the Word series
the Separation
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth (Ephesians 2:19)
"YaHoVeH did not send His Son into the world to
separate
the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not separated, but whoever does not believe is separated already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of YaHoVeH. And
this is the separation:
that Light (YaHoVeH) has come into the world, and people loved the darkness more than the Light because their works were evil. For everyone who
does evil
hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever
DOES what is true
comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his
works (deeds)
have been carried out in YaHoVeH." John 3:17-21
To quote
John 3:16
as the hallmark of Christianity while at the same time skipping over the subsequent verses 17-21, is simply disingenuous in handling the Words of Truth in the context of which they were written.
Revelation 19:10b
says, "...the testimony of Yeshua IS the spirit of prophecy." Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon defines
prophecy
as the "spoken oracles of YaHoVeH". So, the testimony of the Life of Yeshua reveals how YaHoVeH's Words are to be construed. Words mean things. It does not matter what we "think" they say - only if what the Words we are given validate what we believe as Truth or not. If what we think the words mean are not found in the Life or Words of Yeshua - at the very least, those thoughts should be held suspect.
Acts 7:38
also gives us the proper Hebraic persepective of prophecy as being the spoken oracles of YaHoVeH. If we are to use the words of Yeshua as the benchmark by which all other words are measured including other words of scripture, then we need to have a true understanding of what His Words really mean. The same Greek word translated as the English "condemnation" in
John 3:19
and "judgment" in
John 5:22-30
is krisis
which means "a separation, sundering, to be separated from". So, by inserting the proper definition of these words into the passage above, what Yeshua actually meant by those words comes into clearer focus - and here He says there is a separation associated with how we behave.
The Judgment
He is speaking of, then, is to be separated from the Light by our deliberate behavior.
1John 1:5
tells us that YaHoVeH, the Source of Life, IS "the Light". Yeshua is saying that, because it is impossible for Light and darkness to occupy the same space at the same time, you will have either one or the other manifest in the works, the deeds of an individual
(see what the Properties of Light are).
It is important, therefore (if we are to truly understand the Truth of Yeshua's words), to be able to define what He considered to be
an enemy.
Yeshua says that DOING evil is the same thing as HATING the Light, the Father - regardless of what that person proclaims with his lips. It is we who move away from the Light by refusing to bring our deeds into alignment with the Light. So, what did the Son consider to be evil - where did He say evil comes from? In
Mark 7:21-23,
He said evil proceeds from the heart of men and gives a listing of behaviors befitting that category. Who was He speaking to when He said those words - pagans? No, He was speaking to those who proclaimed their love for the Father. For those
claiming inclusion
in YaHoVeH's Family, infidelity to the Light warrants a separation from that Light. When seen through the Hebraic perspective of Yeshua's Words, the words of the Hebrew apostle Sha'ul in
Romans 8,
become reflective and supportive - essentially saying the same thing as Yeshua.
As seen in a previous article,
A Pre-Determined Destination,
YaHoVeH "foreknew" (that is, pre-determined - not "predestined") from the foundation of the world that He would have a family that would be holy, set apart to Him by conforming to the image, the likeness of His Life manifested in His Son, Yeshua. This is
the Covenant
YaHoVeH made with Himself. In other words, to become a member of the family of YaHoVeH means to become conformed to the image of the Source of Life exhibited by Yeshua. Exactly who those individuals are will be determined by those who YaHoVeH has "come to know" through their exhibition of a conformance of behavior coinciding with the example manifested by the Son. Conversely, by their deeds in the flesh which do not conform to the Life of Yeshua (which are death) - they become hostile to the Spirit of Life, requiring separation. The last words of Yeshua to His disciples were not what have become known as "the Great Commission". The last thing He said to five out of seven assemblies claiming their affiliation with the Spirit of Life was
Repent.
Repent from what? Repent from leaving their first love, the Words of YaHoVeH - Who, scripturally, IS
the Word.
So, what does it mean to be conformed to the example of Life exhibited by Yeshua?
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"If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home (abide) with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And
the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me
." John 14:23-24
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While some may try to explain away the meaning of these words, Yeshua plainly states that His words are not His Own, but the words of His Father - the Spirit of Life. If we are to keep Yeshua's words, then to
abide in Life
means we have to acknowledge the Father's words of
Leviticus 18:4-5
which tell us that keeping the Words of YaHoVeH means to "walk in them...by which a man may live if he does them". Even though Light dissipates darkness, as
1John 1:5-7
tells us choosing to embrace, to walk in darkness will cause Light not to manifest. Because YaHoVeH is Light, when we receive His Spirit through the embrace of His Words, the
Power of Life
settles in the liver. Just as it is physically possible to diminish the functionality of the liver by overwhelming it with more impurity than it is able to handle (as in the case of prolonged drug or alcohol abuse) - in similar fashion, through the forced will of an individual, Light can be forced aside by darkness. Just as when the liver becomes diseased, it turns hard, ceases to function, the energy wave frequency diminishes and the body dies - so will the individual who lapses into disregard concerning their behavior
(Matthew 24:12).
