Matthew’s Gospel has the only record of this parable that Jesus told.[1]
“21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[2] 25 But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ 27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion[3], released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii,[4] and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ 30 He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’”[5] Essentially, this parable addresses Peter’s query as to one’s response to wrongs done to one’s self (“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?). Peter embraced that one should forgive, but where should be the limit of forgiveness, “until seven times”? Jesus answered: “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.” Is Jesus saying that after the seventy times seven times, you are allowed not to forgive anymore? I don’t think so. For Jesus then told a parable about what relationships are about in the Kingdom of the heavens[6]. It is not about accounting and the number of times, but all about relationships. “27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion[7], released him and forgave him the debt.” “32 Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’” This was about loving your neighbour as you love yourself. For me, this parable is also a precursor to his later command to “love one another as I have loved you.” However, for the purposes of this post, I wish to focus primarily on the elements and meaning of mercy found in this parable. First, inherent in mercy is moving, dynamic, great compassion – ‘The lord…..being moved with compassion.” Second, essential to mercy is release – letting go of the bindings of one’s rights and entitlements that the other may be released - let go, freed of liabilities and obligations into freedom (released him). Third, intrinsic to mercy is forgiveness – for one’s self to no longer take into account, to write off or wipe the slate clean of the debt or wrong. As such, both may start afresh and build a new and free relationship with the other, without the bindings of the unreleased debt or wrong on either party. God is a merciful God. It is also written that Jesus taught that the merciful are truly blessed, in that they shall obtain mercy: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”[8] However, for mercy to be given or birthed into being, there must first be a wrong or debt to be forgiven and to be released from. Without a wrong or debt, there is no recourse for mercy to be given or birthed into being. It follows then, that if the wrong or debt can be fully compensated satisfied or paid, then, mercy does not come into play. There is no place or need for mercy from the person to whom the wrong had been done, as that person would have been fully compensated for the wrong or debt. Mercy is not and cannot be given if full satisfaction or payment is or has been made for the wrong or debt. I ponder. Such being the case, if Jesus died at the cross as full payment or complete satisfaction for our sins against God, can it be said that at or from that moment, our sins have been forgiven, and that we have received the mercy of God? What is there for God to forgive, if the penalty for our sins was paid or assumed fully, exclusively and solely by Jesus at the cross, for us and on our behalf, and God accepted that as full satisfaction for the sins, wrongs and debts that we owe and/or will owe him? Where do or can we find a merciful God at the cross, being merciful to us, if, there is no longer a wrong or debt to be forgiven, since God would have received from Jesus full satisfaction and payment in respect of our sins, wrongs or debts against God? [1] Matthew 18:21-34 [2] Ten thousand talents (about 300 metric tons of silver) represents an extremely large sum of money, equivalent to about 60,000,000 denarii, where one denarius was typical of one day’s wages for agricultural labor. (Word English Bible Footnote c.) 10,000 talents is the price paid in silver by Haman to King Ahasuerus as a bribe to annihilate the Jews; Cf. Esther 3:9; a talent was worth a lifetime of wages for an average labourer. (International Standard Version Footnote v.) [3] Greek σπλαγχνισθεὶς – from root σπλαγχνίζομαι Strong’s 4697 - Literally to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity) – dynamic, moving great compassion [4] 100 denarii was about one sixtieth of a talent, or about 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of silver. (World English Bible Footnote d.) The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer. International Standard Version Footnote x. [5] Matthew 18:21-34 World English Bible [6] then word “heaven - οὐρανός” is actually in the plural “heavens - οὐρανῶν” [7] Greek σπλαγχνισθεὶς - [8] Matthew 5:7 KJV
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Concerning the Word, the Eternal Son, it is written: “3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.”[1] Of the Lord God Almighty, it is written: “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honour and power; For You created all things, And by[2] Your will they exist and were created.” [3]
Paul proclaimed his God as “Lord of heaven and earth”[4], and that “in Him we live and move and have our being”[5]. He further wrote: “For the creation (nature) was subjected to frailty (to futility, condemned to frustration), not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it—[yet] with the hope”[6] In Genesis 1:1 it is written: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”[7] Paul also wrote: " For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."[8] From the preceding three paragraphs, what we can glean is that:
