The Meat Of The Word

[ezrider]

I don't know about you, but I do have an insatiable hunger for the knowledge that the word of God contains and no, I never do get enough of it. I do feast like a glutton that wants more knowledge, more understanding and more wisdom.

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Jesus did not say that those who hunger and thirst after knowledge would be filled, he said those who seek after righteousness would be filled. Someone who has an insatiable hunger is one who is never filled, yet Jesus said those who come to him would never hunger nor thirst.

Yet when I read your comment saying that you feast like a glutton due to your insatiable hunger, I think of Paul's comment in the book of Romans concerning Israel. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Again, when I read your comment I see the gluttonous desire for knowledge as one that is a self serving lust, one that is used to feed ones own desires and establish ones own righteousness, and thus never being filled. It speaks to me as someone who Paul characterizes as: Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7).

With the promise of Jesus that those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness should be filled, and again those who believed in him would never hunger nor thirst, then the characteristic of having an insatiable hunger would seemingly stand in opposition to the actual promises of Christ, maybe as one who fights against Mt Zion.

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
even all that fight against her
and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth;
but he awaketh, and his soul is empty:
or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh;
but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite:
so shall the multitude of all the nations be,
that fight against mount Zion.


When I read your comment saying that you feast on the meat like a glutton, with your lust and insatiable hunger, Psalms 78 comes to mind.

And they tempted God in their heart
by asking meat for their lust........
........So they did eat, and were well filled:
for he gave them their own desire;
They were not estranged from their lust.
But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
The wrath of God came upon them,
and slew the fattest of them,

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Some sheep are fed to their own lusts, never filled, fattened for the slaughter; While other sheep are given to eat of the hidden manna, and they are filled as promised.

 

[eddif]

So if the OP is about the meat of the word as opposed to the milk of the word, then wouldn't it make sense that maybe a dietary law or whatever it is about not cooking meat in his mother milk might lend to any wisdom. So I asked a question, for you or anyone else, to simply ponder: can eating the meat cooked in the milk make us sick without our knowledge?

Ah yes.
The problems with our seeing clearly.
I mean myself first off.

The word became flesh.
The flesh became a quickening spirit.
The quickening spirit comes inside us.
Our good actions are Him working in us.

The flesh is developed by milk supplying nutrients for protein development. Thus: it is very similar to words developing into a coming reality stated by God.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus he became a quickening spirit that operates at the right hand of the Father. We develop into an organism of nerves which develops control over a multitude of physical chemical outputs that must correctly direct our flesh. If our carnal nature rules we may fall short of God ‘s wil.

We look for reason, but usually confess our sins and look for direction from heaven. At the last trump the promised are completed.

Who gets the praise? Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father ever making intercession for us.

The law and prophets are the milk.
Jesus is the meat.

ezrider you are doing a great job on the parallels of nature and the law saying the same things that Jesus carried out and work in us a deeper understanding. Parables were used to conceal by Jesus, but only through revelation do we find out the hidden meaning.
Romans 1:20 kjv
20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

You are posting so much area. I will make comments as time allows. I am able to work some in the woods again. Covid is just a word that was overcome by 1 Peter 2:24

Mississippi redneck
eddif

 

[eddif]

Please share what is on your heart about prosperity.


God certainly prospers the faithful.




JLB

Not quite yet. I am trying to get the Louisiana feller to be done it.

eddif

 

[for_his_glory]

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Jesus did not say that those who hunger and thirst after knowledge would be filled, he said those who seek after righteousness would be filled. Someone who has an insatiable hunger is one who is never filled, yet Jesus said those who come to him would never hunger nor thirst.

Yet when I read your comment saying that you feast like a glutton due to your insatiable hunger, I think of Paul's comment in the book of Romans concerning Israel. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Again, when I read your comment I see the gluttonous desire for knowledge as one that is a self serving lust, one that is used to feed ones own desires and establish ones own righteousness, and thus never being filled. It speaks to me as someone who Paul characterizes as: Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7).

With the promise of Jesus that those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness should be filled, and again those who believed in him would never hunger nor thirst, then the characteristic of having an insatiable hunger would seemingly stand in opposition to the actual promises of Christ, maybe as one who fights against Mt Zion.

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
even all that fight against her
and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth;
but he awaketh, and his soul is empty:
or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh;
but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite:
so shall the multitude of all the nations be,
that fight against mount Zion.


