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Saturday, 21 November 2009

  • The Book of Isaiah Chapter 1 V.15

    Isa 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.


    This spreading forth of hands apparently is an act of desperation. The definition of spread forth is as follows.

    1) to spread, spread out, stretch, break in pieces
    a) (Qal)
    1) to spread out, display
    2) to spread over
    b) (Niphal) to be scattered, be spread out
    c) (Piel)
    1) to spread out
    1) to scatter

    The definition for hands also confirm this in my mind.

    1) palm, hand, sole, palm of the hand, hollow or flat of the hand
    a) palm, hollow or flat of the hand
    b) power
    c) sole (of the foot)
    d) hollow, objects, bending objects, bent objects
    1) of thigh-joint
    2) pan, vessel (as hollow)
    3) hollow (of sling)
    4) hand-shaped branches or fronds (of palm trees)
    5) handles (as bent)

    It’s interesting that the word “hollow” pops up in these definitions four times, as well as the word “power.” It strikes me that whatever power they thought they had via prayer was hollow, or their efforts were hollow.

    “I will hide mine eyes from you,” speaks of mental and spiritual faculties.  At this point of desperation, people will be making many prayers, but it will all be hollow effort, because He’s going to hide His mental and spiritual faculties from them, and not hear them or not pay attention.

    The reason, He says, is that their “hands” are full of blood. There’s a difference in the meaning of hands here versus earlier in the verse. Hands here refer to the hand of man, as well as to strength and power.

    The word “full” here refers to being full, accomplished and to have abundance. In other words, they became accomplished via the blood of others. They either used, abused or stepped on others in ways that caused the ruin of others.

    The word “blood” here has a figurative connotation of “wine.” It makes me think that those left desolate in their path, became drunkards. People don’t seem to understand or care much about the effect they have on the lives of others, but God does, and it matters a great deal to Him that one of His children is not misdirected or permanently damaged by the selfishness of others.

Saturday, 14 November 2009

  • The Book of Isaiah Chapter 1 V.14 pt.2

    So I looked up the soul, because God apparently has one.

    1) soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion

    So if I were to just look at the main definition here, (soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion) I can definitely understand the first three, and equate them with God. He has a “self.”

    I found “creature” before. This reference I found in Genesis, as I was studying the creation. Person, mind, living being, desire, emotion and passion I can understand and equate with God with no problem.

    However, I never would have equated the word “appetite” to God. The reason is because I don’t see us eating in heaven. I recognize grand feast when we the “bride,” meet up with and “marry” the “bridegroom,” Christ. However, I don’t know that I equate that feast on the same level as what we know of as a feast here.

    First of all, we will have different bodies; spiritual bodies. We’ll have shed our outer covering of flesh, and the spirit beings that we are shall be seen. We won’t need food as we know it here. So I can only assume that any feast in the heavenlies is a feast of the word, or a spiritual feast of some sort.

    So, that being said, I find it hard to equate the word “appetite” with God. The only thing I can connect that word to, is worship. God craves our worship. It is the one thing He requests and requires as a service to Him.

    When I think of the appetites of man, all I see is greed and gluttony. But with God, when I think of that word appetite, I only see desire and passion.

    a) that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man

    That which breathes...Most people don’t think of God as a living, breathing being. He may not have a fleshly body, but there’s more substance to Him than to any of us.

    b) living being
    c) living being (with life in the blood)

    If God has a soul, and this is defined as a living being with life in the blood, then I have to wonder if there is some type of blood within a spiritual being. Not blood as we know it, but some type of blood on a spiritual level. However, this is purely speculation. It could be just that there is a separation of some of these meanings. Some could apply to God, and some could apply to man, and some could apply to both.

    However, a thought I have is that God created us after Himself. So far, I’m seeing similarities in the fact that He, like us, has a soul, an appetite, and now I’m wondering...blood.

