Another scripture source from which the Jews who questioned Jesus misunderstood-but in mostly good faith-what the Messiah would be like is the entire Psalm 110. I leave that for you to read on your own because now you can understand the difference between the description of a human ever living Messiah, as they imagined, and the actual Messiah that God promised who, "Like Melchizedek you are a priest forever." Jesus is the eternal priest and also judge, but in heaven "Who, robed in splendor, judges nations, crushes heads across the wide earth" (Psalm 110:4, 6). From this most of the Jews imagined an actual forever living human being dressed as an awesome king and dispensing justice with God's authority. They were tempted into this imagining by being too tied down by the reality of Roman invasion and rule. Thus they mixed yearning to be free from Rome with then limiting what God's Messiah would be like and would do since they of course imagined his first job would be to defeat the Romans through God's "princely power."
This is again the temptation of the Jews to believe a human forever living Messiah based on Isaiah 9:1-6. Before we discuss it let me explain again why their disbelief is a response to temptation.
Temptation can be understood as not only being urged to do something sinful, wrong and unjust, but to either disbelieve in God or to "cut him down to size." When humans have problems, BIG problems, such as wars, oppression or occupation, they become very subject to temptation to think of God's words as applying narrowly to their current circumstances. They forget that God is on a scale far vaster than they can imagine, and easily sees and prophesies down all the generations of humanity. So it is a temptation to puff up the importance of the calamity that humans are in within one or two generations and assume-or even distort or force-scripture applies to exactly that time, rather than to the ultimate reign of God's Kingdom through all time and circumstances. Thus the Jews were particularly tempted to cut down and minimize the scope of what they imagined the scriptures to be because it resonated with their own daily hopes and wishes. So now read Isaiah 9:1-6, which does indeed describe the Christ, who would be Jesus, but through temptation the Jews came to believe he would be the defeater of the Romans in their time. Notice how the scripture opens with the statement about the light that you read my commentary about, where Jesus very clearly identifies himself. The Jews of the time totally missed that connection because of their blinders due to temptation to look for the Roman defeating human king.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing.
As they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as men make merry when dividing spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
And the rod of their taskmaster
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
For every boot that tramped in battle,
every cloak rolled in blood,
will be burned as fuel for flames.
For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor,
God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
From David's throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
By judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this! (Isaiah 9:1-6)
See, if someone is thinking of God's greater plan, which is to bring knowledge of him to not only the Jews but the gentiles, to bring his peace upon the world, and to prepare people for receipt of grace after remission of their sins of unbelief and idolatry, that person can read this passage and have a broader vision of what the Messiah will truly be like. When, however, people are suffering under a specific crisis or oppression, as the Jews were with the Romans, they were too easily tempted to believe that the Messiah would be an earthly king who would kick the Romans out of occupied Palestine/Israel of the day.
Because of the military imagery they also totally missed that the Messiah would be "NOT military." Read that carefully and you will see what I mean. They were tempted into thinking, erroneously, as you carefully read what it says, that "forever peaceful" comes after a great blood letting by the Messiah. That is a total misread that was in their minds during the time of Jesus for three reasons 1) the military imagery made them think that the Messiah would start with military action 2) the rest of chapter 9 discusses specific military campaigns, and so they taint what is in 9:1-6 as also being of a military campaign, kind of the aftermath of bloody battles and 3) they do not understand that the "child is born to us" is one who smashes, rather than imposes, "the yoke," "the pole" and "the rod" on humans. Notice that Jesus explains that his yoke is light, his burden sweet, and there is no mention of the rod with which he will rule (it is only observed in the Final Judgement by the Apostle John who witnesses Jesus in the Book of Revelation during the Apocalypse). In fact, read how Isaiah 11 follows the same tempo where the beginning is clearly about military imagery BUT of the Messiah's bringing of grace, not swordplay.
See, someone reading Isaiah 9 would understand the two different tempos of the prophecy. The first part, Isaiah 9:1-6, is the "someday this will happen" future looking tempo. But then with Isaiah 9:7 you have a brisk "here and now" tempo shift, which is why it opens with "The Lord has sent word against Jacob, it falls upon Israel" (Isaiah 9:7). So God comforts the people with the promise of Isaiah 9:1-6 before lowering the boom on them in the rest of Isaiah 9 that they are going to be punished for their sins (and this description of soon to come righteous wrath continues through Isaiah 10 before the Messiah is prophesied again in Isaiah 11). But remember, people didn't have copies of scripture outside of the temple or the places of scholars AND just as today, people spoke in slogans and sound bytes. So when Jesus actually arrives, the promised Messiah, the people totally missed the checklist of fulfillment of prophecy that Jesus actually delivered.
I hope you have found this helpful and some useful material for further contemplation.
Isaiah 11:9
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,
as water covers the sea.
Showing posts with label Book of Isaiah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book of Isaiah. Show all posts
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Cleansing the palete, writing and thoughts
The palate is a part of the mouth. The term "cleansing the palate" is often used when referring to wine or food tasters, who eat something bland to remove the taste of the previously sampled item before assessing the taste of the next item. In other words, one removes the after taste so that it does not infiltrate the next bite or sip. Meals of several courses are often planned with that in mind, if not in actually providing an intermediary palate cleanser, then at least planning the order of courses so that a previous dish or beverage does not overpower the next one or ruin the flavor through unplanned combination.
The societal lack of "cleansing the palate" is one of the greatest obstacles to achieving, or even commencing, sanctity today. For example, one of my least favorite activities is to have my mind set on writing a blog posting that glorifies God, but I am interrupted with the need to blog about the dirtier works and sins of humans. However, because my heart, mind and spirit are always turned toward God, even as my fingers have to type less pleasant (but vital soul saving) blog entries, I do not have to "cleanse the palate" of my spirit and my mind, since my heart is always turned to God. White bread is often used as a gourmet palate cleanser, and so it does not seem a coincidence that one can think of God, through Jesus Christ, the living bread and staff of life, and remain cleansed in one's heart, mind and soul even when one must discuss distasteful things, such as sin and depravity in modern society, and the consequences of hell fire for all eternity.
However, since the vast majority of humans are not sanctified to God, but I do believe that many wish to be (however, they confuse it with the egocentric objective of being "very spiritual"), you need to realize that society and its dirt are a barrier to sanctification, as it requires extraordinary effort these days to "cleanse one's palate."
Let me introduce an old time admonishment, that is slang and said casually. In the old days when someone said something dirty (as in pornographic), profane (toward God), or cussed, often the listener would reply to that person, "You kiss your mother with that mouth?!"
This was in more innocent and good hearted days when often that admonishment was actually enough to make the hardened bad talker stop and be somewhat abashed. That's like back in the days when moms weren't competing to be as dirty as the celebrities, and when their children upheld their mother's level of decency. So yes, a simple expression like that caused many a cusser or dirty talker to stop in his tracks and blush. He would genuinely be ashamed to think of what had come out of his mouth, and that yes, that is the mouth that would kiss his mom on the cheek. That admonishment was a verbal palate cleanser.
Today it is just about impossible to cleanse the palate, spiritually. I don't mean to cleanse the palate to do some high and mighty worshipping or great spiritual work. I mean to go back to the normal state that one should be in nearly one hundred percent of the time! One should be living a life of having a cleansed palate, but one that is interrupted on occasion by the realities of life.
I'm not speaking of cussing here. I am speaking of living constantly within the increasing dirtiness of the world.
Here is an example of those who have to struggle because of the dirt of the world. It used to be that if you were a law enforcement official, it would be a very rare event when one had to investigate child pornography, child solicitation or child rape. The average cop might encounter one horrific example in his or her entire career! And that event would, of course, be a very low point and one that he or she not only had to prevent from depressing them, but also did not bring the sadness of it home to their family.
Now look at what the world, through human beings own choices, has brought to this example. Entire police departments have to assign full time officers to trolling through the filth of the Internet, identifying and capturing pedophiles and other child abusers. These officers have to look at more in FIVE MINUTES than most cops had to look at in their entire career. It is impossible for law enforcement people to ever cleanse their palates or have a cleansed palate, because they are standing within the tidal wave of filth.
I worry about professionals, and amateurs, who do this type of work with sincere hearts because I know that despite what they may say, it changes them forever and is a soul robbing experience. People often bandy about praying to the Archangel Michael, but this is an example where I recommend that those who must, because of their vocation, wade in such palate destroying filth, that they look at Michael as a role model, as the archangel who faces the worst of what Satan is, and yet remains totally pure and sanctified to God. Think of his role modeling as a palate cleanser. Also, do not be an egomaniac who thinks you are not affected and can do this for years at a time. Wading in filth, even for a "noble purpose" is a barrier to sanctity and your process of sanctification. Why? Because it takes up space in your mind and your heart, even as you combat it, that ought to be set only on the pure sights of God. You are having to "kiss God's cheek" with that mouth.
Isaiah 6:5-7
Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."
Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets who prophesied the Messiah, Jesus Christ, knew that even as pure as he was, he could not be living as a human among humans with filthy lips without being at risk once he faces God, so upon the sight of God he is terrified of this knowledge. God respects this wisdom exhibited by Isaiah and thus the seraphim cleanses Isaiah's lips with burning coals from God's own altar. This is why you can look to God and his angels, such as Michael, with confidence and trust if you, through no fault of your own, are put within the filth of the times.
But what about the vast majority of people who wallow in and produce the filth? What about the many mothers today who purchase "booty enhancing" jeans and who have "tramp stamps" tattooed over their rear ends? Why should their children worry about with what lips they kiss such mothers?
It is impossible to have the television on, or the radio, to keep one company, as I used to like to do, without now being subjected to a "Viva Viagra" commercial about how long a man can have an erection, or some thinly veiled reference to oral sex. How many of you turn off the TV or the radio the instant that such filth comes on? Not so many I reckon. How many of you hold stock in those companies, or work behind the scenes on that type of marketing, all day every day? How can one be sanctified, have a cleansed palate for God in your average day, when you are in the tidal wave, either willingly or unwillingly, of filth?
Young people, this is one of the things I am trying to help you to understand, a time that was gone before you were born, but has become worse each year, as you've been growing up and have become young adults. Do not worry that I am being a fun destroying prude, LOL. If you think that, reread the example I have used, which is of the average police officer who maybe once in his entire career encountered terrible child pornographic filth or solicitation. Do not believe the liars of today who say it "always was there but just hidden." I mean, duh, how dumb do they think you are? Cell phones, computers, message boards and the Internet did not exist. Thus there was no way to cultivate the occasional pervert's taste into violent addictive action as there is today. Today there is a field full of weeds, rather than a field of wheat that would have the occasional, easily identified and controlled weed. You have been given, deliberately, or at the very least because they have been asleep at the wheel, a society of a destroyed cleansed palate, by your parents and their parents.
The sickening spread and virtual explosion of violence against even the tiniest infants (and even pet animals) and the total perversion of the beauty of intimacy, including sex, is happening because people are not living the way they used to be, which was with mental and spiritual cleansed palates... ones that they knew had to be restored to that normalcy of the cleansed palate, in between encounters with that which is unclean.
But to be unclean and uncleansed is the "new normal." That is the shocking and still, for me, who have seen this with my own eyes, the most difficult thing to comprehend how society has imploded and rotted from within, while calling that being "liberated." I don't think the police who spend their entire shifts hunting the worst baby raping perverts that have ever existed among humans feel particularly "liberated." I don't feel liberated when I sit down to blog and someone on the radio makes an oral sex allusion. Do you feel liberated, really? Young people, you certainly should not feel liberated. You have been chained in a meat market, out of reach of the place of the cleansed palate. Thus you cannot enjoy as you should the goodness of intimacy, of passion, or handle appropriately confrontations with filth, when they occur. Genuine liberation is to be able to operate from a clean base of stability, and thus you have a wide range of appropriate responses.
So if you are interested in being sanctified, as every human being should, which means to put God and his will first and foremost in your life, so that you can reap all the goodness of life as it exists now and have hope for the eternal bliss, you must be aware of the tide that you take for granted as "normal" that brings unclean and unease into your spirits and hearts, hindering sanctification. Shut it down, the unclean, wherever and whenever it is in your reach. Don't "put up with it" (like letting the TV drone on with filth) because as I said, as the holy man Isaiah knew, it besmirches even the unwilling.
What can you do on a practical level? First of all, this is one reason why frequent daily prayer is so helpful. People have started thinking too much of prayer as "asking God for something." Realize, instead, and remember that prayer is the ultimate palate cleanser. Prayer neutralizes filth because it removes you from it as you realign and reset your focus on what is true and good. So prayer is not just a tool for asking God for help. Prayer is the ultimate palate cleanser.
Then, as I have alluded to above, make your own space as clean as possible. For example, I stop visiting news web sites that when I click on them I immediately have some gigantic picture of fat boobs stuffed in my virtual face. Don't give them your clicks and don't let them plant those images with you. So clean up your space even though it's a daily battle, but think of weeding out the field (not taking weed, LOL). If you pull out each one as it pops up, eventually they diminish.
Also, be a trend setter and set your own example. Like I said I am no dreary prude. But there is a heck of a difference between a sharp dressed young man or woman and one who feels that I and the world need to see their tramp stamp or booty crack. There is a quiet young man who sometimes comes in for pizza where I regularly lunch and I totally love his clothes. He is so hip and yet modest. If you cultivate your own cleansed palate of taste in your own dignity and hipness, then your posse and others will follow you. You will be helping everyone with their own hip sanctification! Seriously, you do not want to be the one, like so many girls today, who wants to show off her stuff to every guy, hoping that guy goes home and hates his wife or girlfriend for not being as "hot" as her. Trust me, she'll be "hot" alright, in a way she eternally regrets. Again, this is not because God doesn't like showing off the human body. It's because God knows the hearts of all and their every thought, and he knows when people dress slutty so that they can harm the custody of the eyes and hearts, and thus sanctity and happiness, of others. Marketing people and greedy merchants better wise up to that too. How many erotic commercials fuel child molester fantasies? A lot of them and I know because as I said, I know what crime and society was like "before" and "after."
I hope, as always, that you are having a good day and that you have found this to be helpful.
