Psalm 26
We are walking in today: Law of the Mind Part 3, The Hebrew Thought Versus the Greek Mindset
Witness
execute throughout the Bible: H6213
`asah--to act, act with effect, effect,execute
Jeremiah 5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth H6213 judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
Torah: Exodus 12:12; Numbers 5:30, 33:4; Deuteronomy 10:18
Prophets: 1 Samuel 28:18; 2 Samuel 8:15; Jeremiah 22:3, 23:5, 23:20; Ezekiel 5:8; Zechariah 8:16
Writings: 1 Kings 6:12; Psalm 9:16, 103:6, 119:84, 149:9; Ecclesiastes 8:11
Zechariah 7:9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew H6213 mercy and compassions every man to his brother:Psalm 26:2 Examine me, Adonai, test me, Search my mind and heart.
Western Approach--GR The Hebraic Approach--HB
GR--Life analyzed in precise categories HB--Everything blurs into everything else.
GR--A split between natural & supernatural HB--Supernatural affects everything.
GR--Linear logic HB--Contextual or "block" logic
GR--"Rugged Individualism" HB--Importance of being part of group
GR--Equality of person HB--Value comes from place in hierarchies
GR--Freedom orientation HB--Security orientation
GR--Competition is good HB--Competition is evil (cooperation better)
GR--Man-centered universe HB--God/tribe/family-centered universe
GR--Worth of person based on money/material possessions/power HB--Worth derived from family relationships
GR--Biological life sacred HB--Social life supremely important
GR--Chance + cause & effect limit what can happen HB--God, causes everything in his universe
GR--Man rules nature through understanding and applying laws of science HB--God rules everything, so a relationship with God determines how things turn out.
GR--Power over others achieved through business, politics and human organizations HB--Power over others is structured by social patterns ordained by God.
GR--All that exists is the material HB--The universe is filled with powerful spirit beings
GR--Linear time divided into neat segments. Each event is new HB-- Cyclical or spiraling time. Similar events constantly reoccur.
GR--History is recording facts objectively and chronologically HB--History is an attempt to preserve significant truths in meaningful or memorable ways whether or not details are objective facts.
GR--Oriented to the near future HB--Oriented to lessons of history
GR--Change is good = progress HB--Change is bad = destruction of traditions
GR--Universe evolved by chance HB--Universe created by God
GR--Universe dominated and controlled by science and technology HB--God gave man stewardship over his earthly creation. Accountability to God.
GR--Material goods = measure of personal achievement HB--Material goods = measure of God’s blessing
GR--Blind faith HB--Knowledge-based faith
GR--Time as points on the straight line ("at this point in time…" HB--Time determined by content ("In the day that the Lord did…")
As a new student to the Torah, first we give all the glory and Honor to the Most High for giving us sight to see Him in His truth! That He never changes nor does His law--heaven and earth shall pass away, but His word shall stand forever. As student of the Torah, remember that you did not find the Torah, the Torah found you!! Once attending the synagogue, everyone was taking notes. As the Rabbi thought--the Old Testament but not the way we were was used to reading the Prophets and Writings. (Psalms and Proverbs). Many of us did not focus too much on the first few books of the Bible like Leviticus and Numbers. In the church setting it was a speed read at best and understood even less. Yet our limited knowledge was based off the Greco-Roman mindset because we didn’t understand the history of Christendom. At best we only understood a small part. We were taught to read scriptures and break down passages with a Strong’s concordance in a Greek interpretation. Which all stems from the Hellenistic form of worship as the conquering religion for that era.
As our eyes are opened Hebraically, we notice that study was the most important thing to do as a child of The Most High. Not just studying and reading the same old passages, but from its original context. In Its Hebrew form. As I started breaking down the words in the passages from scripture individually in Hebrew--so much can be discovered. Certainly a conflict of the present interpretation. As well as practices that were not commanded by God, but traditions of men and not in the scriptures. Yet there are Feast Days commanded to followed by our God, the Lord Most High in the scriptures. What is truth is our question? All these pastors that were contacted none instructed us fully Hebrew thought versus Greek mind. With the Hellenistic base that the early church fathers and later developed theologies draws the focus of thought to the Greek perspective. For instance, Hebrews study to do while a Greek mindset studies for knowledge, the actually activity not required. As repeated to why this inaction is sufficient we have the stated saying “It's nailed to the cross.” Speaking of the cross which the Hebrew knows the Messiah died on a stick, not a cross.
