matthew Chapter 10:  Beyond the Jordan; The question of divorce; Remarriage is adultery; Jesus blesses the children; The rich young man; The danger of riches; Reward for leaving all things; The third prediction of the passion; Ambition of James and John; Jesus inculcates humility; The blind Bartimeus.

The district of Judea beyond the Jordan

And as had been his custom, he began to teach them.

Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?

“What did Moses command you?

Moses permitted us to write a notice of dismissal, and to put her away.

“By reason of the hardness of your heart he wrote you that commandment. But from the beginning of all creation God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore now they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”

Asunder—into separate parts; in or into pieces: Lightning split the old oak tree asunder; apart or widely separated: as wide asunder as the polar regions.

“Whoever puts away his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her and if the wife puts away her husband, and marries another she commits adultery.”

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a little child will not enter into it.”

Good Master, what shall I do to gain eternal life?

“Why dost thou call me good? No one is good but only God. Thou knowest the commandments:”

Good Master, what shall I do to gain eternal life?

Master, all these I have kept ever since I was a child.

“One thing is lacking in thee; go, sell whatever thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.”

But his face fell at the saying, and he went away sad, for he had great possessions.

“Children, with what difficulty will they who trust in riches enter the kingdom of God.”

“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Who then can be saved?

“With men it is impossible, but not with God: for all things are possible with God.”

Behold, we have left all and followed thee, Peter said.

“Amen I say to you, there is no one who has left… for my sake and for the gospel’s sake, who shall not receive now in the present time a hundredfold as much… along with persecutions, and in the age to come life everlasting. But many who are first now will be last, and many who are last now will be first.”

They (the disciples) were in dismay, and those who followed were afraid…

The third prediction of the passion.

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the Scribes; and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and put him to death, and on the third day he will rise again.”

“But as for sitting at my right hand or at my left, that is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared.”

“But it is not so among you (the disciples). On the contrary, whoever wishes to become great shall be your servant: and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be the slave to all; for the Son of Man also has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

Take courage. Get up, he is calling thee.

“What wouldst thou have me do for thee?”

Rabboni, that I may see.

“Go thy way, thy faith has saved thee.”

Matthew Chapter 11:  Jesus sends two disciples for a colt; Triumphal entry into Jerusalem; Jesus curses a fig tree; Cleansing of the Temple; Reaction of the chief priests and Scribes; The disciples see the withered fig tree; The authority of Jesus.

“You shall say that the Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it here.”

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes! Hosanna in the highest!

But when he (Jesus) came up it (fig tree); he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. Then he spoke to it saying, “May no one ever eat fruit of thee henceforward forever.”

Rabbi, behold, the fig tree that thou didst curse is withered up.

“Therefore I say to you, all things whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come to you.”

“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of thieves.”

And the chief priests and the Scribes heard it, and they sought a way to destroy him; for they were afraid of him, because all the crowd were astonished at his teaching.

By what authority dost thou do these things?

Who gave thee this authority to do these things?

“Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer me?

If we say from heaven, he will say why then did you not believe him?

But if we say from men they feared the people; for all regarded John as really a prophet.

We do not know.

“Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

 

 

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and now the fourth book of the Old Testament- Numbers!

For a man good in math and trained as an engineer this should be an easily understood part of The Bible for me. Right? Not!

I can’t begin to think like the Lord or comprehend the full meaning of His Word in terms of me or the world. Where is this story of numbers going and how does it evolve into the 247 countries and 7.5 billion citizens of the world we have today?

Did God order a census or a draft?

All the congregation of Israel by their families, and houses, and the names of every one, as many as are of the male sex, from twenty years old and upwards, of all the men of Israel fit for war, and you shall number them by their troops.

To be merely counted or to assemble those that are fit for war?

This appears to be the first form of organization with roles and responsibilities. The basis for future civilizations.

And each man shall know to what burden he must be assigned.

Every one according to their office and burdens

Moving the tabernacle, various pieces, tear down, set up with credentials—Let not others by any curiosity see the things that are in the sanctuary before they are wrapped up, otherwise they shall die.

The first project and the first warning that curiosity may not only kill the cat but curiosity may kill you.

As my Godmother once said when she asked me a question about what is going on with young people in the world—“I am not interested, I am only curious!”