To even catch a sliver of understanding as to how creation came into being from non being, we have to look to Paul’s statements in Philippians 2:5-7, in particular, the kenosis or self emptying of the Eternal Son: “5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery[11] to be equal with God,’[12] “but emptied[13] himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.”[14] Here, I wish to reference para 5 of the article The Self-Emptying of Christ from the Fuller Theological Seminary website: “Much theological effort has been expended on Paul’s observation that “Christ Jesus, being in the form of God,… emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” (Phil 2: 6-7). Several “kenotic” theories (from kenosis or “emptying”) have been propounded over the centuries to help explain what was laid aside and what retained in the astonishing act of incarnation. Something of a consensus is emerging on the front of Pauline studies, which understands the passage in the following way: “form of God” and “form of a slave/human likeness” point not to a mere surface appearance, but to authentic existence God and as a human.4 Further, those translations—and there are many—which read that “although he existed in the form of God,… he emptied himself” ought to be corrected to more accurate phrasing: “being in the form of God” or even “because he existed in the form of God,… he emptied himself.” That is, the self-emptying is not to be seen as a divestment of deity; on the contrary, it is an expression of deity. Jesus is able to do it because he is God. The act of incarnation is an elegant expression of what God can do that is otherwise to us incomprehensible: in the being and existence of God, he took as well the being and existence of the creature.[15] Surely he “emptied himself” of something; above we used J. B. Lightfoot’s language, that he divested himself of heavenly prerogatives. Without ceasing to be God, he became human. As N. T. Wright has written, “The pre-existent son regarded equality with God not as excusing him from the task of (redemptive) suffering and death, but actually as uniquely qualifying him for that vocation.”[16] I believe the self-emptying as an expression of Deity is also the process by which creation was spoken into being by Triune God, through Father’s initiation, Son’s mediation and Spirit’s generation, within the Being and Existence of Triune Deity, whereby Triune God became Creator to all creation coming, or becoming, into being from non-being, authentically real, distinct, contingent upon, yet completely different as creature to Creator. Similarly, this self-emptying by Triune Deity, through Eternal Son, for creation to come into being, from non being, is not to be seen as a divestment of Triune Deity; on the contrary, it is an expression of Triune Deity[17]. Creation is, similarly, “an elegant expression of what God can do that is otherwise to us incomprehensible: in the being and existence of God”[18], creation came into being. Creation was never brought into being that Triune God would only be God of creation. Much more than that, creation came into being that Triune God could also be God with creation, in and as a creature of creation, a human being, “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.”[19] Triune God’s will, choice and passionate desire for creation was to be joined to creation and for creation to be joined to Divinity, as Divinely and humanly possible in, with and through the man Christ Jesus, the Incarnate Eternal Son, through the mystery of Triune Divine emptying. In light of the above, I proffer that the words of John the Apostle: “For God so loved the world (Greek- Kosmos) that he gave his only begotten Son”[20], can not only have the meaning and interpretation of “human inhabitants of the earth”, but also includes within it the meaning and interpretation of “all created order and things”[21] . Such, to me, is the incomprehensible love and glory expressed in the mystery of Triune Divine Emptying in and through the Eternal Son. Concerning this, Paul wrote in Ephesians 1: 4 -12, “4 As he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love: 5 Who hath predestinated us, to be adopted through Jesus Christ in himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherewith he hath made us freely accepted in his beloved. 7 By whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to his rich grace: 8 Whereby he hath been abundant toward us in all wisdom and understanding, 9 And hath opened unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in him, 10 That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth, even in Christ:[22] 11 In whom also we are chosen when we were predestinated according to the purpose of him, which worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, 12 That we, which first trusted in Christ, should be unto the praise of his glory:”[23] [1] John 1:3 WEB. [2] Greek ‘διά’ - usually translated as ‘through’ [3] Revelations 4:11 NKJV [4] See Acts 17:23(b), 24 NKJV [5] Acts 17:28 NKJV Acts 17:28 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides. Epimenides' Cretica (Κρητικά) is quoted twice in the New Testament. Its only source is a 9th-century Syriac commentary by Isho'dad of Merv on the Acts of the Apostles, discovered, edited and translated (into Greek) by Prof. J. Rendel Harris in a series of articles.[2][3][4] In the poem, Minos addresses Zeus thus: J. Rendel Harris' hypothetical Greek text:[3] Τύμβον ἐτεκτήναντο σέθεν, κύδιστε μέγιστε, Κρῆτες, ἀεὶ ψευδεῖς, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί. Ἀλλὰ σὺ γ᾽ οὐ θνῇσκεις, ἕστηκας γὰρ ζοὸς αίεί, Ἐν γὰρ σοὶ ζῶμεν καὶ κινύμεθ᾽ ἠδὲ καὶ ἐσμέν. Translation: They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one, Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies. But you are not dead: you live and abide forever, For in you we live and move and have our being. [6] Romans 8:20 AMPC (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) [7] Complete Jewish Bible [8] Colossians 1:16,17 NIV [9] See Ephesians 1:9 the Greek word “εὐδοκία” Strong’s 2107 [10] Colossians 1:17 [11] See footnote b in NKJV ‘Or something to be held onto to be equal’ [12] NKJV [13] Greek ‘ἐκένωσεν’ Strong’s 2758 [14] WEB Philippians 2:7 [15] My emphasis and highlighting in bold. [16] Fifth Para on The Self-Emptying of Christ Fuller Theological seminary. www.fuller.edu Kenosis I Fuller Seminary. I apologise for not being able to quote who wrote this as it was not available on the website. I wish to give and state the author deserves all credit for what was written. I have emailed Fuller Theological Seminary and am awaiting their reply. [17] Borrowing the thoughts and words from The-Self Emptying of Christ referred in footnote 14 [18] ibid 15 above [19] Ephesians 1:10 NKJV [20] John 3:16 [21] See Strong’s 2889 [22] See also Colossians 1:16,17 footnote (8) above and Romans 8:19-22 “19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” NIV [23] 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) Triune God is not only Being and Becoming, but also Non Being and Non Becoming ‘Unchanging’ eternally.
