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| Jesus' teachings on Hell, part 2 |
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Entering the valley of Hinnom
Mat 5:27 You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "You shall not commit adultery."
Mat 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Mat 5:29 And if your right eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it from you. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be thrown into hell (Gehenna).
Mat 5:30 And if your right hand offends you, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be thrown into hell. (Gehenna)
We have been traditionally taught that this passage refers to the sexual lusting of woman and that if we (men) even have an immoral thought of a woman, we have sinned. Well that is true to a point at a carnal level yet man were created with the instinct to procreate and thus is a lady wears revealing clothes, well you all know the minds of men right?
From this came doctrines of how ladies should dress to make themselves unappealing to men, no make-up et al. Lust has always been associated with sex but is that all? Was this what Jesus was referring to here?
Let us look at the theme adultery.
Exo 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
Earlier I spoke on the origins of Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom where they sacrificed children to Molech, so here the adultery is not about sex.
Lev 20:2 Again you shall say to the sons of Israel, Any man of the sons of Israel or of the strangers who live in Israel, that gives any of his seed to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
Lev 20:3 And I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his seed to Molech, to defile My sanctuary, and to profane My holy name.
Lev 20:4 And if the people of the land in any way hide their eyes from the man when he gives of his seed to Molech, and do not kill him,
Lev 20:5 then I will set My face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go lusting after him (Molech) to commit adultery with Molech, from among their people.
Lev 20:6 And the soul that turns to mediums, and to spirit-knowers, to go lusting after them, I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Lev 20:7 And you shall sanctify yourselves, and be holy. For I am Jehovah your God.
Lev 20:8 And you shall keep My statutes and do them. I, Jehovah, sanctify you.
We can see here, lust is more than just sexual desires.
So let us get back on the topic of Adultery Jesus is talking about.
What Jesus is highlighting here is the root of the adultery sin, the heart. So dismembering is not the solution.
Mar 7:18 And He said to them, Are you also without understanding? Do you not perceive that whatever enters into the man from outside cannot defile him,
Mar 7:19 because it does not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and goes out into the waste-bowl, purifying all food?
Mar 7:20 And He said, That which comes out of the man is what defiles the man.
Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23 All these evil things pass out from inside and defile the man.
This seems to contradict what Jesus taught on lusting as here we see it is from the heart from which proceeds evil thoughts.
The Eye
Jer 5:21 Now hear this, O foolish people and without heart; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not;
Isa 29:18 And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of their gloom and darkness.
Act 26:18 in order to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.
We see therefore the eye symbolizes knowledge. What knowledge did the common folk have at that time? They had the twisted doctrines of the Scribes and Pharisees.
The right hand
Lev 14:25 And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. And the priest shall take from the blood of the trespass offering, and put it on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
Psa 16:8 I have set Jehovah always before Me; because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved.
Psa 20:6 Now I know that Jehovah saves His anointed; He will hear him from His holy Heaven with the saving strengths of His right hand.
Psa 98:1 A Psalm. O sing to Jehovah a new song; for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have saved for Him.
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies as Your footstool.
Psa 118:15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of Jehovah does mighty things.
Psa 118:16 The right hand of Jehovah is lifted up; the right hand of Jehovah does mighty things.
Isa 41:13 For I, Jehovah your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isa 62:8 Jehovah has sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength, Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and the sons of strangers will not drink your wine for which you have labored.
Luk 22:69 From now on the Son of Man shall sit at the right hand of the power of God.
Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
We can see the right hand symbolic of the justice and authority of God wherein Jesus now sits.
Later we shall see the foot also needs to be cut off.
Lev 14:25 And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. And the priest shall take from the blood of the trespass offering, and put it on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
We know the Old Covenant was a shadow of that which was to come. By the time Jesus had arrived, the shadow had all but disappeared as the light no longer shone. The Levitical laws adhered to was so perverted and we see this addressed by Jesus in Matthew 23 quite dramatically.
I have shown lust to mean the things non sexual and even the lusting in the heart was parabolic and not really about sexual sin. Jesus used this parallel to show that the adulteries of the Old were akin to sexual adultery where there was much law governing this by killing offendees.
Cutting off the hand, foot and plucking out the eye symbolizes removing that which was old so that the new could come into being. Reading this passage with:
2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship does righteousness have with lawlessness? And what partnership does light have with darkness?
2Co 6:15 And what agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16 And what agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
2Co 6:17 Therefore come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you
2Co 6:18 and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
We see that the new covenant, Grace would not mix with the law. The law and the Pharisaical doctrines were doomed to destruction of unquenchable fire which happened 70AD.
There are so many more parallels like new wine old wineskins that witness to what I have shared.
Adultery is also about mixing truth with lies.
In Matthew we have the separation of sheep and goats:
Mat 25:32 And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats.
Mat 25:33 And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left.
Abraham had a replacement Ram (male goat) not a Lamb.
Gen 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked. And, behold, a ram behind him was entangled in a thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
1Ki 22:19 And he said, Hear therefore the Word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.
Both sheep and goats are clean animals.
So here I hope I have shown the focus of what Jesus was teaching and adultery as allegory to the law and religious bondage, the eye symbolizing knowledge and the plucking out being that of lies and deceit and fulfillment of the law.
We see that which belongs on the rubbish dump of Gehenna is that which is unprofitable to our faith, the law.
So put away the corkscrew and axe, I leave you with these verses that sum it up nicely.
Pro 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death.
Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Blessings |
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