Curiosity is fine, unless it leads me to temptation, which may lead me to sin, which always creates some sort or sense of separateness from God, The Father, Jesus Christ, His Son and my Personal Savior and The Holy Spirit.

We see the first documentation of tithing and its destination of the clergy and the church organization.

All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong to the priest…

273 of the firstborn at five sickles per head, thou shalt give the money to Aaron and his sons; 1365 sickles.

And then, out of the blue, or out of the desert, we come upon jealousy.

The man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband…

Learning a new word ‘contemning’—which means to treat or regard with disdain, scorn, or contempt. I know the sin but not the word.

Because she was not found in the adultery; the spirit of jealousy; a sacrifice of jealousy; whereon he hath heaped curses with execration; these most bitter waters, on which I have heaped curses, shall not hurt you; these curses shall light upon thee.

The priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy; and the woman shall be a curse, and an example to all the people. But if she be not defiled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear children.

Some sort of ritual to determine if a woman was an adulteress?

This is the law of jealousy.

Earlier, the spirit of jealousy.

Spirits and laws of jealousy, a sin, a character defect.

A law I get, but not the spirit.

When I hear that a terrorist was “inspired” by… whatever I yell at the TV.

I don’t think we can be inspired to do evil, or commit a sin, or be jealous or terrorize another human being in any manner, especially death.

To me The Spirit, to be ‘inspired,” filled with The Spirit is referenced to and attributed to The Holy Spirit, which is our One God—God The Father, God His Son Jesus Christ, and God The Holy Spirit within all of us.

The Holy Spirit does not inspire anyone to do evil.

Give credit where credit is due—Satan tricks us into doing evil, from the simple, innocent, and apparently harmless sin to taking the life of another human being, even our life.

The Spirit of The Holy Spirit, like the Power of God and the Love of Jesus Christ endures forever and inspires us to do good.

All the Numbers Add Up to God The Father, Jesus Christ, & The Holy Spirit!

Day 45: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; All the Numbers Add Up to God The Father, Jesus Christ, & The Holy Spirit!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Numbers Chapters 1-5.

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called, because it begins with a census of the Hebrew nations.

It describes their departure from Mount Sinai, their journey to Moab, and gives various rules for distribution of the Promised Land.

Numbers Chapter 1: God orders a census; Princes of the tribes; Census of the tribe of Ruben, Simeon, Gad, Juda, Issachar, Zabulon, Ephraim, Manasses, Benjamin, Dan, Aser, & Nephtali; Number of the children of Israel; Levites exempted from the census.

The second year of their going out of Egypt

All the congregation of Israel by their families, and houses, and the names of every one, as many as are of the male sex, from twenty years old and upwards, of all the men of Israel fit for war, and you shall number them by their troops.

The princes of the tribes

Ruben, 46,500

Simeon, 59,300

Gad, 45,650

Juda, 74,600

Issachar, 54,400

Zabulon, 57,400

Ephraim, 40,500

Manasses, 32,200

Benjamin, 35,400

Dan, 62,700

Aser, 41,500

Nephtali, 53,400

The twelve princes of Israel

603,550 total children of Israel

Levites exempted from the census

They (Levites) shall carry the tabernacle (appointed over the tabernacle of the testimony) and all the furniture thereof…

Guard the tabernacle of testimony

Numbers Chapter 2: Order of the tribes in camp; On the east side; On the south side; Instructions for moving the tabernacle; On the west side; On the north side; The camp assembles.

All the children of Israel shall camp by their troops.

Juda, on the east side with Issachar and Zabulon, 186,400 and they by their troops shall march first.

Ruben, on the south side with Simeon and Gad, 151,450 and they shall march in second place.

Ephraim, on the west side with Manasses and Benjamin, 108,100 and they shall march in the third place.

Dan, on the north side with Aser and Nephtali, 157,600 and they shall march last.

603,550

Numbers Chapter 3: Sons of Aaron; Levites are given to Aaron and his sons; Sanctification of firstborn; Census of the Levites; The charge of the Gersonites; Eleazar appointed chief of the Levites; Duties of Merarites; Place for Moses and Aaron; Number of the Levites; Census of the first born; Redemption of the first born.

Generations of Moses and Aaron

These the names of the sons of Aaron the priests that were anointed, and whose hands were filled and consecrated, to do the function of priesthood.

For every firstborn that openeth the womb

They are mine. I am the Lord.