We can catch a glimpse of this revelation in the following verses of the Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments: The text of Exodus 3:14: “וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה - God said to Moses, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be),"[1] The Amplified Bible Classic Edition translates the essence of the Hebrew as “And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be.” What is relevant to note here is that the Hebrew word אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה - Ehyeh’, is a verb ‘to be’ in the 1st person future tense, that is, “I will be”.[2] As such, I perceive, within this proclamation of Triune God, a revelation of the Being (the ‘I’) and Becoming (the ‘will be) and the Becoming Being (I will be) Nature and Being of Triune Divinity. The revelation given by the Almighty to John the Apostle[3] was “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”[4] John the Apostle later used the phrase “who is and who was and who is to come”, as reference to the Almighty.[5]. John also heard in the revelation vision, the proclamation of the four beasts to the Divine One who sits on the throne, the Lord God Almighty, as: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is and is to come.”[6] There are therefore two assertions recorded in Revelation of Lord God Almighty as “Who is, Who was and Who is to come” and one as ‘Who was, Who is and Who is to come.” These assertions are consistent with the revelation given to Moses in Exodus 3:14 for the Being Becoming and Becoming Being of Triune Divine can also be expressed as the Who is, Who was and Who is to come of Triune God. For the Being Becoming, Who is, before the Being Becoming, was, and is to be the Being Becoming, after. Who is, is not Who was, and also not Who is to come. For Who was, Who is has not become yet and for Who is, Who is to come has yet to become. As such, before Who was became Who is, Who is has not become, has no being, was non being. Only in the Becoming does Who is have Being. When Who is to come becomes Who is, Who is becomes Who was. Therefore Who was, is the non Being of Who is, even as Who is, is the non Being of Who is to come. As such, for me, being becoming-non being-becoming being though distinct are inherently, intrinsically and inseparably one, even as, was, is and will be, though distinct, are also inseparably one, in being becoming -non being-becoming being. Yet in all these, Triune Divinity, the I AM WHAT I AM, I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE, is the eternally unchanging is, was and is to come Triune God As such, what I perceive the Unchanging or Non Becoming Nature and Being of Triune God to be inseparable, intrinsically and inherently One, with and in Being Becoming-Non Being-Becoming Being of the Who and What of Triune Divinity. For me, it is then proper to confess Triune God as not only Being and Becoming, but also Non Being and Non Becoming(Unchanging) eternally. In the Oneness of God, the Triune present I Am, was the past I AM and will ever be the future I Am in Being Becoming-Becoming Being-Non Being-Non Becoming eternally. But more than that, in the Word(ὁ λόγος) flesh(σὰρξ) became(ἐγένετο), the Eternal Son becoming a created human being. Now there is a created human, being becoming, becoming being, non being and non becoming, within and partaking of Triune Divinity, in the whole of Divine Being Becoming-Non Being-Becoming Being-Non Becoming, as divinely and humanly possible, eternally. Such is the glory[7], pleasure and will[8] of Triune God, for Triune Divinity and all creation[9], in and though the Incarnate Son, the human, the man Christ Jesus. For in him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily[10]. [1] Chabad.org The Complete Jewish Bible. [2] See pealim.com : Conjugation of לִהְיוֹת; Verb – PA'AL; Root: ה - י – ה; Meaning - to be; 1st person future tense [3] Revelations 1:8 [4] NKJV Revelations 1:8 [5] Revelations 1:4 [6] Revelation 4:8 NKJV [7] John 17:22 NKJV“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made” perfect in one”(more accurately in context: made complete in oneness) NIV Translates it as: “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me [8] Ephesians1:4-6 “ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” NKJV Ephesians 1:9-12 “9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” NKJV See also Revelation 4:11 [9] Ephesians 1:9-10 “9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” NKJV [10] “For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily” World English Bible (WEB) After posting Genesis Revisited, I woke on the morning of Christmas Eve 2020 with thoughts on Being Becoming, Becoming Being. To my surprise, I felt that I could suddenly string and express into words my personal take on the being becoming of Triune God and being becoming of a human being.