    I never had the connotation that a spiritual being would have any of this, but apparently, He does. I mean, now that I think about it, it seems that God has every quality, characteristic and the same content we have, just in a spirit form versus flesh. What do you think? After all, He created us with all of this, and He made us in His image and likeness.

    d) the man himself, self, person or individual
    e) seat of the appetites
    f) seat of emotions and passions
    g) activity of mind
    1) dubious

    Well, we definitely see evidence of the activity of the mind of God all around us. Our entire environment was the design of the active mind of God. Yet there are those that have doubts about it.

    This is why I’ve asked God to ensure the safety of my pets once Christ returns and takes us up. I don’t know for any certainty that they’d be taken as well, although some people have tried to convince me of this. I don’t know of scripture that supports the claim, but I’d like to believe it.

    What I do know, is that the animals do have a soul, according to Genesis, because of the same reference to “creature” there. So they too have an active mind.

    h) activity of the will
    1) dubious

    There is no doubt that the God who created our wills and gave us the freedom to use them as we please, has, himself, an active will, which He exerts to accomplish His purposes in our lives.

    i) activity of the character
    1) dubious

    And yes, this living being, God, has activity of the character. This is evidenced by His blessings, provision, and the fact that His promises are true, and He is a God of integrity, who keeps His promises.

    Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them].

    So here, it is quite clear that God abhors what they are doing, because He’s so upset by their lack of proper respect and love, that it has irritated Him down to His “soul.”

    Weary
    1) to be weary, be impatient, be grieved, be offended
    a) (Qal) to be weary, be impatient
    b) (Niphal) to be tired of something, weary oneself
    c) (Hiphil) to weary, make weary, exhaust

    This faithless ritual of theirs has so offended Him that He says He is just too tired to put up with them.

Sunday, 08 November 2009

  • The Book of Isaiah Chapter 1 V.14 pt.1

    Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them].

    We already have a bit of info on the new moons. We also know that the appointed feasts are a scheduled requirement. But what caught my attention is “my soul hateth.” First of all, I didn’t know God has a soul. When I think of a soul, I think of it in the connotation of man. It is the seat of his emotions, and the part of man that is most easily led astray.

    When we react versus respond, we are reacting from an emotional place. When this occurs, and we fail to exercise restraint or self-control, it can be our undoing, because we don’t actively think before we act, we simply re-act.

    Self-Control (Without):
    "powerless" (a, negative, kratos, "strength"), is rendered "without self-control," in 2Ti 3:3, RV; see INCONTINENT.

    Since the syllable “re” means to go or turn back, then a reaction is a backwards action, or an action that takes you backwards from where you are. There are certain peoples and cultures that have more of a tendency toward over emotional reactions to everything. Some of them think that the law has no bearing in accordance to whatever they are upset about at a given moment.

    I can think of an example of a specific group here in Florida that causes havoc here every time something happens in their country of origin that they don’t like. We’ve had incidents of protests wherein they have blocked major roadways and arteries to prevent the rest of the community from going to work, just so they can vent their frustration. This sort of behavior does not endear them to the rest of the population here.

    Pro 16:32  [He that is] slow to anger [is] better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

    The point is that it is better to respond than to react, because when you react, you render yourself incontinent.

    Incontinency, Incontinent:
    denotes "want of power" (a, negative, kratos, "power"); hence, "want of self-control, incontinency," 1Cr 7:5; in Mat 23:25, "excess."
    denotes "powerless, impotent;" in a moral sense, unrestrained, "without self-control," 2Ti 3:3, RV (AV, "incontinent").

    2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
    2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
    2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
    2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
    2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
    2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
    2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

    1Cr 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except [it be] with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

    Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
    Mat 23:26 [Thou] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that [which is] within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also    .

Saturday, 31 October 2009

  • The Book of Isaiah Chapter 1 V.13

    The last entry on this series can be found here.

    Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

    Vain - vanity, falsehood, emptiness, nothingness, vanity, emptiness of speech, lying, worthlessness (of conduct)

    Oblations - gift, tribute, offering (to God), present, oblation, sacrifice, meat offering, grain offering.

