IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1729

ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXVIII

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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.

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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).

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We ended the last essay with two measures of Truth. We should understand that these measures ARE NOT of a man but ARE rather measures of what he may be processing in his mind; that such thoughts, attitudes and bursts of ideas ARE either carnal or spiritual. On the carnal side we have the “works of the flesh” as Paul calls his list of the type of motivations a man may have in his Life and, to be sure, the entirety of this list begins in thought. James shows us more directly that whatsoever one believes IS Wisdom IS NOT if it IS sown in zelos and in eritheia which ARE poorly rendered as envy and strife. On the spiritual side we have Paul’s list of the “fruit of the Spirit” which, again, IS poorly rendered into doctrinal and carnal ideas which, should they be the thoughts and attitudes of a man, would certainly make him less carnally oriented. James shows us “the wisdom that is from above” and its qualities as the thoughts and the attitudes embraced by the man who IS realizing his measure of Truth. Both of these listings of carnal and spiritual ideas ARE easily transported into the idea of prophecy and whatsoever one would understand as prophetic motivations from God. Here we should understand that whenever a thought or an idea or a change in attitude comes to a man, its veracity as a spiritual motivation can be ascertained through these lists. ALL that align with Paul’s “works of the flesh” or James’ wisdom that “descendeth not from above” ARE apparently carnal as understood by most but there IS more to be considered. These lists ARE the apparent trends of thoughts, attitudes and bursts of ideas and can show us clear carnal motivations but we must also consider how that one’s thoughts, attitudes and bursts of ideas measure against the spiritual ideas incorporated into the list of what IS the “fruit of the Spirit” and what IS that “wisdom that is from above“. While we will touch upon the meanings of some of these words in this essay, a greater understanding can be gained by searching for the Greek words in the search bar of this blog; DOING so will show the inadequacy of the translated words, both on the carnal side and on the spiritual. Repeating the measuring criteria given us by the apostles we read:

• Paul tells us that “the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:19-23).
• James tells us “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:13-17).

The spiritual objectives of both these listed criteria IS rather self-explanatory but IS at the same time relatively ignored in the doctrines of men who have come to see the carnal ideas as afflicting the other man, the non-Christian if you will. At the same time most ALL Christians see themselves on the spiritual side of both lists and this apparently without understanding the deeper nature of the translated words and certainly without understanding the deeper implications of them in their lives. We should remember here that ALL of the apostles’ writings ARE intended to bring men to the Path to Truth; they ARE NOT simply guideposts for carnal living to be accepted or rejected. If we look at Paul’s list of “works of the flesh” from the more spiritual perspective we can see that even the rendered words have biblical implications that ARE beyond the carnal ideas that the rendered words provide. In both the New Testament and the Old many of these words ARE used in specifically oriented ways. Adultery and fornication are our prime examples; these ARE words which the church has ever pigeonholed into pictures of sexual deviations, few align them with the ideas of adultery and fornication in regard to the commandments. If we can see both of these word ideas as a betrayal of one’s vows, we could then perhaps see how that Jesus’ words saying “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matthew 12:39) ARE NOT an accusation of sexual deviation against a generation. It IS rather a spiritual idea that accuses men of looking away from God as they pursue worldly pleasures of any kind. The whole of the argument rests on what men have come to believe; for the ordinary man, the “natural man” if you will, the reality of living according to the Great Commandments IS rather meaningless. Even in the church men ARE encouraged to pursue worldly pleasures albeit NOT of the sexual kind. Being a Christian as this idea IS commonly used IS NO protection from the commandment, the requirement and the vow still exist. The requirement because this IS a commandment, that men should focus upon the things of God; the vow because it IS ever the objective of the Soul to live according to that same commandment. It IS the vanity of Life that gets in the way as men ARE cast into a Life where their own True objective IS obnubilated. First we ARE “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” and here we should remember that Vincent’s defining idea for vanity IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴. Being born into this word in this condition of being separate from God IS but the beginning of the plight of men, a plight that IS greatly exacerbated by our nurturing and indoctrination into the ways of the world. In this we should see how that most ALL men, in and out of the church, ARE but the “natural man” of whom Paul tells us that he “receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