For the past forty-five years or so, I have long been grappling as to whether there is authenticity in the personality or identity of a human being or God for that matter, whether the ‘I’ and ‘me’ is authentic and real. If so, who am I? What is Identity? What is my being? By and large, humans go through life embracing, accepting or even presuming that there is an authentic ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘you’. This is fundamentally essential to live life as we experience it and relate one to another in this plane and dimension. We do not live life in complete isolation from everything. In each and every moment we are in continual relationship to every other existence that is apart from ourselves, in time and space, in this reality. WE ARE NOT ALONE. As such, for me, who and what I am, my identity, may be understood and defined as a ‘being’ of the sum of all my relationships. An analogy of this, on a more minute and personal scale, can be better understood through a brief examination of the human body. From an elemental perspective, “Almost 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Only about 0.85% is composed of another five elements: potassium, sulphur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. All 11 are necessary for life. The remaining elements are trace elements, of which more than a dozen are thought on the basis of good evidence to be necessary for life. All of the mass of the trace elements put together (less than 10 grams for a human body) do not add up to the body mass of magnesium, the least common of the 11 non-trace elements.”[1] In terms of molecules, the human body is made up of:
Our bodies also contain trillions of bacteria defining who we are and our wellbeing. Any fluctuation in elemental, molecular or bacteria composition in our body will have a consequential, however minute, effect on us. As the elemental, chemical and bacterial components of the body changes moment by moment, the complete ‘who’ and ‘what’ we are undergo similar changes. These changes are essential and fundamental for the process of growth and decay in our lives. The newborn babe at childbirth will grow into a young person, who will eventually grow old and die. Such is the nature of life and being that is ours. Yet through all this, as humans, we continue to identify who we are and our being primarily through the human body of our birth till our death. Who and what we are seem to be intrinsically jointly and severally linked to, with, in, into and through these changes, in that the growth and decay of the moments, though separate and specific events, are but expressions of the dynamic continuum of identity. For we are not static, beings frozen in time, space and dimension, without the ability of growth, decay or self-renewal. Rather we are dynamic beings in our becoming and becoming in our beings, in and as the sum of all our relationships It is written in Genesis 1:26,27 “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,[3]….. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.[4]” Humans were created in the image of God. As such, reflections and hazy glimpses as to Who and What Divinity is, can inherently be found, within us as human beings. If so, could this being in becoming and becoming in being, this identity, also be within the Nature and Being of Triune Divine? As humans, we tend to absolutise perfection. In so doing we are inclined to view absolute perfection as something that cannot change. For change seems to suggest that the thing that is absolutely perfect is no longer that which is absolutely perfect. Change implies a motion that makes that which is absolutely perfect, less or better than what it was before the change. In so doing, this, our notion of absolute perfection, carries within it an inherent element of unchanging nature and being. Humans, by and large, ascribe absolute perfection to the nature and being of God. As such, the nature and being of God must necessarily, also, be unchanging. For if God can change, then God would not be absolutely perfect. For change would mean that, that which was, is now lesser or better than what it had been, thereby negating, this, our notion of absolute perfection. Therefore, one of the essential attributes of God is that God must be, and is completely unchanging, in nature and being. But this cannot possibly be. [1] Wikipedia: Composition of human body under Elements. [2] Wikipedia: Composition of human body under Molecules [3] Genesis 1:26(a) New International Version [4] Genesis 1:27 New International Version I now revisit the narratives relating to temptation in Genesis 2 and 3.
Genesis 2:7-9 records: “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”[1] After the creation of man, “out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” According to this verse, every tree was pleasant to the sight and good for food, including the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, “the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”[2] Even though the tree of knowledge of good and evil was originally pleasant to the sight and good for food, God’s command to man prohibited man from eating of it. However, if man was disobedient and wilfully ate of it, then not only man but also the whole of humanity would perish and die, for all humankind may be said to be residing in this one man. This seems to be the implication in the Septuagint, as the word for ‘you’ in ‘you shall not eat’[3], ‘you shall eat’[4] and ‘dying you die’[5], in Genesis 17 quoted above, is in the plural, while the ‘you’ in Genesis 16 is in the singular[6]. The Hebrew Masoretic Text, however, has the ‘you’ in the singular emphasising the personal, though the consequence would include all humankind. Herein is the first introduction and communication in Scripture of the dynamics of action and consequence, cause and effect, sowing and reaping. The harsh take concerning God’s relationship to man and man’s relationship to God seems to be unequivocal: Disobey God’s command and the consequence is death[7]. There are no two ways about it. The serpent came into being after God this gave command to Adam. However, being more “crafty[8] than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made”[9], it must have gotten an inkling or some knowledge pertaining to the command given. How else would it have been able to initiate the temptation of Eve with the opening words of “Did God actually say, ‘you[10] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” The Septuagint and the Masoretic Text record the ‘you’, in Genesis 3:3, as plural,[11] in Eve’s reply, “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”[12] “4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You[13] will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you[14] will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Although the serpent was speaking to the woman, Adam was with her[15]. As such, I suspect that the writer was inferring that the serpent was also surreptitiously addressing Adam, hence, the plural ‘you’. Eve responded on her own, and “saw that tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise”. The tree was indeed good for food, except that God had commanded that it was not to be eaten. The tree was a delight to the eyes as God grew it to be pleasant to the eyes. The tree was to make one wise[16]? That could have been Eve’s presumption, or sensing in her spirit. Or, was it her personal understanding and take of the tree, being the tree of knowledge of good and evil? But, how far wrong or right was Eve? [1] ESV [2] Genesis 2:16-17 ESV [3] φαγεσθε ‘eating’ Greek second person plural [4] φαγητε ‘eating’ Greek second person plural [5] αποθανεισθ ‘you die’ Greek second person plural [6] φαγη ‘eat’ Greek second person singular [7] Ezekiel 18:4 “The soul who sins shall die” ESV [8] Subtle, cunning [9] Genesis 3:1 [10] φαγητε ‘you eat’ Greek second person plural [11] Greek second person plural [12] Genesis 3:2-3 ESV [13] Greek second person plural [14] Greek second person plural [15] Genesis 3:6 [16] Hebrew שָׂכַל sakal – to be circumspect, intelligent, to have insight Strong’s H7919 With Christ in us being the beginning and end of glory, I begin to have a new and fresh perspective of God’s relationship to man in Genesis Chapters 2 and 3.
