When the prophesies did not meet the expectations of the people, they interpreted them according to their own desires. In this way the Scriptures were watered down over the centuries. Therefore, when Eashoa (Jesus) came to the world and it could not be denied anymore that indeed He was the Messiah prophesied by all Scriptures, the Pharisees and the High Priests of Jerusalem rejected Him.
People are by nature ungrateful. They wanted Moses to give them only those laws that benefited them. They did not want to listen to the hard choices that they had to accept so they would not remain as slaves in Egypt -- until it was too late, when they had to flee. In the desert, they started murmuring again, "We were better off living as slaves in Egypt; at least we had bread and water."
In Jeremiah's time, the people did not want to hear Jeremiah's warnings as to the impending onslaught of the Babylonian King's army against them. Throughout history, people have always been ungrateful and expect everything to go according to their will.
This characteristic of human nature continued during the time of Eashoa as well. The people wanted Him to feed them and heal them; they wanted to live forever on this earth. They did not want to hear about His sacrifice and death on the Cross. They wanted a conquering hero to free them from the oppression of the Romans and give them everything they desired in life.
And even now it is the same thing; we want only that which is desirable from the Creator. We do not wish to follow Eashoa by sacrificial love but rather through the receiving of blessings only.
So the New Testament had to be also revised to allow the status quo of the established churches to continue uninterrupted. Thus the tradition of the Pharisees was adopted. The Eashoa we wish to follow is the Eashoa who will grant us everything we desire, rather than what we ought to have. We want a leader who provides us with everything we desire, rather than one who demands a certain amount of giving.
So we choose the Greek and Roman tradition of interpretation of the Scriptures because it followed the renegade Pharisees and High Priests that called for Eashoa's death. And just as they revised the Scriptures, we revised the Scriptures to exclude certain key concepts that are the pillars of the Apostolic Faith.
So much so that we are more comfortable with the translations that distort the Scriptures along the lines that the Scriptures can be interpreted symbolically when it suits us and empirically when it suits us. We want the blessings but not the sacrifices. Therefore, we extend the interpretation of the Pharisees regarding the humility required by the Lord, and accept the rejection of the Trinity that Eashoa gave us as a gift of faith. The gift of the Trinity is much more powerful, but we choose only the blessings of the Father and not the sacrifice of the Son.
We plead with the Creator to allow us direct communion with him, without recognizing Eashoa's embodiment of the Creator and His fulfillment of all the prophesies of the Scriptures.
What we find easiest to accept is the revisionist interpretation of the Scriptures that calls for the endowment of all that is desirable in life and the rejection of all that is sacrificially required. We do not see the hypocrisy in what we desire.
We expect to be always healthy. Most of us pray for health everyday. When we get sick, especially when we are struck with a catastrophic illness, we take this as a sign of punishment, of something we have done wrong. We begin to plead with the Lord. But we forget that He gave his life when He was thirty-three. He could have lived until a ripe old age and then given His life on the Cross on behalf of humanity at a much later time. His blood would always be precious; He could have washed us in His Blood at age sixty-five or one hundred.
But He chose thirty-three. He had lived to maturity; He knew as a man what He was doing, (when He would willingly sacrifice His life.) He was not setting a precedent that we should all be ready to die at thirty-three or at a particular age; there were to be no such age requirements for when we reach the sacrificial period of our lives. In fact, He wants us to live the life of sacrificial love always.
None of us will live forever, so the length of life and the particular disease from which we die is not important. This world is not where we should yearn to live forever. And just as the number of years is not important, the number of worldly blessings is not the deciding factor. We should count our blessings in the things we have contributed to our treasure in heaven.
Catastrophic illness itself is a blessing when it is a wakeup call for when we go astray. It is never a punishment. The Lord does not punish; He may prune or correct, but He never kills for the sake of killing. If He allows for one of His children to die young, it is because He has another plan for him or for her. We cannot always know what that is, but we can be sure that He is always providential and loving.
No sacrifice goes unnoticed, and He wants us to live a long fruitful life. It is alright to pray for long life, but be ready to sacrifice it when it is the time of harvest. He determines when that is. There is the time for sowing, the time for growing and the time for dying. And then there is the resurrection and the time for recompense. The Lord is loving and just. He always rewards His servants beyond measure.
Sept. 9, 2011
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