The societal lack of "cleansing the palate" is one of the greatest obstacles to achieving, or even commencing, sanctity today. For example, one of my least favorite activities is to have my mind set on writing a blog posting that glorifies God, but I am interrupted with the need to blog about the dirtier works and sins of humans. However, because my heart, mind and spirit are always turned toward God, even as my fingers have to type less pleasant (but vital soul saving) blog entries, I do not have to "cleanse the palate" of my spirit and my mind, since my heart is always turned to God. White bread is often used as a gourmet palate cleanser, and so it does not seem a coincidence that one can think of God, through Jesus Christ, the living bread and staff of life, and remain cleansed in one's heart, mind and soul even when one must discuss distasteful things, such as sin and depravity in modern society, and the consequences of hell fire for all eternity.
However, since the vast majority of humans are not sanctified to God, but I do believe that many wish to be (however, they confuse it with the egocentric objective of being "very spiritual"), you need to realize that society and its dirt are a barrier to sanctification, as it requires extraordinary effort these days to "cleanse one's palate."
Let me introduce an old time admonishment, that is slang and said casually. In the old days when someone said something dirty (as in pornographic), profane (toward God), or cussed, often the listener would reply to that person, "You kiss your mother with that mouth?!"
This was in more innocent and good hearted days when often that admonishment was actually enough to make the hardened bad talker stop and be somewhat abashed. That's like back in the days when moms weren't competing to be as dirty as the celebrities, and when their children upheld their mother's level of decency. So yes, a simple expression like that caused many a cusser or dirty talker to stop in his tracks and blush. He would genuinely be ashamed to think of what had come out of his mouth, and that yes, that is the mouth that would kiss his mom on the cheek. That admonishment was a verbal palate cleanser.
Today it is just about impossible to cleanse the palate, spiritually. I don't mean to cleanse the palate to do some high and mighty worshipping or great spiritual work. I mean to go back to the normal state that one should be in nearly one hundred percent of the time! One should be living a life of having a cleansed palate, but one that is interrupted on occasion by the realities of life.
I'm not speaking of cussing here. I am speaking of living constantly within the increasing dirtiness of the world.
Here is an example of those who have to struggle because of the dirt of the world. It used to be that if you were a law enforcement official, it would be a very rare event when one had to investigate child pornography, child solicitation or child rape. The average cop might encounter one horrific example in his or her entire career! And that event would, of course, be a very low point and one that he or she not only had to prevent from depressing them, but also did not bring the sadness of it home to their family.
Now look at what the world, through human beings own choices, has brought to this example. Entire police departments have to assign full time officers to trolling through the filth of the Internet, identifying and capturing pedophiles and other child abusers. These officers have to look at more in FIVE MINUTES than most cops had to look at in their entire career. It is impossible for law enforcement people to ever cleanse their palates or have a cleansed palate, because they are standing within the tidal wave of filth.
I worry about professionals, and amateurs, who do this type of work with sincere hearts because I know that despite what they may say, it changes them forever and is a soul robbing experience. People often bandy about praying to the Archangel Michael, but this is an example where I recommend that those who must, because of their vocation, wade in such palate destroying filth, that they look at Michael as a role model, as the archangel who faces the worst of what Satan is, and yet remains totally pure and sanctified to God. Think of his role modeling as a palate cleanser. Also, do not be an egomaniac who thinks you are not affected and can do this for years at a time. Wading in filth, even for a "noble purpose" is a barrier to sanctity and your process of sanctification. Why? Because it takes up space in your mind and your heart, even as you combat it, that ought to be set only on the pure sights of God. You are having to "kiss God's cheek" with that mouth.
Isaiah 6:5-7
Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."
Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets who prophesied the Messiah, Jesus Christ, knew that even as pure as he was, he could not be living as a human among humans with filthy lips without being at risk once he faces God, so upon the sight of God he is terrified of this knowledge. God respects this wisdom exhibited by Isaiah and thus the seraphim cleanses Isaiah's lips with burning coals from God's own altar. This is why you can look to God and his angels, such as Michael, with confidence and trust if you, through no fault of your own, are put within the filth of the times.
But what about the vast majority of people who wallow in and produce the filth? What about the many mothers today who purchase "booty enhancing" jeans and who have "tramp stamps" tattooed over their rear ends? Why should their children worry about with what lips they kiss such mothers?
It is impossible to have the television on, or the radio, to keep one company, as I used to like to do, without now being subjected to a "Viva Viagra" commercial about how long a man can have an erection, or some thinly veiled reference to oral sex. How many of you turn off the TV or the radio the instant that such filth comes on? Not so many I reckon. How many of you hold stock in those companies, or work behind the scenes on that type of marketing, all day every day? How can one be sanctified, have a cleansed palate for God in your average day, when you are in the tidal wave, either willingly or unwillingly, of filth?
Young people, this is one of the things I am trying to help you to understand, a time that was gone before you were born, but has become worse each year, as you've been growing up and have become young adults. Do not worry that I am being a fun destroying prude, LOL. If you think that, reread the example I have used, which is of the average police officer who maybe once in his entire career encountered terrible child pornographic filth or solicitation. Do not believe the liars of today who say it "always was there but just hidden." I mean, duh, how dumb do they think you are? Cell phones, computers, message boards and the Internet did not exist. Thus there was no way to cultivate the occasional pervert's taste into violent addictive action as there is today. Today there is a field full of weeds, rather than a field of wheat that would have the occasional, easily identified and controlled weed. You have been given, deliberately, or at the very least because they have been asleep at the wheel, a society of a destroyed cleansed palate, by your parents and their parents.
The sickening spread and virtual explosion of violence against even the tiniest infants (and even pet animals) and the total perversion of the beauty of intimacy, including sex, is happening because people are not living the way they used to be, which was with mental and spiritual cleansed palates... ones that they knew had to be restored to that normalcy of the cleansed palate, in between encounters with that which is unclean.
But to be unclean and uncleansed is the "new normal." That is the shocking and still, for me, who have seen this with my own eyes, the most difficult thing to comprehend how society has imploded and rotted from within, while calling that being "liberated." I don't think the police who spend their entire shifts hunting the worst baby raping perverts that have ever existed among humans feel particularly "liberated." I don't feel liberated when I sit down to blog and someone on the radio makes an oral sex allusion. Do you feel liberated, really? Young people, you certainly should not feel liberated. You have been chained in a meat market, out of reach of the place of the cleansed palate. Thus you cannot enjoy as you should the goodness of intimacy, of passion, or handle appropriately confrontations with filth, when they occur. Genuine liberation is to be able to operate from a clean base of stability, and thus you have a wide range of appropriate responses.
So if you are interested in being sanctified, as every human being should, which means to put God and his will first and foremost in your life, so that you can reap all the goodness of life as it exists now and have hope for the eternal bliss, you must be aware of the tide that you take for granted as "normal" that brings unclean and unease into your spirits and hearts, hindering sanctification. Shut it down, the unclean, wherever and whenever it is in your reach. Don't "put up with it" (like letting the TV drone on with filth) because as I said, as the holy man Isaiah knew, it besmirches even the unwilling.
What can you do on a practical level? First of all, this is one reason why frequent daily prayer is so helpful. People have started thinking too much of prayer as "asking God for something." Realize, instead, and remember that prayer is the ultimate palate cleanser. Prayer neutralizes filth because it removes you from it as you realign and reset your focus on what is true and good. So prayer is not just a tool for asking God for help. Prayer is the ultimate palate cleanser.
Then, as I have alluded to above, make your own space as clean as possible. For example, I stop visiting news web sites that when I click on them I immediately have some gigantic picture of fat boobs stuffed in my virtual face. Don't give them your clicks and don't let them plant those images with you. So clean up your space even though it's a daily battle, but think of weeding out the field (not taking weed, LOL). If you pull out each one as it pops up, eventually they diminish.
Also, be a trend setter and set your own example. Like I said I am no dreary prude. But there is a heck of a difference between a sharp dressed young man or woman and one who feels that I and the world need to see their tramp stamp or booty crack. There is a quiet young man who sometimes comes in for pizza where I regularly lunch and I totally love his clothes. He is so hip and yet modest. If you cultivate your own cleansed palate of taste in your own dignity and hipness, then your posse and others will follow you. You will be helping everyone with their own hip sanctification! Seriously, you do not want to be the one, like so many girls today, who wants to show off her stuff to every guy, hoping that guy goes home and hates his wife or girlfriend for not being as "hot" as her. Trust me, she'll be "hot" alright, in a way she eternally regrets. Again, this is not because God doesn't like showing off the human body. It's because God knows the hearts of all and their every thought, and he knows when people dress slutty so that they can harm the custody of the eyes and hearts, and thus sanctity and happiness, of others. Marketing people and greedy merchants better wise up to that too. How many erotic commercials fuel child molester fantasies? A lot of them and I know because as I said, I know what crime and society was like "before" and "after."
I hope, as always, that you are having a good day and that you have found this to be helpful.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Muslim view of Adam and Eve origins
I enjoy reading the Islamic commentaries and answers to questions at arabnews.com and have posted links to interesting articles previously on this blog. It is also one of the places that I glean ideas of questions that my readers may have about God and his ways, and how to interpret differences in perception among the Abrahamic faiths in the one God. So here is an answer to a question that is nicely explained, and then my commentary.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5§ion=0&article=115531&d=23&m=10&y=2008&pix=islam.jpg&category=Islam
snip
Q. As children we learn that Adam and Eve were sent down to earth, after they had been living in heaven, as punishment when Eve committed the great sin of disobeying God’s express orders. However, it was God’s will and design that man should live on earth. It is He who created the universe and made the earth suitable for human life. Please comment.
Emran
A. Let us clear first the myth that it was Eve, or Hawwa as her name is pronounced in Arabic, that was responsible for that sin and the fall from heaven. The Qur’an does not distinguish between the fault of Adam and that of Eve. On the contrary, in surahs 2 and 7, the Qur’an attributes the sin of eating from the forbidden tree to both of them together. In one instance, the Qur’an puts more blame on Adam: “They both ate of its fruit; and thereupon their shameful parts became visible to them, and they began to cover themselves with pieced-together leaves from the Garden. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and thus did he stray into error.” (20: 121)
It is true that it was always God’s design to place man on earth. This is clear in His announcement to the angels about the forthcoming event: “Your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am appointing a vicegerent on earth.’ They said, ‘Will You appoint on it someone who would spread corruption and shed blood, whereas we celebrate Your praises and extol Your holiness?’ He said, ‘I surely know that of which you have no knowledge.’” (2: 30)
So, why were Adam and Eve placed in heaven first? We understand that this was all to give them the experience of what may happen when they disobey God and listen to the temptation presented by the Evil One. They were thus equipped to fight temptation. Their endeavors to steer the right way would thus be more successful. This was all by God’s grace who did not wish man to start life on earth without thorough knowledge of right and wrong, and how to do more of the first and less of the second.
***
First, one must understand that the Bible in the Old Testament contains much more information about the exact same events than is contained in the Qur'an or was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH) simply because the Bible contains details of the shared history as explained to Moses many hundreds of years before either the Christian Gospels (which chronicle Jesus) or the Qur'an were gifted. The Qur'an, everyone agrees, is a book that was given to the descendants of Abraham who became the Muslim people, and that was its purpose. Thus the Qur'an did not attempt to provide more detail of ancient Biblical events in faith history, but rather less material, in order to stay true to its purpose. The purpose of the Qur'an and the Prophet's mission was to gift the people who would believe with understanding that they belong to the heritage of Abraham and to "reintroduce them" back to God, in a matter of speaking, since they lived among pagans and idolaters. Think of Muslims as being descended from a child who was separated from knowing about his or her birth parents and ancestors. The Qur'an was given to the Prophet (PBUH) so that he could understand that the Muslims are part of salvation history, are direct descendants of Abraham, and have a "personal relationship with God." So much of the ancient times are given to the Muslims as kind of "quick recaps" of their shared origins, and not an attempt to either replicate in length what is in the Bible or to provide as much or more detail.
Understanding that, and if you read the Qur'an you recognize its very lyrical and poetic structure, God tends to explain things in simple ways that people can easily understand. Thus Muslim children are taught that Adam and Eve were "with God in heaven before being on earth." This is both true but also a simplification. Adam and Eve were "with God" but that is because God brought what you can think of as a "corner of heaven" or a "piece of heaven" to earth, simply because heaven "travels along with God" where God resides. Eden was Eden precisely because God was "there" on earth with Adam and Eve. (That does not mean, obviously, that he was there in his entirety, because God is constantly throughout all of creation and constantly present in the heavenly realm, even when he is an apparition on earth).
The reason that this is misunderstood is that not being Bible readers, obviously, Muslims do not have access to other examples of what it is like when God is present on earth and "brings heaven with him." People who have read the Bible are able to cite a number of examples, and thus better understand that while Adam and Eve were "in heaven," they were also physically on earth, but living within heaven's grace in its tangible form on earth due to the presence of God. Here is the scripture that explains that God is physically present with them on earth.
Genesis 3:6-11 The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself." Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"
So you will notice that it is not a matter of Adam and Eve literally being floating up in heaven, and that makes no sense because they were made from the clay and dust of the ground by God in the first place. However, they were in "heaven" in the sense that unlike any humans who ever existed, they actually lived within God's physical presence on earth. God made himself present to the miraculous extent that he even walked as any human would during the cool and breezy time of the day, he used a voice to speak to them, and they could hear the sound of his footsteps. Heaven is God's realm and it "travels with him," so to speak. And thus Eden, being graced by God's actual presence on earth, was a "corner" of heaven that Adam and Eve occupied. They fell from heaven, in the sense of being "sent to earth" as Muslim children understand it, when God withdrew his presence and thus heaven away from the corner of earth that was the Garden of Eden. It's more like the carpet of God's grace was pulled out from under them and removed, and thus they had their feet "on earth" and had to face the hardships of life on earth without being protected and glorified in God's presence as they were originally.
When is the next time that we can describe heaven as being "on earth" in the accompaniment of God? When God appears to Moses and consents to travel with the Israelites. Here is a portion of the scripture that describes how Moses erected a tent that became filled with God in his presence, and thus was also a corner of heaven.
