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Banner of Love ~ Marriage Reflections of Yeshua ~ Part 3 ~ A

September 29, 2013 at 12:45 am (WSGD Newes)

UNITY

To begin this part A of Part 3…I am giving a section out of The Living Words – Part 1 by Jeff A. Benner. The reason shall become obvious…in order to understand how we reflect; as in give a shadow or likeness to our God; in marriage and as His Bride – we must understand unity as taught by God, Himself. Before the confusion of languages in Genesis 11 Hebrew was the one language, first spoken by God to man, then man to God and man to man. With this language came a totally different perspective and mindset. It is therefore, somewhat part of the fulfillment of prophesy that God through Isaiah says in Isaiah 55:8.       “My ways are not your ways, nor My thoughts your thoughts.” This is because by this time much of the singleness of thinking had fallen into such chaos and but a remnant remained of this way of thinking and speaking (in Shem, Noah’s son’s line – as prophesied and fulfilled in Yeshua; who is also from his line. See genealogy of Yeshua in Matthew). It is key to why Yeshua (Jesus) said, “However when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative but will say only what He hears. He will also announce to you events from the future. He will glorify Me, because He will receive from what is Mine and announce it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine; this is why I said that He receives from what is Mine and will announce it to you.” (John 16:13-14)
In fact John chapters 13-17 are some of the most pointed and plain references of Yeshua speaking of the Spirit, Unity, and the ways of their purpose and teaching.

So…we begin with asking for the Spirit of Elohim to teach us…what is unity?

Pages 103-106 of Benners book gives a glimpse.***

***The Hebrew word ehhad is often translated as “one” but a more Hebraic definition would be a “unit” as can be clearly observed in the following verse.

Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cling with his wife and they will be for a flesh unit (ehhad).  Genesis 2:24

The Western mind sees “one” as only singular, void of any connection to something else. For instance, “one” man is an individual entity to himself, just as “one” tree is an entity to itself. To the Ancient Hebrew mind, nothing is “one”, all things are dependent upon something else. A man is not “one” but a unity of body, bones, flesh, organs, and blood. The man is also in unity with his wife and family as well as with the larger comm-unity. Even a tree is a unity of roots, trunk, branches, and leaves, which is also in unity with the surrounding landscape. “One” year is a unity of seasons.

The first use of ehhad is found in Genesis 1:5 where “evening” and “morning” two states of opposite function, are united to form “one” day.

And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

It should be noted the use of the Hebrew word ehhad in this verse is rather intriguing. Days two through seven are identified by their cardinal number – second, third, forth etc. The only exception to this is the “first” day which does not use the cardinal number rishon meaning “first” but instead uses the ordinal number ehhad. I am of the opinion this day is a summary of all creation, a unity of the days of creation being expressed as the separation of light and darkness. The Hebrew mind does not view time in a linear fashion as we Westerners do but as cyclical. The seven days are not meant to be a “timeline” of events but a poetic description of God’s work.

With all of this said, we do find the Hebrew word “ehhad” meaning “one” in the sense of individuality.

And Elohiym said, the waters under the sky will be gathered to one (ehhad) place…  Genesis 1:9

I have theorized in the Ancient Hebrew language there was another word to represent the ordinal number “one” and the word ehhad was solely used for a unit that exist within a unity. But over time, the original Hebrew word for “one” went into disuse and the word ehhad was used for a unit as well as the number “one”. This would not be a unique occurrence, as languages are constantly changing, words are dropped and added, and definitions and usages change over time. However, there are some textual evidences to support this theory.

The number twelve is written in Hebrew as sheney asar, literally translated as “two ten”. We would then expect eleven to be written ehhad asar and we do find that in some verses, but we also find ashtey asar such as in the following verse.

And on the third day eleven bullocks…  Numbers 29:20

The word ashtey means “one” but is only used in the context of “eleven”. It would appear ashtey was the original word for “one” but was replaced by ehhad.

How does this relate to the two natures of man, the physical and the spiritual, such as we see in the following verse?

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.   Psalm 24:3-4

Our Western mind perceives “clean hands” as physical and “pure heart” as spiritual, but what is “spiritual”? The dictionary defines this word as “having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material.” By definition, the “spiritual” is nonphysical, and since all Hebraic thought is founded in the physical, there is no such concept of “spiritual” in the Hebrew mind. The above passage is a Hebrew parallelism, expressing “one” idea in two (or more) different ways. To the Hebrew mind, clean hands (an idiom for innocence) is the same as a pure mind (also an idiom for innocence). The author is not creating a dichotomy of physical and spiritual but expressing innocence in two different ways.

I and the Father are One.  John 10:30

While the Greek text uses the word heis meaning “one” we must take our definition from the Hebrew word ehhad since He was speaking Hebrew and not Greek. What Yeshua (Jesus) is saying is He and the Father work together as a unit, with the same purposes and goals. Yeshua also desired this same unity with His disciples as we see in His prayer to His Father.

That they may all be one (heis/ehhad); even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may also be in Us, so that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them, that they may be one (heis/ehhad) even as We are One (heis/ehhad).   John 17:21,22***

So much scripture becomes clearer and solidifies the “Old” testament with the “New”…making it “One” – ehhad when we begin to take Saul (Paul) and what he said to heart. Romans 12:1-2

I exhort, you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please Him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you. In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed by the standards of the ‘olam hazeh’ (world/this age/ this way of perceiving). Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and you will agree that what He wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed. (In union with Him)

Keeping in mind that Yeshua (Jesus), Himself called and set Paul to the task of reaching out to the Gentile community. (Acts 9:3-6; 15-16; chapter 13:46-47)

Paul, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in his time a pillar of scholarship and influence in the Hebrew culture, language and academia of his time. Why? Why didn't He just send Peter and the rest with this mission? Why call Paul in such a way? Yes, because it testified to Yeshua's complete transforming power, but God is nothing if not thorough…Paul's "resume" in Yeshua's language and mindset – Hebrew – was unsurpassed! He also had Greek as a strong second language…God knew what He was doing…still does!! His unity is unquestionable, unsurpassed, and totally reliable. No one knows ehhad/unity like Elohim!

Stay tuned for Part B, where we find awesome beauty in how Unity is reflected in us, Adonia’s chosen, His Bride and how amazingly He intends for our marriages to be an example of ehhad!

Grace and peace in Yeshua the Messiah ❤

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