A LOVE STORY: THE BOOK OF RUTH

Chapter 23

WE ARE A TYPE AND SHADOW OF GOD
(“Ye are gods” Psa 82:6; John 10:34)

11-18-07

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(Gen 1:27)  So God created man in his own image [to shade; a phantom, resemblance; hence a representative figure], in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

1.       shade = Dict: 1. the comparative darkness caused by the interception of rays of light. 2. an area of comparative darkness; a shady place. 3. darkness gathering at the close of day. 4. a retired or obscure place. 5. comparative obscurity. 6. a specter or ghost.

THE ORIGINAL ASSERTIVE-SUBMISSIVE RELATIONSHIP MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH

(Gen 2:21-23)  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

1.       Commentary: While the woman was still inside the body of Adam, we may safely conclude that Adam and the woman were mentally of one accord, perfectly of one mind, completely and exquisitely unified in agreement. Upon the advent of the woman’s separation from Adam’s body through a God ordained miraculous “type of birth,” the harmonious character of their relationship heretofore contained within Adam was outwardly manifested in the flesh. What was that harmonious character? Please note that the character manifested in the first statement made by Adam in the Bible concerning the newly birthed woman and was the assertive declaration of naming her “Woman” (Gen 2:23); whereas in response to Adam’s assertion of a name upon her, we hear from Woman no dispute, disagreement nor argument. In other words, upon their bodily separation, Woman manifested total submission to the assertion of Adam. Further, Adam’s first words were a blessing to Woman insofar as Adam gave to her a name. Their assertive-submissive relationship was concretely amplified immediately after Adam and the woman disobeyed God (sinned), clearly specifying that the man shall have God ordained power to assert his will over the woman (Gen 3:16). Thereafter Adam again asserted his authority over Woman by giving her a name-change to “Eve” (Gen 3:20).

a.       assert = Dict: 1. to state as true; affirm; declare. 2. to maintain or defend. 3. to put (oneself) forward boldly and insistently. 

b.       submit = Dict: 1. to yield in surrender, compliance, or obedience. 2. to subject (esp. oneself) to conditions imposed, treatment, etc. 3. to refer [defer] to the decision or judgment of another . 

2.       (Heb 7:7)  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better [stronger, nobler: best /// vigor ["great"]:--dominion, might [-ily], power, strength].

3.       (Gen 3:16)  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [in the sense of stretching out after; a longing (after)] shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee [(have, make to have) dominion, govern, X indeed, reign, (bear, cause to, have) rule (-ing, -r), have power].

4.       (Gen 3:20)  And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

THREE ASSERTIVE COMMANDS OF GOD,
AND WHAT YE SHALL EAT (typically, we become what we eat: Dan 1:12-16)

(Gen 1:28)  And God blessed them [by giving them the power to accomplish these commands], and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion [HOW TO DO IT] over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

(Gen 1:29)  And God said, Behold, I have given you [i.e. blessed you with] every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat [food].

THE SAME THREE ASSERTIVE COMMANDS OF GOD, REPEATED AND AMPLIFIED,
AND WHAT YE SHALL EAT (typically, we become what we eat: Dan 1:12-16)

(Gen 9:1 = Gen 1:28)  And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

(Gen 9:2)  [“and subdue it”:] [HOW TO DO IT] And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

(Gen 9:3 = Gen 1:29)  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat [food] for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Commentary: From the onset of the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter one, through the flood in Noah’s time, and until the flood was withdrawn in Genesis chapter eight, men and women were herbivores eating grains and fruits. Herbivores are generally submissive timid creatures not requiring the extreme (comparatively speaking) mental and physical capabilities of carnivores, which capabilities are very necessary to chase, trap, and kill their food. Immediately after the flood, as Genesis chapter nine opens, God blessed mankind with greatly increased assertive powers blending them and building them up into much stronger aggressive capabilities that would allow man to become carnivores, and eat flesh as well. And at the same time, God also blessed the moving creatures of the earth (all flesh) with the self-protective defensive covering of “the fear of you and the dread of you” – lest man no longer have to work for his food (Gen 3:17-19), and merely shop for his food among “sitting ducks,” so to speak. Therefore, if man was to eat flesh and be a carnivore, he must be aggressive, much more aggressive than a herbivore. This was a forced learning circumstance, and a monumental transformation for both mankind and all moving creatures, representing an enormous change in the character (temperament, personality, disposition) of mankind. In Genesis 9:1-3, God the Potter drastically changed/altered the clay vessel of man that He had formed. However, please note that God gave no injunction or command that man must be either a herbivore or a carnivore.

1.       The very interesting result is that all men are herbivores (from the beginning), and some men are also carnivores (from Gen 9:1-3 onward).

2.       By wonderful example, Jesus Christ in His fullness is both the Lamb of God and the Lion of God.

3.       Wolves (unsaved people) such as Cain are exclusively aggressive carnivores. Saved persons maintain their herbivore heritage (peace), but can be aggressive carnivores as well, when the need arises.

4.       (Prov 22:6)  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

5.       (Jer 16:16)  Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. [Joel 2:1-11]

A SIMPLE VIEW (vs. an in-depth view): SHEEP AND SHEPHERDS…, AND WOLVES

(Gen 32:10,11)  I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff [a type of God (Jesus Christ – the Branch)] I passed over this Jordan [a type of the Holy Spirit, separating the saved from the unsaved]; and now I am become two bands [encampments (of travelers or troops); hence two armies]. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau [and his band of 400 men coming with him]: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.

1.       Commentary: Briefly and generally examining God’s figurative biblical flock, the comparative differences between God’s sheep who are herbivores, and God’s shepherds who are carnivores, is that sheep lack an aggressive disposition, lack self-initiative, and lack combat training, whereas shepherds possess an aggressive disposition (are leaders), possess self-initiative (are self-starters), and possess combat training (are students of the Word of God, i.e. they study and learn the warrior skill of wielding the “twoedged sword” of God: Heb 4:12; Eph 6:17; Rev 19:15).

2.       Commentary: Thus Gideon’s believing army of 10,000 soldier-warriors, representing the Army of God to which we all belong and are employed by, was functionally divided by God into two bands of sheep and shepherds numerically proportional to the dual grouping of modern armies into support troops and combat troops. Gideon’s army consisted of 9,700 support troops (sheep - herbivores) and 300 combat troops (shepherds - carnivores). Whereas, the invading enemy host of 135,000 Midianite troops (wolves) were exclusively carnivores.

Amen

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