Leftovers
“nothing is necessary except one thing, and Miryam has chosen the good portion that will not be taken from her.” Luke 10:42 Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels
Except one thing – The last day of this solar year brings me to a page of notes, items that I wanted to write about but didn’t get to this time. Let me share them with you. Each one is worthy of the “one thing” Yeshua mentions.
“Self-renewal must be constant. To repeat oneself is to commit forgery; one becomes mired in routine. Therefore, avoid the trodden paths! As least one day a week – on the Sabbath – keep away from sameness.” (Abraham Heschel, A Passion for the Truth, pp. 168-169.)
“You can be the best artist in the world, but if they ask you to reproduce the Mona Lisa with a paint roller, you’re gonna lose some nuance.” (Ronald Thomas, in private communication).
In our Western paradigm, “function is a consequence of physical properties and natural laws.” But in the biblical world of the ancient Near East, “function is a consequence of purpose.” (John Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, p. 191.) We should seriously consider what this means for the design of the ‘ezer kenegdo, the woman, the wife. Unless we understand her purpose, we cannot understand a woman, any woman.
Paradigm shifts:
In the Greek paradigm, man is master of the world. In the biblical paradigm, man is appointed priest in the world.
In the West, truth has an empirical basis (cause and effect + natural law). In the ANE (Ancient Near East), truth is what the gods do.
In the West, history is dysteleological, i.e., it is going somewhere on the basis of cause and effect momentum. Its trajectory is not random because it has causal links, but it is not planned because causality is simply mechanical. In the Bible, history is teleological. It is going somewhere because it is driven by divine purpose. The Bible is “an interpretation of significant happenings” (Speiser), not just a record of events. In the Bible, there is no secular history. All history is the record of God’s purposes worked out in the lives of men. (cf. Walton, p. 226)
There are two cardinal rules of Hermeneutics:
1. No interpretation can be sustained that contradicts the character of God
2. No interpretation can be sustained that is inconsistent with the Word of God
Fitting these two together is our job, not His.
A prophet is a man or woman whom God trusts.
In the Genesis account, there is no first day. First is a relative term requiring temporal order. There is a second, third and fourth, etc. day. But in Genesis there is only Day 1. This is the beginning of the counting. (cf. Gorelik) What does this mean for our view of time?
In the Bible there are many patterns of doubles. Moses comes twice, the second time in the form of Yeshua. The Messiah comes twice. There are two deaths (the final judgment is the second death). There are two cities of Jerusalem. Yeshua sends out His disciples in pairs. The first relationship is incomplete in the singular. It requires a pair which “shall become one flesh.” The word for “heaven” is always plural.
Progressive revelation is like brick building – one course of bricks at a time. The foundation must be firm and straight before it can support the next course of bricks. Without the foundation of the Tanakh, the entire New Testament collapses.
Hebrew thought gives you pieces of the puzzles which you must use to put it together. Greek thought describes the final picture but doesn’t give you the pieces to put together on your own.
“Sovereignty anticipates certainty in spite of temporary obstacles.” Bob Gorelik
Paul says, “Take all thoughts captive.” What does this mean? Captive? Why doesn’t he say, “Kill these thoughts”? Why keep them alive but imprisoned? What good comes from keeping them imprisoned rather than executed? Are we taught about this – the power of knowing the yetzer ha’ra imprisoned? (Do you think this is connected to Paul’s cry, “to know Him and the power of His resurrection”?) Are we taught to restore desires to their godly purpose? Or are we taught to attempt to slaughter them – to exterminate them? What happens to the person who no longer acknowledges the presence of the yetzer ha’ra? Is that person a robust human being in God’s image, or is that person the most vulnerable to egoism?