Exodus 33:7-11 The tent, which was called the meeting tent, Moses used to pitch at some distance away, outside the camp. Anyone who wished to consult the Lord would go to this meeting tent outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, the people would all rise and stand at the entrance of their own tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. On seeing the column of cloud stand at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and worship at the entrance of their own tents. The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. Moses would then return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, would not move out of the tent.
Here you can see that it is like the tent that is pitched each time the migrating Israelites stopped to rest during their exodus becomes a "corner of heaven" that God chooses to occupy when Moses needed to consult with him. That is the meaning of the column of cloud, demarking that the realm of God is within. Thus the meeting tent is like Eden in the sense that it is a small earthly portion of God's realm by virtue of his presence, but it is not like Eden because it is not designed to sustain humans in grace and glory, since they had forfeited that right. However, Moses was the first and only prophet or patriarch who was able to meet face to face with God and God treated him as his friend. Here are two more examples of how Moses interacted with God, not in a sense of having a dream or vision, but God being physically present and thus bringing along with him a portion of what heaven "is like."
Exodus 33:17-23 The Lord said to Moses, "This request too, which you have just made, I will carry out, because you have found favor with me and you are my intimate friend." Then Moses said, "Do let me see your glory!" He answered, "I will make all my beauty pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce my name, 'Lord''; I who grant mercy to whom I will. But my face you cannot see, for no man sees me and still lives. Here," continued the Lord, "is a place near me where you shall station yourself on the rock. When my glory passes I will set you in the hollow of the rock and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, so that you may see my back; but my face is not to be seen."
Exodus 34:5-9 Having come down in a cloud, the Lord stood with him there and proclaimed his name, "Lord." Thus the Lord passed before him and cried out, "The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness!" Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."
Exodus 34:27-35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with them I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." So Moses stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, without eating any food or drinking any water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. [Notice that Moses, like Adam and Eve, is totally sustained from any need for food or water when he is in the presence of God. Again, that is accurate to say he is in "heaven" in the sense of being in God's glorified presence and having no earthly needs]. As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord. When Aaron, then, and the other Israelites saw Moses and noticed how radiant the skin of his face had become, they were afraid to come near him. Only after Moses called to them did Aaron and all the rulers of the community come back to him. Moses then spoke to them. Later on, all the Israelites came up to him, and he enjoined on them all that the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. When he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses entered the presence of the Lord to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the Israelites all that had been commanded. Then the Israelites would see that the skin of Moses' face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the Lord.
No human has ever had such a personal friendship and relationship that spanned many years on the physical reality of earth as did Moses with God. Moses in a very important way restored the bond and trust that Adam and Eve had broken with God. Yes, Abraham was the cornerstone of restoring the relationship with God that would provide humans with the beginning of their salvation history with God, which is ongoing to this very day. But Moses was privileged to see a physical manifestation of God, and to experience and absorb some of the glory of heaven, as no other has or will. Future appearances of God would be in the form of an angel of God being sent, with two notable exceptions. These are the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah, both of whom witnessed a physical presence of God on earth and with, what we are discussing here, the bringing of a "portion" of heaven along with God to earth.
Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year king Uzziah died, [that is known to be 742 BC by the way], I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two their veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!" they cried one to the other. "All of earth is filled with his glory!" [These words are repeated, by the way, each time a Catholic Mass is celebrated, in imitation of the angels glorifying God in their own words]. At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this had touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." [It is from this event, by the way, that Catholics learned to understand that no one can be in the presence of God without being purified using fire from his altar, and that therefore this will happen to all who merit entering heaven, the process of which we call purgatory, from the word "purged."] Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am," I said, "send me!"
You can discern reading that passage, which describes the calling of Isaiah to God's service, that God in his power and glory entered into the room of the temple, bringing with him his seat of power in heaven, the throne, the seraphim and "the train of his garment," which is, just as we saw when he appeared to Moses, smoke and clouds. Thus this is another example of God bringing a part of heaven wrapped around his holy presence down to earth. The shouting of the seraphim, heavenly beings, was enough to make the temple shake.
There is a very lengthy description of the prophet Ezekiel's viewing of the glory of God and components of heaven that accompanied him. I have selected here passages that provide the total picture for you.
Ezekiel 1:1-4 In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month [Jewish scholars know this to be July 31, 593 BC], while I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions. On the fifth day of the month, the fifth year, that is, of King Jehoiachin's exile, the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar. There the hand of the Lord came upon me. As I looked a stormwind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire [enveloped in brightness], from the midst of which [the midst of fire] something gleaned like electrum. 13. In among the living creatures something like burning coals of fire could be seen; they seemed like torches, moving to and fro among the living creatures. The fire gleamed, and from it came forth flashes of lightning. 22. Over the heads of the living creatures, something like a firmament could be seen, seeming like glittering crystal, stretched straight out above their heads. 23. Beneath the firmament their wings were stretched out, one toward the other. [Each of them had two covering his body.] 24. Then I heard the sound of their wings, like the roaring of mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty. When they moved, the sound of the tumult was like the din of an army. [And when they stood still they lowered their wings.] Above the firmament over their heads something like a throne could be seen, looking like sapphire. Upon it was seated, up above, one who had the appearance of a man. 27. Upward from what resembled his waist I saw what gleamed like electrum; downward from what resembled his waist I saw what looked like fire; he was surrounded with splendor. 28. Like the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day was the splendor that surrounded him. Such was the vision of the likeness of the Lord.
Ezekiel 2:1 When I had seen it, I fell upon my face and heard a voice that said to me: Son of man, stand up! I wish to speak to you. 22. The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he said to me: Get up and go out into the plain, where I will speak with you. 23. So I got up and went out into the plain, and I saw that the glory of the Lord was in that place, like the glory I had seen b the river Chebar. I fell prone, but then spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me.
This is not only a detailed description of this appearance of the Lord God, but notice that the appearance of God and the accompanying part of his glory of heaven that he brings with him is actually moved from one place to the other. God first appears to Ezekiel by the river, and then when God instructs him to get up and go to the plain, Ezekiel witnesses that the entire tableau of God's presence is now there. Further, a year later, in Ezekiel 10, God with his angels, whom Ezekiel now recognizes as cherubim, appear again in glory again, this time near where Ezekiel lives at the Temple. This has been dated as being on September 17, 592 BC. Again God appears with his throne in the firmament, and is thus another example of God "bringing" a part of heaven "with him" in a sense when he makes these visitations of his glory to earth, rather than when elsewhere in the Bible he sends an angel, such as an Angel of the Lord (an angel through which God directly speaks) or a representative who speaks for God, such as Gabriel.
There is another example of God opening up the boundary between earth and heaven and that is described during the martyrdom of the first Christian, St. Stephen.
Acts 7:54-59 When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep [died].
To wrap up, let me point out a few things. Notice that it is only during the time of the ancient Israelites, and the time of Adam and Eve of course, that God actually appeared on earth in his glorified form, bring with him the actual "firmament" of heaven. God did not do the same thing during the time of the Christians, having sent Jesus Christ to represent him, and making his voice and his will known as described on several occasions in the Gospel, and God did not do the same thing when he gave the Qur'an to the Prophet (PBUH). We only have in those "modern" times the example of St. Stephen peering upward and seeing into heaven to view God as Stephen is dying. This is why it is important to read all of sacred scripture and not select out passages, looking for a quick "description" or "answer." There is a huge amount of insight to ponder by looking at all of these four examples (Adam and Eve, Moses, Isaiah and Ezekiel) of how God chooses to present himself and in what form. For example, I've been dismayed and in fact angered when I realized that some "new age" unbelievers like to extract the Ezekiel visitation by God and use that to "justify" that "aliens visited earth in flying saucers." When one reads the entire Bible and comprehends what one is reading, rather than trying to have a dark agenda, it is obvious that God is the only one who is electing to visit humans on those occasions and specifically his original chosen people. It is impossible to read the entirety of God's relationship with Moses and then jump around the Bible "looking for evidence of flying saucers." That is, of course, what cultists seek to do even with the Muslim faith, where I know that some try to twist the story we started this discussion with, how Adam and Eve started their existence in heaven, as making that a warped case for "Adam and Eve were aliens who flew down to earth on flying saucers." The souls of innocent children who have had to listen to "elders" who are unbelieving idolators and pagans have been damaged, and I cannot describe to you how many and how serious a crisis this has been, and remains. That is another reason, other than my usual reason of wanting to enlighten and spread the glory of God, and witness to him, and praise him, that I spent so much time on this subject this night. I am constantly having to purify and purge the garbage that many have fallen into by providing proper instruction in divine matters. I only pray that this does some good and that I see the fruits of the labor someday soon.
Many Christians are fascinated with the last chapter of our New Testament, called Revelation or Apocalypse. The only reason I do not mention it in this posting is because it does not fit our criterion of discussion, which is instances where God appears as himself, in the fullness of his glory, bringing some part of heaven's firmament with him. In Revelation St. John is taken to heaven; God does not come to earth to reveal to John, it is as simple as that. Revelation 1:10 I was caught up in spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet. 4:1 After this I had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, "Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards." 2. At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.
I hope that you have found this helpful.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5§ion=0&article=115531&d=23&m=10&y=2008&pix=islam.jpg&category=Islam
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Q. As children we learn that Adam and Eve were sent down to earth, after they had been living in heaven, as punishment when Eve committed the great sin of disobeying God’s express orders. However, it was God’s will and design that man should live on earth. It is He who created the universe and made the earth suitable for human life. Please comment.
Emran
A. Let us clear first the myth that it was Eve, or Hawwa as her name is pronounced in Arabic, that was responsible for that sin and the fall from heaven. The Qur’an does not distinguish between the fault of Adam and that of Eve. On the contrary, in surahs 2 and 7, the Qur’an attributes the sin of eating from the forbidden tree to both of them together. In one instance, the Qur’an puts more blame on Adam: “They both ate of its fruit; and thereupon their shameful parts became visible to them, and they began to cover themselves with pieced-together leaves from the Garden. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and thus did he stray into error.” (20: 121)
It is true that it was always God’s design to place man on earth. This is clear in His announcement to the angels about the forthcoming event: “Your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am appointing a vicegerent on earth.’ They said, ‘Will You appoint on it someone who would spread corruption and shed blood, whereas we celebrate Your praises and extol Your holiness?’ He said, ‘I surely know that of which you have no knowledge.’” (2: 30)
So, why were Adam and Eve placed in heaven first? We understand that this was all to give them the experience of what may happen when they disobey God and listen to the temptation presented by the Evil One. They were thus equipped to fight temptation. Their endeavors to steer the right way would thus be more successful. This was all by God’s grace who did not wish man to start life on earth without thorough knowledge of right and wrong, and how to do more of the first and less of the second.
***
First, one must understand that the Bible in the Old Testament contains much more information about the exact same events than is contained in the Qur'an or was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH) simply because the Bible contains details of the shared history as explained to Moses many hundreds of years before either the Christian Gospels (which chronicle Jesus) or the Qur'an were gifted. The Qur'an, everyone agrees, is a book that was given to the descendants of Abraham who became the Muslim people, and that was its purpose. Thus the Qur'an did not attempt to provide more detail of ancient Biblical events in faith history, but rather less material, in order to stay true to its purpose. The purpose of the Qur'an and the Prophet's mission was to gift the people who would believe with understanding that they belong to the heritage of Abraham and to "reintroduce them" back to God, in a matter of speaking, since they lived among pagans and idolaters. Think of Muslims as being descended from a child who was separated from knowing about his or her birth parents and ancestors. The Qur'an was given to the Prophet (PBUH) so that he could understand that the Muslims are part of salvation history, are direct descendants of Abraham, and have a "personal relationship with God." So much of the ancient times are given to the Muslims as kind of "quick recaps" of their shared origins, and not an attempt to either replicate in length what is in the Bible or to provide as much or more detail.
Understanding that, and if you read the Qur'an you recognize its very lyrical and poetic structure, God tends to explain things in simple ways that people can easily understand. Thus Muslim children are taught that Adam and Eve were "with God in heaven before being on earth." This is both true but also a simplification. Adam and Eve were "with God" but that is because God brought what you can think of as a "corner of heaven" or a "piece of heaven" to earth, simply because heaven "travels along with God" where God resides. Eden was Eden precisely because God was "there" on earth with Adam and Eve. (That does not mean, obviously, that he was there in his entirety, because God is constantly throughout all of creation and constantly present in the heavenly realm, even when he is an apparition on earth).
The reason that this is misunderstood is that not being Bible readers, obviously, Muslims do not have access to other examples of what it is like when God is present on earth and "brings heaven with him." People who have read the Bible are able to cite a number of examples, and thus better understand that while Adam and Eve were "in heaven," they were also physically on earth, but living within heaven's grace in its tangible form on earth due to the presence of God. Here is the scripture that explains that God is physically present with them on earth.
Genesis 3:6-11 The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself." Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"
So you will notice that it is not a matter of Adam and Eve literally being floating up in heaven, and that makes no sense because they were made from the clay and dust of the ground by God in the first place. However, they were in "heaven" in the sense that unlike any humans who ever existed, they actually lived within God's physical presence on earth. God made himself present to the miraculous extent that he even walked as any human would during the cool and breezy time of the day, he used a voice to speak to them, and they could hear the sound of his footsteps. Heaven is God's realm and it "travels with him," so to speak. And thus Eden, being graced by God's actual presence on earth, was a "corner" of heaven that Adam and Eve occupied. They fell from heaven, in the sense of being "sent to earth" as Muslim children understand it, when God withdrew his presence and thus heaven away from the corner of earth that was the Garden of Eden. It's more like the carpet of God's grace was pulled out from under them and removed, and thus they had their feet "on earth" and had to face the hardships of life on earth without being protected and glorified in God's presence as they were originally.
When is the next time that we can describe heaven as being "on earth" in the accompaniment of God? When God appears to Moses and consents to travel with the Israelites. Here is a portion of the scripture that describes how Moses erected a tent that became filled with God in his presence, and thus was also a corner of heaven.
Exodus 33:7-11 The tent, which was called the meeting tent, Moses used to pitch at some distance away, outside the camp. Anyone who wished to consult the Lord would go to this meeting tent outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, the people would all rise and stand at the entrance of their own tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. On seeing the column of cloud stand at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and worship at the entrance of their own tents. The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. Moses would then return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, would not move out of the tent.
