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John written in Hebrew, false doctrines, Father's moral law and Jesus moral law, two teachings in Scripture, salvation, Sabbath, Acts of redemption on Sabbath, surrender, pattern , Jesus in the OT

Q14: 21. Bethesda and the Sanhedrin..

Show the Desire of Ages is inspired..

(1) John writes his epistle in : Hebrew..

"Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda,having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting forthe moving of the water."Jesus was again at Jerusalem. Walking alone, in apparent meditation and prayer, He came to the pool.

Joh 5:2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

Notice John writes his epistle in Hebrew. The Greek translator scribe is careful to add for his Greek readers, certain words of Hebrew, showing the words and ideas of John come to the readers in Hebrew. Many people say what does it matter, if the NT came to us today in Greek?

Isa 28:7 But they also have erred through wine (symbol of doctrines),

  • 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
  • 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line;
  • Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule "line" he marketh it out...

    The correct way to read the Holy Writings is to line up every word with every other word...(notice the word "line" is written four times)

    This means we should line up the Greek translation of the NT with the Hebrew words in the former rains of the OT, to better see what the latter rains of Jesus teachings in His NT is all about..Sadly many of us believe we can discard the entire OT altogether when it comes to the NT teachings of Jesus..

    For more, see the way Scripture should be studied according to Sola Scriptoria.

    Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, ...

  • 8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
  • 9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.

    When the teachings of Jesus (torah of the OT) was written in former rain times, His teachings do not change the teachings in the latter rain times of the NT. (Otherwise you would have OT people saved differently from NT people ! ) But they are in harmony with each other. Jesus' words will be the same. Do not be deceived by false doctrines of men.

    (2) What is Sabbath for as moral time ?..

    "Wilt thou be made whole?" arrested his attention.Hope came to his heart. He felt that in some way he was to have help. But the glow of encouragementsoon faded. He remembered how often he had tried to reach the pool, and now he had little prospect ofliving till it should again be troubled. He turned away wearily, saying, "Sir, I have no man, when thewater is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me."

    Why is Ceasing Day a moral commandment of Jesus' teachings? During the creation of earth, Elohiym power created all things including time in seven days.The last thing engineered was "time for GOD" by GOD resting and ceasing (shabbath as a verb) on Sabbath Day, making in the week a whole day of time for special purposes. It was nota day for ceasing all things altogether...so what is Ceasing Day for ?

    Mankind is not to work seven days a week, but once a day, stop doing his usual work and share time with others, become a blessing for others in a redemptive way. These words are commanded in Jesus teachings of moral law, but only added after the Father's moral commandments.

    Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

  • Ex 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
  • 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
  • 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
  • 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

    Here is the Father's moral direction of Sabbath time...and if in an universe of no missing, the redeemed are all well and need not redeem each other, but share glory directly with GOD...

    De 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.

  • 13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
  • 14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
  • 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to (asah) "do" the sabbath day.

    Here is Jesus' commandments concerning the moral law of time, during our earth time, when people are found missing, ill and in need of sharing our redemption services of Jesus with others...

    Is the reader seeing why there are two teachings in the Holy Writings ? The Fathers teachings was for a universe where missing does not happen, and Jesus teachings is a witness to the Father's teachings, is all about helping those in the universe found missing the power of the Father...

    Foolish humans assume Jesus abolished his teachings of redemption when He died on His cross... abolished them ? no, changed them ? yes, as new wine goes into new wine skins... but did not abolish them, we still abide under the shadow of Jesus... for His light covers over our missing, creating shadows...

    For more, see the sin-offering NOT unto death.

    See the SOP concerning the love feasts.

    (3) Claim the Seed promise..

    "Wilt thou be made whole?" He bids youarise in health and peace. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole. Believe His word, and it will befulfilled. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in acting upon His word you willreceive strength. Whatever may be the evil practice, the master passion which through long indulgencebinds both soul and body, Christ is able and longs to deliver. He will impart life to the soul that is "deadin trespasses." Eph. 2:1. He will set free the captive that is held by weakness and misfortune and thechains of sin.

    The Spirit of Prophecy says ...

  • Plant the seed promise of Jesus
  • Ask for it to germinate
  • Believe it's specific promise
  • Claim the power you seek

    and thank Jesus for growing in you

    Notice SOP says "will to serve Jesus" the SOP quotes the trespasses in Ephesians 2:1 only, stating Jesus frees us from the "chains of sin".

    2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

    This verse is translated correctly, and the wicked angels did sin, but made no sin-offering, are thus chained in the "chains of darkness" where the power of GOD does not.

    But humans have a way out, if we cling to the relationship of Jesus, He becomes Straight with us, and we are able to grow in Him forever . What a daily rescue !

  • (4) Meaningless restrictions on Sabbath..