How many Truly un-Repented men, how many men who have NOT Truly begun their Transformation, believe that they must live in accordance with the Great Commandments which tell us clearly that: thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment and that Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Mark 12:30-31). Of course men will believe what they will; most often in accord with whatsoever mode of believing one may get from his nurturing and indoctrination. The simple fact however IS that if one wants the True “spiritual gifts” that he must endeavor to live according to the laws which ARE the rules of the Path which leads to our True freedom from living on the carnal side in disregard to the spiritual. Vincent gives us another ‘graphic’ idea in his commentary on the Master’s words on the “adulterous generation“; he says: A very strong and graphic expression, founded upon the familiar Hebrew representation of the relation of God’s people to him under the figure of marriage. Hence idolatry and intercourse with Gentiles were described as adultery; and so here, of moral unfaithfulness to God ⁴. This unfaithfulness IS grounded in one’s vows, unspoken vows that ARE the objective of the Soul, an objective that IS lost in the din of daily living, in the vanity and in the resultant Life of the indoctrinated man. The Apostle James shows us the dichotomy between God and the world in words that summarize the fullness of the Master’s words regarding the choices before men; choices such as which treasure to choose, to choose God or mammon and to focus upon our little lives or to “take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:21, 24, 25). James tells us “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). We should see here that our overriding choice IS between a focus upon the Truth and on God or a focus upon our little lives in this world; most ALL have chosen the latter and this despite their own feigned sense of Christianity. We should note also James’ use of the idea of adultery. Surely he IS NOT calling ALL men adulterers based in the sexual connotation; he IS citing the reality that they have NOT chosen the words of the Lord. Without the idea of it being moral which IS a strictly carnal idea, Vincent’s idea that adultery IS unfaithfulness to God should be the understanding of many of the uses of the Greek word moichos and its derivatives. We should understand the idea of fornication in much the same way; in the Old Testament the idea IS used most often to describe men’s turning away from the word of God, from the law if you will, and chasing after worldly things. In the New Testament the use of the word IS NOT so clear however which gives strength to the common understanding that porneia IS strictly a sexual sin. However, many of the uses of this word by Jesus can be interpreted as they ARE in the Old Testament including His words on divorce where He tells us “That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery” (Matthew 5:32). The wording here is illusive against the Master’s intent; we should see here that if the wife IS fornicating, she IS committing adultery and in the law this IS what it should be called. Jesus DOES NOT call it adultery but rather He calls it fornication which can, and perhaps should, be interpreted as that divorce IS allowable ONLY if the wife IS fornicating in the spiritual sense, that IS that she IS turning away from the Lord. We should remember that the Master IS speaking in terms of the Jews’ religion, quoting what was the law and tradition and what IS His expansion of it. While it IS more difficult to discern Paul’s intent in his many uses of the idea of porneia which IS rendered always as fornication, there ARE instances where his intent IS NOT strictly sexual. An example IS in his list of “the works of the flesh” where he leads with moicheia, adultery, and porneia, fornication, and then continues with words that can mean much the same things, words that ARE rendered as uncleanness and lasciviousness. Understanding Paul’s knowledge of the Jew’s law and scripture, it would be odd if he DID NOT carry forward the Old Testament ideas of both of these words.

