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...the woman with the issue of blood
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Cultivating Virtue
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth (Ephesians 2:19)
"And Yeshua, immediately knowing in Himself that
Virtue
had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, 'Who touched My clothes?'" Mark 5:30
"And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went
Virtue
out of Him, and healed them all." Luke 6:19
"Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the religious leaders, Yeshua came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Shalom be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Messiah. So Yeshua said to them again, "Shalom to you!
'JUST AS
the Father has sent Me,
EVEN SO
I am sending you.' And when He had said this,
He breathed on them,
and said to them, "Receive the breath of Life.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." John 20:19-23
"By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because
JUST AS
He is EVEN SO
are we in this world." 1John 4:17
It can not be said enough - words mean things. So, then, what do these words mean if not to "be" or "become" like Yeshua is right now, today - in this earth? Most have been taught to believe that they are unworthy and, thus, unable to "BE" just as Yeshua is - contrary to what these words actually say. The
restored Kingdom (click on highlighted words to view scripture)
is not some future event to be looked for over yonder, bye and bye - it
abides
among us right now in the choices we make concerning our walk, our behavior, today.
These traditions of men
that have been overlaid upon the words of scripture and handed down to us as truth have completely skewed the original meaning and intent of the words coming from the lips of Yeshua. The tradition of men is the only thing Yeshua ever pointed to that would render
the Words of YaHoVeH
null and void, ineffective and devoid of power.
Revelation 19:10b
says, "...the testimony of Yeshua IS the spirit of prophecy." Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon defines the Hebrew word,
nava',
(translated as the English "prophecy") as the "spoken oracles of YaHoVeH". So, by inserting the proper definition back into the statement, we see that the testimony of the Life of Yeshua reveals how YaHoVeH's Words are to be construed and applied to our lives. Let us be courageous, then, in our quest for Truth today by laying aside those traditions of men handed down to us to look at the words of the Master just for what they say and what they actually mean as the benchmark by which to measure all things - including other scripture
(see Whose Word Is It?).
The article,
Just As - Even So,
explored the number of places where scripture enlightens us as to how Yeshua sent His disciples into this world - "just as" He was sent by the Father (meaning likewise, in like manner, in similar fashion). If we are to understand what those words mean for a disciple abiding in Him today
(John 17:20),
the question becomes - how was Yeshua sent? We are told in
John 3:17
that the Father sent Yeshua into the world that the world might (not would) be "saved" through Him. The Greek word translated as "saved" in this verse is
sozo
and literally means "to save one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health" (nothing about the "hereafter"). Since Yeshua equates forgiveness with healing in
Matthew 9:5,
should it come as any surprise, then, that the same correlation is also made with those who are sent "just as" He is sent - that with the power to heal and deliver would also come the authority to forgive "just as" He forgives? As commented on in the article
Retaining Sin,
notice there is nothing said here about the Father's forgiveness - only the
exercise
of YaHoVeH's Spirit by the disciples. It is an interesting observation that nowhere in scripture is it recorded where He ever healed or delivered the disciples. What IS recorded is that He empowered them to go as He was sent
(Luke 9:1-2,
John 20:21).
Where we misunderstand what that "sending" means is that they were NOT given power to consume it upon themselves
(James 4:3).
The signs and wonders are given for the benefit of
the unbeliever
- to gain their attention so as to validate the words being spoken to them. So, then, just how did healing occur with Yeshua? The scripture from Luke 6:19 at the beginning of this article tells us that when Virtue went out of Yeshua, the multitudes surrounding Him were all healed (as with the woman with the issue of blood). If it is from Virtue over which the power for healing and deliverance flows, the question that must be asked is - what is Virtue and where does it come from? If being sent into this world "just as" Yeshua was sent (that is, to "save") requires the activity of Virtue from which healing flows (the same as being forgiven) - then how is that Virtue obtained? Virtue comes from the Greek word
dynamis
and is described in Thayer's Lexicon as "inherent power; the power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature which a person exerts and puts forth". It is from the nature of a thing that its power is derived. For instance, the nature of a wolf can be observed in the capture and devouring of his prey. The wolf does not contemplate the morality of his impulse prior to engaging the prey - he is simply motivated according to his inherent nature. He does what he is.
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Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Yeshua, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touching him said, "I am willing; be clean." Mark 1:40-41
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So it is that the power for healing (or "saving") comes from the nature residing in Yeshua. What, then, is that Nature?
Matthew 14:14
describes the same sort of activity in which all who were sick were healed - only here it says, "He was moved with compassion". He was moved with compassion because His inherent nature was compassionate. Where did that compassion come from? The Greek word rendered as the English "compassion" in that verse is
splagchnizomai
and means "to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (the bowels, i.e., heart, lungs, liver, etc.; were considered to be the seat of mercy and love)". Remembering that all the words in the Book were written by Hebrews from a Hebrew mindset and culture affected through an understanding of the Hebrew scriptures contained in the Tanakh (the OT); when we read
Psalm 86:15,
we find the Hebrew word, rachuwm
(translated as the English "compassion"), defined as "merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, loving-kindness and truth" - the very same words used to describe the Nature of YaHoVeH in
Exodus 34:6.