The definition of darkness is "the absence of light". This is the reason we need a definition of what Light is in our lives, a standard to measure our deeds by - to see if those deeds are of the Light or in darkness. The Christian tradition of "grace" which says we can be forgiven of any sin is true - the Truth of Grace is that it is limited by our choices. Grace may invite us in but we are expected to
work out
our salvation once we accept the invitation. If we persist in darkness, whether willfully or through willful ignorance (not seeking Truth with all our might), darkness can and will extinguish the Light in our lives. Those who are called to be conformed to the image of YaHoVeH exhibited in the Life of Yeshua, choose to separate themselves from the practices of the rest of the world so that they are not separated from the Force of Light within them.
John 10:17-18
lays to rest any argument about whether men have "free will" or not as Yeshua took on the attributes of a man. He chose to lay down His Life in accordance with
the Will of the Father.
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"For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of YaHoVeH, you may receive
the Promise
." Hebrews 10:36
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The Greek text doesn't say, "...what was promised" as most English versions of this scripture contain. It actually says,
the promise.
The author of Hebrews makes it quite clear that "...the promise" will be ours if and when we have done the will of YaHoVeH. What is "the promise"?
Verse 22
says it is the confidence to
"enter the holy place,"
drawing near because we have had our hearts "sprinkled" and our bodies "washed". This language is the vocabulary of purity used in the Tanakh (re-named OT,
Ezekiel 36:25).
The promise is the ability to once again become
'echad
with Spirit as it was in the beginning with Adam. The Promise is the
restoration of the Kingdom
to the rightful heirs spoken of in
Romans 8:12-17,
the Family of YaHoVeH - which was
the purpose of Yeshua's Life.
While it is certain that we have been invited into this fellowship now, today; there is another factor at play here that might be skipped over because of its implications - endurance. Obtaining the promise is the result of continuing in YaHoVeH's Will - not a "once and for all" decision. Fellowship is the result of patient fortitude and persistent tenacity in the pursuit of His Will - keeping
His Words.
Perhaps the modern translations changed the wording for "the promise" because they didn't want readers to think that the experience of fellowship with YaHoVeH could be judged by our current apprehension of
the Present Presence.
Perhaps they wanted us to think that it is all way off in the distance so that we won't ask, "Am I in harmony with Him today?" It is much easier to imagine that it will all work out in the end if there is no standard to judge current behavior right now. The standard by which the Family of YaHoVeH is
judged
are the Words of the Source of Life Who IS Light. Those not abiding in the Light are separated from The Promise by their actionable behavior.
"But when the fullness of time had come, YaHoVeH sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to
redeem those who were under the law
so that we might receive adoption as sons."
Galatians 4:4-5
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The Greek verb translated "redeem" in this verse is
exagorazo.
It literally means "to purchase out of." The root of the verb,
agorazo,
comes from the noun,
agora,
which in turn means "the marketplace." This verb in Galatians calls forth the imagery of going to the market to buy something once owned by the purchaser. According to this usage in Galatians, Yeshua bought His Family back. The action is dynamic, not static. It is the process of the repurchase that matters. But this begs a question that is almost never asked. What did Yeshua buy back and who was the present owner when He came to make His repurchase? Sha'ul does not say they were owned by the Law - the Law was not the slave master. Being "under the Law" is not the same as being "owned by the Law." What's the difference? The Torah
(misinterpreted "Law")
established YaHoVeH's instructions for what it took to live in
the Present Presence
of the Source of Life, and the consequence for disobedience to those instructions - which is death. Adam was not the first of mankind, but the
first member
of the Hebrew Family of YaHoVeH. Holding the
status of firstborn
gave Adam the
same authority
as his Father - he was "just as" the Father, created in the likeness and image of YaHoVeH. He was 'echad with the Father
(Hebrew for "one or unity", Genesis 2:24).
When the first son of YaHoVeH's Hebrew family disobeyed His Father's Words in the Garden, he forfeited his birthright of living
In Perpetuity
with the Source of Life and, thus, inherited the consequence of death. But, apparently, he did not die - or did he? Anything apart from Life is death. Separation from the Source of Life means no longer living in Perpetuity.
Exodus 20:5-6
tells us part of the Nature of YaHoVeH is that the sins of the fathers are visited upon subsequent generations of those who hate Him by not keeping His Words until and unless that sin is redeemed. YaHoVeH defines hatred toward Him as not keeping His Words of Life. Not keeping His Words produces
hostility
toward YaHoVeH which, like darkness, cannot abide in the same space at the same time with Light - thereby forcing a separation. Forgiveness does not eliminate the
consequence of sin
and the consequence of sin is
death
- separation from the Source of Life. This was the reason, the need for
Atonement.
The obedient second son redeemed the consequence of disobedience of the first
(1Corinthians 15:45).
The restored Kingdom is
devaq
- the opportunity of becoming 'echad with the Father, the Source of Life.
