Category Archives: Tree of Knowledge

The Lamp of the Body

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The Lamp of the Body is a phrase found in Matthew 6:22-23 and Luke 11:33-36. This thought has lit several studies, I will list some of them below. I prefer to think of this entry as another layer in the study of these verses and eyes. I will follow Matthew’s Gospel as the primary source for this intriguing thought about the Kingdom.

Jesus used the two thoughts that make up Luke’s version in the Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5:15 and 6:22-23. There are many great verses in the Old Testament about light and lamps, today I like Proverbs 4:18; my path is like following the sun. Verse 19 is about those is darkness and stumbling. c is a possible source of Jesus’ teaching on the Mount; sin is the lamp of the wicked because of haughty eyes and a proud heart (I used the NASB). Do a Bible search with “light and hid”, it looked good. Mark 4:21-25 repeats the light and hiding part, but ends with hearing and what kind of measure you use.

Tree of Knowledge

I will use this idea again, and not be sorry about it. In our verses, we have eyes, lamps, and light associated with good/healthy and evil, negative, and unsound. What we see can depend on how we are looking at something and in what type of light. Things and people may/can/do have a good and bad side to them.

  • Grapes – a great food source and wine can gladden the heart or you can get drunk. People who chose to be a Nazarite for a season could not partake of either of grape‘s attributes.
  • Yeast – Jesus used it as a symbol of how the Kingdom would grow. It is forbidden during Passover and the Feast of Unleaved Bread, in part, because it was associated with an Egyptian deity and beer-making (a wage earned as slaves). Many love to proclaim yeast is always a symbol of sin.
  • The Bronze Serpent – Jesus compares Himself to this implement of healing during Moses’ time. One of Pharoah’s symbols was the cobra.
  • King Saul – He was changed when he believed and followed the signs from Samuel. He turned to the dark side when he sought his own glory and a tidy profit because he feared his men, by saving forbidden items. He worked hard trying to kill David because of a song.
  • Peter – You have to love him and his steady growth throughout his time with Jesus. Matthew 16: 17 Jesus to Simon you are blessed. 16:22 Jesus to Simon, “Get behind Me, Satan”. Peter had his highs and his lows.
  • The Number Thirteen – In the Bible, I found many positive things associated with thirteen. There are Christians who make it a symbol of bad, it really depends on how you want to look at something. I won’t even discuss the world’s view of the number.

If I may, think of Hebrews 11, the “Hall of Faith”, as I have heard it labeled. The writer of Hebrews sees these men and women as examples of faith, and they are. It is very easy when you read through their stories in Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, and Samuel to pick out their failures and faults. Light or darkness; it may be time to study grace. The Father loves righteousness and He is the one who defines it.

The Greek

I enjoy looking at the Greek and Hebrew words and thoughts, the Lord has used to this clear up and shed new light on many things. (God bless translators.) For the most part, Luke shares Matthew’s quote from the Sermon, many of the Greek words are the same. Some of these Greek words have more than one meaning. I found that when I compared the texts from the same Bible, they may read differently even though they are the same in the Greek text. You can use the links, do text analysis, and/or look up words in a concordance, whatever makes you happy and you are comfortable with.

Evil πονηρός | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Filled with darkness σκοτεινός | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com 

Matthew uses two different words for darkness (yes they are related). The last two “darkness” words are skotos. σκότος | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Good ἁπλοῦς | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Filled with light φωτεινός | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

It is good to see what other verses use the same root words to convey the message. Mounce lists the verses on those pages. I found some of these words are used only in our two primary texts.

My New Layer

I have played with the thought of beams of light coming from our lamps/eyes out into the world, like lasers in some comic book characters. Now I would like to say our lamps are shining inward and spotting the things in us that need correcting and more attention on our part. Light shining on an object is what allows us to see the object. If an idea is unhealthy/evil that is what and how we will see it. You need to look up these words!

The Tree of Life in Revelations is for healing the nations. We are the product of eating the Tree of Knowledge. Yes, we need knowledge and wisdom, but those without healing from mercy and grace can still produce an unhealthy person.

Luke

What an amazing person. A Gentile doctor who traveled the Mediterranean with Paul as he spread the Gospel. Yes, there are legends and folklore surrounding this man, but we really do not have many facts. In this same breath, I want to thank God for Theophilus. He shared (apparently) the two works with others that Luke wrote for him.

I think this teaching in Luke 11 is a great example of Luke’s collecting and recording the stories he heard from eyewitnesses. (That is a huge thought in itself.) He combines several thoughts to get verses 33 + 34 and then adds some very insightful words for 35 + 36. Had Luke borrowed 35 + 36 from Paul, Peter, or John? Perhaps he got it from Mary (either one). Given his profession and level of training, it may be his insight from the years of travels, trials, and teachings he experienced that produced 35+36.