When I read your comment saying that you feast on the meat like a glutton, with your lust and insatiable hunger, Psalms 78 comes to mind.

And they tempted God in their heart
by asking meat for their lust........
........So they did eat, and were well filled:
for he gave them their own desire;
They were not estranged from their lust.
But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
The wrath of God came upon them,
and slew the fattest of them,

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Some sheep are fed to their own lusts, never filled, fattened for the slaughter; While other sheep are given to eat of the hidden manna, and they are filled as promised.

You can read into what you want in what I have said and make it come against me and I resent this, but yet forgive your ignorance of who I am and my hunger for knowledge that only comes by studying the word of God letting the Holy Spirit teach me in all truths. You have no idea who I am in the Lord and what my hunger for knowledge is all about as I build upon the foundation that is Christ Jesus as I am only made righteous by that of God's righteousness as my own is nothing but a filthy rag to God so how dare you say I am only seeking that of a self serving lust.

We are not comparing literal milk and meat in this thread, but only using those words as an analogy between a young Christian and a Christian that is maturing in the word of God, but you are using these two words as literal by using scripture that has nothing to do with this topic, but was only OT law.

May God bless you, but I am going to walk away from you for now because of your contentious attitude towards me. I will not issue any violations at this time or issue you and warnings, but only ask that you treat others as you want to be treated.

 

[eddif]

This is getting complicated.

Jesus and his mother Mary were taken to Egypt for protection.
This kept Jesus alive to reach manhood and fulfill his destined purpose.

During the time of infancy both the mother and child were protected. Hidden in the law was a way of hiding the concept of protection of the Son of God.

I know that talking about boiling in milk seems a million miles from Jesus being protected, but when I consider the parable of the sower it makes some sense. The ground is men’s hearts.
Meditation on creation, the law and prophets, Jesus’s words ultimately links everything.

The law has to be used lawfully. Not literally.
I realize I seem to be clothed with feed sacks and eating grasshoppers and raiding bee hives. That happens sometimes.

Why I wound up here is a mystery to me, but since I seem to be into symbolism I will try and continue and try to help.

The word metaphysics has two parts.
The physical
The spiritual greater than the physical.

The seed is the word of God
The ground is men’s hearts

Got to love it

Mississippi redneck
eddif

 

[Wings of a dove]

This thread has been a blessing to me, all of you made some great points.

 

[stovebolts]

Jesus did not say that those who hunger and thirst after knowledge would be filled, he said those who seek after righteousness would be filled. Someone who has an insatiable hunger is one who is never filled, yet Jesus said those who come to him would never hunger nor thirst.

What is Gods righteousness? And does Gods righteousness oppose knowledge? Does Gos righteousness require ignorance of knowledge?

And where does wisdom and understanding come into view regarding Gods righteousness?

I would appreciate a response to each of my inquiries if you have the time and patience to do so.

 

[stovebolts]

Parables were used to conceal by Jesus, but only through revelation do we find out the hidden meaning.

With respect, I would disagree.
In Jewish language, they were called Mashal and we find them in the OT, including the occasion when Nathan told David a Mashal to expose Davids sins.
In Greek, we call this a Parable.
The intent of a Parable is never to conceal. Rather, they are stories with intent. Each Parable has a specific intent.
Most of the Parables Jesus spoke were variants of existing, and well known parables with a twist. Some were taken so far out of the norm that folks were left scratching their head.

The underlying question Jesus asks is this. Do you have ears to hear? Or, do you already know everything and your just out to argue? In some Parables, the Pharisees understood very clearly that some parables were directed at them and instead of repenting, many of them hardened their hearts, for they did not have ears to hear.

Parables are teaching moments and they expose our willingness or resistance to understand the spirit of God.

In our current day, some of the Parables are hard to understand because we are so far removed from that culture, and we can’t naturally connect the dots that were part of the social norms of the day.

 

[eddif]

With respect, I would disagree.
In Jewish language, they were called Mashal and we find them in the OT, including the occasion when Nathan told David a Mashal to expose Davids sins.
In Greek, we call this a Parable.
The intent of a Parable is never to conceal. Rather, they are stories with intent. Each Parable has a specific p

Parables are teaching moments and they expose our willingness or resistance to understand the spirit of God.

