1. Introduce the text that I’m going to be using as my hermeneutics.
2. I’m going to pull just one little section from the hermeneutics for this segment.
THE HERMENEUTICS INTRODUCTION
Isaiah, 28: 9-12
9. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11. For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
In this segment I’m not prepared to give a full explanation of how and why this passage will provide the hermeneutics by which I interpret the protocols. That is going to be explained in section 3 of the protocols. At that time I'll be bring up this passage, again.
But for this instance, what I need is a small section from the text to justify a point. That section is this: “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.”
What this verse is saying is this: If you want to be a teacher of scripture, you have to start from the bottom. Or if you want people to understand doctrine, you have to wean them from milk as a mother weans a baby from her breasts. Well, when this text was written…that’s what they used to do.
You see, what I’m doing is following the instructions of that passage. And so, we start from the bottom. And the bottom or the building blocks by which this whole presentation is to be structured, has to be with the subject of God himself.
Right now we’re going to start from the beginning of Christian Theology. And that would be explaining the concept of the Trinity.
THE TRINITY
The Trinity is an expression that is used in the Church to describe how God has decided to “reveal” himself to the world. The word trinity, in regards to describing God, is, actually, not in the Bible. Why then does the Church use such a term like "The Trinity?" I’m going to explain that in it’s simplest terms because, really, it is quite simple to understand.
This is how simple it is: God the Father is a spirit. Christ-Jesus is the manifestation of that Spirit. And the Holy Spirit bears witness that Jesus is the Christ of God, the Father.
How does all that work? It easy! When you read the Bible, the Spirit that exists inside of you, is what allows you to decipher the knowledge contained in the Bible. If your understanding is accurate…well, that’s the Holy Spirit.
Of course, there are a number of “safety valves” that you would need to incorporate, into your understanding, to make sure your spiritual development is healthy.
This section of the protocol is going to explain just a few of those “safety valves” so you can understand what is truly available to you from God through Christ-Jesus. But to understand that properly, you have to start from the ground floor and allow God to lift you higher, in your understanding. What is the ground floor? As I mentioned earlier, that’s the subject of God, himself.
In other words: The subject matter of the scriptures is the being of God and the creation of God. It is the scriptures, themselves, that inform us and give us understanding into the nature of God’s being. And for this reason I will introduce scripture to justify any thoughts in this presentation.
Lets examine what all that means.
In the Gospel of John Chapter 4:24, we read: “God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” According to that verse, Jesus, Himself, plainly states that God is a spirit. But it is the general view on the nature of His spirit, which comes into question.
When scripture uses the word ‘Spirit,’ in the context of describing God, what is your interpretation of that word? Perhaps, being unfamiliar with biblical definitions, you may tend to view the spirit as an apparition, which is, of course, a ghostly figure. That would be incorrect, of course, and therefore, the introduction of additional verses of scripture is required to build upon what is the correct understanding of what the Spirit of God is.
For example:
Going to the book of Psalms 139: 6-13, the writer is very descriptive, while referencing God's Spirit. Let's read:
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
The writer of that Psalm seems to be convinced that wherever he goes, that the presence of God’s Spirit is sure to be there. (Not to follow him there, but to simply be there) God’s spirit is everywhere and we cannot escape the reality of His being. God’s Spirit is what is known as “omni-present” in nature and not in the form of an apparition.
In the book of Acts 17: 27-28, this idea is reinforced as the Apostle Paul states:
“That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.”
If we live, move and have our very being in Him, then He is the very air we breathe and there isn't anywhere we can go to escape when He wants something from us.
In summary, it is the combination of these verses that allows us to come to the conclusion that the Spirit of God is omni-present in nature as opposed to being an apparition and therefore always with us. This is God the Father. No body. No figure to behold.
God the Father is omni-present in nature and the nature of man’s curiosity is to seek out the meaning to things he doesn’t understand. (That’s why the Philosopher Heraclitus conducted his studies.) Therefore, in theory, a representation of God’s being is required. But where is this found as an absolute?
Representation of God's being, throughout the ages of time, has always been perpetrated by all religions that have been known to man. Could they (religions) all be wrong with only one belief being correct or do they all hold part of an overall truth? One thing is for sure, and that is, that God is.