Genesis 2: 7-9 reads “7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”[1] Genesis 2:15-17 states:“15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat[2] of it you shall surely die.”[3] The original Hebrew words translated as surely die is מֹות תָּמֽוּת׃[4] muth[5] thmuth[6] [7] having the literal meaning ‘in dying, you die’[8] or dying you would die. In the Septuagint, the Greek words are “θανατω αποθανεισθε - thanatō[9] apothanḗisthō[10] literally ‘dying, you shall die[11]’or ‘by death you shall die’[12]. In Leviticus 20:9,10,11,12,13,15,16 the words מֹֽות־יוּמַת muth מֹֽות־ iumth יוּמַת[13] meaning “dying, he shall die”[14] is also recorded seven times. Julia Smith Translation Leviticus 20 – relevant verses:
In all instances in Leviticus quoted above, the words “muth מֹֽות־ iumth יוּמַת[15] ‘dying, they shall die” connotes and describes a life, which is in a process of ‘dying’, being prematurely terminated by being put to death by an external intervention. I submit that the words מֹות תָּמֽוּת׃[16] muth thmuth,[17] “in dying, you die”[18] in Genesis 2:17 also carries the same meaning. This is because man, as a created being, was from the onset of creation, subject to creation’s process of decay and death. Only if the fruit of the tree of life was eaten could Adam and Eve live eternally: “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”[19]. Until and unless they ate of the fruit of the tree of life they were living in the process of decay and death. They will eventually die. Therefore, when God told Adam “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it” “in dying you die or in dying you would die,” what is meant that Adam’s life (which is in the process of decay and dying), would prematurely be ended ‘in the day’ that he ate of the fruit. Here, the fruit and the eating will initiate the external intervention that would prematurely end life, within the day of its occurrence. The narrative in Genesis 2 and 3 has no record of either Adam and Eve dying or more accurately having their lives prematurely ended ‘within the day’ of their eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Instead the narrative records that they were driven out of the Garden of Eden, lived for hundreds of years and had many descendants. [1][1] ESV [2] footnote ESV ‘when you eat’ [3] ESV [4] Parsing ‘מוּת muwth’ Stem Qal Aspect Infinitive - Infinitive Construct is used as a verbal noun corresponding to the English verbal noun ending in “-ing”. Strong’s H4191 Parsing ‘תָּמֽוּת׃ thmuwth’ Stem Qal Aspect Imperfect -It is used to describe a single (as opposed to a repeated) action in the past; it differs from the perfect in being more vivid and pictorial. The perfect expresses the "fact", the imperfect adds colour and movement by suggesting the "process" preliminary to its completion. Strong’s H4191 [5] See footnote 5 [6] See footnote 4 [7] Scripture4all.org Hebrew Interlinear Bible (OT) Westminster Leningrad Codex with vowels [8] exeGeses Companion Bible [9] See Strong’s G2288 [10] See Strong’s G599 [11] The Septuagint with Apocrypha Greek and English Sir Lancelot C L Brenton [12] Charles Thompson Translation [13] מוּת muwth Stem Hopal Aspect Imperfect Hophal is the "passive" of Hiphil [14] Julia E Smith Parker Translation [15] See footnote 13 [16] See footnote 4 [17] See footnote 4 [18] See footnote 8 [19] Genesis 3:22 ESV Continuing from the last post, I will now revisit the mystery of humankind in Genesis.