The Name of YaHoVeH that passed before Moses in that passage is the response to his request to "show me your Glory" in
Exodus 33:18
and is the definition of what manifests as the Nature of YaHoVeH. It is what Yeshua referred to as having manifested to the disciples in
John 17:6
- and the Glory given to Him by the Father He gave to them and all who would believe because of their word
(John 17:22),
The English word "Glory"
used in the Exodus passages is translated from the Hebrew word
kavode
which has its origination in a similar word,
kavad
and means to be heavy or weighty, to be honorable or glorious. One of the derivations of the Hebrew meaning of this word,
kavad (2),
also means "liver" - the liver is the heaviest organ in the body. Thus, we see the compassion flowing from Yeshua as being from the Glory or the Nature of YaHoVeH residing, or "resting in" His liver - His innermost being.
The instructions for uncleanness described in
Leviticus 15
say that the woman touching Yeshua at the opening of this article and all those in the crowd were made ceremoniously unclean until evening - meaning they would not be able to enter the temple to perform sacrifices until then. Yeshua
took her sin upon Himself
that she might be healed. Secondly, the tzitziot (they are never referred to in the singular tzitzit) or "fringes" -
Numbers 15:38)
hang from the four corners (quarters) of the tallit which are called kanaph and can also be translated as the English "wings"
(Deuteronomy 22:12,
Wiktionary)
- thus there is "healing in His Wings"
(Malachi 4:2,
see also Zechariah 8:23).
While the tallit has evolved into the modern "prayer shawl", that was not how it was originally - as a vestiture worn as an outer garment. The law of tzitziot required that the tassels were to be placed on the "four corners" of garments, but since most do not wear robes around, a special piece of clothing called the Tallit Katan (the little tallit) was developed to allow them to fulfill the commandment given in the Torah. The Tallit Katan is a piece of rectangular cloth (with a hole large enough for your head to go through) that has tzitziot (hanging threads) on each of the four corners worn like a T-shirt under clothing (but not directly next to the skin). As the Essence of YaHoVeH's Nature comes to rest in, settles in a disciple through the embrace of YaHoVeH's Words, the liver is revitalized. The main function of the liver is to cleanse the blood of impurities - and the Life of the flesh is in the blood
(Joel 3:21,
Leviticus 17:11).
The Essence of the Source of Life becomes a part of our physical being to cleanse and purify our blood; thus, our nature is changed into His. The purer the consistency of the blood becomes (the Life within us), the frequency of resonance is raised and the more brilliant the Light within us radiates - the more pulsating a force it exerts in the physical realm
(for a full explanation, see the Power in His Name).
This is what Yeshua meant by bringing the Kingdom of YaHoVeH into this earthly realm - "Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Yeshua tells us in
Luke 17:20-21
that the Kingdom of Heaven is within or among those who embrace His example of Life - but it all begins with the blood. It was from the virtue residing in the nature of Yeshua's blood so pure that He was able to absorb the sin of those He healed - as Light consumes darkness. What caused Yeshua's death on the cross was that He bled out from His wounds and, as the full weight of the
generational sins
from Adam that had tentacled themselves into all of His family's predecessors came upon Him, without that blood was unable to bear them up. Yeshua's disciples are sent in the same manner as He was - to take upon themselves the sin of those they encounter that healing might occur with the recipient of that healing following Yeshua as a result. In
Isaiah 53:5
and 1Peter 2:24
it is revealed how healing occurs - because He bore our sin in His Body. Who comprises
His Body?
Is it not His disciples who bear the mantle of "anointed"? If His disciples are sent just as He has been sent, then, do they not have the same authority that He was sent with?
From where, then, did Yeshua initially obtain His Nature? Many believe it is because He "pre-existed" with the Father from creation. But, in order to properly understand Hebrew scriptures, it is important to view them through the same mindset as the Hebrews who wrote them even though the traditional doctrines handed down to us by men have become the popular theology. We must constantly remind ourselves that this Hebrew Book we are given speaks of a Hebrew Spirit. He is the God of Israel - not the god of mankind. From a scriptural Hebrew perspective, then, what it means to "pre-exist" is captured in the passage of
Hebrews 7:4-10
where Levi "pre-existed" in the loins of Abraham - although he was not yet born. A child is not fathered until it is conceived, but the declared purpose of a man is to father a child - as was YaHoVeH's declared purpose for His Son
(see the Word
and a Pre-Determined Destination for more insight).
Luke 1:35
tells us "the power (again, the Greek word, dynamis - "inherent nature") of the Most High" overshadowed or passed over Yeshua
at conception.
If He already existed as YaHoVeH, then why was it necessary to insert the Nature of YaHoVeH into Him? It says the Spirit, the Nature of the Father, was passed into or breathed into Him - "just as" it had been breathed into YaHoVeH's
first son, Adam,
in the Garden and, as we have just seen, with the disciples just after the Resurrection. This was not
ruach
ha
kodesh
(reading right to left is Hebrew for "the holiness of spirit") which has inadvertently been used as a substitute for the English "Holy Spirit" appearing in today's bibles. This is incorrect as there is no capitalization in Hebrew; thus, there is no personification, no third person
"Holy Spirit".