Initially, there was no death in the Garden - only perpetuity. Disobedience required separation from that perpetuity. It was death that owned the family of YaHoVeH - not Torah which contains the instructions for Life. Being held captive by death is a consequence of failure to keep YaHoVeH's Words - disobedience to the Words of Life! YaHoVeH's family did not need to be redeemed from the Torah but from the result, the consequence of breaking the Words of Life by the first son - thus, making bondage to darkness their subsequent inheritance instead of Life. Had Adam kept the Father's Words in the beginning, there would have been no need for his family to be redeemed from the bondage of death. The problem is not with the standard - it is with the consequence of not keeping the standard that the family inherited. As the family's
Kinsman Redeemer,
Yeshua came to repurchase YaHoVeH's Family back from the death sentence hanging over them and to restore their
inheritance of Life.
This is why He said in
Matthew 15:24
that He was sent only to the household of Israel, the family of YaHoVeH - and
anyone
can be joined to that family by receiving the Father of the family through the
embrace of His Words.
In Hebraic thought, redemption (deliverance, salvation, return) makes no sense unless there is an immediate threat to life itself. To ask a Hebrew, "Are you saved?" will probably bring a response of "From what?" No threat - no need for redemption. From the Hebrew apostle Sha'ul's Hebrew perspective, this means only understanding
apolytrosis
(redemption)
in terms of thanatos
(death).
Torah is the revelation of YaHoVeH's own Nature and Character displayed in human actions. If I do what Torah commands, am I not saved? Moses makes it pretty clear when he says
"Choose Life!"
Choose to follow YaHoVeH's Words and live. There is not a hint that this is independent of grace because YaHoVeH has to send it - without His grace there is no delivery of Life. YaHoVeH's deliverance of His Family from the bondage of Egypt was a demonstration of His Grace - the children of Israel
did nothing
to deserve that rescue. YaHoVeH's desire to rescue His children is the motivation behind Torah - how to live once rescued. Grace produces instruction. To "Choose Life" means choosing to accept YaHoVeH's grace and, subsequently, living according to His Words of Life. Yeshua came that He might live under the same standard as the rest of His Family (Torah) - perfectly fulfilling Torah, He elected to die to become the instrument of rescue for His Family. His obedient Life in the flesh became the substitute for the bondage of death hanging over YaHoVeH's Family to bring them back to Life - to restore the Kingdom of YaHoVeH, 'echad, to the rightful inheritors of His Family. This passage from Galatians, therefore, is not demeaning those "under the law" as if they were cursed; rather, he is describing a category of people apart from the rest of the world who are not "under the law".
In the passage from Galatians 4 above, does Sha'ul say that Yeshua will redeem from sin? That's the way most Christians would usually read this statement. But, notice that the words do not say that - in fact, sin is not even the issue. It is the
consequence
of sin that is the issue. YaHoVeH has provided many ways of dealing with sin; but, until there is a way of dealing with the consequences, forgiveness doesn't accomplish much. Yeshua's Resurrection from the grave bought back the inevitable and justified termination of Life to His Family - the consequence of disobedience by the first son that became the inheritance to the rest of his family
(Exodus 34:7,
1Corinthians 15:45).
To be redeemed is to be brought to Life as a member of His Family, Israel, by receiving His Nature found in
His Words
- and Sha'ul notes that only those who have been brought back to Life may be adopted as sons. This is not some ethereal, spiritualized, one day we might acquire it life - it is His Life manifest in us right here, right now. The instructions for that Life are contained in Torah
(Matthew 19:16-19).
Yeshua is the embodiment of YaHoVeH's Torah so that if we have seen Him (His actions), we have seen the Father who sent Him. There is no Yeshua without Torah for they are one and the same. "In the beginning was the Word," says John. And what Word was that? We saw in the article
Aleph-Tav
that, from the beginning, the Word is Torah and YaHoVeH is the Word. Torah is YaHoVeH's Word of Life's instructions. We have been privileged to experience Spirit among us in such a way that YaHoVeH's character is
visibly displayed.
What Yeshua demonstrates we have already been given. What Yeshua accomplishes we were already assigned. What Yeshua provides we were already promised. Right now. Yeshua's death on the cross had nothing in common with any sacrifices mentioned in Torah which required the administration of a Levitical priest made upon an altar within the confines of a temple or tabernacle. Yeshua was killed
Outside the Camp
on a stake without the attendance of a priest. His was a willing surrender of His Pure Blood of obedience to His Father's Plan and Purpose from the beginning as a substitute for the corrupted blood of disobedience to the Father's Plan which had been passed down to the subsequent generations of YaHoVeH's Family. We are called of the Father to be conformed to that example. The manner by which we maintain separateness, holiness, from the rest of the world is addressed in the Ten Words of YaHoVeH - the definition of the standard describing the difference between what is Light and what is darkness. This is something we "do" to "make a sanctuary" for Him in our lives by remembering His Words in our living
(Exodus 25:8).
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a discussion of the Separation
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"...giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to
share in the inheritance of the saints in light,
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, by whom we have redemption..." Colossians 1:12-15
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The Word Series
Part One: Who Is The Word?
Part Two: Aleph-Tav
Part Three: the Separation
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???Questions???
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com.
While not claiming to have all
the answers, it would be an honor to partake with you of what Spirit is uncovering.
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