In John 10:27-30, Jesus proclaimed that “27 The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand.29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are One [in essence and nature].”[1] My understanding of and paraphrasing of this passage is this: – “I and Father are One. As such, even as Father is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of Father’s hands, no one can snatch them out of my hands, for in the Oneness with Father, I am also greater than all”. It is not as some assert that as Father is greater and mightier than all, Father is also greater and mightier than Him, Son Incarnate. There is no explicit statement in this passage that Father is greater and mightier than Son or that Son is inferior or weaker to Father. Rather, Father and Son are One(εἷς)[2]. Incarnate Son, as the man Christ Jesus, was revealing that though truly and properly God and truly and properly man, His oneness and equality to[3], in and with Father was/is not diminished or lessened in any way. In John 17:1-3, Jesus had referred to Father as the only(μόνον from μόνος)[4] true God. In New Testament Greek, as in Old Testament Hebrew[5], there is distinction in words between ‘one and only or unique - monos[6] in Greek and yachid[7] in Hebrew’ and ‘one including oneness - heîs[8] in Greek and 'echad[9] in Hebrew’. In John 17:10, with reference, again, to Father, God, Jesus asserts: “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.”[10] Jesus is very explicit on this. What this means is that: All God is, What and Who God is, Jesus is. Paul had written concerning this as the ‘fellowship of the mystery”, from and in eternity, being hidden[11] in God, who created all things through Christ. In the last few paragraphs of my last post, I had stated that “I am now able to see, understand and integrate all creative acts of God 'elohiym and Lord God (Yahweh 'elohiym) as the joint participatory acts of Father, Son and Spirit, even as Father initiates, Son mediates and Spirit generates all creative acts, in union and communion.” Paul’s phrase ‘fellowship of the mystery’ that God('elohiym) created all things through Christ, the Incarnate Son, is wide enough to include this view, that in God('elohiym), Father initiates, Son mediates and Spirit generates creation into being. For me, the phrase ‘God, who created all things through Christ’, not only means that God created all things through the Mediatorial Person of the Eternal Son, but also for the one[12]( εἷς-heîs) Mediatorial Person of the Incarnate Son. I note that the Greek word εἷς-heîs is used here instead of μόνος mónos. I believe that this is so because in the person of Christ the divine and human natures are so in union that Christ is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.[13] This is because the Greek word εἷς-heîs, having the meaning of one, including oneness in plurality[14], is much more encompassing than μόνος mónos, which is more specific in meaning only one or unique. The mystery[15] of the Kingdom of God is also the mystery of the Incarnate Son[16]. Paul wrote[17] of this as “the wisdom[18] of God in a mystery, even the hid wisdom, which God had determined before the world[19], unto our glory.”[20] [1] Amplified Bible (AMP) [2] Greek εἷς heîs Strong’s G1520 [3] Philippians 2:6 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Greek: οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ - literally not robbery to be equal with God. The Amplified Bible has it as “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it]” [4] Greek μόνον from μόνος mónos Strong’s G3441 [5] See previous post Genesis Revisited (1) [6] Strong’s G3441 [7] Strong’s H3173 [8] Strong’s G1520 [9] Strong’s H259 [10] English Standard Version ESV [11] Ephesians 3:9 ἀποκεκρυμμένου See Strong’s parsing in Ephesians 3:9 Reverse Interlinear G613 [12] 1 Timothy 2:5 Greek εἷς heîs Strong’s G1520 is used here by Paul. [13] See Salvation Army Doctrine 4. – even though Paul was on the human Christ. [14] See Mark 12:29 where the Lord is one εἷς-heîs and Mark 10:8, Ephesians 5:31 one εἷς-heîs flesh See also Matthew 19:5 where μία mía the Irregular feminine form of εἷς was used. [15] Mark 4:11 [16] Ephesians 3:4 1Timothy 3:16 "the mystery of Godliness,: Gog manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit....received up in glory." [17] 1 Corinthians 2:7 See also Romans 6:25 [18] See Proverbs 8:22 [19] Before creation – in Eternity [20] 1599 Geneva Bible. Commencing from my short stint (Fall of 1982 to Summer of 1983), in the Faculty of Divinity, at the University of Aberdeen, attaining greater clarity and experientially knowing Who, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, is, has been the consuming focus of my life.