Every male from one month and upward

Gersonites, 7,500, the tabernacle of the covenant

Kindred of Caath, 8,600, guard the sanctuary and camp on the south side

The prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be over them that watch for the guard of the sanctuary.

Merarites, 6,200, camp on the north side, boards of the tabernacle.

Moses and Aaron camp on the East side with the sanctuary.

Levites, one month and upward, 22,000

Firstborn males, one month and upward were 22,273.

273 of the firstborn at five sickles per head, thou shalt give the money to Aaron and his sons; 1365 sickles- first tithing?

Numbers Chapter 4: Duties of the sons of Caath; Duties of the Gersonites; Duties of the Merarites; Number of the sons of Caath; Number of the Gersonites; Number of the sons of Merari; Number of Levites.

From 30 years old and upward, to 50 years old.

A cover of violet skins

Let not others by any curiosity see the things that are in the sanctuary before they are wrapped up, otherwise they shall die.

And each man shall know to what burden he must be assigned.

People of Caath, thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old,2,750

Gersonites, 2,630

Neriani, 3,200

Levites, 8.580

Every one according to their office and burdens

Numbers Chapter 5: The unclean are removed from the camp; Confession of and satisfaction for sins; Trial of jealousy.

That they cast out of camp every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the dead

Lest they defile it when I shall dwell with you.

When a man or a woman committed; by negligence; transgressed; offended; confess; restore the principal itself…

All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong to the priest…

The man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband…

Contemning—to treat or regard with disdain, scorn, or contempt.

Because she was not found in the adultery

The spirit of jealousy

A sacrifice of jealousy

Whereon he hath heaped curses with execration

These most bitter waters, on which I have heaped curses, shall not hurt you

These curses shall light upon thee

The priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy

And the woman shall be a curse, and an example to all the people. But if she be not defiled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear children.

This is the law of jealousy.

In Mark’s Chapter 12, ‘one of the Scribes’ asks Jesus, “Which was the first commandment?”

“The first commandment of all is, ‘Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is one God; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ There is no other commandment greater than theses.”

And ‘the Scribe,’ said to him, Well answered Master, thou hast said truly that he is one and that there is no other besides him; and that he should be loved with the whole heart, and with the whole understanding, and with the whole soul, and with one’s whole strength; and that to love one’s neighbor as oneself is a greater thing than all holocausts and sacrifices.”

And Jesus, seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him, “Thou are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Doesn’t this challenges our all-or-nothing thinking in the All-or-Nothing Old Testament… where Scribes and Pharisees are all doing bad things and Jesus and the Twelve Disciples all doing good things?

Well, Jesus and the Twelve Disciples are all doing good things…

Well, well, Jesus is always doing good things… one disciple was not so good and another denounced Jesus three times and others were at times the subject matter of Jesus’ clarifying statements above love, friendship and true discipleship.

 

Didn’t the Scribes and Pharisees have Sabbath School for the children?

I don’t know if they did or didn’t have Sabbath School for the children.

Let’s not see the Old Testament as ‘old’ and ‘outdated,’ and the New Testament as ‘new’ and ‘enlightened.’

Our hearts do not see in all-or-nothing, love only one type of person, or love some only so far. Why then should we limit our love of neighbors or of Christ himself?

Why not be completely open-hearted as well as open-minded when it comes to our relationships and our world of the 21^st century?

This section of Matthew has more to say about then and now—the parable of the vine-dressers.

“What therefore will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-dressers, and will give the vineyard to others. And have you not read the Scriptures: “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone; by the Lord this has been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”

The vine-dressers are the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Scribes, those in power in the Jewish synagogue of Old Testament Law, and the owner is God who sends some prophets and John the Baptist whom they seize and beat and kill. Finally God sends His Only Son Jesus Christ and they kill him too. Then God destroys the vine-dressers and begins a New Covenant with the disciples, apostles, and believers in Christ and His resurrection.

Another parable so that they may trap him in his talk

Master, we know that thou are truthful… dost teach the way of God in truth…

“Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Then yet another parable—the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection… asked a trick question about seven brothers and one woman who became the wife of all by successive deaths…

At the resurrection (which they did not believe in), therefore, when they rise, of which of them will she be wife? For the seven had her as a wife.

“Is not this why you err—because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

“For when they rise from the dead, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.”

“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore entirely wrong.”

I didn’t realize that the resurrection was written in the Scriptures, the Old Testament, at that time? I will look for it in the days ahead.