This is the point where the term ‘Christ’ comes into play. The word Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word ‘Messiah,’ which mean ‘anointed.’
What does anointed mean? In the context of our discussion, the word is defined as: “To choose by or as if by divine intervention.” To be chosen by divine intervention for what purpose?
In the book of Matthew 17: 1-5, it becomes clear:
1. And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
2. And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
3. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
4. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
5. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
This is just one of the acts of divine intervention which separated Jesus, as the anointed one, chosen by God the Father to speak on His behalf. This is why the end of the passage said: “…hear ye him.”
Hear ye him about what? The obvious conclusion would be the authentic or the ordained representation of God the Father. Everything that God the Father, who is omni-present in nature, has to say is caught up in the person of The Christ.
Jesus, himself, said it plainly in the Gospel of John 5: 39: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
The scriptures testify of Jesus? What about Jesus? That He is the anointed of God the Father. The Christ!
This idea is reinforced in the book of Luke 24: 15-45:
15. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
16. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
17. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
18. And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
19. And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
20. And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
21. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
22. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
23. And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
24. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
25. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
28. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
29. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
30. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
31. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
33. And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
34. Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
35. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
36. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
37. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39. Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
40. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
42. And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
43. And he took it, and did eat before them.
44. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,...
If you will focus your attention on verses 27 and 44 it should be evident, that in one way or another, all the scriptures testifies to the fact that Jesus is The Christ.
It’s Jesus, the anointed one, who testifies and teaches us about God the Father. And when you read the Bible it is the operation of the Holy Spirit to testify that Jesus is The Christ. Remember! All scriptures bare witness to The Christ, and with that understanding let's look at first letter of John.
1st John 5: 7-8:
7. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
In verse 7: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:
The Father: Jesus is the representation of the Father, who is an Omni-Present Spirit.
The Word: Jesus speaks on behalf of the Father. (The Greek definition for the word, "Word," in this text is “Logos.”
Note: This version of the word "Logos" is a bit different from the version provided by the philosopher Heraclitus, which I mentioned in the last post. I'll explain the difference a little later in this sections of the protocols.)
The Holy Ghost: The mind/work of God, the Father, and His Christ, is contained or revealed by the Holy Ghost.
Verse 8: The Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood.
Jesus is the Spirit and life of The Father. (The living water).
Jesus is the blood. (The sacrifice of God)
If you read these things, in your soul, the Holy Spirit should be saying that Jesus is the Christ! If this is not the case, then, more than likely, your perception concerning the scriptures is flawed. Simply put, according to the scripture, Jesus should be our everything.
Lets add a little to verse 7: In that verse, the Apostle John’s uses of the term “the Word.” Also, from the verse, we’re to understand that the structure of Heaven has a protocol that consists of: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
Let’s take a look at “the Word,” which is defined in the Greek to mean "Logos."
Let's go to the Gospel of John 1:1 and John 1:14 to get a clear understanding of what is being said in the 1st John 5:7.
John 1:1
1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14
14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
In John 1:14, when the term “the Word” is used, the reference is to verse 1. It started in Heaven and came down to the Earth. In all four instances, where the term “the Word” is used, it's with the Greek definition “Logos.”
So, the actual saying in verse 14 is this: And the “Logos” was made flesh. (The thing that the philosopher Heraclitus sought to understand.) So, if we combine all three verses: John 1:1, John 1:14, and 1st John 5:7 we have this sequence:
In John 1:1 the "Logos" was in Heaven.
In John 1:14 the "Logos" came to Earth.
In 1st John 5:7 the "Logos" was back in Heaven.
John 1:1 was John's his account of where Jesus came from. 1st John 5:7 is John's account as to where the "Logos" is, in Heaven, after Jesus is no longer, physically, on the Earth. But that's another story.
So then, according to the New Testament “the Word/The Logos” of God is Jesus. Jesus was the one who was made flesh “and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,…” (In the philosopher Heraclitus' point of view: Jesus would be God's instrument of thought.)
All of this is to say that “the Word,” described in 1st John 5:7, has to be in reference to Jesus.
Again, 1st John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” And behold…The Trinity!
But lets play with it just a little more using another angle. Lets look into Exodus, when Moses saw the burning bush.
