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New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective (view source)
Revision as of 10:39, October 20, 2008
, 10:39, October 20, 2008no edit summary
"By calling this Covenant 'new' [Jeremiah 31], He has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear". Hebrews 8:13, See Acts Chapter 15 for the transition in life of the Church from exclusively Jewish to predominently Gentile and the transition away from the Law of Moses.
"By calling this Covenant 'new' [Jeremiah 31], He has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear". Hebrews 8:13, See Acts Chapter 15 for the transition in life of the Church from exclusively Jewish to predominently Gentile and the transition away from the Law of Moses.
The inclusion of these words of Jesus concerning His fulfilling of the Law, are from the times of Jesus on earth and no invention of the later Gentile dominated church. At the later time, there would have been no need for these Jewish oriented and Jewish pervaded discussion concerning the Mosaic Law. The Church was dynamic and in transition and full of real life.
The inclusion of these words of Jesus concerning His fulfilling of the Law, are from the times of Jesus on earth and no invention of the later Gentile dominated church. At the later time, there would have been no need for these Jewish oriented and Jewish pervaded discussion concerning the Mosaic Law. The Church was dynamic and in transition and full of real life.
'''Example 5.''' "The Gates...the Gates!"
"And I say to you , You are Peter ("rock" in Greek - Petros, and in Aramaic - "Cepha", and upon this Rock, I will build my Church, and the gates ("pulai" in Greek, "sha'ar" in Hebrew) of Hell shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16:18
When the words of Jesus are read or heard, the understanding that occurs is often the opposite of what is intended. Often the understanding is that the Church will be preserved from succumbing under the battering of Hell. But the opposite is true . The Church is the one on the offensive, rather than the one being on the defensive, and it is Hell that is the one being battered and breached. The gates, what are they? Informing the "gates" of this passage is not what is understoood by gates today. Today it conjures up the picture of wooden or metal rather flattened barrier standing in the way of the entrance, and on hinges, closing the entrance off, and secured by some type of bar or lock. Ancient Israel did know this type of gate, but that was only the outer part of a complex defensive fortification, the key to the defense of the whole city.
Tel Dan in the north of Israel provides a good example. An enemy desiring to gain entrance to the city, must ride or go on foot along the bottom of the high outer walls exposed to view and weapons of the defenders on the ramparts. He then must turn left to approach the outer gate. The holes may still be found sunk into stone within which were the posts of the outer gates which swung open and shut. Around this gate area is stony but leveled ground upon which the defending force could be amassed. Then the intruder host must again turn left to force entry into what can only be called the "gateway"., a more accurate translation than "gate". The turn is a calculated defensive stratagem as it breaks a charge, causing horse and man to be slowed at a crucial point and to be exposed sideways. Surviving intruders than find themself in an wide area, which in peaceful times is the location for the King and his elders and for the rendering of judgrment "at the gates". At Tel Dan the King's huge judgement seat has been reconstructed over the widely spaced original holes in the stone and to the side is the ledge serving as the seat of the elders. But in war time, the area is full of warriors. Then the stone road leads out of this area and up* narrowing, again important as it allows entrance to only two at a time or at the most three, but almost immediately, the intruder is confronted with the pilasters. These were protusions from the side of the walls lining the road into the city, usuallyin pairs or triplets on either side of the road , which make for rooms for soldiers or guards. In Caananite times they were shallow rooms, in Israelite times deeper. Intruders would be attacked from either side of the road from these rooms, successively as they made their way up. They were also and at the same time attacked all along the way from up above them as the the road was below ground level and shadowed by embankments all along the way. The way now was slow blocked by dead and dying man and horse. Then the road turned again, this time to the right, slowing and exhaustng and exposing the attacker, and only then could the the intruder be said to be in the city - only to be met by more defenders. This then was the the gateway.
This picture of the Gateway did not directly influence the wording of the saying of Jesus above, but it did directly influence the words of the Old Testament Scripture and these , in turn, did directly affect the wordings used by Jesus.
====The Scriptures:====
Have you walked in the depths of the Abyss? Have the gateways (SHA'ARei) of Deatrh been exposed to you, the gateways (SHA'ARei) of the Dark Opression? Job 38:17
I said in the waning of my days, To the gateway (SHA'ARei) of Sheol I have been commanded, That is what awaits the remainder of my days. I said, I will not see the LORD, the LORD!, in the Land of the living. I will not see men any more, people of the inhabited world. Isaiah 38:10
Hell is likened to a Fortified City of the underworld, which not only defends itself but also retains its captives, the sons of men, within its fortifications. Hell must be breached in order to rescue them. The Fury of Hell's defenders is pure Tumult and Shriek. That is the nature of the Fortified City in Israel, which informs the Old Testament backdrop to the New Testament sayings. Many of the cities were double cities - a lower city and and upper city. Around this complex was the open field containing tents and dwellings for living and work. . At the appoach of an enemy, the men, women, children, and animals crowd into the lower city which is protected by the walls of the city. The lower city, already crowded with dwellings for the populous, and defending warriors, becomes even more so. If the lower city is breached, the upper city, containing administrative functions, garrisons, food and grains storage, shrines, water access, etc. become intolerably crowded, hoping for the attack and the siege to be over. Such were some of the cities of Israel as indicated by the AYIM at the end of their names. AYIM means "double"- the double cities, upper and lower. Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), Mahanayim, Kiryatayim etc. Other cities were also "double" but without indication in their names.
==="Christ never sent anyone anywhere without Him having gone there first"===
The following Scriptures may best be understood in the context of Christ's succesful intrusion and breaching of the Gates of Hades and his rescuing the captives that were and the captives to come.
In the body, He was put to death, in the spirit, He was raised to life. And in the spirit, He went to preach to the spirits in prison...
...the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has entered heaven and is at God's right hand, now that He has made the angels, and dominions, and powers His subjects. 1 Peter: 18-22
The dead had to be told the Good News as well, so that though, in their life on earth, they had been through the judgement that comes to all humanity, they might come to God's life in the spirit. 1 Peter 4: 5,6
"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him"[ 2 Corinthians 2:14
This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the Heavens, in order to fill the whole universe). (NRSV) Ephesians 4: 8-10
===The Church continues the attack on Hell's fortress, not of the underworld, but on the Devil's dominion and inroads on this earth===
"I say to you, you are that Rock, and on this Rock I will build the ones I have called to join me in the battle. The Gateways of Hell will not withstand that attack you will make on it!". What remains to understand is the "Rock". Though "rock" has been used to describe both God and Christ, there is another reference which may be in force here. It is of the rock once thrown, having the force to destroy the Kingdom which is not God's.
"In the time of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race; it shall shatter and destroy all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever - just as you saw [ "and I was looking and I saw a rock cut out of the mountain, a rock untouched by human hands and it struck..."] the stone untouched by hand break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, earthenware, silver and gold." Daniel 2: 44,45
*Note: The Gateway road always leads up and thus posing more of a difficulty for the attacker. This is because fortress cities were throughout the centuries built one on top of the other there being no other place to go as the original hill contained access to the precious water supply. The final city thus was situated much higher than the original city and the only way to capture it was up. This is what "tel" signifies