Open-minded and open-hearted and not pre-judgmental in terms of all-or-nothing thinking. Nor do I need to be the perfect biblical scholar or completely in control of my life or the lives of others. This is TROML and the defining search for my Splendid Spiritual Self.

Perhaps, being now single, I should avoid future marriages and focus on being and being with ‘Angels of God in Heaven?’

Where is my Splendid Spiritual Self to be found? When will Christ come again?

For in those days will be tribulations, such as have not been from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, nor will be.

“And then, if anyone say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ; behold, there he is,’ do not believe it.”

“After that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars of heaven will be failing, and the powers that are in heaven will be shaken.”

“And then they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds with great power and majesty. And he will send forth his angels, and will gather his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost parts of heaven.”

“This generation will not pass away till all these things have been accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

“But of that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is. And what I say to you, I say to all, ‘Watch.’”

I remember, but can’t find the reference now, that God promised to never again destroy all the people like he did with the flood that Noh survived. The earth will pass away indicates all people, except the ones gathered by Jesus, will pass away with the earth?

I need to stay open-minded, open-hearted, and watchful.

One of the Scribes was not far from the Kingdom of God

Challenges our all-or-nothing thinking in the All-or-Nothing Old Testament…

Day 46: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; One of the Scribes was not far from the Kingdom of God.

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Mark Chapters 12-13.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

Saint Mark, a convert of Saint Peter, was the son of a certain Mary, whose house in Jerusalem was a gathering place for Christians.

His Gospel, based on Saint Peter’s preaching, aims to prove to the Gentiles the divinity of Christ, be recounting His numerous miracles and examples of His power over devils.

 

Matthew Chapter 12: Parable of the vine-dressers; The vine-dressers kill the owner’s son; Tribute to Caesar; The Sadducees and the resurrection; Christ’s response; The great commandment; The Son of David; Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees; The widow’s mite.

And he began to speak to them in parables.

Then he let it out to vine-dressers, and went abroad

He sent a servant, they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

He sent another servant, they wounded him in the head and treated shamefully

He sent another servant and him they killed

He sent many others, beating some and killing some

He sent a beloved son, saying “They will respect my son.”

This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.

So they seized him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard

What therefore will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-dressers, and will give the vineyard to others.

And have you not read the Scriptures: “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone; by the Lord this has been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.

That they may trap him in his talk

Master, we know that thou are truthful… dost teach the way of God in truth…

“Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection… There are seven brothers…

At the resurrection, therefore, when they rise, of which of them will she be wife? For the seven had her as a wife.

“Is not this why you err—because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

“For when they rise from the dead, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.”

“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore entirely wrong.”

Which was the first commandment?

“The first commandment of all is, ‘Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is one God; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

One of the Scribes, the Scribe- Well answered Master

And Jesus, seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him, “Thou are not far from the kingdom of God.”

“Beware of the Scribes, who like to walk about in long robes, and to be greeted In the market place, and to have the front seats in the synagogues and the first place at suppers; who devour the houses of widows, making pretense of long prayers. These shall receive a heavier sentence.”

And many rich people were putting in large sums

And there came one poor widow

“Amen I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who have been putting money into the treasury. For they all have put in out of their abundance; but she out of her want has put in all that she had—all that she had to live on.

Matthew Chapter 13: Destruction of Jerusalem foretold; Some question Christ; His answer; Warning to be on guard; Destruction of Jerusalem; The signs of the last day; Jerusalem’s impending destruction; The need for watchfulness.

“Dost thou see all these great buildings? There will not be one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

“Take care that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he’; and they will lead many astray.”

“But be on your guard… and you wills stand before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them… and the gospel must first be preached to all the nations… do not be anxious beforehand what you are to speak; but speak whatever is given you in that hour. For it is not you that is speaking, but The Holy Spirit… And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake; but he who has persevered to the end will be saved.”

The abomination of desolation

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…

For in those days will be tribulations, such as have not been from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, nor will be.

“And then, if anyone say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ; behold, there he is,’ do not believe it.

After that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars of heaven will be failing, and the powers that are in heaven will be shaken.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds with great power and majesty. And he will send forth his angels, and will gather his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost parts of heaven.

This generation will not pass away till all these things have been accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

But of that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is.

And what I say to you, I say to all, “Watch.”