Cross--in the New Testament the instrument of crucifixion, and hence used for the crucifixion of Christ itself (Ephesians 2:16 ; Hebrews 12:2 ; 1 Corinthians 1:17 1 Corinthians 1:18 ; Galatians 5:11; Galatians 6:12 Galatians 6:14 ; Phil 3:18). The word is also used to denote any severe affliction or trial ( Matthew 10:38; 16:24 ; Mark 8:34 ; 10:21).
The forms in which the cross is represented are these:
1. The crux simplex (I), a "single piece without transom."
2. The crux decussata (X), or St. Andrew's cross.
3. The crux commissa (T), or St. Anthony's cross.
4. The crux immissa (t), or Latin cross, which was the kind of cross on which our Saviour died. Above our Lord's head, on the projecting beam, was placed the "title." (See CRUCIFIXION .)
After the conversion, so-called, of Constantine the Great (B.C. 313), the cross first came into use as an emblem of Christianity. He claimed at a critical moment that he saw a flaming cross in the heavens bearing the inscription, "In hoc signo vinces", i.e., By this sign thou shalt conquer, and that on the following night Christ himself appeared and ordered him to take for his standard the sign of this cross. In this form, a new standard, called the Labarum, was accordingly made and borne by the Roman armies. It remained the standard of the Roman army till the downfall of the Western empire. It bore the embroidered monogram of Christ, i.e., the first two Greek letters of his name, X and P (chi and rho), with the Alpha and Omega. Shocking fact, but the truth comes to the seekers, not just surface reading.
The Bible, in its original languages, is, humanly speaking, a product of the Hebrew mind. The first and original manifestation of what we now call "The Church" was also an expression of the Hebrew mind. At some point in ecclesiastical history, someone snatched away the incentive Hebraic blueprint by which Jesus’ movement was being constructed and replaced it with a non-Hebraic one. As a result, what has been built since is at best a caricature of what was intended. In many respects, it is downright contrary and antagonistic to the spirit of the original believing community.
The Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, appears, in our time, to be returning His people to the original blueprint. The Hebrew Roots movement, led by the Holy Spirit, is doing much to restore to the Body a sense of its first foundations.
In fundamentalist Christian circles, it is often more important to believe and espouse "the right thing," than to live the right way. This is why we are so obsessed with creeds, doctrinal statements, Systematic Theologies, orthodoxy vs. heresy, and creating "Evangelical" or "Sabbatarian" or "Trinitarian" theologies. This mode of thinking is thoroughly Western, utterly Greek.
Doing vs. Knowing
For many of us Westerners, the Hebrew mindset is so strange, so alien, so impossible to fathom, that we quickly snap back into the comfort zone of the Hellenistic mold when studying the Hebrew Scriptures. We then impose this distorting grid over the Hebrew text – or for that matter, over the Greek text of the New Testament.
We think, for example, in terms of "prophetic timetables." Here again is the Western concept of time – points on a line. The Hebrew minds think of "the day of the Lord" – that is, the day or time when the Lord acts. The sequential order in which God will do things is of no concern to the Hebrew – only that He will act. The Western mind wants to have the "prophetic timetable" neatly arranged in time and space. We want to "tick off" events as they occur according to the pre-ordained schedule. This mentality is foreign to the Hebrew mind. When we study Scripture, or when we consider the nature of the early New Testament Messianic community, we must take into account the myriad differences between Hebrew and Greek thought. Intellectually, we are Greeks, not Hebrews. We apply Aristotelian and Socratic thought patterns to practically everything. It is surprisingly difficult to escape these patterns and enter into the Hebraic mindset. We insist on rendering everything into logically consistent patterns, on systematizing it, on organizing it into tight, carefully reasoned theologies. We cannot live with inconsistency or contradiction. We feel compelled to think antithetically. The Godhead must be tightly defined and structured. We cannot live with the Hebraic idea that God is simply ineffable, and that God’s Book doesn’t lend itself to systematization.