Here you can see that it is like the tent that is pitched each time the migrating Israelites stopped to rest during their exodus becomes a "corner of heaven" that God chooses to occupy when Moses needed to consult with him. That is the meaning of the column of cloud, demarking that the realm of God is within. Thus the meeting tent is like Eden in the sense that it is a small earthly portion of God's realm by virtue of his presence, but it is not like Eden because it is not designed to sustain humans in grace and glory, since they had forfeited that right. However, Moses was the first and only prophet or patriarch who was able to meet face to face with God and God treated him as his friend. Here are two more examples of how Moses interacted with God, not in a sense of having a dream or vision, but God being physically present and thus bringing along with him a portion of what heaven "is like."
Exodus 33:17-23 The Lord said to Moses, "This request too, which you have just made, I will carry out, because you have found favor with me and you are my intimate friend." Then Moses said, "Do let me see your glory!" He answered, "I will make all my beauty pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce my name, 'Lord''; I who grant mercy to whom I will. But my face you cannot see, for no man sees me and still lives. Here," continued the Lord, "is a place near me where you shall station yourself on the rock. When my glory passes I will set you in the hollow of the rock and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, so that you may see my back; but my face is not to be seen."
Exodus 34:5-9 Having come down in a cloud, the Lord stood with him there and proclaimed his name, "Lord." Thus the Lord passed before him and cried out, "The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness!" Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."
Exodus 34:27-35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with them I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." So Moses stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, without eating any food or drinking any water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. [Notice that Moses, like Adam and Eve, is totally sustained from any need for food or water when he is in the presence of God. Again, that is accurate to say he is in "heaven" in the sense of being in God's glorified presence and having no earthly needs]. As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord. When Aaron, then, and the other Israelites saw Moses and noticed how radiant the skin of his face had become, they were afraid to come near him. Only after Moses called to them did Aaron and all the rulers of the community come back to him. Moses then spoke to them. Later on, all the Israelites came up to him, and he enjoined on them all that the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. When he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses entered the presence of the Lord to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the Israelites all that had been commanded. Then the Israelites would see that the skin of Moses' face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the Lord.
No human has ever had such a personal friendship and relationship that spanned many years on the physical reality of earth as did Moses with God. Moses in a very important way restored the bond and trust that Adam and Eve had broken with God. Yes, Abraham was the cornerstone of restoring the relationship with God that would provide humans with the beginning of their salvation history with God, which is ongoing to this very day. But Moses was privileged to see a physical manifestation of God, and to experience and absorb some of the glory of heaven, as no other has or will. Future appearances of God would be in the form of an angel of God being sent, with two notable exceptions. These are the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah, both of whom witnessed a physical presence of God on earth and with, what we are discussing here, the bringing of a "portion" of heaven along with God to earth.
Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year king Uzziah died, [that is known to be 742 BC by the way], I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two their veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!" they cried one to the other. "All of earth is filled with his glory!" [These words are repeated, by the way, each time a Catholic Mass is celebrated, in imitation of the angels glorifying God in their own words]. At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this had touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." [It is from this event, by the way, that Catholics learned to understand that no one can be in the presence of God without being purified using fire from his altar, and that therefore this will happen to all who merit entering heaven, the process of which we call purgatory, from the word "purged."] Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am," I said, "send me!"
You can discern reading that passage, which describes the calling of Isaiah to God's service, that God in his power and glory entered into the room of the temple, bringing with him his seat of power in heaven, the throne, the seraphim and "the train of his garment," which is, just as we saw when he appeared to Moses, smoke and clouds. Thus this is another example of God bringing a part of heaven wrapped around his holy presence down to earth. The shouting of the seraphim, heavenly beings, was enough to make the temple shake.
There is a very lengthy description of the prophet Ezekiel's viewing of the glory of God and components of heaven that accompanied him. I have selected here passages that provide the total picture for you.
Ezekiel 1:1-4 In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month [Jewish scholars know this to be July 31, 593 BC], while I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions. On the fifth day of the month, the fifth year, that is, of King Jehoiachin's exile, the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar. There the hand of the Lord came upon me. As I looked a stormwind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire [enveloped in brightness], from the midst of which [the midst of fire] something gleaned like electrum. 13. In among the living creatures something like burning coals of fire could be seen; they seemed like torches, moving to and fro among the living creatures. The fire gleamed, and from it came forth flashes of lightning. 22. Over the heads of the living creatures, something like a firmament could be seen, seeming like glittering crystal, stretched straight out above their heads. 23. Beneath the firmament their wings were stretched out, one toward the other. [Each of them had two covering his body.] 24. Then I heard the sound of their wings, like the roaring of mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty. When they moved, the sound of the tumult was like the din of an army. [And when they stood still they lowered their wings.] Above the firmament over their heads something like a throne could be seen, looking like sapphire. Upon it was seated, up above, one who had the appearance of a man. 27. Upward from what resembled his waist I saw what gleamed like electrum; downward from what resembled his waist I saw what looked like fire; he was surrounded with splendor. 28. Like the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day was the splendor that surrounded him. Such was the vision of the likeness of the Lord.
Ezekiel 2:1 When I had seen it, I fell upon my face and heard a voice that said to me: Son of man, stand up! I wish to speak to you. 22. The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he said to me: Get up and go out into the plain, where I will speak with you. 23. So I got up and went out into the plain, and I saw that the glory of the Lord was in that place, like the glory I had seen b the river Chebar. I fell prone, but then spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me.
This is not only a detailed description of this appearance of the Lord God, but notice that the appearance of God and the accompanying part of his glory of heaven that he brings with him is actually moved from one place to the other. God first appears to Ezekiel by the river, and then when God instructs him to get up and go to the plain, Ezekiel witnesses that the entire tableau of God's presence is now there. Further, a year later, in Ezekiel 10, God with his angels, whom Ezekiel now recognizes as cherubim, appear again in glory again, this time near where Ezekiel lives at the Temple. This has been dated as being on September 17, 592 BC. Again God appears with his throne in the firmament, and is thus another example of God "bringing" a part of heaven "with him" in a sense when he makes these visitations of his glory to earth, rather than when elsewhere in the Bible he sends an angel, such as an Angel of the Lord (an angel through which God directly speaks) or a representative who speaks for God, such as Gabriel.
There is another example of God opening up the boundary between earth and heaven and that is described during the martyrdom of the first Christian, St. Stephen.
Acts 7:54-59 When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep [died].
To wrap up, let me point out a few things. Notice that it is only during the time of the ancient Israelites, and the time of Adam and Eve of course, that God actually appeared on earth in his glorified form, bring with him the actual "firmament" of heaven. God did not do the same thing during the time of the Christians, having sent Jesus Christ to represent him, and making his voice and his will known as described on several occasions in the Gospel, and God did not do the same thing when he gave the Qur'an to the Prophet (PBUH). We only have in those "modern" times the example of St. Stephen peering upward and seeing into heaven to view God as Stephen is dying. This is why it is important to read all of sacred scripture and not select out passages, looking for a quick "description" or "answer." There is a huge amount of insight to ponder by looking at all of these four examples (Adam and Eve, Moses, Isaiah and Ezekiel) of how God chooses to present himself and in what form. For example, I've been dismayed and in fact angered when I realized that some "new age" unbelievers like to extract the Ezekiel visitation by God and use that to "justify" that "aliens visited earth in flying saucers." When one reads the entire Bible and comprehends what one is reading, rather than trying to have a dark agenda, it is obvious that God is the only one who is electing to visit humans on those occasions and specifically his original chosen people. It is impossible to read the entirety of God's relationship with Moses and then jump around the Bible "looking for evidence of flying saucers." That is, of course, what cultists seek to do even with the Muslim faith, where I know that some try to twist the story we started this discussion with, how Adam and Eve started their existence in heaven, as making that a warped case for "Adam and Eve were aliens who flew down to earth on flying saucers." The souls of innocent children who have had to listen to "elders" who are unbelieving idolators and pagans have been damaged, and I cannot describe to you how many and how serious a crisis this has been, and remains. That is another reason, other than my usual reason of wanting to enlighten and spread the glory of God, and witness to him, and praise him, that I spent so much time on this subject this night. I am constantly having to purify and purge the garbage that many have fallen into by providing proper instruction in divine matters. I only pray that this does some good and that I see the fruits of the labor someday soon.
Many Christians are fascinated with the last chapter of our New Testament, called Revelation or Apocalypse. The only reason I do not mention it in this posting is because it does not fit our criterion of discussion, which is instances where God appears as himself, in the fullness of his glory, bringing some part of heaven's firmament with him. In Revelation St. John is taken to heaven; God does not come to earth to reveal to John, it is as simple as that. Revelation 1:10 I was caught up in spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet. 4:1 After this I had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, "Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards." 2. At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.
I hope that you have found this helpful.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Bible Reading: Micah 7:7
But as for me, I will look to the Lord,
I will put my trust in God my savior;
my God will hear me!
see also Isaiah 8:17-20
For I will trust in the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob; yes, I will wait for him. Look at me and the children whom the Lord has given me: we are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.
And when they say to you, "Inquire of mediums and fortune-tellers (who chirp and mutter!); should not a people inquire of their gods, apply to the dead on behalf of the living?"
-then this document will furnish its instruction. That kind of thing they shall surely say.
I will put my trust in God my savior;
my God will hear me!
see also Isaiah 8:17-20
For I will trust in the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob; yes, I will wait for him. Look at me and the children whom the Lord has given me: we are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.
And when they say to you, "Inquire of mediums and fortune-tellers (who chirp and mutter!); should not a people inquire of their gods, apply to the dead on behalf of the living?"
-then this document will furnish its instruction. That kind of thing they shall surely say.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Bible Reading: Isaiah 11:1-3, 12:1-4
Isaiah 11:1-3
But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 12:1-4
On that day, you will say: I give you thanks, O Lord; though you have been angry with me, your anger has abated, and you have consoled me. God indeed is my savior. I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior.
With joy you shall draw water at the fountain of salvation, and say on that day: Give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name; among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name.
***
I have pulled here the first few passages from one of Isaiah's most well know descriptions of the Messiah to come. He will be a descendant of Jesse (the father of King David, and thus the Messiah will trace his lineage through that of Jesse and David's). This is why Matthew's opening lines of the Gospel is to list the lineage of Jesus, demonstrating the direct line through David and Jesse, who fulfills all of the prophecies.
Isaiah goes on to explain that people will also know the Messiah by his spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength and fear of the Lord. Isaiah emphasizes that the Messiah will not take his delight in those traits except in his fear of the Lord. By fear of the Lord one can understand that to mean total humility and obedience to God, whose will he perfectly understands (through God's gifts to him of the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and strength). So the Messiah will be recognized through his total emphasis and delight in fear of the Lord rather than any other trait or gift. False messiahs are always known by boasting of their mental or magical powers, but the true Messiah only delights in his fear of God, whose will he knows perfectly. Remember to these modern times that a person who is not totally focused, as Jesus was, on delighting in obedience and fear of God, but who claims arcane knowledge and "insight" is demonstrating that he or she are not at all following in the footsteps of the true Messiah. Notice too that Isaiah implies that the Messiah will not be a man who spent years at scholarly study because the Messiah has from the very beginning a fullness of understanding of the knowledge and will of God for the spirit (of God) rests (constantly) upon him. If someone has to "decode" God's will through years of study then they are obviously not with the spirit of God and not the true Messiah. We have seen many examples of that. And indeed the religious scholars marveled at Jesus and his knowledge of God, wondering how he achieved it without years of study.
I then skip forward to the opening lines of the next chapter, where Isaiah prophesies the comfort and joy that will be brought to followers of the Messiah. Notice that Isaiah pours his gratitude directly toward God, and not to the Messiah. This is because Isaiah had perfection of insight from God that the Messiah and his fear of God is truly a direct gift from God, to whom the praise and thanks must be directed. God is his savior because he will send the Savior. When the Savior arrives there is rejoicing because the faithful realize that God is no longer angry if he has sent the Messiah.
Notice the image of drawing water from the foundation of the Messiah, through him from the foundational source, the fountain of God and his graces. This can be read both symbolically in the context of the culture (where in arid lands water is the saving grace) and prophetically, foreseeing the sacrament of baptism as affirmation of drawing upon the water of the fountain of God. Isaiah exhorts and prophesies that as a result of drawing joy from the water fountain of God, the faithful will proclaim the Lord God "among the nations" (thus beyond the Israelites) and acclaim his name and his deeds on behalf of human salvation.
But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 12:1-4
On that day, you will say: I give you thanks, O Lord; though you have been angry with me, your anger has abated, and you have consoled me. God indeed is my savior. I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior.
With joy you shall draw water at the fountain of salvation, and say on that day: Give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name; among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name.
***
I have pulled here the first few passages from one of Isaiah's most well know descriptions of the Messiah to come. He will be a descendant of Jesse (the father of King David, and thus the Messiah will trace his lineage through that of Jesse and David's). This is why Matthew's opening lines of the Gospel is to list the lineage of Jesus, demonstrating the direct line through David and Jesse, who fulfills all of the prophecies.
Isaiah goes on to explain that people will also know the Messiah by his spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength and fear of the Lord. Isaiah emphasizes that the Messiah will not take his delight in those traits except in his fear of the Lord. By fear of the Lord one can understand that to mean total humility and obedience to God, whose will he perfectly understands (through God's gifts to him of the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and strength). So the Messiah will be recognized through his total emphasis and delight in fear of the Lord rather than any other trait or gift. False messiahs are always known by boasting of their mental or magical powers, but the true Messiah only delights in his fear of God, whose will he knows perfectly. Remember to these modern times that a person who is not totally focused, as Jesus was, on delighting in obedience and fear of God, but who claims arcane knowledge and "insight" is demonstrating that he or she are not at all following in the footsteps of the true Messiah. Notice too that Isaiah implies that the Messiah will not be a man who spent years at scholarly study because the Messiah has from the very beginning a fullness of understanding of the knowledge and will of God for the spirit (of God) rests (constantly) upon him. If someone has to "decode" God's will through years of study then they are obviously not with the spirit of God and not the true Messiah. We have seen many examples of that. And indeed the religious scholars marveled at Jesus and his knowledge of God, wondering how he achieved it without years of study.