Our point here IS to show that the rendering of Greek words into English and other languages DOES NOT certify that the common understanding of the rendered words IS the intent of the writer. With our examples above we should have cleared some room for doubt against doctrinal assertions that ALL IS in regard to sex. Again, for a deeper understanding of the word ideas used one can search the Greek words in the search bar on our front page. Our point here IS NOT that we ARE right in ALL instances, but rather to show that the more spiritual ideas work in most ALL of the contexts in which these words from Paul and James ARE used. We should note as well that even in their common understanding, most ALL men, again in and out of the church, ignore the intent of the ideas on the carnal side, “the works of the flesh” and the wisdom that “descendeth not from above” while they fail to embrace those ideas on the virtuous side, “the fruit of the Spirit” and “the wisdom that is from above“. We entered into this discussion to show that there ARE ways to measure one’s own Life, whether it IS in accordance with the Truth found in keeping His words or it IS a carnal existence that for many IS become an illusion by which one thinks that he IS in accord. Again, we must remember that the Apostles ARE writing about men’s thoughts and attitudes and NOT their nature as men; “the fruit of the Spirit” IS what flows into one’s Life as part of his Transformation and the idea here IS to identify the source of what IS available for a man’s use. This same IS True regarding that “wisdom that is from above“; here James shows us how to identify what we may think IS coming from the Lord. We should understand also that in both of these lists the reality of having such fruit and such Wisdom IS in having the entirety of the list; ALL of the listed ideas ARE included in the fruit and the Wisdom. Better, the lists define what IS “the fruit of the Spirit” and what IS “the wisdom that is from above“. Returning to our discussion of the idea of prophecy from our selection we should try to see and understand that the Truth of prophecy IS found in whatsoever flows into one’s Life from the Soul and, using the measures provided by the apostles, we should be able to easily discern the source of what we say and teach; whether it IS from God through our Soul or from the carnal mind. Repeating our selection:

“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity agape, it profiteth me nothing. Charity Agape suffereth long, and is kind; charity agape envieth not; charity agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13).

Before we began this discussion of “the fruit of the Spirit” and what IS “the wisdom that is from above“, our topic was Paul’s saying that “though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity agape, I am nothing“. Here we should try to relate these ideas together and understand that the Truth of ALL of these ideas IS found in the Way of ALL who will express agape according to the Master’s precepts. Having the “gift of prophecy” IS an integral part of both the fruit and the Wisdom; both come from above, from the Soul to be clearer, and ARE ever KNOWN by the Soul according to John’s words saying that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). As we have noted in past essays, this unction IS that same anointing that makes Jesus’ the Christ; while the Master has the fullness of this, we, as men yet somewhat bound to the vanity of Life, have but a measure. It IS in this measure however that we can bring the pistis and the pisteuo into our mortal lives and these words ARE that sense of KNOWING and NOT the nebulous ideas of faith and believing prevalent in the church. We should interpret Paul’s words then as that to have this “gift of prophecy” in the absence of agape IS NOT real; the prophecy under any definition IS false, it IS but the carnal projection of carnal ideas….it IS nothing. We should try to see that within this “gift of prophecy” resides one’s understanding of the mysteries, the KNOWLEDGE of God and that certainty of KNOWING that allows one to have those “greater gifts” (John 14:12) of which the Master tells us and these include the moving of the mountain. It IS in this reality that the Master uses the ideas of pistis and pisteuo and, to be sure, NO man who DOES NOT KNOW the Truth hidden in the mysteries, can DO any of the things that the Master tells us we can DO. Here we must understand that the singular Truth IS agape and that without agape one can DO nothing. If we search the scriptures we find many references to this dynamic link between agape and the Truth. Many of these ARE embedded in the words of the Apostle John in such sayings as “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). In the same vein Jesus repeats the words of the prophets saying “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13); this reference IS to the words of the Prophet Hosea who tells the Jews centuries earlier in words of True prophecy saying “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). In these sayings we should try to see how that the very idea of mercy IS the expression of agape in this world; it IS NOT the common ideas ONLY, ideas that ARE a perversion of the Truth that applies ONLY to the downtrodden and the afflicted. John shows us the full idea of keeping His words as the Way to KNOW God and here we should ever remember that His words, His commandments ARE ever centered around agape as ARE much of Paul’s. It IS in the same context where he defines for us the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit” that he tells us how that ALL the law, ALL the commandments, ARE “fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) and to parse the apostles words to separate the law from the commandments, and from the commandments of the Master IS a fruitless endeavor. The ideas then of KNOWING God and expressing agape ARE intimately related and to have the one IS to have the other; the reality of this can easily be seen in the Truth that “God is Love agape” (1 John 4:8, 16).