“I have always thought that one of the great things about being an adult and getting older is that I finally realized I have a license, and even a duty, to think for myself. I also have the freedom to take all views into consideration without great fear or risk of ‘contaminating’ myself. I have a number of friends –who I affectionately call ‘the Bible police’ who seem to be appalled by some of the books I read, people I quote, and the movies I watch!” (Ron Ferguson, in private communication)
May you have a blessed new solar year just as you have a blessed year on God’s calendar.
~ Brothers, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before, and I run toward the goal to take the victory of the calling of YHVH from on high in Yeshua The Messiah ~ (Philippians 3.14)
In Hebrew (imagine that!) – Kavannah- focused attention..
This one thing I do..- (focus)
Ever looking (a constant gaze not a casual glance) to Jesus- the Author (He started this) and Completer (He will finish what He started) of our faith.
Every word of G-d is pure. He is a shield unto those who trust in Him.
I do not understand all that I know.. My kith and my ken are both limited and finite. G-d is who He is and His grace I am who I am- His. I have been bought with a price. Redeemed. Ransomed. Restored.
G-d is not through with me yet. I still am breathing His good air. This is the day which the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Why? (yes, it is good to ask why..)- because dear friends- this is the day which the LORD has made. He is the Day-Planner and He is the Day Runner.
“Providence occurs” – this I know (yes, praise His Name, experientially).
The well of living water that we draw from has no bottom. It is an endless, limitless supply.
Jesus… bigger than your box.
The giving our our Hunter/Lover has not ceased..
~ (for) He giveth more grace ~ (James 4:6)
He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
Words: Annie J. Flint (1866-1932).
G-d always speaks to a human heart through a human heart.
The Word became flesh and lived among us. We are gifted by G-d to know tHis Name for tHis is the Name of deliverance.
And those who know your Name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9.10)
I love Ron Ferguson’s statement! So very understandable! 🙂
If these are the left overs I’d like to see the complete table! 😉
Shanah tovah!
Hopefully a few courses will be served in 2012
Skip. Thank you for letting us in on your journey. There are many questions (not just what you’ve mentioned) and it’s so easy to receive a straightforward answer. But I appreciate the openended nature of these questions/thoughts.
You may call them your leftovers… I say it’s closer to giving out some “solid food”.
Here is a comment from reader Don. He sent it to me as an email but I thought it should be posted. His comment is a careful correction to one potential implication, but I know Ron well and I know that this is not the direction Ron intended. Nevertheless, Don’s remark is worth considering on its own.
Good morning, Skip.
Thanks for these final notes.
With respect to Ron Ferguson’s comments, It is my opinion that his opinion in many ways — if taken to their logical and final conclusion– is patently false, dangerous, and unscriptural.
If we are to bring every thought into conformity to Jesus Christ, we should consider what kind of cesspool we are jumping blithely into when we feel complete “freedom” to saturate ourselves in whatever evil exists in the world. How deeply do we plunge into this pool, how long do we swim in its muck, how much do we saturate our bodies and our brains in its filth (in whatever form–pornography, murder of innocents, abusive abandon of women and children, horror against elders, etc. etc.)? No one who is not in a coma, and remotely conscious, can avoid the horrors going on in this world, but anyone who thinks that he can entertain all ideas without “fear of contamination” is full of pride and egoism. This present evil world is full of awful things, but to think anyone can saturate him(her)self –jumping into the sewer–and not be stained, is delusional at best, and completely without godly fear at the worst. We’re not living in Lala Land, but on its face (without further description) Ron Ferguson’s comments are not helpful, nor true. Everything must be placed under the mirror of God’s perfect and precious laws and guidelines for right living. The only real “freedom” we have that is given by God is to Choose Life or choose Death. That’s it. What we think, so we are! Do you feel, Skip, as if you have any “editorial responsibility” in putting these words out into the international community?
Don
Thank you dear Skip for the blessing. The cry and prayer of my heart for all human kind in 2012 is that all will be blessed with our Father’s calendar in the very near future. May the truth of His calendar as the angel revealed it to Enoch be revealed to and be followed by all.