I then skip forward to the opening lines of the next chapter, where Isaiah prophesies the comfort and joy that will be brought to followers of the Messiah. Notice that Isaiah pours his gratitude directly toward God, and not to the Messiah. This is because Isaiah had perfection of insight from God that the Messiah and his fear of God is truly a direct gift from God, to whom the praise and thanks must be directed. God is his savior because he will send the Savior. When the Savior arrives there is rejoicing because the faithful realize that God is no longer angry if he has sent the Messiah.
Notice the image of drawing water from the foundation of the Messiah, through him from the foundational source, the fountain of God and his graces. This can be read both symbolically in the context of the culture (where in arid lands water is the saving grace) and prophetically, foreseeing the sacrament of baptism as affirmation of drawing upon the water of the fountain of God. Isaiah exhorts and prophesies that as a result of drawing joy from the water fountain of God, the faithful will proclaim the Lord God "among the nations" (thus beyond the Israelites) and acclaim his name and his deeds on behalf of human salvation.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Bible Readings and commentary
There is a basic about Bible reading and comprehension that many who have not been well formed in their faith do not realize. When one reads the Bible, there are many little footnotes per page, in the tiniest reading (I need glasses AND my magnifying glass to read them myself!) Many Bible readers ignore them, and for quick looking up of a passage and enjoyment that is fine.
Others assume that the footnotes are the way modern books indicate "if you want more information, go here." And so people mostly assume they don't need more information and think that that is that.
Still others glance at the footnotes and in the Gospel, seeing they reference other Gospels, assume that the footnotes just point you to the same events that you are reading about, referenced in one of the other three Gospels, or cited by the Apostles in the Epistles. Or they assume, and this is also often true, that the footnotes are provided by the Bible scholars to point back in the Old Testament to prophesies that pertain to Jesus so you can see the event as being one of those prophesied by the prophets.
But here is an extraordinary thing that everyone once knew, and many have forgotten, which is that the footnotes help you read exactly the scripture that Jesus himself quotes from! Jesus preached daily in the Temple (when in Jerusalem) or in the local synagogues. So Jesus did much more preaching than is recorded, obviously, in the Gospel. Nothing important is left out, but I am teaching you that Jesus did what many do today, which is to preach and to abundantly "quote scripture!"
Here is one of the most famous of the sayings of Jesus, evidence of what I am saying that he preached daily, and further, I want to help you understand the solid scriptural foundation of what Jesus said, and how he constantly referenced to the Old Testament prophets and the teachings of God.
Luke 19: 45-48
And he entered the temple, and began to cast out those who were selling and buying in it, saying to them, "It is written, My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."
And he was teaching daily in the temple.
But the chief priests and the Scribes and the leading men of the people sought to destroy him; but they found nothing that they could do to him, for all the people hung on his words.
Just about everyone knows about Jesus kicking the moneychangers out of the temple. And many know that he made "a quote." But if you do not look up the footnote, you will miss seeing the actual scripture that Jesus is quoting, and its full glory! Jesus is not just repeating some saying. Jesus quotes either God or one of the prophets directly from holy scripture. So when he quoted, trust me, the faithful recognized what he was saying and recognized directly the source. So when Jesus quoted My house is a house of prayer read from where he is quoting:
Isaiah 56: 1, 7
Thus says the Lord...
them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
Jesus is quoting God in the scriptures.
But hold your hats, wait until you see the second section of scripture that Jesus is citing. Follow the footnote in your Bible to Jer 7:11.
Jeremiah 7: 1, 11
The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord...
Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves?
See, if you follow the footnotes and read the Old Testament that Jesus is citing, you not only know more clearly what he is saying, and you see his authority as he not only teaches but preached with more knowledge to even the wise, but most importantly you hear and comprehend Jesus exactly as a pious and devout listener would have heard him. He was not just giving some rabble rousing political or spiritual speeches, as those who try to detract today in modern times from Jesus like to allege. When you read the actual parts of the scripture that Jesus is citing in its fullness, you recognize that the listeners of his day knew right away what passages he was citing and the authority from God that he was invoking. That rocked the world.
See, many Jesus detractors today think people came "just for the miracles," assuming of course that the miracles "actually happened." And yes, many, many people brought their sick to be cured. But they stayed and listened, and THIS is the type of thing that they heard. It is what Jesus said, not what miracles he performed, that changed the world. You see, the ability to perform miracles came from God, and so he performed miracles out of love for their suffering, but also to show in a way that everyone could understand the authority he had received from God. Because, obviously, only God could provide the ability to perform the type of miracles that Jesus performed for the benefit of thousands of people.
But Jesus equally powerfully asserted his authority through words, by quoting God and the prophets and then fulfilling those words. THAT "wowed" the people and demonstrated his authority just as much as the miracles.
Go back to the first reading. Notice something? Jesus is not performing miracles in the temple at all. He is preaching, and he is packing them in. "And he was teaching daily in the temple... for all the people hung upon his words."
Do you see more clearly why the chief priests and the Scribes hated and feared him so? He was able to fulfill admonishments from the Lord God himself to keep the temple a house of prayer, and not a den of thieves, and then literally move in there and preach the authoritative word of God day after day, packing the people in (who prevented his enemies from making a move to harm him) and all without the use of miracles.
Ha, ha, now you can really savor what happens next. I won't type it in here, but if you read the beginning of Chapter 20, you will see just what I am saying happens. Jesus goes on preaching day after day, until finally the chief priests and Scribes regrouped and challenged him. And what do they say? "Tell us, by what authority dost thou do these things? Or who is it that gave thee this authority?"
See, they recognized all that Jesus preached and knew full well whose authority he was citing, as all the priests and Scribes would know by heart what Jesus cites. So that is why they use the word "authority" in their challenge to him, because they knew absolutely very well whose authority Jesus invokes. They try to trap him into saying so, but Jesus eludes them with a counter-question, which they cannot answer.
I hope you find this helpful, on several levels. It deepens your faith to understand what exactly Jesus is saying, and how he established his authority through not just miracles, but by sound and firm scriptural references that resonated with all the people who thronged to listen to him. He took over the temple, essentially, preaching to the crowds but not in a "praise and worship" kind of way that many modern Christians think of when they hear "preaching." Jesus preached the word of God as already revealed in the scripture, and pointed out the failure of the chief priests and Scribes to remain true to what God has commanded. So you can better understand Jesus and all the events, plus deepen your faith by seeing the continuity between what was said and prophesied in the Old Testament and how Jesus cited and fulfilled it day by day, not just at his death and resurrection. Also, you can "take your place in the crowd," by hearing the words Jesus said just as how he would have meant them and how the faithful would have recognized what he cited of God's word and how people can implement and be faithful to what God truly wants from them. This is how Jesus performed his ministry.
Others assume that the footnotes are the way modern books indicate "if you want more information, go here." And so people mostly assume they don't need more information and think that that is that.
Still others glance at the footnotes and in the Gospel, seeing they reference other Gospels, assume that the footnotes just point you to the same events that you are reading about, referenced in one of the other three Gospels, or cited by the Apostles in the Epistles. Or they assume, and this is also often true, that the footnotes are provided by the Bible scholars to point back in the Old Testament to prophesies that pertain to Jesus so you can see the event as being one of those prophesied by the prophets.
But here is an extraordinary thing that everyone once knew, and many have forgotten, which is that the footnotes help you read exactly the scripture that Jesus himself quotes from! Jesus preached daily in the Temple (when in Jerusalem) or in the local synagogues. So Jesus did much more preaching than is recorded, obviously, in the Gospel. Nothing important is left out, but I am teaching you that Jesus did what many do today, which is to preach and to abundantly "quote scripture!"
Here is one of the most famous of the sayings of Jesus, evidence of what I am saying that he preached daily, and further, I want to help you understand the solid scriptural foundation of what Jesus said, and how he constantly referenced to the Old Testament prophets and the teachings of God.
Luke 19: 45-48
And he entered the temple, and began to cast out those who were selling and buying in it, saying to them, "It is written, My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."
And he was teaching daily in the temple.
But the chief priests and the Scribes and the leading men of the people sought to destroy him; but they found nothing that they could do to him, for all the people hung on his words.
Just about everyone knows about Jesus kicking the moneychangers out of the temple. And many know that he made "a quote." But if you do not look up the footnote, you will miss seeing the actual scripture that Jesus is quoting, and its full glory! Jesus is not just repeating some saying. Jesus quotes either God or one of the prophets directly from holy scripture. So when he quoted, trust me, the faithful recognized what he was saying and recognized directly the source. So when Jesus quoted My house is a house of prayer read from where he is quoting:
Isaiah 56: 1, 7
Thus says the Lord...
them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
Jesus is quoting God in the scriptures.
But hold your hats, wait until you see the second section of scripture that Jesus is citing. Follow the footnote in your Bible to Jer 7:11.
Jeremiah 7: 1, 11
The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord...
Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves?
See, if you follow the footnotes and read the Old Testament that Jesus is citing, you not only know more clearly what he is saying, and you see his authority as he not only teaches but preached with more knowledge to even the wise, but most importantly you hear and comprehend Jesus exactly as a pious and devout listener would have heard him. He was not just giving some rabble rousing political or spiritual speeches, as those who try to detract today in modern times from Jesus like to allege. When you read the actual parts of the scripture that Jesus is citing in its fullness, you recognize that the listeners of his day knew right away what passages he was citing and the authority from God that he was invoking. That rocked the world.
See, many Jesus detractors today think people came "just for the miracles," assuming of course that the miracles "actually happened." And yes, many, many people brought their sick to be cured. But they stayed and listened, and THIS is the type of thing that they heard. It is what Jesus said, not what miracles he performed, that changed the world. You see, the ability to perform miracles came from God, and so he performed miracles out of love for their suffering, but also to show in a way that everyone could understand the authority he had received from God. Because, obviously, only God could provide the ability to perform the type of miracles that Jesus performed for the benefit of thousands of people.
But Jesus equally powerfully asserted his authority through words, by quoting God and the prophets and then fulfilling those words. THAT "wowed" the people and demonstrated his authority just as much as the miracles.
Go back to the first reading. Notice something? Jesus is not performing miracles in the temple at all. He is preaching, and he is packing them in. "And he was teaching daily in the temple... for all the people hung upon his words."
Do you see more clearly why the chief priests and the Scribes hated and feared him so? He was able to fulfill admonishments from the Lord God himself to keep the temple a house of prayer, and not a den of thieves, and then literally move in there and preach the authoritative word of God day after day, packing the people in (who prevented his enemies from making a move to harm him) and all without the use of miracles.
Ha, ha, now you can really savor what happens next. I won't type it in here, but if you read the beginning of Chapter 20, you will see just what I am saying happens. Jesus goes on preaching day after day, until finally the chief priests and Scribes regrouped and challenged him. And what do they say? "Tell us, by what authority dost thou do these things? Or who is it that gave thee this authority?"
See, they recognized all that Jesus preached and knew full well whose authority he was citing, as all the priests and Scribes would know by heart what Jesus cites. So that is why they use the word "authority" in their challenge to him, because they knew absolutely very well whose authority Jesus invokes. They try to trap him into saying so, but Jesus eludes them with a counter-question, which they cannot answer.
I hope you find this helpful, on several levels. It deepens your faith to understand what exactly Jesus is saying, and how he established his authority through not just miracles, but by sound and firm scriptural references that resonated with all the people who thronged to listen to him. He took over the temple, essentially, preaching to the crowds but not in a "praise and worship" kind of way that many modern Christians think of when they hear "preaching." Jesus preached the word of God as already revealed in the scripture, and pointed out the failure of the chief priests and Scribes to remain true to what God has commanded. So you can better understand Jesus and all the events, plus deepen your faith by seeing the continuity between what was said and prophesied in the Old Testament and how Jesus cited and fulfilled it day by day, not just at his death and resurrection. Also, you can "take your place in the crowd," by hearing the words Jesus said just as how he would have meant them and how the faithful would have recognized what he cited of God's word and how people can implement and be faithful to what God truly wants from them. This is how Jesus performed his ministry.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bible Reading: Isaiah 49:13
Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Where the Muslim Prophet foretold in the Bible
Some Muslims incorrectly believe that when Jesus said an advocate would come that he was referring to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Jesus was actually referring to the Holy Spirit, and that is clear when one reads those passages of the Bible because Jesus explains that he is sending someone to comfort the Apostles and disciples. This was achieved on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit arrived to infuse the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Apostles and the disciples.
However, there is no reason to be unsympathetic to the Muslim desire to point to a place in the Bible that foretells the Prophet (PBUH) because their instincts in this are correct. There is a place, a very honorable place, where the Prophet (PBUH) is foretold. This is in the Book of Isaiah.
By way of background the Book of Isaiah recounts the activities and visions of the prophet Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the eighth century BC when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was under attack by Assyria and the army of Sennacherih drew up to the actual walls of Jerusalem. Isaiah received his call to prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem and he describes in his Book his divine summons by God in person. He is considered by Christians to be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because he received directly from God the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Catholics read very frequently from the Book of Isaiah as part of the celebration of Mass services. He is one of my favorites for this reason and also because his great humility demonstrated that even the most holy of men must purify themselves before being in the presence of God. That passage of his Book I have written about before because it demonstrates the Biblical source for the concept of purgatory.
The 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah are therefore filled with enormous theological and spiritual content. And it is in this Book that if one is observant one can spot the reference to the Prophet (PBUH). In this section of scripture Isaiah is receiving from God word and vision about the upcoming fall of Babylon. One needs to understand that the Old Testament prophets tended to receive from God direct factual information about current or pending events (such as the fall of Babylon), but mixed within these prophecies are references to great salvation events to come.
Chapter 21: 6-9
For thus says my Lord to me: Go, station a watchman, let him tell what he sees. If he sees a chariot, a pair of horses, someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel, then let him pay heed, very close heed. The the watchman cried, "On the watchtower, O my Lord, I stand constantly by day; and I stay at my post through all the watches of the night. Here he comes now: a single chariot, a pair of horses; he calls out and says, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground."