It is with this Jesus lens and focus that I have revisited the GOD - 'elohiym(אֱלֹהִים)[1] and LORD GOD -Yahweh(יְהֹוָה)'elohiym(אֱלֹהִים)[2] narratives of creation, humankind and Adam and Eve, in the first 3 Chapters of the Book of Genesis. I begin by presenting my personal take regarding the word אֱלֹהִים - 'elohiym(God) and יְהֹוָה – Yahweh(Lord), with hope, that all may be blessed. It is written in Genesis 1:26-30: “26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.”[3] In the quoted passage, the word translated “God” is the Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים - 'elohiym[4], plural of אֱלוֹהַּ[5] - 'elowahh, which is always translated as God or god (singular). In Genesis 1:1, the plural noun אֱלֹהִים - 'elohiym is followed by a singular verb. However, in Genesis 1:26, although God-'elohiym, (the plural noun) is followed by a singular verb ‘said’, the next word נַֽעֲשֶׂה – noshe[6][7] “Let us make”, is in the plural form. Therefore in Genesis 1:26, there is the imputation that there is more than one Creator involved in creating Man[8]. This is also alluded to in the next verse of Genesis 1:27: “So God created man[9] in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female (more than one) he created them.” Humankind was created in the image of God(plural), 'elohiym - אֱלֹהִים. Humankind or humanity, according to this verse comprised of both male and female, each a true, real and whole human being. Yet, the description, understanding and reality of humanity or humankind would be incomplete, if one is without the other. In the narrative, these two, in their distinctiveness as male and female, are not only respectively truly and properly human beings, but also are jointly one as humankind. As such they respectively and jointly determine and define what humankind truly is, as well as what and how God is to be perceived. For, according to these verses[10], this is God’s ('elohiym) creative expression of the image and likeness of what and who God (אֱלֹהִים - ʼĕlôhîym) is. In these verses, there seem to be an allusion of relational Plurality and Oneness of Being in God אֱלֹהִים - ʼĕlôhîym, that of Oneness in Plurality and Plurality in Oneness(hereinafter referred to as Oneplural and Pluralone). In Mark 12:28, when a scribe asked Jesus; “Which commandment is the first of all?”[11], he replied “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[12] The opening words of Jesus’ reply "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the LORD is one"[13] (Hebrew:שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃) is commonly known as the Shema Yisrael proclamation of Deuteronomy 6:4. To Israel, the Lord God is always[14] one. How then does one address this relational Plurality and Oneness in the Being of God, אֱלֹהִים - ʼĕlôhîym, in light of the proclamation of Deuteronomy 6:4 “the Lord יְהֹוָה – YAHWEH our God אֱלֹהִים - ʼĕlôhîym, the LORD יְהֹוָה – YAHWEH is one.” [1] Genesis 1 [2] Genesis 2:5 [3] Revised Standard Version (RSV) [4] See Strong’s H430 [5] See Strong’s H433 [6] Genesis 1:26 Scripture4all Online Interlinear Old Testament Hebrew Text WLC_v (v1.1): Westminster Leningrad Codex with vowels [7] from נַֽעֲשֶׂ – `asah See strong’s H6213 [8] With reference to Genesis 1:26, the footnote of the Tanach The Stone Edition has it that the Targum Yonasan paraphrases; “And God said to the ministering angels who hand been created on the second day of Creation of the world, ‘Let us make Man.’” The footnote of Genesis 1:26 continues with, “When Moses wrote the Torah and came to this verse (let us make), which is in the plural and implies ז”ח that there is more than one Creator, he said: “Sovereign of the Universe! Why do You thus furnish a pretext for heretics to maintain that there is a plurality of divinities?” “Write!” God replied. “Whoever wishes to err will err… Instead, let them learn from their Creator Who created all, yet when He came to create Man He took counsel with the ministering angels” (Miderash)” Tanach The Stone Edition See Strong’s H433 under item (B) of Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon [?] and also Wikipedia on Royal-We “The royal we, or majestic plural (pluralis majestatis), is the use of a plural pronoun (or corresponding plural-inflected verb forms) to refer to a single person who is a monarch.” My view is that there is no evidence from the Old Testament concerning this narrative that would support the above views. [9] אָדַם ʼâdam – Strong’s H120 – humankind [10] Genesis 1:26,27 [11] Mark 12:28 RSV [12] Mark 12:29,30 RSV [13] Tree of Life Version. TLV [14] emphasis mine "Love means never having to say you're sorry" is a catchphrase based on a line from the Erich Segal’s novel Love Story and was popularized by its 1970 film adaptation starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal.[1] I respectfully beg to differ. I believe that genuine love means that you may or have to say that you are sorry to another person, if, hurt or wrong, has been caused by you to the other, perceived or otherwise. In so doing, there is an acknowledgement and clarity on your part as to the import of the ‘thing’ that you have done, or, not done, and its affect and effect to love and loving union and communion with another. Saying sorry, in love, is all about nurturing and growing in love and loving. Life is all about loving living. Without love, even if I know all the languages of men and spiritual beings, I am just empty noise of resounding gongs and clanging cymbals. Even if I can foretell the future, understand and fathom all mysteries and knowledge, have the ability to perform the miraculous, yet, have not love, my life remains one of emptiness, without lasting value, purpose, meaning and significance.[2] Love gives meaning, significance, purpose, substance and authenticity to and for our existence: for God is love. God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes.[3] In love, He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will.