This morning I started reading First John in the New Testament and felt like sharing a couple of things with you all. I mainly want to show you how I “see” (perceive) scripture, and how I come to say and write the things I say and write.
You see when I read scripture sometimes things pop out at me, certain words, over the years, I have come to know are allegorical of certain things… For example “Light” is symbolic of “TRUTH/GOD/WISDOM” -Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light”.
John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy WORD is truth.
Through connecting a lot of dots you begin to find more. When you want to know what a certain passage means, or what to find the symbolism and the spiritual meaning behind it all you need to do is find a witness of it in scripture. BUT FIRST, I guarantee something inside you will give you a hint. You’ll find yourself thinking “I bet the Virgins Lamps, in the parable of the Virgins, was actually the WORD/LOGOS/LOGIC/WISDOM of God.” — You will deduce this because you will remember another passage where the WORD of God is compared to a Lamp, or a light to your feet.
Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path
Now when you get that. You understand, anything that produces LIGHT, whether it is the Sun, A Lamp, A Candle, etc… is all symbolism for the TRUTH/WISDOM/UNDERSTANDING/LOGIC of God. Which is why we are to let our LIGHT shine.
Many people come into greater understanding, but are still in religious organizations that would frown on such insight. So for many, they bottle it up, they keep that LIGHT hidden away, because of fear. Which, we know God doesn’t give us the spirit(thoughts) of.
Luke 8:16
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
No, we are to SO LET THIS LIGHT SHINE! So those who are desiring to ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM (reign) of GOD…. CAN! You see, we in effect are a candle, we are a lamp, God provides the FIRE that ignites us so the whole world can know the TRUTH.
Psalm 18:28
For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Proverbs 20, says the Spirit (Thoughts) of Man, IS the CANDLE.
So if the “LIGHT” or anything that emanates “LIGHT” is a symbol for God’s Wisdom, Power, and Truth (Christ)… Then when do you believe Darkness to be? …. That’s right, IGNORANCE. I’ll use another word HELL.
Proverbs 4:19
The way of the wicked is as darkness: they KNOW NOT at what they stumble
2 Peter 2:4
For if God spared not the messengers that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness
When many read this passage, they think of infinite burning and torture. But what really is being said here is that, God’s doesn’t even spare his messengers from the depths of ignorance (hell), and even his messengers are delivered into chains (the bondage of) darkness (ignorance).
When you walk in Darkness, you don’t know which way to go, where you are going, and what path you are on. In darkness, you don’t know much, beside the darkness you are in. But a lit Candle will help show you some of the way. And the FULL SUN will show you the whole picture, you won’t stumble, you’ll be able to walk and you will know everything that you did not “perceive/see” when you were in darkness.
Ecclesiastes 2:14
The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
By now, you should be able to understand the meaning of darkness in Solomon’s rant of the vanity of this temporal world and the cares thereof.
A Wise man = One who understands the Truth of God, has EYES (perception) in his HEAD (thinking)… But the FOOL (those that don’t know God “the fool in his heart says there is no God) walks (exists) in Darkness (Ignorance)
GET IT? Good… moving on.
So this is what I am about to do with 1st John 1. I am going to go through line by line and basically interpret it as a symbolist would. And yes that is a word, look it up. Symbology is the study and use of symbols to find meaning. That is what we MUST do to find the SPIRIT of the scriptures. The good news is, we can’t force it, the Holy Spirit within us, “Our True Life”, gives us the answers little by little.
This is symbolically shown as Christ coming like Lightning from heaven. In the dark of night it is hard to see, but LIGHTNING for an instant shows you the whole picture when it illuminates the area. At that moment you can only pick up a couple of things in your surroundings, but NOW you know they are there. This is the same way revelation works. A bit here, a bit there, until, the day-star Rises in your heart, and you are no longer walking in darkness.
It’s easy to read scriptures that talk about Jesus Christ, and picture that tall man, 6′ with a beard, handsome, kind, and a guy who flies into a rage when he see things done against the will of God. Like when he turned over the tables, or called the religious leaders of the time a “generation of vipers”.
Unfortunately, many Christians do not see that these words, as demeaning as they sound, as ALLEGORIES. These word recorded do not show the heart of love, which is understanding where people are at. For example when my child acts out, and doesn’t behave, I don’t say “you are of your father the devil”, or call them “terrible brats”… I correct them, and tell them that is NOT WHO THEY ARE. This is the heart of love.
Too many Christians today have taken these allegorical words to heart, and now feel that they are justified to call others, vipers, evil, demonic, satanic, etc… I get my share of that.
But when you understand that symbols. And you begin to understand that the TEMPLE that had the tables that needed to be overthrown was YOUR HEART/MIND, and that the Religious Leaders condemned that were ruling the Temple, were the very same false teachings that you have clung to for so many years, you begin to understand why Jesus said “TEAR DOWN THIS TEMPLE” and I will rebuild it in THREE DAYS (symbolical of a trimester for birth) – Jesus was speaking of HIS BODY, we know this in scripture. But few care to SEE (perceive/understand) that WE HUMANS are the BODY OF CHRIST, whose first nature (Adam/old man) needs to be torn down, so the New Man, Second Adam (Man) can rule.