The rest of the chapter and the chapter after describe specific "current events" prophecies for the Jewish refugees in Arabia, Jerusalem, Sobna and Eliaciim, and Tyre and Sidon. After those sections Isaiah then receives general apocalyptic prophecy from God.
So the passage that I reference above is self contained. Therefore you have to notice that the Lord tells him that a "watchman" would need to watch for four arrivals to closely heed. The first two, the chariot and the pair of horses, occurs in the near term and represent the fall of Babylon, which indeed happened. We know that this is the historical Babylon that falls because it is the polytheistic pagan worshipping Babylon that falls because "all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground." God, however, gives no further information about the third and fourth arrivals "someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel."
All Christians with any knowledge of their faith immediately recognize who is foretold by "someone riding as ass," because that is one of the great prophecies that is fulfilled about Jesus Christ.
St. John 12: 12-15
Now the next day, the great crowd which had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of palms and went forth to meet him. And they cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!" And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, thy king comes, sitting upon the colt of an ass.
St. Luke 19: 29-34
And it came to pass, when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples, saying "Go into the village opposite; on entering it you will find a colt of an ass tied, upon which no man ever yet sat; loosen it and bring it. And if anyone ask you, 'Why are you loosing it? you shall answer him thus, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'" And they who were sent went away and found the colt standing, even as he had told them. and as they were loosing the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they replied, "Because the Lord has need of it."
So you can see very clearly that the third event, "someone riding an ass," is fulfilled in the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for the final time. This event is celebrated in the Catholic liturgy as "Palm Sunday."
For example, Babylon is the fall of a city, a pagan city. Jesus is the Messiah. Each event "stands on its own" as it unfolded; they are not part of a 1-2-3... set of steps where each event is dependent on the previous. A watchman observes many travelers come and go, but each one is not necessarily connected to the previous or following visitor. God is very precise when he presents prophesy to his prophets. He uses words and images that are precise and appropriate to their meaning.
(By the way, I'm being harassed on the computer. That's why this blog posting is going up in fits and starts, has different colors and so forth. When I want to correct errors suddenly my response time gets "hung" and I'm unable to get back in to do my spiritual direction work. This is typical of the s*** that I've had to put up with for years).
Now, to try to get back to decency and matters of faith.
So why does God even bother to give people prophesy if they are not to "act" or "take advantage of it" after "interpreting" it? The first reason is to validate that it is indeed God who is giving a prophesy to one of his authentic chosen prophets. Many throughout salvation history have pretended to be prophets. God gives prophesy, sometimes very cryptically, in order that people will not be able to imitate him or his prophets and mislead the people. Who could think of the Messiah arriving in Jerusalem on an ass seven hundred years later? This is unarguable proof when God's prophets prophesy in such as cryptic and strange way and then behold, when that prophesy is long forgotten it is fulfilled unlooked for and unmanipulated. So the first reason that God gives people prophesy at all is so that they can know they are hearing and studying "the genuine article" of prophet when it is fulfilled, often centuries after the prophet has gone to his reward in heaven.
The second reason is to strengthen and increase faith. Prophesy allows people, especially those who are suffering, to put salvation history in context and have stronger belief. The truly faithful who suffered in Babylon, for example, would take comfort in knowing that God will allow Babylon to fall, and their God to triumph over the pagan idolatry, even if that is for their future generations of grandchildren to enjoy in life. Again, prophesy from God is not meant to be "decoded" and "manipulated" or artificially "fulfilled" by humans. It backfires like you cannot believe when that is attempted. God is not giving a formula, for example, saying "Oh, to move forward in the salvation game someone important must ride an ass somewhere and a watchman notices." Of course not! God is saying, "Watch and wait for someone who is riding an ass" and let them "pay heed," "very close heed." The people who cheered Jesus as he entered Jerusalem were not flipping pages of their handy dandy prophet guide and thus cheer Jesus because he arrived on an ass. It is years later that the Apostles and disciples fully comprehend the linkage between the prophesy and the event that unfolded. Jesus, of course, knew fully well because he is the one who requested an ass to arrive on to Jerusalem. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies by his actions with full knowledge of them and their implications.
So it is for authenticity and for faith that God provides prophesy. Therefore God was alerting people to heed "someone who rides a camel." God was making a statement of authenticity and membership in the salvation and faith family regarding this "someone." Camels are animals of the desert, and Arabia was well known in those times, obviously. So it is not the animal in particular but the fact that someone will be seen by the "watchman" and will be heeded. This is the Prophet Muhammad who would be "someone who rides a camel" around one thousand and four hundred years after Isaiah received this prophesy from God.
It is only well after the event that those who are the "watchman" (those who study and heed the scripture and the word of God) can understand how an event has unfolded that is the fulfillment of a prophesy by one of God's true prophets. So I am not surprised that few people understand that this "someone" in the Book of Isaiah is God's prophesy to legitimize that the "someone who rides a camel" is an authentic part of the faith history and God's plan for humanity and salvation. God makes this clear by showing Isaiah the fulfillment of the chariot and two horsemen as being part of the strengthening of faith over the long term, not the arrival of a literal person or persons who are "someones" in faith history. So Isaiah is able to see and record that the first two "arrivals" are "observed" as being representative of the fall of Babylon and of their pagan idols, even though the events have not taken place yet. In other words, God gives him "specifics" that the chariot and the two riders indicate the fall of Babylon. God does not give Isaiah the "specifics" about the "someone riding an ass" or the "someone riding a camel." Isaiah is, however, given plenty more specifics about the details of prophesy of the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The "someone riding a camel" is to be heeded as being authentic in the Abrahamic family of salvation history, but is not part of the Jesus Christ set of events or a successor to Jesus Christ. God is mentioning the "someone riding a camel" so that once the events transpire around this person, people who doubt and wonder can look back and see, "Ah yes, this is God's will. This person is part of the fabric and substance of God's works."
I hope that you find this helpful. It is very important to validate that the Muslims are correct to seek a linkage of authenticity in the Bible, and that is where it is (along with, of course, the rest of the shared Adam to Abraham faith history and their knowledge of Jews and Christians). It is likewise important that in dialogue they understand the specifics of what Jesus promised regarding the helper and comforter, and that this is the Holy Spirit who continues the work of Jesus through the Apostles and disciples, and not a literal person. So validation of the Islamic part of the one true God's salvation history is important, but it is important that we all be pointing to the same correct prophesy. The other important lesson here is that God gives instructions, laws and rituals for people to act upon, not prophesies. Prophesies are to be awaited at God's all knowing will and pleasure and not to be decoded and manipulated like some inside trading commodity or, just as bad, underestimated by humans, who cannot begin to imagine what God's plans and will are in full. Like I said, no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of God's revelation to the Prophet (PBUH). When people try to "decode" prophecy they always come up with an incredibly simple, cheap and thin version of what their limited minds can imagine that "God would do." It is an insult to God as well as being misleading of the faithful to think that any human, no matter how "smart" or "imaginative" could think of what God means in advance of a prophecy's fulfillment. As a scientific example, just to help understand this, what human given a paper and pencil and asked to imagine how life works would ever have thought of DNA? It is the same with God's prophecy of what is to come. No humans can imagine it; they can only hinder achieving the fullness of its intended goodness by misattributed and manipulating mundane events "on God's behalf." That is really horrible and it must never be done, ever again. There has been far too much of it and it has had ruinous consequences. It's as moronic as if after this prophecy people immediately ran around breeding extra asses to be sure that the "someone" would arrive. Thank GOD that the prophets and fathers, the Apostles and the disciples were pure of heart and such thoughts would never have occurred to them or to the people of those times. They could mistake someone as the Messiah or a prophet, but they did not run around trying to manipulate words and events of the holy book. Not only would that never have occurred to them but they would be stricken with dread at the thought, since they never mixed themselves up as being divine "players." It is essential that all people stop with this mindset immediately.
However, there is no reason to be unsympathetic to the Muslim desire to point to a place in the Bible that foretells the Prophet (PBUH) because their instincts in this are correct. There is a place, a very honorable place, where the Prophet (PBUH) is foretold. This is in the Book of Isaiah.
By way of background the Book of Isaiah recounts the activities and visions of the prophet Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the eighth century BC when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was under attack by Assyria and the army of Sennacherih drew up to the actual walls of Jerusalem. Isaiah received his call to prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem and he describes in his Book his divine summons by God in person. He is considered by Christians to be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because he received directly from God the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Catholics read very frequently from the Book of Isaiah as part of the celebration of Mass services. He is one of my favorites for this reason and also because his great humility demonstrated that even the most holy of men must purify themselves before being in the presence of God. That passage of his Book I have written about before because it demonstrates the Biblical source for the concept of purgatory.
The 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah are therefore filled with enormous theological and spiritual content. And it is in this Book that if one is observant one can spot the reference to the Prophet (PBUH). In this section of scripture Isaiah is receiving from God word and vision about the upcoming fall of Babylon. One needs to understand that the Old Testament prophets tended to receive from God direct factual information about current or pending events (such as the fall of Babylon), but mixed within these prophecies are references to great salvation events to come.
Chapter 21: 6-9
For thus says my Lord to me: Go, station a watchman, let him tell what he sees. If he sees a chariot, a pair of horses, someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel, then let him pay heed, very close heed. The the watchman cried, "On the watchtower, O my Lord, I stand constantly by day; and I stay at my post through all the watches of the night. Here he comes now: a single chariot, a pair of horses; he calls out and says, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground."
The rest of the chapter and the chapter after describe specific "current events" prophecies for the Jewish refugees in Arabia, Jerusalem, Sobna and Eliaciim, and Tyre and Sidon. After those sections Isaiah then receives general apocalyptic prophecy from God.
So the passage that I reference above is self contained. Therefore you have to notice that the Lord tells him that a "watchman" would need to watch for four arrivals to closely heed. The first two, the chariot and the pair of horses, occurs in the near term and represent the fall of Babylon, which indeed happened. We know that this is the historical Babylon that falls because it is the polytheistic pagan worshipping Babylon that falls because "all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground." God, however, gives no further information about the third and fourth arrivals "someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel."
All Christians with any knowledge of their faith immediately recognize who is foretold by "someone riding as ass," because that is one of the great prophecies that is fulfilled about Jesus Christ.
St. John 12: 12-15
Now the next day, the great crowd which had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of palms and went forth to meet him. And they cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!" And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, thy king comes, sitting upon the colt of an ass.
St. Luke 19: 29-34
And it came to pass, when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples, saying "Go into the village opposite; on entering it you will find a colt of an ass tied, upon which no man ever yet sat; loosen it and bring it. And if anyone ask you, 'Why are you loosing it? you shall answer him thus, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'" And they who were sent went away and found the colt standing, even as he had told them. and as they were loosing the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they replied, "Because the Lord has need of it."
So you can see very clearly that the third event, "someone riding an ass," is fulfilled in the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for the final time. This event is celebrated in the Catholic liturgy as "Palm Sunday."
And so we are left with the fourth arrival to watch for, no further reference of which is made in the Bible, being "someone riding a camel." That is the Biblical foretelling by God to Isaiah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Now, Christians do not need to overreact to this with worry that this has some implication for their Christian faith. It does not, and you can be assured of this because there are many events prophesied by Isaiah from God that are not representing changes in theology. That's what many Christians need to understand. The Bible is a history (both of events and of the "faith family") and not every word has to be milked to find some hidden meaning or advantage to act upon. This is why God says "a WATCHMAN." God is saying, watch for these events, for they are significant. Obviously each event must be interpreted in its own reality as it unfolds.For example, Babylon is the fall of a city, a pagan city. Jesus is the Messiah. Each event "stands on its own" as it unfolded; they are not part of a 1-2-3... set of steps where each event is dependent on the previous. A watchman observes many travelers come and go, but each one is not necessarily connected to the previous or following visitor. God is very precise when he presents prophesy to his prophets. He uses words and images that are precise and appropriate to their meaning.
(By the way, I'm being harassed on the computer. That's why this blog posting is going up in fits and starts, has different colors and so forth. When I want to correct errors suddenly my response time gets "hung" and I'm unable to get back in to do my spiritual direction work. This is typical of the s*** that I've had to put up with for years).
Now, to try to get back to decency and matters of faith.
God tells humans through his prophets when to take action and when to watch. I can't put it much simpler than that. No matter how complicated the prophecy, the Prophets were always told by God and understood when an action must be taken (to tell the people about the Law, such as Moses, or to remind people not to sin and warn of consequences) and when just to watch but know that something is important. This section is an example of that. Knowing about the fall of Babylon does not mean that Isaiah or anyone else could run out and do something about it. It's told in prophecy so that the faithful have courage and faith knowing that justice will be rendered at some point or another. It's not their business to run out and try to hasten the fall of Babylon on God's behalf, for example. Likewise they are told to watch for someone who arrives on an ass. That doesn't mean that the people should test every newcomer to see if he is the person that God foretold. It turns out that Jesus arrived about 700 years after this prophecy. Only when the significance of the event on its own standing unfolds are the people to go "Ah, that is the meaning of the prophecy." They are not to run around looking for someone important to ride an ass. They would have wasted 700 years and raised false prophets if they did so. This is why God says that they should be like a "watchman" for these events. God does not give instructions to act.
Therefore when Isaiah is told by God that the "watchman" should take note of "someone riding a camel" then this is an example of where the prophecy will be recognized only after the fact. The event must unfold and then those who are wise look back into the scriptures and now understand. This is the process that Jesus himself taught to the Apostles and disciples. He showed many examples and told them that he will prophesy to them, they won't understand or believe, and then after the event they will go "Ah" with understanding. Prophesy is to be watched for in its own fulfillment in its own time.
So why does God even bother to give people prophesy if they are not to "act" or "take advantage of it" after "interpreting" it? The first reason is to validate that it is indeed God who is giving a prophesy to one of his authentic chosen prophets. Many throughout salvation history have pretended to be prophets. God gives prophesy, sometimes very cryptically, in order that people will not be able to imitate him or his prophets and mislead the people. Who could think of the Messiah arriving in Jerusalem on an ass seven hundred years later? This is unarguable proof when God's prophets prophesy in such as cryptic and strange way and then behold, when that prophesy is long forgotten it is fulfilled unlooked for and unmanipulated. So the first reason that God gives people prophesy at all is so that they can know they are hearing and studying "the genuine article" of prophet when it is fulfilled, often centuries after the prophet has gone to his reward in heaven.