I view the Gospel of Luke as his reteaching and reinforcing the Good News he shared with Theophilus. I like his version because he joined stories together in units to boost our thinking about the topics. He adds details and information that may not be in the other Gospels but maintains an “orderly account” in this piece for the Master. (Thank you, Holy Spirit, for getting his work into our Bible.)

These are other posts I have done that might help you.

My hope for this post is that you will find the common thoughts in Luke 11:33-36 and Matthew 6:22-23 to grow in your travels with Jesus.

Going to Pay the Bride’s Price-Palm Sunday

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Palm Sunday has been labeled many things, but paying the bride’s price may be new to you. I have connected this ride with David’s return after running from Absolom, so seeing this as a king riding into his domain is easy to grasp. Zachariah 9: 9-13 is just one of the verses that foretell this ride. I would like to add this as another thing from Hebrew tradition that Jesus was fulfilling. Hebrew wedding traditions are sprinkled throughout the Bible but never listed, see The Ten Virgins post.

The Father picks the bride for His Son and the Bride’s Price is agreed upon. The Groom then goes to the home of His future wife and pays the price. This looked more like a parade than a busy deal and it was a very festive occasion. The Groom then leaves and returns to His Father and waits. The Groom’s Father decides when His Son returns and receives His Bride so the marriage feast may begin. (Does any of this sound familiar?)

While the Son/Groom is waiting to return for His wife He is busy. Future accommodations must be made ready. There are presents to be sent to the future Bride (Pentecost) and she must make herself beautiful and always be ready for the Groom’s return. Cleaning the house was important, like removing the yeast during Passover, Jesus cleaned the Temple and put an end to the unproductive fig tree.

Gold and jewels are mentioned as part of the adornment, sounds like Heaven to me. No one but the Father of the Groom knows when He is going to return to claim His wife. Before the return, a wedding feast must be prepared, and guests have to be invited.

To lend some stories and parables to back my thought up, I will use the Book of Matthew. Chapter 19 has Jesus leaving Galilee and going to the east bank of the Jordan River. There He is questioned about marriage and divorce. This was laying the groundwork for the disciples. Tuesday of Holy Week finds Jesus, first on the Temple Mount being challenged again about marriage and divorce by the leaders of Jerusalem. Chapter 22 is a parable about a wedding feast. As He is leaving to go to the second mount, the Mount of Olives, He prophesies about the Temple and its destruction. While on the Mount of Olives, He gives a second parable about marriage and being ready for the Groom’s return. Tuesday was a busy day for Jesus.

The price Jesus paid for His Bride was His righteous, sinless life and His shed blood. Only those two things would allow Jesus to walk into Hell on Saturday and claim the keys to unlock us from the legal hold of Satan over our lives. The “Second Adam” carried His blood to the heavenly Mercy Seat and sprinkled it to fulfill the demands of the Frist Covenant.

May the grace of Jesus, the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you as you go into the fields and make disciples and bring glory to God. So, this Palm Sunday, think of the price Jesus paid to include you as the Bride for His marriage feast.

The Cross

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This study about the Cross started simply enough, I mean it is a central object in my faith, so of course I knew all about it. Types and shadows and many illustrations from sermons should qualify me as knowledgeable. Well, I was not as good as I thought. I will focus on the wooden implement and not the religious and doctrinal aspects of the cross.

This needs to be said. Jesus was betrayed and condemned by the religious leaders of His day (the Sanhedrin). The political rulers punished Jesus with a beating and allowed Him to be mocked. He was then sentenced to death by hanging on the cross (Rome did this to non-Romains). He had to carry His cross out of the city and be nailed to it and hung on it. He did this for me.

Old Testament Examples

  • Genesis 40:19 – Pharoah was going to kill his servant and hang him on a pole.
  • Joshua 8:29 – The king of Ai was put on a tree and left until the end of the day. He was removed because of Deuteronomy 21:23. A person hung on a tree was under a curse and had to be buried so as not to defile the land.
  • Ezra 6:11 – This is King Darius agreeing with King Cyrus about pulling a beam from the house of anyone that changes the decree to build the Temple of God and have them impaled on it.
  • Esther 5:14 – A hanging tree is a good rendering of gallows. I believe the seventy-five-foot height was more about making a statement than torturing or killing the man.

I have read that these hangings and impaling were for public display of the body after they had been killed and not for the actual killing as the Romains did to Jesus.

A Lot of Words

Atzei, etz, nace, bad, xylon, and stauros are Hebrew and Greek words that deal with wooden things in the Bible.