Romans 12:5
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
THIS IS THE BODY OF CHRIST, this is the TEMPLE OF GOD, EVERY ONE A MEMBER OF ONE ANOTHER. MEANING PEOPLE WE ARE ALL ONE!
The problem is, WITHIN US, there is a lot of nonsense going on. Religion has turned our hearts and minds into something that can be purchased or stolen.
Luke 19:46
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves
We are the HOUSE. And religious false teaching, man’s lust for power and control, has turned our hearts into a place where peace, wisdom, hope, and freedom can be stolen.
So what does it mean to be the HOUSE OF GOD? Simply put, we are the VESSEL in which God exists. This is why God is Called the Lord of Hosts. Look up the word Host in the dictionary. A Host is a living entity whose purpose is to house and give life to another living entity. I hate to use the word parasite, but we are a host for parasites as well… A wonderful allegory of how we allow people who are ignorant to God’s truth, to suck us dry, and steal our strength and health. Yes Religious leaders who spew lies from their pulpits if we ingest and believe them, the lies of the religious ignorant leaders become parasites of sorts… but the TRUTH of God will always trump. Even though for some, they walk in darkness, GOD IS THERE!
For many God is hiding away in their ignorance (Darkness) – David understood this well, when he stated if he made his bed in HELL (ignorance) God was there.
Psalm 18:11
He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies
Yes, ignorance is part of God’s plan. Without the Dark we would never know the Light. Without the Light we would never know the Dark. It’s all about God’s Truth and Man’s lies.
You see this is why we can never just take things at face value. We must LOOK to the heart of scripture, as God looks to the heart of Mankind. If we simply take things at face value, we will make the same mistake of those who think it’s okay to tear down, mock, and attack people who “see” things differently than they do. If we don’t understand the parable we will do as we see in some countries where thieves hands are cut off, or adulterers are stoned to death… never once seeing that a “hand” is symbolic of authority… and it is the authority of the thief that must be cut off, and the stone is the Truth which should put to death the false spirit (thoughts) and false worship (which really is what an adulterer is) – Not what we know an adulterer to be but what God is speaking of. Which is Mankind leaving the union of His Spirit and understanding of his Truth for FALSE GODS.
Jeremiah 5:7
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses
Here we see clearly, but you can look elsewhere, that God is talking about how people have forsaken the TRUTH and gone after false gods, by doing this THEY COMMITTED ADULTERY… We also see that a HARLOTS HOUSE is symbolic of a place where lies are taught.
This should be a great comfort for those who are divorced, because truly, this is the ONLY DIVORCE GOD HATES… When we leave the light for darkness. The good news is….
Romans 11
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
You see ultimately, God is in control of it all. He makes Light and he makes the Darkness.
Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things
I suppose the thing that I hope you take away from this paper is, the most important thing in the world is not outside of you, behind you, or coming to you in the future. The most important thing is IN YOU! It is a mystery that is for sure. But here are some keys for you to unlock some doors. Find the meaning of things you don’t understand.
When you read about Paul being Blind and SCALES falling from his eyes. Don’t take that literally, go to scripture and search the word SCALES out, and find out what was keeping PAUL BLIND (ignorant) and you will find a great truth…
Job 41:15
His SCALES are his PRIDE, shut up together as with a close seal
It is our foolish pride that keeps us blind to the truth. But the LIGHT will SHINE, and when it does, darkness flees from it.
This is OUR STORY everyone. Every story, every parable, from Adam and Eve, to Joseph and Mary, it’s all about us. GOD’S ONLY CHILD HUMANITY!
And in the DARK OF NIGHT – in our Ignorance he leads us by FIRE (what we suffer). And in the Daylight it is a CLOUD (the witness and truth of God)… either way, God is LEADING US and WE CANNOT FAIL.
Exodus 13:18
But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
As God led the people out of their bondage, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, he will lead us out of our bondage through the wilderness of this thing here called our life and the cares of this world, because like the children of Israel, we are HARNESSED, and God is DRAGGING us where we need to go. So don’t condemn others who are different, don’t draw your sword (words) to kill those who threaten CHRIST (the Truth within you revealed to you) because those that live this way, will die this way. Debate is foolish it leads nowhere, you don’t need to protect the Gospel, the Gospel cannot fail. You don’t need to do, as I have done in the past and point out the ignorance and lies of many, for their ignorance and lies will be revealed without any of us having to take up our sword (words) and cut them with them.
Above all else, LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS, which means LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, DO GOOD TO THOSE THAT HURT YOU… Don’t go calling them serpents, devils, or whatever other allegory that was written to help us see the bigger picture. Perfect Love doesn’t condemn, hate, and it casts out all fear, it cannot be offended and doesn’t need to be defended, so LOVE PEOPLE, LOVE! Because God is not mocked, whatever a man sows that they shall also reap. SO SOW LOVE! TRADE YOUR SWORD FOR KEYS! And unlock the mysteries that have been hidden for ages and ages, but is now being revealed. 🙂
I hope you enjoyed this paper, didn’t have a clue as to what to write, just felt like writing and I went for it. Much love to you all, Jacob
Check out my novel and tell a friend will ya?
http://www.JacobIsrael.org
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