    "In their judgment He had not only broken the law in healingthe sick man on the Sabbath, but had committed sacrilege in bidding him bear away his bed.The Jews had so perverted the law that they made it a yoke of bondage. Their meaninglessrequirements had become a byword among other nations. Especially was the Sabbath hedged in by allmanner of senseless restrictions. It was not to them a delight, the holy of the Lord, and honorable. Thescribes and Pharisees had made its observance an intolerable burden. A Jew was not allowed to kindle afire nor even to light a candle on the Sabbath. As a consequence the people were dependent upon theGentiles for many services which their rules forbade them to do for themselves

    To many people Ceasing Day has become a day of ceasing all activities. Is this what Sabbath is for ? No.

    Many of us sleep the Sabbath hours away in the afternoon. For those of us getting older, this is natural as our mutations in our cells kill us slowly with less weakened powers...do we assume only our earthly broken relationship of the breath of life empowers us, or does the renewed breath of salvation in Jesus, awaken us to renewed power and vigour only He knows growing inside of us ?

    So which relationship is ruling over us? Even on Sabbath, a special time for sharing Jesus with others..go and seek the lost as Jesus did and let His redemptive powers fall on them..Shalom

    (5) Magnify the teachings of Jesus..

    Jesus had come to "magnify the law, and make it honorable." He was not to lessen its dignity, but toexalt it. The scripture says, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in theearth." Isa. 42:21, 4. He had come to free the Sabbath from those burdensome requirements that hadmade it a curse instead of a blessing.This would raise the question of what it was lawful to doon the Sabbath, and would open the way for Him to denounce the restrictions of the Jews in regard tothe Lord's day , and to declare their traditions void

    Let's go through the Father's teachings and see how Jesus magnify them and made them a blessing...

    Ex 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

  • 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

    Here is the Father's teachings, which applies to the universe He lives in where there is no missing His power at any time... The problem for us on earth in the Father's universe is we are "missing" or "sinners"..

    Ho 13:4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

    Here is Jesus' teachings, added to the Father's teachings, and magnifying and making the Father's teachings a blessing...why does it become a blessing ? Because Jesus teachings are for those in the universe who are found missing the Father's power... Hence "sinners" need a "saviour" or "yasha" to "Rescue" them... Hence Jesus name is a verb "Yasha" or "Yeshua" (just different human spelling, same Hebrew word) who is continually saving us in our fallen world...

    Ex 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

    Notice the Father's teachings of Sabbath is for a universe where no missing of any kind occurs...there are no sick people...none require redemption... none need not do anything but give glory to the Father's powers of Creation... If you look at the Sabbath beginning in the Genesis account, it begins and was not worded "morning and evening the seventh day".

    Ge 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested "Shabbath" "to cease" on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

    The verb "shabbath" is the same word as the noun "Shabbath" to cease on Ceasing Day. The verb tells you GOD began the Sabbath hours, but they were never to cease, and this defines a week of seven days... Saying "morning and evening the seventh day" would imply a week included eight days, as a part of Sunday is mentioned in saying this...but Genesis says things correctly...

    Notice Jesus added to the Father's teachings because we live in a fallen world where missing the Father's powers occurs.

    De 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep "asah" "to do" the sabbath day.

    Notice Jesus, brought out his saved from Egypt (world) and is our Saviour, and commands us to do on His Sabbath, as Jesus did on Sabbath...

    What did Jesus do on Sabbath ? He went about making sick people whole, making sinners free and doing Jesus redemption in others...Why ? Because our universe here is fallen, so we need to make Sabbath a time for redemption and sharing Jesus fruit to others.

    (6) Ceasing Day does not mean ceasing everything..

    Jesus stated to them that the work of relieving the afflicted was in harmony with the Sabbath law. Itwas in harmony with the work of God's angels, who are ever descending and ascending betweenheaven and earth to minister to suffering humanity. Jesus declared, "My Father worketh hitherto, and Iwork." All days are God's, in which to carry out His plans for the human race. If the Jews'interpretation of the law was correct, then Jehovah was at fault, whose work has quickened and upheldevery living thing since first He laid the foundations of the earth; then He who pronounced His workgood, and instituted the Sabbath to commemorate its completion, must put a period to His labor, and stop the never-ending routine of the universe.

    Notice when Jesus did redemption on Sabbath, it was a blessed work...but the Jews hated Jesus for doing on Sabbath... The Jews failed to see the Sabbath teachings of Jesus in the OT:

    De 5:15 ... therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep "asah" "to do" the sabbath day

    (7) Acts of redemption..

    The necessities of life must be attended to,the sick must be cared for, the wants of the needy must be supplied. He will not be held guiltless whoneglects to relieve suffering on the Sabbath. God's holy rest day was made for man, and acts of mercyare in perfect harmony with its intent. God does not desire His creatures to suffer an hour's pain thatmay be relieved upon the Sabbath or any other day.

    The demands upon God are even greater upon the Sabbath than upon other days. His people then leavetheir usual employment, and spend the time in meditation and worship. They ask more favors of Himon the Sabbath than upon other days. They demand His special attention. They crave His choicestblessings. God does not wait for the Sabbath to pass before He grants these requests. Heaven's worknever ceases, and men should never rest from doing good. The Sabbath is not intended to be a period ofuseless inactivity.

    The law forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains alivelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as Godceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave theoccupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holydeeds. The work of Christ in healing the sick was in perfect accord with the law. It honored theSabbath.

    It is lawful in the teachings to do good on Sabbath. Notice SOP speaks of the "law" rather than "teachings". Perhaps this helps make it easier for those reading our translations of Hebrew, rather than correcting the fuzzy translations all the time.

    (8) Jesus left us an example how the Father's power in us should work..

    They felt sufficient in themselves for all things, and realizedno need of a higher wisdom to direct their acts. But the Son of God was surrendered to the Father'swill, and dependent upon His power. So utterly was Christ emptied of self that He made no plans forHimself. He accepted God's plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So should wedepend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His will.

    Imagine the temptation for Christ to use His natural divinity in Him to do His Father's will... this would be defined as missing His Father's power...Jesus temptations was far greater than ours...we have no useful power matching GOD's for holy work...we can't achieve anything without the Father's power... but Jesus could if He used His own divinity...but if He did, than the relationship dies...and that is what sinning means... Jesus upheld the relationship the whole time, and daily was the that days tasks unfolded:-

    Pr 16:9 � A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

    Notice the partnered decision process in this verse....we plan our course our travels, but GOD directs the daily steps in getting there...And surprise surprise the SOP says this concerning Jesus daily relationship dependence with His Father's powers...

    (9) Make object lessons exactly as the Holy Writings pattern..

    When Moses was about to build the sanctuary as a dwelling place for God, he was directed to make allthings according to the pattern shown him in the mount. Moses was full of zeal to do God's work; themost talented, skillful men were at hand to carry out his suggestions. Yet he was not to make a bell, apomegranate, a tassel, a fringe, a curtain, or any vessel of the sanctuary, except according to the patternshown him.

    So why are our Church sanctuaries built any way we please? There are whole chapters on how to build sanctuaries on a fallen earth, patterne d after the pattern in heaven, yet we humans build our buildings anyway we please, based on human traditions...not according to the Scriptures...

    Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

    Here is one sin, we do with our buildings, many of them make the people face east and we pray ignorantly towards the east...which is an antichrist direction...spiritual and literal Babylon does..

    (10) Humans make object lessons according to their own ways..

    Israel had chosen their own ways. They had not builded according to the pattern; but Christ, the truetemple for God's indwelling, molded every detail of His earthly life in harmony with God's ideal. Hesaid, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." Ps. 40:8. So ourcharacters are to be builded "for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Eph. 2:22. And we are to"make all things according to the pattern," even Him who "suffered for us, leaving us an example, thatye should follow His steps." Heb. 8:5; 1 Peter 2:21

    How far do we model our ways according to the pattern ? In everything...we should follow the teachings of Jesus completely because we are partnered to Him in relationship and our love responds to His love.

    (11) Salvation is about : RELATIONSHIP..

    So long as wesurrender the will to God, and trust in His strength and wisdom, we shall be guided in safe paths, tofulfill our appointed part in His great plan. But the one who depends upon his own wisdom and poweris separating himself from God. Instead of working in unison with Christ, he is fulfilling the purpose ofthe enemy of God and man.

    Notice the contrast here, either we work with GOD in a relationship, or we do for GOD in our own human power...which is not a relationship...only the broken relationship we have from Adam's fall...and this relationship is daily dying..we need a brand new relationship, one that has ongoing living...only found in Jesus...and we give Him daily our will, to do as He wills, that we are filled with the Father's power of love, to do and live according to His ways...

    When you get married as the Holy Writings say, the gender male has maleness love and the gender female has femaleness love, so the partnered relationship completes the love... love becomes one in unison of harmony...the married man does not own such partnered love...the married wife does not own such partnered love...neither couple owns the relationship because we cannot force the will, so the relationship of love has it's own being as long we the couple remain faithful to each other...This is a dark simile of how GOD and our relationship with Him works...

    Many get bogged down with sanctification as some human response to GOD's love in humans...but the word "sanctify" or "sanctification" means to be "Set apart" for "special use"..or "to be made for holy use"..Consider this simple illustration:

    When we were children our daddies put us on their knees to experience driving the car down the bushy road...we felt helpless by the awesome task, but we eventually got the idea of steering the big wheel to make the car drive smoothly down the road...if we made too much of a mistake, a big hand suddenly overpowered us little hands and make a proper change in direction...

    Question: Who really drove the car down the road? the little child or the big Daddy?

    There is a transfer of experience and power from the Daddy to the little child (what scholars invent as imputed and imparted ..whatever that means)..but at every step of this process the relationship is always there... neither Being has technical ownership of this partnered relationship, but the power transferred always came from the big Daddy especially if He is divine and grants us living as well as a will to do as He wills...Do not rise in pride thinking we own anything...do not marvel or wish more details...do not invent more words to describe how a relationship works..remember this simple story of how a big Daddy sanctifies his little child in his first car driving lesson, and ponder how relationship works...

    Jesus makes us holy and sets us apart to be special...He empowers us with the Father's power and we are the little child yoked to Jesus, to learn and experience His experiences...He takes the bigger load and watches over the relationship...we take up a baby cross and follow where the big Daddy yoked to us wants to go...

    The Hebrew also had an agricultural illustration to explain how one grows in experience with GOD...an older more experienced ox was yoked with a younger less experienced one, to learn the burden and share the daily walk, the Master wanted the relationship to do each day on the field...There are five object lessons in this picture:-

  • you the soil being ploughed
  • The Father walking upon you (subdue)
  • The Father holds the Holy Spirit guiding the ploughing..
  • Jesus is walking over you too, with His training teachings
  • The older mature bull (Jesus in figure)
  • The younger inexperienced bull (you in figure)

    (12) Father's power created the : universe..

    The humble Nazarene asserts His real nobility. He rises above humanity, throws off the guise of sinand shame, and stands revealed, the Honored of the angels, the Son of God, One with the Creator of theuniverse. His hearers are spellbound. No man has ever spoken words like His, or borne himself withsuch a kingly majesty. His utterances are clear and plain, fully declaring His mission, and the duty ofthe world. "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all menshould honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not theFather which hath sent Him. . . . For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son tohave life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son ofman." Desire of Ages, page 210.

    Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God (elohiym), who created all things by Jesus Christ:

    Notice all things were created through heaven's elohiym power (the Father and Holy Spirit) by the mouth and words of Jesus, the Son of Elohiym.

    For more on creator power see Our Creators

    (13) Why Church Pastors do not : believe..

    But self-will is blind. Jesus had violated the traditions of the rabbis, anddisregarded their authority, and they would not believe.

    As soon as you come to a preacher or teacher with new light on their human spin, they will not listen to you because you will disrupt their own experience, you are rocking the church boat of customs and traditions.

    There is now a public creed which Church members must agree to in order to come into Church which is not Biblical. See human creeds based on translation issues.

    (14) Every page in the OT is about: Jesus..

    In every page, whether history, or precept, or prophecy, the Old Testament Scriptures are irradiated with the glory of the Son of God. Ac 10:43 To him (Christ) give all the prophets witness,...To Christ "give all the prophets witness." Acts 10:43. From thepromise given to Adam, down through

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    the patriarchal line and the legal economy, heaven's glorious light made plain the footsteps of the Redeemer.

    How many of us believe Jesus was there in the OT? The same Jesus in the NT?

    For more, see Jesus in the OT

    (15) False Bible study causes : human ambitions..

    The Jewish leaders had studied the teachings of the prophets concerning the kingdom of the Messiah;but they had done this, not with a sincere desire to know the truth, but with the purpose of findingevidence to sustain their ambitious hopes. When Christ came in a manner contrary to theirexpectations, they would not receive Him; and in order to justify themselves, they tried to prove Him adeceiver.

    They would receive the false teacher because he flattered their pride by sanctioning their cherishedopinions and traditions. But the teaching of Christ did not coincide with their ideas. It was spiritual, anddemanded the sacrifice of self; therefore they would not receive it. They were not acquainted with God,and to them His voice through Christ was the voice of a stranger.Is not the same thing repeated in our day? Are there not many, even religious leaders, who arehardening their hearts against the Holy Spirit, making it impossible for them to recognize the voice ofGod? Are they not rejecting the word of God, that they may keep their own traditions?

    Many of us want entertainment to flatter our pride, not Biblical truth of Jesus that cuts, shears and divides us.

    The plough went out to plough his field.. Will you let Jesus, plough you, because Jesus the personal noun is more interested in the verbs of action in you.

    Isa 28:24 Doth the plowman (charash) plow (charash) all day to sow? (since the verb and noun Hebrew is really the same word:)

  • Isa 28:24 Doth the plow (charash) plow (charash) all day to sow?

    Why not let Jesus begin in your soil as His Seed today? right now...just a simple prayer will get Jesus going...and your relationship will begin...

    For more, see Getting started in Jesus

    The next chapter of Desire of Ages..we look the death of John the Baptist..

    Desire of Ages theme

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