Genesis 22:6 is the wood (atzei) for the sacrifice being carried by Isaac to Mount Moriah. This word is related to etz, #H6086 in the Strong’s. Etz is a tree or wood and is first used for the trees in the Garden and is the main word for a tree or wood in the Scriptures. The picture of Isaac is a type of Jesus carrying the Cross to the place of sacrifice.

Exodus 15:25 is Hashem showing Moses a “piece of etz” to throw into a pool to make it drinkable. Yes, there are many legends about that etz, none of which can be confirmed in Scripture. I will agree it is a picture of Jesus. I have heard good sermons describing it as a type of the Cross, so I will leave this one up to you. Be a Berean and study this one out.

Exodus 25:14 is part of the instructions for building the Ark and the Tabernacle. The two poles that were part of the Ark and used to carry it are called staves (KJV) or poles. The word here is bad #H905 and it refers to a “branch of a tree”. Since they are part of the Ark, I do not think they represent the Cross, but the Holy Spirit.   

Numbers 21:9 definitely is a picture of Jesus on the Cross. This is the story of the brass serpent on a pole. The word nace #H5251 is frequently used for a military standard or banner, or a flag or sail. The idea of a standard really would be a picture of a crosspiece on the Cross.

In the New Testament, the word for cross is stauros. (Please see the websites listed below.) From historical sources, it is described as a pole with no crosspiece of any kind. Wow, that would mess up a lot of great sermons.

Yes, I started looking for early Christian art that depicted the Passion. There really is not that much early art that shows a cross (1st to 3rd century). The Restless Pilgrim post is graffiti that is mocking someone that worshipped Jesus, but it does show a human figure on a cross with a crosspiece and a footrest. The other picture was a royal seal of Emperor Constantine. He had a traditional Christian cross on it (It was in a movie about Rome) and it was made in the late 300’s before his death. I have also heard that when the early Christians “lifted holy hands” they were making themselves into the shape of the Cross.

Paul in Galatians

Galatians 3:13 restates Deuteronomy 21:23 which says if you are hung on a tree/pole (xylon) you are cursed. But in 6:14 he will only boast in the cross (stauros) of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like the Tree in the Garden, it carried a good and a bad message.

My thoughts-I believe the Romains took torture to a whole new level with their use of the cross. So, it does not really matter if Jesus’ hands were straight up or splayed out on a crosspiece, they made sure it was horrible. (I do think there was a crosspiece.)

Could a Greek word (stauros) have been “recycled” for a Romain device? Americans do it all the time. That would have allowed for the upright to stay in the ground and the condemned just to carry the crosspiece.

That Romain cross, like a tree, was planted in the ground and held Jesus between Heaven and Earth. He was nailed to that wood, and it became my Tree of Life. The Cross held the most important piece of fruit to ever hang from a tree; make sure you are found in Him.

What’s the earliest depiction of the crucifixion? – Restless Pilgrim

Stauros – Wikipedia

σταυρός | billmounce.com

Daughter Zion – Observations and Questions

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My study on Daughter Zion has pushed my “tent flaps” out and left me with a lot of questions because of my observations. This post is not going to answer many questions and there may not be a lot of question marks. To join me in this idea you have to know that I am trying to view this from the perspective of a holy righteous God.

Zion – This term has added several meanings since David captured the town he wanted to be his headquarters. It has grown to represent Jerusalem, the Hebrew people, and heaven itself. The town or at least the area is connected with Melchizedek, the priest of The Most High God that met Abraham with refreshments. The poetic nature of the prophets and our God has added the term Daughter of Jerusalem with it in several prophecies.

Daughter

The word daughter has been used hundreds of times in the Bible (NIV), especially in our Old Testament. The phrase “sons and daughters” makes up roughly half of those. Daughter Zion is used about thirty times (NIV). Daughter Jerusalem is used about six times; starting with Isaiah and going to Zachariah. Song of Solomon uses “daughters of Jerusalem” several times, but I think that is really a call to the women in the city.

This noun, this title, and the object of a father’s love have caused me to do a lot of reflection. To view Daughter Zion correctly you need to leave man’s emotions behind and see her through God’s eyes. The Father is very serious about His Daughter and has a plan for Her; unfortunately, She had other ideas.

Who/When – This will be very general.

  • David was the first to use the phrase, Daughter Zion.
  • God’s Girl next appears in Isaiah and Micah. The Assyrians are “messing” with His daughter, and She is losing focus.
  • Zephaniah is the next prophet to tell Her to sing (3:14). Assyria is the major enemy.
  • Jeremiah and his songs of Lamentations talk about Her many times. The Babylonians are the oppressors, but She has developed Her own problems.
  • Zechariah talks about Her three times. 9:9 is the last mention in the Old Testament, but Matthew and John repeat the promise in the New Testament.