In our current day, some of the Parables are hard to understand because we are so far removed from that culture, and we can’t naturally connect the dots that were part of the social norms of the day.

2 Samuel 11:27 kjv
27. And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
2 Samuel 12:1 kjv
1. Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.
2. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3. But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

Ok this part of the story is the Mashal / Parable. Contained in the parable was a parallel of David’s sin. The Mashal does not reveal to David his sin though. David does not understand that the parable applied to him personally. He hears the hidden story but he does not hear his guilt. He hears of another man’s sin.

5. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
6. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

So David has missed the relevance of the Mashal to his life and is angry at the rich man in the parable.

The disciples did not get the parable of the sower. They had to ask what the parable of the sower meant. A parable / Mashal does indeed contain a parallel meaning, but requires a revelation of the meaning.

The revelation:
7. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8. And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
10. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

Now for David’s response to the open truth about what the Mashal contained:
13. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

So thanks stovebolts for the probably most revealing use of a Gentile
Parable in the Prophets (?).

I stumbled around for 15 years with understanding Isaiah 6 Matthew 13 and Mark 4 use of what I jest saw as Parables.

I never but never saw what you brought up. There may be some other things left to resolve. I do see through a glass darkly.

Mississippi redneck
eddif

 

[Hidden In Him]

IMHO Hebrews 6: 1-3. Is Jewish belief and not Christian Gospel teaching, and thus milk. We eat the body of Jesus and drink his blood which is meat.

Hebrews 6:4-5
Is the Gospel New Testament Christian who has Repented, received Jesus as lord, baptized in the Holy Spirit, received the quickening spirit (word become flesh, and then flesh of second Adam become quickening spirit of Revelation 3:20)

Hi Eddif, and God bless.

Not on the forums as much of late, so sorry for the late response. About the above, it's an interesting interpretation but I don't know that it holds up under scrutiny. He mentions in Hebrews 6:1-3 not only baptisms (plural, i.e. the baptism of water and that of the Spirit), but also laying on of hands. These were clearly New Testament Christian teachings.

6 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying, however.

 

[stovebolts]

2 Samuel 11:27 kjv
27. And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
2 Samuel 12:1 kjv
1. Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.
2. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3. But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

Ok this part of the story is the Mashal / Parable. Contained in the parable was a parallel of David’s sin. The Mashal does not reveal to David his sin though. David does not understand that the parable applied to him personally. He hears the hidden story but he does not hear his guilt. He hears of another man’s sin.

5. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
6. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

So David has missed the relevance of the Mashal to his life and is angry at the rich man in the parable.

The disciples did not get the parable of the sower. They had to ask what the parable of the sower meant. A parable / Mashal does indeed contain a parallel meaning, but requires a revelation of the meaning.

The revelation:
7. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8. And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
10. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

Now for David’s response to the open truth about what the Mashal contained:
13. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

So thanks stovebolts for the probably most revealing use of a Gentile
Parable in the Prophets (?).

I stumbled around for 15 years with understanding Isaiah 6 Matthew 13 and Mark 4 use of what I jest saw as Parables.

I never but never saw what you brought up. There may be some other things left to resolve. I do see through a glass darkly.

Mississippi redneck
eddif

I rather enjoyed reading this, thank you for taking the time to put that together.

If your into it, you may enjoy a book by Mr. Snodgrass called “Stories with intent”. He exhaustively goes through parallel stories both from Jews and Gentiles during the time of Jesus. For me, it took many of the mysteries away from many of the parables. Not so much by way of explaining them, but by giving me a backdrop to the social norms and language of Jesus audience in a way I could fathom to hear the parable through the ears of the original listeners.

Enjoy.

 

[ezrider]

With respect, I would disagree.
In Jewish language, they were called Mashal and we find them in the OT, including the occasion when Nathan told David a Mashal to expose Davids sins.
In Greek, we call this a Parable.
The intent of a Parable is never to conceal. Rather, they are stories with intent. Each Parable has a specific intent.
Most of the Parables Jesus spoke were variants of existing, and well known parables with a twist. Some were taken so far out of the norm that folks were left scratching their head.

There is truth to what eddif said. Parables were used both to conceal and to reveal. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

The underlying question Jesus asks is this. Do you have ears to hear? Or, do you already know everything and your just out to argue? In some Parables, the Pharisees understood very clearly that some parables were directed at them and instead of repenting, many of them hardened their hearts, for they did not have ears to hear.