True prophecy then IS based in KNOWING, KNOWING God and KNOWING the Truth and in both agape IS the required ingredient. It IS with this Truth that we should understand Paul’s words that tell us that to “have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and,,,,have all faith, so that I could remove mountains” IS NOT possible without agape. Paul’s IS saying that such spiritual gifts ARE but an illusion, they ARE nothing, without agape but the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT see his meaning as he believes that this expression IS Love as it is commonly understood Even in this however, most ALL men fail. The reality of agape IS NOT in Love as men see this concept; the reality of agape IS in seeing ALL men as one sees himself, it IS seeing past ALL physical, mental and emotional characteristics and understanding that as Souls we ARE One. To see One World, One Humanity and One God in everyman and to treat ALL men the same because ALL ARE Souls on the very same journey….to react with ALL men with NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9). Here we should try to see that this IS ONLY possible as an expression of True agape because it IS the expression of True agape; it IS ONLY in this expression that we have those “spiritual gifts” and NOT merely some carnal illusion of those gifts. We should try to see as well that these “spiritual gifts” ARE NO different than the rewards offered in our trifecta; that these rewards ARE the source and the fullness of the gifts. Repeating our trifecta we read:

• “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
• “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
• “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).

We should try to understand that to be the Master’s True disciple IS to have the Truth and that as a True aspirant to discipleship one can have the same Truth by measure; these realities go hand in hand. It IS in this Truth that the spiritual value of prophecy can be seen as it flows into the physical presence as that progressive Transformation by which we gain the reality of “the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). We should understand here that this “renewing of your mind” DOES perforce produce both the “the wisdom that is from above” and “the fruit of the Spirit” as one’s Way of Life. And here IS where we again find agape as the center point; it leads Paul’s list and while James’ begins with the idea of purity, we should note that the Greek word here IS hagnos which IS from the same Greek word hagos as IS hagios; both ARE adjectives and both should be understood in terms of the True saint, and of being Truly holy. We should note also that the apostle’s phrasing here IS “men hagnos” and that men, which means Truly, IS not translated as IS often the case. Our point here IS that both of these lead words show us the quality of the Soul; in agape as the actual energy of Love and in hagnos as the resulting value of that Wisdom which the Soul imparts to the renewed mind. It IS through ALL this that one’s prophetic words, one’s teaching if you will, ARE Truly spiritual and representative of the Truth. It IS in ALL this that one can “understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and….have all faith, so that I could remove mountains“. We should understand that to Truly have these things IS to have the Truth which comes to the man of whom Jesus says that he will “continue in my word“. Similarly we should see that the reality of being able to “enter into the kingdom of heaven“, again coming from keeping His words, IS much the same but unfortunately this IS grossly misunderstood by the doctrinal thinker and the church. Most ALL of the church sees the “kingdom of heaven” as the destination of men after the death of the physical body and while most believe that it IS the Soul that enters the Kingdom there IS a severe disconnect that calls the personality that Soul. Few understand that the personality IS a carnal reality and NOT a spiritual one and this belief IS fostered by an ardent desire for the Life of the man in the world to continue. Many teach that the afterlife IS a continuation of one’s Life in this world, one where one can be reacquainted with loved ones who previously died. Such ‘wishful’ ideas ARE the basis of the faith of many who lean religious for the specific reward of heaven and this despite there being NO specific information on the nature of heaven. These ideas DO get rather complex when the many different eschatological ideas of the denominations and sects ARE introduced; the results of this ARE mostly incoherent ideas that vary widely and which have NO True scriptural relevance. Jesus however has much to say regarding the Kingdom which IS generally called the Kingdom of God except in Matthew’s Gospel where the idea of heaven IS his apparent preference. We should note that NONE of the Master’s words on the Kingdom ARE in relation to death but rather ALL of his comparisons regard living ideas. Most ALL of Jesus’ words on the Kingdom ARE in the form of comparisons and while some may come across as cryptic, they ARE nonetheless pictures of the nature and the effects of the Kingdom of God. One that IS NOT a comparison IS the Master’s words saying “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). These words ARE spoken against the Pharisees who questioned when the Kingdom would arrive on Earth and we should see here that this was their basic understanding, that the Kingdom would be set up in the Earth. There IS little else written regarding the Kingdom and less regarding the status of men after death; most ALL that IS presumed is the inventions of men including most ALL of the Christian theological ideas regarding heaven and hell. Jesus’ words on the Kingdom include:

