1. i n f o r m i n g
We are meant to know. We are meant to know through our senses - all of them. We learn, choose, grow, question and want to know more.
We are creatures inhabiting a universe full of light and information. John Wheeler, one of the fathers of modern physics, spoke of information as the foundation level of physical reality. We all are information -- and all of our information is known. Common English metaphors use "light" to represent information and "darkness" to represent ignorance, as in, "Now I see the light" and, "I was kept in the dark about it." When we learn something transcendent, we call it enlightenment. Misinformation can hinder, blind, or confuse. True information frees us, cleanses us and fills us with light. That kind of over-arching information, the Truth, is accessible only to those not blinded by misinformation. Yet Truth can even break through blindness when the Knower and the known communicate. McCandlish Phillips, a veteran award winning New York Times reporter, in his breakthrough book, The Bible, the Supernatural, and the Jews, wrote, "The senses of man, expert as they are in the physical realm, are deaf and dumb and blind in the realm of the spiritual and supernatural. Beyond that, speculation adduces exactly nothing. Yet man is entitled to know of those unseen things which are supernatural and eternal."(1) As the greatest conceivable being, the Knower gives us the information we need. He has given His name as "YHWH", now often pronounced "Yahweh" in English, and meaning, "I am what I am." He is the Self-Existing One, the Creator. He is also self-named with many names which give us information about His character and values. These are the grammar, the rules, of His identity. He says the greatest of these is a love that is selfless and self-sacrificing. If we choose not to believe this, then we are choosing not to know Him and shutting our only door to the highest Truth. He thought us up. He knew what we would be, from before the beginning of time. We are His creation, made to know Him, to choose Him, to love Him. How do we know this? Just as He created and maintains all things by the expression of His power, so He has revealed Himself to humanity through a human expression of Himself. This means that on a human level we can communicate with Him, in spite of the limitations of our physical senses. He offers us this gift because He is our perfect Father. The human expression of Himself, whom YHWH calls His "Son," was given a name, Yahshua or Yeshua, a common name in the human culture which nurtured Him. The common English name, Joshua, comes from it. Its meaning is "YHWH saves/rescues." Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, became the pinnacle of the human communication of truth, of all trustworthy human relationship and of full devotion to His Father YHWH. His children call this expression of Himself "the Word of YHWH," and this human Word titles Himself "the way, the truth and the life." He is the only door, the only light. He was sent by YHWH so that our hunger could be satisfied, our hunger to know as we are known. All we need do is to sincerely ask YHWH to show us the truth. (1.) McCandlish Phillips, The Bible, the Supernatural, and the Jews, The World Publishing Company, 1970, p. 14. |
The Mighty One, in many parts and in many ways, speaking out before this to our ancestors through the prophets [of YHWH], in these last times spoke out to us through a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages... Hebrews 1:1,2 Through Him there was life, and His life was the enlightenment for the people [of YHWH]. John 1:4 Every good act of giving and every complete gifting comes down from above, from Father[-YHWH] for the enlightenments [from YHWH],... James 1:17 For how The TENT Lexicon was used to translate the above example verses click here. |
Word as Light
Word as Light
Helen Keller, blind, deaf and mute since infancy, could not learn language because she lived in darkness and silence. She was allowed to do almost anything she wanted, and so she behaved like any other tame but untrained animal. Helen had information through smell, touch and taste, but she could not even understand or communicate as well as an animal, since she could neither speak, see nor hear words.
Then a teacher came and said Helen must learn a tactile alphabet. What ensued was a desperate struggle between "tough love," which is self-sacrificing, and the human default of self-love.
After fruitless months and an epic battle, an angry Helen, held by her frustrated teacher's grip, finally learned that a word had meaning (link to video clip). As her teacher repeatedly spelled "water" into Helen's hand while pumping water over Helen's other hand, the meaning of the word, like light, broke through Helen's silent darkness as she realized that the word was untouchably connected to the water.
Most of us have no problem learning words and meanings together. Helen knew many things, many meanings, but the object-spelling action her teacher pressed into her hand was a meaningless mystery. Her first understanding of a single word's meaning had a volcanic effect, kindling an explosive desire to learn immediately the words for everything she knew. Words had become Helen's invisible light.
Spiritually, we also are blind and ignorant until we see by the light of YHWH's Word.
We are Helen Keller.
Then a teacher came and said Helen must learn a tactile alphabet. What ensued was a desperate struggle between "tough love," which is self-sacrificing, and the human default of self-love.
After fruitless months and an epic battle, an angry Helen, held by her frustrated teacher's grip, finally learned that a word had meaning (link to video clip). As her teacher repeatedly spelled "water" into Helen's hand while pumping water over Helen's other hand, the meaning of the word, like light, broke through Helen's silent darkness as she realized that the word was untouchably connected to the water.
Most of us have no problem learning words and meanings together. Helen knew many things, many meanings, but the object-spelling action her teacher pressed into her hand was a meaningless mystery. Her first understanding of a single word's meaning had a volcanic effect, kindling an explosive desire to learn immediately the words for everything she knew. Words had become Helen's invisible light.
Spiritually, we also are blind and ignorant until we see by the light of YHWH's Word.
We are Helen Keller.
Purify them by Your truth; Your Word is truth. (TENT - John 17:17)
And you will know the truth [from YHWH], and the truth [from YHWH] will free you. (TENT - John 8:32)
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To illustrate the theme of how YHWH informs His creation, here are song lyrics by King David. They were translated by using The TENT Lexicon and a Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament as found in The Apostolic Bible Polyglot (with Strong's numbers).
Psalm 19:1-5
(for the ending - a song by David)
The skies tell the story of YHWH's influence,
and the established order [of YHWH] brings forth a message -
a making by His hands.
Day after day an utterance pours forth, and night by night brings forth a message -
a knowledge which is not speakings nor words; their voices are not heard.
Their clarity went out into all the physical realm, and their utterances to the ends of YHWH's dwelling.
He appointed His tent in the sun, and He, as a bridegroom going out from his wedding canopy,
will be cheered on like a mighty one running a race of endurance.