Parables are teaching moments and they expose our willingness or resistance to understand the spirit of God.

What is Gods righteousness? And does Gods righteousness oppose knowledge? Does Gos righteousness require ignorance of knowledge?

You ask what is God's righteousness. I couldn't put that into a word, but it comes with revelation from the Spirit of God.

Does God's righteousness oppose knowledge? No, but knowledge just doesn't come from the words of a book, knowledge comes through life and experience.

Does God righteousness require ignorance of knowledge? There are two ways to answer this. The first being what the righteousness of God does require, and that is Faith. But does it require the ignorance of knowledge? In the garden the Lord placed two trees, the tree of LIFE and the tree of KNOWLEDGE. Of all the trees of the garden they were permitted to eat the fruit thereof; But of the tree of KNOWLEDGE they were commanded not to touch. Why were they commanded not to touch? Was it to keep them ignorant of knowledge? Or did God's righteousness know that in the day they ate thereof they would surely die?

But what was said of the fruit of the tree of knowledge? It was desirable, a fruit to make one wise, opening their eyes that they should see; no longer walking by faith. Paul in the book of Romans tells us of Israel: For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Some have a zeal for the knowledge of God, and they take what fruit they want from the tree of knowledge to make themselves wise; for the fruit of it is desirable. But others having submitted themselves to the righteousness of God and walk according to faith, they received their fruit from the tree of Life in its due season. Having tasted the fruit of both trees, there remains no desire in the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

And where does wisdom and understanding come into view regarding Gods righteousness?

As eddif said in an earlier post, these are things that effect the heart. As you said of the parables, for many of them their hearts were hardened because they did not have ears to hear. Wisdom and understanding begins by meditating on the Word of God. It begins by asking yourself deeper questions in the furrows of the heart. Does my knowledge of God come from the tree of knowledge, or does it come from the tree of life? Does my knowledge and understanding come only from the words of the book, or does my knowledge and understanding come through revelation of the spirit in the experience of Life?

Wisdom and understanding regarding God's righteousness comes with believing in the power of the the Spirit of the Lord. That the Spirit of the Lord might shut the eyes of some, while others might see clearly. That the Word of God is sharp two edged sword, cutting both ways. The same word has the ability to heal the heart, as it does to harden the heart. As you said in your comment, "Parables are teaching moments and they expose our willingness or resistance to understand the spirit of God". They can either fill our hearts or they can harden them, they can provide us with reconciliation, or they can make us feel condemnation; To which belongs the province of God.

Would you acknowledge that there is a difference between knowing the words of the books as opposed to understanding the Spirit of God? The Pharisees were filled with the knowledge the words of the book, yet in the parable resisted the Spirit of God, showing their hearts to be hardened.

And so I ask, what is it about my use of an obscure old testament scripture that said you shall not seethe a kid in his mothers milk in a metaphor, or a parable if you will, that has received so much resistance from one particular member? Meditating on the deeper things of God with this scripture in mind, I ask myself, as with the discussion of the OP about meat, can eating the meat of the word cooked in the milk of the word make us sick without our knowledge? Sour milk, spoiled meat, not only can literally give us an upset stomach, but as with a false doctrine, spiritually they can make us sick. Should we not take care for the meat we eat? Would you eat meat offered to an idol?

Can the meat we eat make us spiritually sick without our knowledge? These are the questions were I find wisdom and understanding regarding God's righteousness. Gluttony, the insatiable hunger for meat was boasted about in the thread, and I ask myself, isn't gluttony a behavior to be frowned upon? Doesn't the behavior of gluttony eventually lead to sickness? Should the spiritual behavior be any different than the literal? Ask yourself, which tree would a glutton gorge themselves with the fruit thereof, the tree of Life or the tree of Knowledge? From which tree might I expect to find the knowledge and understanding of God's righteousness?

It is a matter of the heart. For some their hearts will be hardened, while others receive the spirit with joy. That is not a call that I can determine. Again that province belongs to the Spirit of the Lord. What is it that we consider in our hearts? I'll conclude with the words of the prophet Isaiah.


They have not known nor understood:
for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see;
and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
And none considereth in his heart,
neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
I have burned part of it in the fire;
yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof;
I have roasted flesh, and eaten it:
and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination?
shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
He feedeth on ashes:
a deceived heart hath turned him aside,
that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say,
Is there not a lie in my right hand?

 

[ezrider]

ezrider you are doing a great job on the parallels of nature and the law saying the same things that Jesus carried out and work in us a deeper understanding. Parables were used to conceal by Jesus, but only through revelation do we find out the hidden meaning.
Romans 1:20 kjv
20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

You are posting so much area. I will make comments as time allows. I am able to work some in the woods again. Covid is just a word that was overcome by 1 Peter 2:24

Thank you

 

[stovebolts]

There is truth to what @eddif said. Parables were used both to conceal and to reveal. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

We all have truth, but it’s understanding which some of lack.

The passage you quote should be understood within the context in which it was spoken.

Those who do not listen to the truth cannot see the truth, yet they themselves boast as if they hold the truth. Jesus has this to say in John 9:41 NIV
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Jesus does not conceal the truth from anyone, especially by the use of Parables.

Luke 20:19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

There is a difference between not understanding the meaning of a parable and concealing a parables meaning. Again, to reference your quote, Jesus is referencing people who claim to know the truth, yet reject His teachings and His ways.

Nothing mystical here…. It’s fairly straightforward.

You ask what is God's righteousness. I couldn't put that into a word, but it comes with revelation from the Spirit of God.

Does God's righteousness oppose knowledge? No, but knowledge just doesn't come from the words of a book, knowledge comes through life and experience.

and revelation from the Spirit comes when we empty ourselves to receive it. When we “think” we know something and close our hearts to the Spirit, we become blind, yet boast of what “we” see.

Our life experiences can often blind us from Gods truth, especially when we think we know more about God at the expense of our relationship with him.

As far as words from a book, there is much to gain. Paul was a great man of knowledge, yet early on his zeal for God made him an enemy of God. Yet God, being righteous saved him.

Gods rightousness can be summed up very simply. It is not complicated, nor is it hard to understand.

Gods righteousness is ALWAYS bound in His mercy. Mercy is always offered with the hope that the one in offense sees his or her way and changes their ways to line up with Gods ways. We serve a Just God, which means if Gods mercy is rejected, then something will occur which makes the situation right. Evil deeds are never unaccounted for.

n the garden the Lord placed two trees, the tree of LIFE and the tree of KNOWLEDGE.

It’s not just the tree of knowledge…. It’s the knowledge of good and evil. They were to eat from every tree, except that one.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
I fear that when you call the tree,” The Tree of Knowledge”, it may be a bit misleading and understood wrongly.

some have a zeal for the knowledge of God, and they take what fruit they want from the tree of knowledge to make themselves wise; for the fruit of it is desirable. But others having submitted themselves to the righteousness of God and walk according to faith, they received their fruit from the tree of Life in its due season. Having tasted the fruit of both trees, there remains no desire in the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

I would agree, but add “The fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil”. Partaking of that tree is disobedience to Gods word. One may desire knowledge, such as Paul, but that desire should never outweigh our desire to obey our Lord, not out of fear, but instead because we’ve tasted his goodness and we want more.

The Bible is Gods word, and faith comes through the hearing of the word. We should not take what is good and use it for evil.

s @eddif said in an earlier post, these are things that effect the heart. As you said of the parables, for many of them their hearts were hardened because they did not have ears to hear. Wisdom and understanding begins by meditating on the Word of God. It begins by asking yourself deeper questions in the furrows of the heart. Does my knowledge of God come from the tree of knowledge, or does it come from the tree of life? Does my knowledge and understanding come only from the words of the book, or does my knowledge and understanding come through revelation of the spirit in the experience of Life?

Perhaps both. I understand it this way.
What is our desire? Is it for ourselves, or is it for others? Do we seek knowledge for our own gain, or for the gain of others?
When we meditate on Gods Word, do we allow it to penetrate our bone and marrow, or do we sear our conscience? If the later we bring forth death through disobedience.

But to your point, do we search the scriptures because we think life is in them? Or, do we search the scriptures because we want to know more about the one who me we love?

We ought to want to please God, and studying Gods word helps us learn discernment. Life can beat us down and we can loose our way and without knowledge of what Gods desire for us is, we can remain lost. Yet still deeply in Love with God. God doesn’t want us to remain lost, and the Bible can help direct us.