    Incense - incense, smoke, odor (sweet smoke) of (burning) sacrifice, perfume

    Is an abomination - a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable, in ritual sense (of unclean food, idols, mixed marriages), in ethical sense (of wickedness etc)

    New moon - the new moon, month, monthly, the first day of the month, the lunar month

    Sabbaths - Sabbath
    a) sabbath
    b) day of atonement
    c) sabbath year
    d) week
    e) produce (in sabbath year)

    The calling - 1) to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim
    a) (Qal)
    1) to call, cry, utter a loud sound
    2) to call unto, cry (for help), call (with name of God)
    3) to proclaim
    4) to read aloud, read (to oneself), read
    5) to summon, invite, call for, call and commission, appoint, call and endow
    6) to call, name, give name to, call by
    b) (Niphal)
    1) to call oneself
    2) to be called, be proclaimed, be read aloud, be summoned, be named
    c) (Pual) to be called, be named, be called out, be chosen

    Of Assemblies - convocation, convoking, reading, a calling together
    a) convocation, sacred assembly
    b) convoking
    c) reading

    I cannot away with - to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able
    a) (Qal)
    1) to be able, be able to gain or accomplish, be able to endure, be able to reach
    2) to prevail, prevail over or against, overcome, be victor
    3) to have ability, have strength

    Even the solemn meeting - assembly, solemn assembly
    a) assembly (sacred or festive meeting)
    b) assemblage, company, group

    In other words, stop bringing me worthlessness offerings/gifts; your sacrifice is a disgusting thing to me; the monthly days of atonement, the proclamations and reading, I cannot endure; I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

    Here, we already know a little about these New Moon festivals. It’s some monthly thing that the Jews were doing, allegedly as a form of worship to God. Maybe they were doing it out of obligation, or maybe it just became like a party thing to them, and they were leaving God out of the equation. Their intent and purpose may have been more about the celebration, than about the One being celebrated. However, I wanted a bit more info.

    Month:
    Among the Egyptians the month of thirty days each was in use long before the time of the Exodus, and formed the basis of their calculations. From the time of the institution of the Mosaic law the month among the Jews was lunar. The cycle of religious feasts depended on the moon. The commencement of a month was determined by the observation of the new moon. The number of months in the year was usually twelve (1Ki 4:7; 1Ch 27:1-15); but every third year an additional month (ve-Adar) was inserted, so as to make the months coincide with the seasons.
    "The Hebrews and Phoenicians had no word for month save 'moon,' and only saved their calendar from becoming vague like that of the Moslems by the interpolation of an additional month. There is no evidence at all that they ever used a true solar year such as the Egyptians possessed. The latter had twelve months of thirty days and five epagomenac or odd days.", Palestine Quarterly, January 1889.

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

  • Just a brief update...

    Hello All,

    First, I want to thank my loyal readers and subscribers who have stuck it out with me for so long. I so appreciate your participation in my studies here, and my efforts to get closer to God.

    Secondly, I apologize for the lack of a post for this week, but in case you missed the note on my pulse; I want to let you all know that I have a second blog. So if you don't see a new post here on any given week, check here. I'm in the process of learning how to set up the essentials I need to make a website with blog. I want to have a feed running from both this blog and the one above right into one site. That is my goal. I will still have both blogs up, and still be writing in both, but this way, everything I write will be in one place, and at the same time, I won't lose anyone who has grown accustomed to finding me here or there at the other blog site.

    It's taking me a while to do all of this, but you can read why here. Btw, you may want to bookmark my other site or subscribe to the feed. Much love. Peace and blessings.

Heshewethree

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  • I suppose that in comparison to some, I may be dubbed boring. After all, one of my best friends, who’s known me for years, told me that same thing several years ago. So, if you appreciate my content and can hold an intelligent conversation, I welcome feedback as long as it is clean, without savage language issues and conflicts. If you find my content does not hold the excitement you seek, you are just a click away from something more vapid. It is my hope to provide something that #1 edifies; and #2 gives you reason for thought reprocessing or reprogramming; #3 is fodder for the soul.
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