What is the holiness of spirit? Holiness is the Nature abiding in Spirit, Who is YaHoVeH. What was breathed into them both was the LIFE of the Father, the DNA of His Holiness, the Nature of Spirit. Their nature was made pure by the Source of Life found in the Essence of the Nature of YaHoVeH mingling with and cleansing their blood.
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"But you shall receive
Power
(dynamis) when the breath of Life has come upon you..." Acts 1:8
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The word translated "power" in this verse is the same Greek word dynamis we have been focusing on and is translated as "Virtue" in other scriptures - "the power residing in a thing by virtue of its Nature". When we receive the breath of Life, the DNA, the Nature of the Father settles or comes "to rest" in our liver "just as" it did with Yeshua and with Adam - and our nature is changed. But, as with any organ, the liver can become overpowered with impurities to the extent that it is no longer able to function - and death occurs.
"...and there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle
shall be sanctified (or
cleansed)
by My Glory." Exodus 29:43
"Do you not know that you are the tabernacle of YaHoVeH and the Spirit of YaHoVeH
dwells in you?"
1Corinthians 3:16
"And there I will meet with you, and
I will speak with you from above the mercy seat."
Exodus 25:22
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As we embrace the Nature of YaHoVeH in ruach hakodesh, His Throne becomes
seated in our earthly tabernacle
to cleanse our blood and make it pure "just as" it was and is with Yeshua. "Already you are cleansed by the Word I have given you
(John 15:3)
and the Word you hear is not mine but the Fathers Who sent me
(John 14:23-24).
If you keep (continue to carefully attend to) My Words (commandments), you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love"
(John 15:10).
As noted, the function of the liver in the body is to keep the body free of impurities by a continual cleansing of the blood - a continual washing of the water of YaHoVeH's Words
(Ephesians 5:25-26).
"Only those who do the will of the Father shall enter the Kingdom"
(Matthew 7:21).
The will of the Father is expressed in His Words - all of His Words.
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the Beauty of Holiness
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To believe in, to abide in
His Name
is to receive the breath of Life and to keep His Words. In so doing, we are embracing the very Nature of Who YaHoVeH is which gives us the "power" to become sons of the Most High as it says in
John 1:12-13.
The Greek word translated "power" in this verse is
eksousia
and means "power of choice". To become a son is not an automatic blessing. We must exercise the power given us IF His Words are to become flesh within us "just as" those Words became flesh in the life of the Son. In order for the blood of the sons to remain pure requires a choice to keep His Words. "IF you would enter into LIFE - keep the commandments"
(Matthew 19:17).
Those words we are to keep are given to us in
Exodus 20:1.
Thus it is that the Hebrew apostle Sha'ul (Paul) can conclude in
1Corinthians 15:56
that the ability of the nature of sin is able to draw its power over one is from the abuse or neglect of the Words of the Father (popularly renamed
"the law").
Conversely, we can also conclude that the power of healing ("sozo") is drawn forth by the effect the embrace of the Words of YaHoVeH (the law) has upon one's nature
(see the Law of Grace).
When Yeshua said to "be perfect even as your Father is perfect" in
Matthew 5:48,
He was not giving us something to do that was beyond our reach - nor was He telling us anything new. He was not giving us a
"new command".
He was quoting
1Kings 8:61
from the Tanakh (the original Book) where the Hebrew word
shalam
is translated as "perfect" and means complete (of keeping covenant relation), peaceful, whole, full, at rest
(and out of which comes the word shalom).
To be perfect, then, does not mean to be flawless, but made complete in keeping His Covenant - which the Psalmist tells us IS perfect and by the keeping of it, our soul is converted, returned or brought back to its original state, restored to Life and revitalized
(Psalm 19:7).
In the Torah, this exercise is called "being holy because YaHoVeH is Holy"
(Leviticus 19:2).
To "be" holy is to remain set apart from the world influences He has separated us from by His Spirit by resting in obedience to His Words
(Leviticus 20:26,
1Peter 1:16,
1John 4:17).
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But to the wicked
YaHoVeH says: "What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?" Psalm 50:16-17
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Notice who it is that YaHoVeH considers to be "the wicked" in this verse. Today, there are many who claim to
"hear His Voice"
but have put away His Words saying they do not apply anymore - that we are under a
"new" covenant
of grace that supersedes His Words. And, yet, it is those very words that define His Nature and illumines what impurities there are that affect the blood. It leaves one to wonder what "voices" they are hearing? Just because a concept is popular does not make it Truth. The contention here is that the modern school of self-styled "grace teachers" have in reality "turned the grace of God into lasciviousness"
(Jude 4).
This is why we need to look at what the words themselves say and mean - to be sure we are not making His Words of none effect by simply following the doctrines and traditions handed down to us of men.
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Cultivating Virtue, a discussion
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"The spirit of a man is
the lamp of YaHoVeH,
searching all his inmost parts." Proverbs 20:27
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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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