Exodus 3:1-14
1: Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2: And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3: And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4: And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5: And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6: Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
7: And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8: And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9: Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10: Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
11: And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12: And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
13: And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14: And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Here we see, in verse 14, that God spoke to Moses. It’s a nice story! But I want you to focus on the: I AM, I AM and I AM! That’s three verifications of who’s speaking. That’s the voice of God!
Now listen to Jesus answer a question posed to Him by the Pharisees. The question is in verse 19. Then the question gets lost in translation, so to speak, in verse 20-22. But in verse 23-24 Jesus answers the question.
John 8:12-27
12: Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
13: The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
14: Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
15: Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
16: And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
17: It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.
18: I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
19: Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.
20: These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.
21: Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
22: Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.
23: And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
24: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
25: Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
26: I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
27: They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
In verse 19 Jesus is asked the "Where is thy Father?" question.
In Verse 24: “…for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” is Jesus' answer.
In the Exodus and John verses the Great I AM verifies Himself three times in each sequence.
Exodus: "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
John: "And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."
In the John verse, when He asnswered the "Where is thy father" question Jesus gives the testimony of three. Jesus answered the question with the same idea that is written in 1st John 5:7: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
Now listen to Jesus' answer, again.
"I am from above:.." That's in reference to the Holy Spirit.
"I am not of this world..." That's in reference to Jesus speaking to them in the "Logos." A language they didn't understand.
"For if you believe not that I am he...ye shall die in your sins." That's answering the question: Where is thy father? I am he was Jesus' answer.
So, the witness is: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost!
Is Jesus the actual Father? Of course not! Because the actual Father is an Omni-Present Spirit and doesn't have a body as I pointed out earlier in this post. Jesus was speaking as the “Logos” in verse 23-24 of the John verse.
The “Logos/Jesus” and the Father are the same because they have the same mind and not because they are the same being. They are perfectly in tune with each other and that makes them one. Simple stuff, right?
It takes the Holy Spirit decipher that. In other words: The Holy Spirit bares witness to Jesus being the Christ/The Logos of the Father.
That’s the operation of the Trinity in its simplest form. It, also, is the beginning of the describing of how the Kingdom of Heaven is structured.
In other words: Understanding the Trinity is part of the process of accessing the “things not seen.” We cannot access anything without acknowledging its structure. That’s just the way it is. Or, better yet, without understanding the structure of the Kingdom of Heaven…we have no action coming.
IN SUMMARY
Having discussed what is described in the Christian world as ‘The God-Head,’ Father, Son, and Holy Ghost or The Holy Trinity, it is intended to be useful information in establishing your “personal relationship” with our creator, not to mention how we incorporate that with the community of faith. For it is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; that we, through the operation of The Trinity might have fellowship with God.
This is a concept, which must not be taken lightly. In plain English, what the Bible is saying is this: God wants to talk to you, literally. God is alive and has many things, which he wants to communicate to us personally and as a people, his people, his children.
Herein is the confusion and controversy concerning the book, The Holy Bible. There are many teachers and believers of the Bible who lay a special emphasis on certain sections of the Bible, which they perceive to be of greater truth-value than other sections.
More often than not, these teachers/believers only understand certain sections of the Bible and that's why emphasize the section they're familiar with. This does not make them bad people or bad Christians; that isn’t the point of the topic trying to be presented. The subject is the authentic word of God and what is available to you through a personal relationship with Him through the operation of The Holy Trinity.
There are guidelines, which, if properly applied to our understanding, should enable us to experience healthy spiritual growth in our individual walk and in the community of faith.
The first concept, which should be incorporated into our understanding is that your walk with God is designed to be eternal, so lets not be in a rush to try to conceptualize more than what we can handle according to the personality traits that God has given us to walk in. And at the same time we should, mentally, be preparing for a lifetime of blessed living in Christ-Jesus.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE
You know, I’m not really interested in the Trinity. I just accept it and move on to bigger things. But I have to follow instructions. And if I want to deliver this message I have to start with the milk. Those are the rules. You know me: I rather just get to the juicy stuff. Stuff like sections 14, 16, and 17 of the protocols.
With that said, I’m ready to move on to the next section.
mike
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