I know you wrote more that I would like to reply to. However, I need to run.

BTW, you and I are more in agreement than disagreement so if this came across any other way, let me clean it up later. I’m short on time and I’m on day 4 of a headache and my son tested positive for Covid yesterday with a temp of 102. I’m a bit dizzy…. And scattered.

 

[stovebolts]

Would you acknowledge that there is a difference between knowing the words of the books as opposed to understanding the Spirit of God? The Pharisees were filled with the knowledge the words of the book, yet in the parable resisted the Spirit of God, showing their hearts to be hardened.

I believe this should be apparent to all as it too should not be hard to see. I would only add this for balance, not all of the Pharisees hardened their hearts when confronted with the truth.
To add to what you’ve written, Jesus says, “I am the way….”. You know the rest. However, and to your point, if we don’t know the way of the Lord, which is simply to say, as you’ve said, “The Spirit of the Lord”, then the words in the Bible will be used much in the same way Satan used scripture to temp Jesus. And as you well know, faith comes through hearing and that faith must be put into action and lived out.

If we hear wrongly, we live Gods commandments out wrongly. Hell is paved with good intentions and God does not want us ignorant of the truth. This is most noted by Jesus himself in Matthew 5-7 expressly as, “You have heard it said…. But I say”.

 

[stovebolts]

And so I ask, what is it about my use of an obscure old testament scripture that said you shall not seethe a kid in his mothers milk in a metaphor, or a parable if you will, that has received so much resistance from one particular member?

First, you didn’t quote the entire passage and you expected her to know it. First, that’s not how parables work and perhaps you “concealing” the rest of that passage was your way of thinking you were telling a parable. If that is your faith, then you are creating confusion, and God is not the author of confusion.

To be clear, and we can start a new thread on this topic if needed, but parables are first and foremost stories with intent. Quoting half a passage is not telling a story but it does serve to see if somebody els has knowledge of said scripture. BTW, I did catch that and I do have much study from a Jewish perspective on that passage.

And why do we not boil a lamb or goat in its mothers milk? What is the Spirit of the Law on this matter? In other words, Why is this Gods way for us? Can you tell us Gods intent and properly divide the word for us on this matter to show yourself approved?

 

[stovebolts]

Gluttony, the insatiable hunger for meat was boasted about in the thread, and I ask myself, isn't gluttony a behavior to be frowned upon?

And this tells of the spirit that led you into this thinking my friend. It is the Spirit of condemnation and not reconciliation. Instead of building up the body, your seeking to tear down and cause division by using scripture to build a case against another that has offended you. This is not the way, nor the truth and it leads to death. We should seek reconciliation and put our efforts into trying to find a way to be unified. This is when having gods righteousness within us will shine because his mercy will be known. We must show mercy toward one another and be patient with one another. But most important, we must hope the best for others.

There is weight to scripture and when we rightly divide the word of God, we not only understand Gods ways, but we start to learn how to discern Gods word and use it appropriately.

All the commandments and words of the prophets hang on these two commandments. Love God, Love your neighbor.

How we understand the above is how we will live them out.

I say these things to you publicly not to shame you, but with great hope that you use the knowledge you have in a way that builds up, and encourages others. You do have good knowledge, and if it were used to build up the body, then God would be glorified.

 

[for_his_glory]

I’m short on time and I’m on day 4 of a headache and my son tested positive for Covid yesterday with a temp of 102. I’m a bit dizzy…. And scattered.

feel better soon

 

[ezrider]

First, you didn’t quote the entire passage and you expected her to know it. First, that’s not how parables work and perhaps you “concealing” the rest of that passage was your way of thinking you were telling a parable. If that is your faith, then you are creating confusion, and God is not the author of confusion.

If you go back and read my comments in post #62, my original comment before someone else created the confusion, can you tell me what is was you think I concealed in that comment? Or what was it you thought to be confusing?

And this tells of the spirit that led you into this thinking my friend. It is the Spirit of condemnation and not reconciliation.

Do you think my post #62 was of the spirit of condemnation?

 

[stovebolts]

If you go back and read my comments in post #62, my original comment before someone else created the confusion, can you tell me what is was you think I concealed in that comment? Or what was it you thought to be confusing?



Do you think my post #62 was of the spirit of condemnation?

I’ll go back and read it now