The second reason is to strengthen and increase faith. Prophesy allows people, especially those who are suffering, to put salvation history in context and have stronger belief. The truly faithful who suffered in Babylon, for example, would take comfort in knowing that God will allow Babylon to fall, and their God to triumph over the pagan idolatry, even if that is for their future generations of grandchildren to enjoy in life. Again, prophesy from God is not meant to be "decoded" and "manipulated" or artificially "fulfilled" by humans. It backfires like you cannot believe when that is attempted. God is not giving a formula, for example, saying "Oh, to move forward in the salvation game someone important must ride an ass somewhere and a watchman notices." Of course not! God is saying, "Watch and wait for someone who is riding an ass" and let them "pay heed," "very close heed." The people who cheered Jesus as he entered Jerusalem were not flipping pages of their handy dandy prophet guide and thus cheer Jesus because he arrived on an ass. It is years later that the Apostles and disciples fully comprehend the linkage between the prophesy and the event that unfolded. Jesus, of course, knew fully well because he is the one who requested an ass to arrive on to Jerusalem. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies by his actions with full knowledge of them and their implications.
So it is for authenticity and for faith that God provides prophesy. Therefore God was alerting people to heed "someone who rides a camel." God was making a statement of authenticity and membership in the salvation and faith family regarding this "someone." Camels are animals of the desert, and Arabia was well known in those times, obviously. So it is not the animal in particular but the fact that someone will be seen by the "watchman" and will be heeded. This is the Prophet Muhammad who would be "someone who rides a camel" around one thousand and four hundred years after Isaiah received this prophesy from God.
It is only well after the event that those who are the "watchman" (those who study and heed the scripture and the word of God) can understand how an event has unfolded that is the fulfillment of a prophesy by one of God's true prophets. So I am not surprised that few people understand that this "someone" in the Book of Isaiah is God's prophesy to legitimize that the "someone who rides a camel" is an authentic part of the faith history and God's plan for humanity and salvation. God makes this clear by showing Isaiah the fulfillment of the chariot and two horsemen as being part of the strengthening of faith over the long term, not the arrival of a literal person or persons who are "someones" in faith history. So Isaiah is able to see and record that the first two "arrivals" are "observed" as being representative of the fall of Babylon and of their pagan idols, even though the events have not taken place yet. In other words, God gives him "specifics" that the chariot and the two riders indicate the fall of Babylon. God does not give Isaiah the "specifics" about the "someone riding an ass" or the "someone riding a camel." Isaiah is, however, given plenty more specifics about the details of prophesy of the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The "someone riding a camel" is to be heeded as being authentic in the Abrahamic family of salvation history, but is not part of the Jesus Christ set of events or a successor to Jesus Christ. God is mentioning the "someone riding a camel" so that once the events transpire around this person, people who doubt and wonder can look back and see, "Ah yes, this is God's will. This person is part of the fabric and substance of God's works."
I hope that you find this helpful. It is very important to validate that the Muslims are correct to seek a linkage of authenticity in the Bible, and that is where it is (along with, of course, the rest of the shared Adam to Abraham faith history and their knowledge of Jews and Christians). It is likewise important that in dialogue they understand the specifics of what Jesus promised regarding the helper and comforter, and that this is the Holy Spirit who continues the work of Jesus through the Apostles and disciples, and not a literal person. So validation of the Islamic part of the one true God's salvation history is important, but it is important that we all be pointing to the same correct prophesy. The other important lesson here is that God gives instructions, laws and rituals for people to act upon, not prophesies. Prophesies are to be awaited at God's all knowing will and pleasure and not to be decoded and manipulated like some inside trading commodity or, just as bad, underestimated by humans, who cannot begin to imagine what God's plans and will are in full. Like I said, no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of God's revelation to the Prophet (PBUH). When people try to "decode" prophecy they always come up with an incredibly simple, cheap and thin version of what their limited minds can imagine that "God would do." It is an insult to God as well as being misleading of the faithful to think that any human, no matter how "smart" or "imaginative" could think of what God means in advance of a prophecy's fulfillment. As a scientific example, just to help understand this, what human given a paper and pencil and asked to imagine how life works would ever have thought of DNA? It is the same with God's prophecy of what is to come. No humans can imagine it; they can only hinder achieving the fullness of its intended goodness by misattributed and manipulating mundane events "on God's behalf." That is really horrible and it must never be done, ever again. There has been far too much of it and it has had ruinous consequences. It's as moronic as if after this prophecy people immediately ran around breeding extra asses to be sure that the "someone" would arrive. Thank GOD that the prophets and fathers, the Apostles and the disciples were pure of heart and such thoughts would never have occurred to them or to the people of those times. They could mistake someone as the Messiah or a prophet, but they did not run around trying to manipulate words and events of the holy book. Not only would that never have occurred to them but they would be stricken with dread at the thought, since they never mixed themselves up as being divine "players." It is essential that all people stop with this mindset immediately.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Bible Reading: Isaiah 6: 1-8
In the year king Ozia died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft.
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!" they cried one to the other. "All the earth is filled with his glory!" At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
"Here I am," I said: "send me!"
Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft.
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!" they cried one to the other. "All the earth is filled with his glory!" At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
"Here I am," I said: "send me!"
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Isaiah 61:1-3
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has annointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn; to place on those who mourn in Sion a diadem instead of ashes, to give them oil of gladness in place of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit. They will be called oaks of justice, planted by the Lord to show his glory.
Isaiah 26:4-10
Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock. He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down; he tumbles it to the ground, levels it with the dust. It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.
The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level. Yes, for your way and your judgments, O Lord, we look to you; your name and your title are the desire of our souls. My soul yearns for you in the night, yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you; when your judgment dawns upon the earth, the world's inhabitants learn justice.
The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level. Yes, for your way and your judgments, O Lord, we look to you; your name and your title are the desire of our souls. My soul yearns for you in the night, yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you; when your judgment dawns upon the earth, the world's inhabitants learn justice.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Isaiah 35: 8, 9
A highway will be there, called the holy way; no one unclean may pass over it, nor fools go astray on it.
It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk.
It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Bible Reading Isaiah 37:7
"I am about to put in him such a spirit that, when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own land, and there I will cause him to fall by the sword."
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Snow around the world
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:18.
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:18.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Dope use as case study about sin/purgatory/hell
A step by step case study using the example of a marijuana user to illustrate why the action is a sin, how the severity and number of sin occurences grows, and the implications for salvation (how the purgatory process might or might not be available to the sinner).
I’m going to spell it out for you why specific actions, in this first example drug abuse, are sins, what the consequences are, and all within the context of how God perceives these actions. There is nothing in here that is new; anyone with rudimentary religious education of the Bible or Qur’an can figure this out. I am speechless at how self deluding and ignorant people have become, however; it simply has amazed me over the past several decades of rampant sin and ignorance of the severe penalties to come. I am going to use the example of marijuana here in order to have the simplest and most prevalent possible example. Obviously this example can be extended to consumption of any mind or mood altering drug.
1) God’s view of the “smallest” example of drug abuse sin, which is to grow pot plant at home and harvest it for occasional personal use in secret.
Even if you are not purchasing weed, only growing a tiny amount for your own use, and keeping that use secret so that no one knows, this is nonetheless a very serious sin against God. The reason is that a mind or mood altering drug is an artificial barrier placed between the person and God. This therefore violates the first Commandment which is “I am the Lord Thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.” By using a drug with mind and mood altering and addictive properties you are “having a strange god” that is more important to you than God. The mere act of deciding to utilize a joint on each occasion is a decision to use something that is to you more important, even in only that instance, than God. That is the definition of a “strange god,” which is an inanimate object that you give power to over and above the power you attribute to God. Having a joint is exactly the same as picking up a piece of wood and carving an idol. Each and every time that you have a joint is the same as picking up a new piece of wood and carving a new idol. So consuming a thousand personal joints equals one thousand separate and individual violations of the First Commandment just as if you had sat down and carved one thousand wooden idols instead of one.
2) God’s view of “medium” example of drug abuse sin, which is to purchase pot from a dealer. Another example of this “medium” use sin is to endorse drug abuse by smoking the joints in the company of other people.
Everything that I explained under point one obviously by default also applies here. So each and every smoking of the joint is an example of violating the First Commandment. Now however you are adding additional sins by virtue of doing so publically in the view of one or more people in order to endorse this behavior, and/or giving money to people whose job it is to supply drugs. You are therefore in this “medium” example of drug abuse violating more of God’s commandments and prohibitions in addition to already violating the First Commandment because you are subsidizing the industry through even a “small” purchase AND you are setting an example for others, even in front of only one other person, that drug abuse sin is “OK.” By providing money to drug dealers (either professional or personal suppliers) you are violating the First Commandment in yet another dimension, which is to pay for people to carve those wooden idols and give them to others. And by consuming the marijuana in the presence of even only one other person you are “endorsing the carving and use of wooden idols.” I hope this example helps you to see that even the “small” example is a very grave violation of God’s most important Commandment, the First, and how “medium” examples are not only additional occurrences of violating the First Commandment but also “worse” because you are now tempting and enabling others to also violate the First Commandment.
You also need to understand that you become liable for other Commandments that are violated by yourself and others as the result of the consumption of marijuana. “Thou shalt not kill” is liable to be violated when “using” while driving, doing your job, and otherwise being responsible for the public. “Thou shalt not steal” is violated by financially and publically endorsing an illegal activity that is the direct cause of a robbery and crime culture. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” is also potentially violated because you are promoting the use of a substance that alters, however subtly, the accurate witness of reality.
3) God’s view of the “largest” example of drug abuse sin, which is to be a drug dealer, whether “small scale” (sold to one person) or “large scale” (block, neighborhood, gang, state or country, anything that involves multiple people).
It should not be difficult for you to figure out right now that hell is full of drug dealers, including the asshole on the block who “just” provides to a few people. A dealer is in the business of not only “carving the wooden idols” but making other people believe in the wooden idols. A dealer’s purpose is to “make a living” off of enabling and influencing people, often using force, of disobeying God and altering not only people’s spiritual reality but also their economic reality. Because the dealer “makes a living” off of pot use, in this case, the dealer is therefore also violating, in addition to all the Commandments listed above, the Commandment “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.” The dealer craves money and possessions and so establishes an illegal and immoral enterprise to take money away from other people through their addiction and/or casual use of pot. The dealer not only takes money from the user, since he covets their money, but the dealer often takes the very means of livelihood for an entire family away from the users as they spend money on drugs instead of their own well being, education and livelihood. By transforming neighborhoods into drug zone the dealers suck away livelihood from the innocent around them as companies flee the neighborhood and jobs can no longer be had (except, ultimately, by dealing themselves). Dealers are responsible for the sins of those who emulate them, and they are responsible for the hardships that both the users and the innocent bystanders endure.
It should be clear that only example one, where the person grows their own pot for their own individual secret use, is a situation where the unrepentant person can still hope to “take their chances when judged by God.” A person who is literally a “singular island” of grapping with a sin such as growing and consuming their own pot in secret with their mouth shut about it has the best chance of being allowed into purgatory to be cleansed and eventually achieving heaven. This is because it really is a matter of their own conscience and background, all of which God is, of course, aware of. A parallel is the term “a victimless crime.” This is because literally not a single person or a single dollar is involved in this “pure and simple” example of single use secret consumption of home grown pot. The very minute that someone becomes aware of this usage, however, and that any money is spent in the purchase of the weed, it becomes the MUCH more problematic number two type of example. There are not too many people who smoke weed that they grow on their own and no one at all knows about it and no one benefits financially from it.
But I want to highlight example 1 because it helps people to understand that God is more “understanding” and “flexible” than the anti-God propaganda would have you believe. God recognizes that otherwise worthy people, as a result of their own choices or compulsions, sometimes “take a chance” with his mercy. That’s why purgatory exists. It’s not a matter of God’s “opinion” when he judges, but it is a matter of God revealing to the person the extent of their personal stain, which physically prevents people from entering heaven. I’ve explained this before that a sin stained soul cannot enter heaven because, to use the analogy, it cannot survive in the pure “atmosphere” of goodness and truth. It’s not like a sin stained soul can sneak into heaven through the back door. It’s still attempting to enter an “atmosphere” that a soul stained by sin cannot “breathe.” Purgatory is the process by which souls can cleanse themselves so that they can enter heaven and survive, living for eternity.
Here’s another example. When one dies in a state of sin it is like a person plugging cotton up their nose so they cannot breathe and wanting to enter a room of pure oxygen. Um, it’s not like God is being mean by insisting that people take the cotton out of their nostrils so they can breathe at all! If they do not remove the cotton up the nostrils they will die of asphyxiation. This is the example of a soul that dies in a state of sin. And by state of sin I do not mean they die without regrets. What I mean is they have an unresolved sin “track record.” One’s soul is stained by one’s track record of sin. Sometimes a person comes to their senses and regrets their sin, but what they did cannot be undone. Suppose the person the sinner wronged has died. The sinner can regret their sin, contribute a big check to some charitable organization, and if they are Catholic, obtain forgiveness through Penance and the Holy Eucharist. So the sinner can be forgiven, as if they never sinned, but the reality is that the actions of their sin cannot be fully remediated due to circumstances of time passing. A person can be forgiven of sin but it is not like time travelers erase the consequences on other people of that sin. This is part of the sin staining.
How do we know this? Look at the example of one of the greatest of the Prophets, the most holy Isaiah, who prophesied the very coming of Jesus Christ. What was the reaction of this extremely holy man, the like of whom has never since lived, when he was first called by God? Isaiah saw God appear, surrounded by angels who hailed God’s glory. (These very words of the angels are preserved in the “Sanctus, sanctus” sung portion of the Catholic Mass). Before God or the angels could even say one word to Isaiah, he told them to hold the phone before even speaking to him because:
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5).