• “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying,The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof“
• “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away” (Matthew 13:31-32, 33, 44, 45-46, 47-48)

It IS easy to see that NONE of these things to which the Kingdom can be likened concern death; ALL ARE in regard to the activities of the living or to things which can effect the living. While much of the church denies the literal idea that “the kingdom of God is within you“, those that DO accept it CAN NOT explain any depth of meaning. The alternative ideas of the Kingdom being “among you” or “in your midst” ARE equally unexplained as most ALL see the Kingdom as a place, a spiritual place perhaps, into which the believer is sent upon his death in this world or at some other time based in denominational theologies. Again, the Master says naught about any connection to death; Jesus simply shows us the nature of the Kingdom and the changes it brings to the lives of those who find themselves in it or, better, those who find the Kingdom Within. In the first saying from our list above we have the seed, the tiny seed, which the man sows in his field which idea should be understood as that he sowed the seed into his heart, into his Life. Jesus’ point IS that once this IS sown it grows; from the tiny seed sown there comes “the greatest among herbs” as a tree and here in Jesus’ example we should see a large and mighty tree. The Truth of this parable IS diluted and made of NO value by much of the church which interprets it into such ideas as DOES John Gill who says: by “the kingdom of heaven” is meant, as before, the Gospel dispensation, or the Gospel church state, and the ministry of the word, and the administration of ordinances in it: by the grain of mustard seed, either the Gospel, or the people of God, or the grace of God in them; and by the man that took and sowed it, the Lord Jesus Christ; and by his field, in which he sowed it, the world, or his church throughout the world ⁸. Again we have the inventions of men substituting for the clearly visible Truth, an inconvenient Truth that DOES NOT agree with the doctrinal positions of most.

We should see similar ideas in the parable that tells us that “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven“. The very idea of leaven IS seen as evil by most of the church based in the Jews’ traditions concerning unleavened bread; we should note that NOT ALL bread was unleavened. While the idea of unleavened has a particular purpose in regard to the Passover and other rituals, normal bread was leavened throughout the year. Leaning again on John Gill who writes that: The word “leaven” is every where else used in a bad sense; and either designs immorality, as malice and wickedness, or false doctrine ⁸, we can see the doctrinal ideas that totally obnubilate the Master’s teaching in this parable. We should understand here that the Kingdom IS being compared to leaven and in this there can be NO bad sense. We should then try to see the relevance of the “three measures” and note that the woman IS just that, a woman. It IS she that takes the leaven, the Kingdom, and ‘hides’ it in “three measures of meal“; here we should be careful to understand that the Greek word egkrypto DOES NOT imply the idea of hiding as this IS commonly understood. Strong’s tells us that egkrypto means: to conceal in, i.e. incorporate with ^9a which offers a better picture of the woman’s actions. Thayer’s shows us an even clearer picture in telling us that egkrypto means: to conceal in something; contextually, to mingle one thing with another ⁹. If we can see here that the “three measures of meal” represent the physical nature of man in its three aspects, we can then better understand the Master’s point as He tells us that to put the Kingdom into one’s heart, one’s mind, and their expression to the world results in a Life in which “the whole was leavened“, the whole was made like unto the Kingdom.

While this discourse IS taking us away from our primary focus upon our selection and Paul’s emphasis on Love, this will take us back to it through our analysis of the rewards offered in the trifecta.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁹ Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
• ^9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org

Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.

Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher