Welcome to The Crimson Thread. the teaching web site of Jon Behrens, pastor of Restoration Messianic Fellowship in the Boulder/Longmont area of Northern Colorado. You will find here articles on various Scriptural subjects as well as Bible studies that have been recorded at RMF.
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When we read the Bible, we tend to interpret words according to our own language and culture. This often leads to a misunderstanding of what Scripture is trying to convey. In English the meaning of 'love' is very much context dependent. To love ice cream means something different that loving your spouse. So what is being said when Moses or Y'shua says to love God and your neighbor?
In this set of Luke parables, Y'shua contrasts the Kingdom of God as it existed in first century Israel with what it should be. Healing on the Sabbath, the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven.
It is impossible to use the power of God if you don't realize that you have it.
Having established that Christ is not an angel, but is the human son of God, and that He is able to understand our frailties, the writer then goes on to establish His priesthood. In this, since He is not a descendant of Aaron, the writer must use a different priestly order; that of Melchizedek.
Symbolically, the firstborn represents a link between one generation and the next. In Exodus, that intergenerational link is broken by the tenth plague. Thus the Egyptian system is cut of and God's firstborn carries His Word and ways to the rest of the world.
Being made in the image of God, people have the ability to be creative. In building the Tabernacle in the wilderness, many things were specified by God because deviation would have compromised His message. Other things, however, were open for interpretation by the artisans who worked on the project. In allowing this, Israel became more than passive recipients of God's provision. They could now be active contributors to God's purposes.
Gratitude is the antidote to envy, self pity, malice and covetousness. When cultivated, this soul trait can become a stream of living water that makes the field of life blossom.
In Luke 13 and 14 the parables of the fig tree and the great banquet. Y'shua, acting as a prophet, tells Israel that she is unfruitful and that she has spurned the invitation of God to His great banquet.
Old Testament prophets had two modes: a call to repentance and speaking obscurely and in parables. This exactly follows the pattern of Y'shua's ministry.
Just as God rested from His work in creation, there is a rest available to the people of God. This rest is from fear and striving to be good enough to merit salvation. Once we trust in Him, we may enter His rest. This is in contrast to the wilderness generation who were not able to muster that trust and so perished without entering the land.
Exodus 38:21—40:38
I Kings 7:151—8:21
Matthew 27:45—66
Thus said the Lord:
"Stand by the crossroads
and consider,
Inquire about ancient paths:
Which is the road to happiness?
Travel it, and find tranquillity
for yourselves."
(Je 6:16)