The Greeks learned in order to comprehend. The Hebrews learned in order to revere. The modern man learns in order to use" We want a religion of utility. We want techniques we can apply situationally to get into, or out of, some situation. We see much "technique-oriented" Christianity these days. We want techniques for understanding, systematizing and structuring the "prophetic timetable" so that we can know "what’s going to happen next" or so that we can know when to stock food and flee into the mountains to await the Lord’s return. Some people want to know so they can have something to market to other Christians who want to know. These are they who seek to gain from "godliness" or religion
1 Timothy 6:5 and constant wrangling among people whose minds no longer function properly and who have been deprived of the truth, so that they imagine that religion is a road to riches.
We seek "Christian" techniques for inner healing, outer healing, exorcism, financial prosperity, or for receiving spiritual power. This way of thinking is alien to the Hebrew mind.
In our culture, we have commercialized everything, including Christianity. We no longer preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons and make disciples – we market tapes, booklets, and trinkets. We make music, not to worship God, but to sell CDs. Evangelists are selected because they "know how to get the dollars in the door" or "attract the crowds" or "get the numbers up." Ministerial power has been commercialized and politicized as much as that of regular politicians. Christian publishing houses publish celebrity Christian books – not because they are well written, or because they say something important – but because they will sell and make money for the company.
In the days when Jesus’ Kingdom movement was known as the "Sect of the Nazarenes”, being a "Christian" was about a relationship with God and with fellow man. In the centuries since, we have de-emphasized relationship, and at the same time have intellectualized, politicized and commercialized the "faith once for all delivered." These three deleterious influences have radically changed the nature of the Church. The spirit of anti-Judaism and later anti-Semitism has done much to destroy the original personality of the believing community. This explains why it is so difficult for many to understand either Testament.
Acts 24:5,14 5 “We have found this man a pest. He is an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Natzratim. 14 “But this I do admit to you: I worship the God of our fathers in accordance with the Way (which they call a sect). I continue to believe everything that accords with the Torah and everything written in the Prophets.
Matthew 22:36-38 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.
John 13:34-35 34 “I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. 35 Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love for each other.”
To truly grasp what it means to be a follower of Yeshua, one must return to the Hebrew roots of His movement, and of the documents, we now refer to as "The New Testament."
As we continue to celebrate Black History Month. And the teachings on The Law of the Mind. Take a look at part 1 of Willy Lynch speech
This speech was said to have been delivered by Willie Lynch on the bank of the James River in the colony of Virginia in 1712. Lynch was a British slave owner in the West Indies. He was invited to the colony of Virginia in 1712 to teach his methods to slave owners there.
Greetings,
Gentlemen. I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First, I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies, where I have experimented with some of the newest, and still the oldest, methods for control of slaves. Ancient Rome would envy us if my program is implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we cherish, I saw enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasions. I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree, a couple miles back. You are not only losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed. Gentlemen, you know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them. In my bag here, I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that, if installed correctly, IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 Hundred YEARS. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES, AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST, AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences and think about them. On top of my list is “AGE,” but it’s there only because it starts with an “a.” The second is “COLOR” or shade. There is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZES OF PLANTATIONS, STATUS on plantations, ATTITUDE of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, course hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action, but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for HUNDREDS of years, maybe THOUSANDS. Don’t forget, you must pitch the OLD black male vs. the YOUNG black male and the YOUNG black male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE, and the MALE vs. the FEMALE. You must also have white servants and overseers [who] distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US. Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. IF USED INTENSELY FOR ONE YEAR, THE SLAVES THEMSELVES WILL REMAIN PERPETUALLY DISTRUSTFUL. Thank you gentlemen