Eve, Daughter Zion, Bride of the Lamb – Observations lead to questions, but answers require diligence and study. These three “women” came from a man and in Scripture are tied to him.

  • Eve came from Adam’s side and then the Father finished forming her.
  • Daughter Zion is a part of Israel that is associated with David.
  • The Bride of the Lamb is being formed because of the blood of Jesus. Why did I use Lamb and not Christ? Much to my surprise the “bride of Christ” is not in Scripture. Revelations 19:6-9 and 22:17 does have the Lamb getting married. This is a “mystery” but given the number of “marriage” parables Jesus used in explaining His Kingdom, it should not be a surprise.

Yes, I have questions from comparing these three “women” but more study is required. Eve and Daughter Zion were/are important, both made mistakes and also had promises given to them. O Church of Jesus, who will be the Bride of the Lamb, we do not want to make their mistakes.

General Observations about Daughter Zion

  1. She is associated with mounts, gates, walls, and other structures. So, on one level, She is a city.
  2. She starts off well.
  3. Micah and Jeremiah have Her in trouble with Babylon dragging Her away.
  4. Zechariah promises a comeback because the Messiah will return to Her.
  5. Daughter ________ is a term that has held some surprises. (See the first post.) Some enemies have been giving that term! With that said, I believe that Daughter Zion is a term of affection and shows the depth of love that the Father has for His daughter(s).

Your Turn – There was a Daughter Babylon, a Daughter Judah, a Daughter Jerusalem, and a Daughter Zion; why was there no daughter Samaria?

Daughter Zion

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Daughter Zion is a STUDY that has pushed my learning curve and I know this post is just the start. The translation you read will have different numbers of times the term, Daughter Zion is used and how it is worded. I use the NIV and it appears about thirty times. The KJV and others will use different phrases, at times, like maiden, young woman, young daughter, or unmarried woman. Yes, there are very specific words in Hebrew for daughter and virgin, but translators have a job to do, so check several sources. In the KJV in the New Testament Zion is spelled Sion in Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15; which is Zechariah 9:9 and refers to the last leg of Jesus’ final trip into Jerusalem.

Isaiah and Jeremiah/Lamentations use the term the most. It seems that David first coined the term in Psalm 9:14. Virgin Daughter Zion is the phrase that really pushed this study, the NIV uses it three times. I will give a few thoughts on both phrases as I believe they hold very different messages. I observed that the terms may mean actual women/girls, the city of Jerusalem, or the land of Judah/Israel. Yes, you need to read them in context because I am not sure that one “shoe fits all”. These phrases are also used for Jerusalem, Judah, Babylon, Edom, and Philistia. I have to wonder if poetic rhyme or some form of wordplay is at work with some of these passages.

Eve, Daughter Zion, the Bride of the Lamb – The first thing Christians need to do is lose the misogynous and misandrous mindsets and woke views that cloud our thinking as to how the Father sees His daughters, they are special and important. Eve was made for Adam using “prime rib”. (The Father defended Sarah when Abraham did not.) The devil has feared and hated the Daughters of Zion since God gave the promise of the Messiah to Eve. Eve was the completion of Adam that would populate the earth. Daughter Zion was how Israel would be filled. The Bride is how the earth will know the righteousness of the Father and the salvation that comes through Jesus.  Godly offspring is what the Father seeks-Malachi 2:15. These are the issues with the strange story in Genesis 6:1-4. “Sons of God” are historically the fallen angels polluting the human gene pool.

Virgin Daughter Zion – I will give my current thought on this phrase and hope that the Father will give me insight on it. This phrase is really only used twice-2 Kings 19:21 and Isaiah 37:22 both describe when the Assyrian king was sent away from Jerusalem, having never entered or defeated it, and Lamentations 2:13 is about Babylon having defeated and destroyed Jerusalem. (My verses and search are from the NIV.)

Two things cloud my thinking here. 1. 1 Kings 14:25 has Rehoboam and Jerusalem being defeated by Egypt, and 2 Chronicles 28 has Ahaz and Jerusalem losing to Israel and captives being taken. 2. Isaiah 47:1 refers to Babylon as a virgin daughter and queen city with a wound. Daniel has a story with the Medes and Persians about to take Babylon (the handwriting on the wall). My knowledge of this history is not that strong, so I do not know if any other nation actually breached the city of Babylon. There are five passages, in the NIV, that use the phrase “Daughter Babylon”.