Notice that Isaiah does not say he is a sinner, because he knows he is not and is instead a very pious and very holy man. Yet this great man recognized instantly that simply by being a human being, especially living among man who were sinning, that he had “unclean lips.” This is the example that Isaiah gives for the reality of one’s total unsuitability to merit seeing the manifested God with one’s eyes, and obviously this is the condition all who would want to enter heaven will be in. Upon his words the following happens:
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” (Isaiah 6:6-7).
Notice the angel does not say, oh tut, tut don’t exaggerate Isaiah, you know you are a good man. No, rather the angel immediately acknowledges Isaiah’s insight that by definition he is a man who has “sin” and has “wickedness.” Notice the angel couches the expression that Isaiah possesses sin and wickedness, not that he is a sinner or wicked. This is the stain that I am referring to, where sin that results even from the inevitability of the human condition and living among sinners leaves a stain that must be removed. The angel uses an ember from the altar of heaven. The angel does not light a human charcoal grill, duh. Only an ember from God can purge a person so that they can communicate with God or enter into God’s realm of heaven. So the angel brings an ember from the very heavenly altar where God sits and uses that so Isaiah’s “wickedness is removed” and his “sin purged.” And yes, notice indeed the word “purge.” Whenever someone tells me “purgatory is not mentioned in the Bible” I want to smash his or her mush right into this page of the Bible. I don’t know how this could be clearer, and who thinks that what Isaiah required they don’t require in spades, in orders of magnitude greater than the holy ancient Isaiah? PURGATORY IS MENTIONED IN THE VERY CHAPTER WHERE THE PROPHET WHO PROPHESIED CHRIST IS FIRST PREPARED TO GET THE GOOD NEWS. CAN YOU HEAR GOD NOW? PUT ON YOUR FREAKING EYEGLASSES AND READ YOU MORONS.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for me?” “Here I am,” I said; send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).
Upon being purged by the angel Isaiah is immediately ready to receive the Lord’s voice in his ears and hear his message of what he should do. After being “purged” by the angel Isaiah is now like an angel in that he is cleaned of the influence of sin and wickedness and now able to be entirely in performance of God’s will.
Going back to our original not so glorious example of man or woman, the pot user, you can see how the three instances of small, medium or large uses will all map to purgatory and, obviously, hell. Even the mildest pot user of the first “small” example cannot hold a candle to Isaiah, so this person had better expect some serious purgatory, assuming all else in their life is just. But people in the second “medium” and third “large” categories of pot use and dealing better think really hard about how they measure up to Isaiah. God will not bother with purgatory at all for those whose souls are so blackened that there would be nothing of decency left anyway due to the great weight and persistence of their sin. They will be dispatched promptly to hell.
What happens in purgatory? Let me talk about the most borderline case, where someone “gets into purgatory but just under the wire.” In other words, they escape hell by the skin of their teeth. I have to be honest with you, for those people there is not much “left” to enter into heaven. Some of these people have to be stripped back to how their souls were when they were infants. So while they achieve heaven they do so as infants or simple souls and do not bring the memory or associations of the world with them. They will not be part of “family reunions” in heaven, nor will they recall or miss their families, since there is no sadness in heaven. But it is not God’s plan that people should be given life in the cradle that is earth only so that they sin so much that the personality and grace that they developed on earth be besmirched and blackened so much by their sin that they lose their individuality and, for lack of a better word, “adultness” in order to gain heaven. Don’t count on seeing a lot of loved ones in heaven if they are in the sin business. Or if you are in the sin business.
I hope this example helps. I don’t know how many times it can be spelled out in dog simple terms.
I’m going to spell it out for you why specific actions, in this first example drug abuse, are sins, what the consequences are, and all within the context of how God perceives these actions. There is nothing in here that is new; anyone with rudimentary religious education of the Bible or Qur’an can figure this out. I am speechless at how self deluding and ignorant people have become, however; it simply has amazed me over the past several decades of rampant sin and ignorance of the severe penalties to come. I am going to use the example of marijuana here in order to have the simplest and most prevalent possible example. Obviously this example can be extended to consumption of any mind or mood altering drug.
1) God’s view of the “smallest” example of drug abuse sin, which is to grow pot plant at home and harvest it for occasional personal use in secret.
Even if you are not purchasing weed, only growing a tiny amount for your own use, and keeping that use secret so that no one knows, this is nonetheless a very serious sin against God. The reason is that a mind or mood altering drug is an artificial barrier placed between the person and God. This therefore violates the first Commandment which is “I am the Lord Thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.” By using a drug with mind and mood altering and addictive properties you are “having a strange god” that is more important to you than God. The mere act of deciding to utilize a joint on each occasion is a decision to use something that is to you more important, even in only that instance, than God. That is the definition of a “strange god,” which is an inanimate object that you give power to over and above the power you attribute to God. Having a joint is exactly the same as picking up a piece of wood and carving an idol. Each and every time that you have a joint is the same as picking up a new piece of wood and carving a new idol. So consuming a thousand personal joints equals one thousand separate and individual violations of the First Commandment just as if you had sat down and carved one thousand wooden idols instead of one.
2) God’s view of “medium” example of drug abuse sin, which is to purchase pot from a dealer. Another example of this “medium” use sin is to endorse drug abuse by smoking the joints in the company of other people.
Everything that I explained under point one obviously by default also applies here. So each and every smoking of the joint is an example of violating the First Commandment. Now however you are adding additional sins by virtue of doing so publically in the view of one or more people in order to endorse this behavior, and/or giving money to people whose job it is to supply drugs. You are therefore in this “medium” example of drug abuse violating more of God’s commandments and prohibitions in addition to already violating the First Commandment because you are subsidizing the industry through even a “small” purchase AND you are setting an example for others, even in front of only one other person, that drug abuse sin is “OK.” By providing money to drug dealers (either professional or personal suppliers) you are violating the First Commandment in yet another dimension, which is to pay for people to carve those wooden idols and give them to others. And by consuming the marijuana in the presence of even only one other person you are “endorsing the carving and use of wooden idols.” I hope this example helps you to see that even the “small” example is a very grave violation of God’s most important Commandment, the First, and how “medium” examples are not only additional occurrences of violating the First Commandment but also “worse” because you are now tempting and enabling others to also violate the First Commandment.
You also need to understand that you become liable for other Commandments that are violated by yourself and others as the result of the consumption of marijuana. “Thou shalt not kill” is liable to be violated when “using” while driving, doing your job, and otherwise being responsible for the public. “Thou shalt not steal” is violated by financially and publically endorsing an illegal activity that is the direct cause of a robbery and crime culture. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” is also potentially violated because you are promoting the use of a substance that alters, however subtly, the accurate witness of reality.
3) God’s view of the “largest” example of drug abuse sin, which is to be a drug dealer, whether “small scale” (sold to one person) or “large scale” (block, neighborhood, gang, state or country, anything that involves multiple people).
It should not be difficult for you to figure out right now that hell is full of drug dealers, including the asshole on the block who “just” provides to a few people. A dealer is in the business of not only “carving the wooden idols” but making other people believe in the wooden idols. A dealer’s purpose is to “make a living” off of enabling and influencing people, often using force, of disobeying God and altering not only people’s spiritual reality but also their economic reality. Because the dealer “makes a living” off of pot use, in this case, the dealer is therefore also violating, in addition to all the Commandments listed above, the Commandment “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.” The dealer craves money and possessions and so establishes an illegal and immoral enterprise to take money away from other people through their addiction and/or casual use of pot. The dealer not only takes money from the user, since he covets their money, but the dealer often takes the very means of livelihood for an entire family away from the users as they spend money on drugs instead of their own well being, education and livelihood. By transforming neighborhoods into drug zone the dealers suck away livelihood from the innocent around them as companies flee the neighborhood and jobs can no longer be had (except, ultimately, by dealing themselves). Dealers are responsible for the sins of those who emulate them, and they are responsible for the hardships that both the users and the innocent bystanders endure.
It should be clear that only example one, where the person grows their own pot for their own individual secret use, is a situation where the unrepentant person can still hope to “take their chances when judged by God.” A person who is literally a “singular island” of grapping with a sin such as growing and consuming their own pot in secret with their mouth shut about it has the best chance of being allowed into purgatory to be cleansed and eventually achieving heaven. This is because it really is a matter of their own conscience and background, all of which God is, of course, aware of. A parallel is the term “a victimless crime.” This is because literally not a single person or a single dollar is involved in this “pure and simple” example of single use secret consumption of home grown pot. The very minute that someone becomes aware of this usage, however, and that any money is spent in the purchase of the weed, it becomes the MUCH more problematic number two type of example. There are not too many people who smoke weed that they grow on their own and no one at all knows about it and no one benefits financially from it.
But I want to highlight example 1 because it helps people to understand that God is more “understanding” and “flexible” than the anti-God propaganda would have you believe. God recognizes that otherwise worthy people, as a result of their own choices or compulsions, sometimes “take a chance” with his mercy. That’s why purgatory exists. It’s not a matter of God’s “opinion” when he judges, but it is a matter of God revealing to the person the extent of their personal stain, which physically prevents people from entering heaven. I’ve explained this before that a sin stained soul cannot enter heaven because, to use the analogy, it cannot survive in the pure “atmosphere” of goodness and truth. It’s not like a sin stained soul can sneak into heaven through the back door. It’s still attempting to enter an “atmosphere” that a soul stained by sin cannot “breathe.” Purgatory is the process by which souls can cleanse themselves so that they can enter heaven and survive, living for eternity.
Here’s another example. When one dies in a state of sin it is like a person plugging cotton up their nose so they cannot breathe and wanting to enter a room of pure oxygen. Um, it’s not like God is being mean by insisting that people take the cotton out of their nostrils so they can breathe at all! If they do not remove the cotton up the nostrils they will die of asphyxiation. This is the example of a soul that dies in a state of sin. And by state of sin I do not mean they die without regrets. What I mean is they have an unresolved sin “track record.” One’s soul is stained by one’s track record of sin. Sometimes a person comes to their senses and regrets their sin, but what they did cannot be undone. Suppose the person the sinner wronged has died. The sinner can regret their sin, contribute a big check to some charitable organization, and if they are Catholic, obtain forgiveness through Penance and the Holy Eucharist. So the sinner can be forgiven, as if they never sinned, but the reality is that the actions of their sin cannot be fully remediated due to circumstances of time passing. A person can be forgiven of sin but it is not like time travelers erase the consequences on other people of that sin. This is part of the sin staining.
How do we know this? Look at the example of one of the greatest of the Prophets, the most holy Isaiah, who prophesied the very coming of Jesus Christ. What was the reaction of this extremely holy man, the like of whom has never since lived, when he was first called by God? Isaiah saw God appear, surrounded by angels who hailed God’s glory. (These very words of the angels are preserved in the “Sanctus, sanctus” sung portion of the Catholic Mass). Before God or the angels could even say one word to Isaiah, he told them to hold the phone before even speaking to him because:
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5).
Notice that Isaiah does not say he is a sinner, because he knows he is not and is instead a very pious and very holy man. Yet this great man recognized instantly that simply by being a human being, especially living among man who were sinning, that he had “unclean lips.” This is the example that Isaiah gives for the reality of one’s total unsuitability to merit seeing the manifested God with one’s eyes, and obviously this is the condition all who would want to enter heaven will be in. Upon his words the following happens:
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” (Isaiah 6:6-7).
Notice the angel does not say, oh tut, tut don’t exaggerate Isaiah, you know you are a good man. No, rather the angel immediately acknowledges Isaiah’s insight that by definition he is a man who has “sin” and has “wickedness.” Notice the angel couches the expression that Isaiah possesses sin and wickedness, not that he is a sinner or wicked. This is the stain that I am referring to, where sin that results even from the inevitability of the human condition and living among sinners leaves a stain that must be removed. The angel uses an ember from the altar of heaven. The angel does not light a human charcoal grill, duh. Only an ember from God can purge a person so that they can communicate with God or enter into God’s realm of heaven. So the angel brings an ember from the very heavenly altar where God sits and uses that so Isaiah’s “wickedness is removed” and his “sin purged.” And yes, notice indeed the word “purge.” Whenever someone tells me “purgatory is not mentioned in the Bible” I want to smash his or her mush right into this page of the Bible. I don’t know how this could be clearer, and who thinks that what Isaiah required they don’t require in spades, in orders of magnitude greater than the holy ancient Isaiah? PURGATORY IS MENTIONED IN THE VERY CHAPTER WHERE THE PROPHET WHO PROPHESIED CHRIST IS FIRST PREPARED TO GET THE GOOD NEWS. CAN YOU HEAR GOD NOW? PUT ON YOUR FREAKING EYEGLASSES AND READ YOU MORONS.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for me?” “Here I am,” I said; send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).
Upon being purged by the angel Isaiah is immediately ready to receive the Lord’s voice in his ears and hear his message of what he should do. After being “purged” by the angel Isaiah is now like an angel in that he is cleaned of the influence of sin and wickedness and now able to be entirely in performance of God’s will.
Going back to our original not so glorious example of man or woman, the pot user, you can see how the three instances of small, medium or large uses will all map to purgatory and, obviously, hell. Even the mildest pot user of the first “small” example cannot hold a candle to Isaiah, so this person had better expect some serious purgatory, assuming all else in their life is just. But people in the second “medium” and third “large” categories of pot use and dealing better think really hard about how they measure up to Isaiah. God will not bother with purgatory at all for those whose souls are so blackened that there would be nothing of decency left anyway due to the great weight and persistence of their sin. They will be dispatched promptly to hell.
What happens in purgatory? Let me talk about the most borderline case, where someone “gets into purgatory but just under the wire.” In other words, they escape hell by the skin of their teeth. I have to be honest with you, for those people there is not much “left” to enter into heaven. Some of these people have to be stripped back to how their souls were when they were infants. So while they achieve heaven they do so as infants or simple souls and do not bring the memory or associations of the world with them. They will not be part of “family reunions” in heaven, nor will they recall or miss their families, since there is no sadness in heaven. But it is not God’s plan that people should be given life in the cradle that is earth only so that they sin so much that the personality and grace that they developed on earth be besmirched and blackened so much by their sin that they lose their individuality and, for lack of a better word, “adultness” in order to gain heaven. Don’t count on seeing a lot of loved ones in heaven if they are in the sin business. Or if you are in the sin business.
I hope this example helps. I don’t know how many times it can be spelled out in dog simple terms.
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