[4] Triune God freely gave us this Triune grace because of and through the Only Begotten Son, Who is loved[5], and is love. I perceive that: 1. Creation essentially and fundamentally came into being out of love for Eternal Son to become a human being, not that Eternal Son had to become human because one human sinned or all humans have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 2. Whether or not humanity sinned, the desire and will of Triune God[6], conceived in eternity, was for Eternal Son to become a human, a created being, made in the image of God. All things were created through Son and for Son. This was Father’s will, pleasure and desire in eternity.[7] Therefore, Paul could say to the Athenians: “In Him we live and move and have our being,”[8] so that we, as Peter wrote, may, “participate in the divine nature.”[9] 3. As such, Son is the only Way, Truth and Life whereby we can participate in and experience the Triune Divine Nature of love and loving.[10] Only in and through the Incarnate Son are we able to know God as Eternal Father, even as only the Father knows the Son and must reveal Him.[11] Concerning this, I find the following words attributed to Jesus in his prayer, recorded in John 17, to be descriptively instructive: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.[12] [1] Wikipedia - Love means never having to say you're sorry [2] 1 Corinthians 13. My paraphrase with help from [3] Ephesians 1:4 NIRV [4] Ephesians 1:4(c), 5 Amplified Version. [5] Ephesians 1:6 NIRV See also John17:24 [6] Colossians 1:16 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” [7] Revelations 4:11 [8] Acts 17:28 [9] 2 Peter 1:4 NIV. Read with 2 Corinthians 1:20 “for it is he who is the “Yes” to all of God's promises. This is why through Jesus Christ our “Amen” is said to the glory of God.” Good News Translation. [10] 2 Peter 1:4 [11] Matthew 11:2 “No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” NIV See also John 6:44(a) ““No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,” [12] John 17:22-24 NIV in particular 23(b) and 24(b) italics mine. Even as God is Triune love and loving, I perceive complete genuine love and loving displaying three essential and distinct characteristics: the elements of giving, receiving and reciprocating.
Father loves (giving) Son and Spirit. Son and Spirit accept and embraces (receiving) Father’s love (giving). Son and Spirit reciprocate (reciprocating) by similarly loving Father in return. All this happens, in a reciprocal, simultaneous, synergistic, dynamic loving exchange. If God is only ONE, and is love, then complete and eternal love, would ONLY be eternal self-loving. Then, the highest and greatest expression of love would ONLY be loving one’s self, for in eternity there is no genuine and authentic OTHER to love and to be loved in return. There is giving to and receiving from yourself in self- loving. However, there is no reciprocating, as there is no genuine and authentic other reciprocating love to yourself. Jesus’ statements on the first and great commandment[1] and the second like it[2], is instructive on the importance and genuineness of self, the other, love and loving. In the second, Jesus introduced the element of love and loving to one’s relationship to one’s neighbour (the other). More than that, he linked it, as inseparable, of equal importance[3] to the first ; to the love obligation that an Israelite had of loving LORD (YHWH) GOD (Elohim- Plural).[4] In so doing, even as Self and the Other is genuinely real in YHWH ELOHIM, so too, our individual self, and therefore, the self of another, is correspondingly, genuine and real. As such, our love and loving is also authentically and meaningfully real. I believe that this comforts and gives purpose to many who struggle with the notion of whether self or love and loving is authentically meaningful. Even as self and another freely and willingly initiate, create and complete love, giving, receiving and reciprocating love makes self and the other complete, whole and fulfilled. Loving your neighbour as yourself is much more than just doing to others what you wish others will do to you or do not do to others what you do not wish others to do to you. God lives, rests and abides in us when we love our neighbour. It is written in 1 John 4: ”Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”[5] “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” [6] God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”[7] Giving, receiving and reciprocating love and loving, to and from God and each other, not only enables us to know God and each other, it eventually makes us one in God. Jesus prayed: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us[8], so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”[9] [1] Matthew 22:37, 38 [2] Matthew 22:39 [3] See Matthew 22:34-39. The word commonly translated ‘and’ is actually Strong’s G1161 Greek word “ δέ - de” more accurately having the meaning of “but, moreover”. When paired with the Greek words “ὁμοία [(homoia) from homois ( See Strong’s G3664)”] αὐτῇ - literally ‘like it’” , the phrase has within it the connotation of “like but equally important.” “A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" New Living Translation. “And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself.’” The Passion Translation. The word “second” connotes distinction and inseparability rather than priority vis a vis the first. You cannot love God if you do not love thy our neighbour. By loving your neighbour, you are also loving God. See 1 john 4:7,16 [4] Deuteronomy 6:4,5 In Hebrew the word “יְהוָה-YHWH” is translated LORD, and the word “אֱלֹהֶיךָ-Elohim” is translated as God. Note that YHWH is ONE (Deuteronomy 6;4) but Elohim is Plural See Strong’s H430 – plural of אֱלוֹהַּ-‘elowahh meaning God. [5] 1 John 4:7,8 [6] 1 John 4:12 NRSV See Strong’s G3306 translated as “lives” here [7] 1 John 4:16 NRSV See Strong’s G 3306 translated as “abides’ here. “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” NLT [8] Other ancient manuscript reads be one in us [9] John 17:20-24 NRSV |
WILFRED YEO
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