The Spirit, water, and blood agree (1 John 5:8)

These three are

The Spirit,

The water,

And the blood.

These three agree.”

τὸ Πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν.

This author said, “These three are the Spirit (τὸ Πνεῦμα), the water (καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ), and the blood (καὶ τὸ αἷμα).  These three agree (καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν).”  Clearly, the accepted Greek text does not mention the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who are one.  Instead, it says that the Spirit, the water, and the blood agree or are one.  The Holy Spirit never left Jesus while he was here on earth.  The water of the baptism of John the Baptist has become the baptismal waters with the Holy Spirit.  The blood or the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is the final human moment of Jesus Christ.  Yet all are one, united together, and agree that the Spirit, the water, and the blood are what Jesus Christ was here on earth about.  He was divine all the time, yet a true human being all the time.  Without the divine infusion, we are simply looking at a mere breath, a few drops of water, and spilt blood.  With the divine infusion, we have Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, blessed in human water, suffering and dying on a cross to redeem all the other humans, past, present, or future.  What do spirit, water, and blood mean to you?

The Spirit, not the law (Gal. 5:18)

“But if you are led

By the Spirit,

You are not

Under the law.”

εἰ δὲ Πνεύματι ἄγεσθε, οὐκ ἐστὲ ὑπὸ νόμον.

Paul said, “But if (εἰ) you are led (ἄγεσθε) by the Spirit (δὲ Πνεύματι ἄγεσθε), you are not under the law (οὐκ ἐστὲ ὑπὸ νόμον).”  Next Paul made a connection between the fleshy human condition and the law, not the Holy Spirit.  If you were led by the Spirit, then you were not subject to the law, the holy Torah.  The new Spirit of Christ did not have anything to do with the old law.  The Holy Spirit was not confined to the law.  Do you live by the Spirit or the law?

Who is the Lord for David? (Mt 22:43-22:45)

“Jesus said to them.

‘How is it then

That David,

Inspired by the Spirit,

Calls him Lord?

Saying.

‘The Lord said

To my Lord.

‘Sit at my right hand,

Until I put your enemies

Under your feet.’

If David thus calls him Lord,

How can he be his son?’”

 

λέγει αὐτοῖς Πῶς οὖν Δαυεὶδ ἐν Πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν Κύριον λέγω

Εἶπεν Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν σου;

εἰ οὖν Δαυεὶδ καλεῖ αὐτὸν Κύριον, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν;

 

There is something similar in Mark, chapter 12:35-37, and Luke, chapter 20:41-44, almost word for word.  Jesus said to these Pharisees (λέγει αὐτοῖς).  What did David mean when, inspired by the Spirit, he called the future Messiah, a son of David, “Lord” (Πῶς οὖν Δαυεὶδ ἐν Πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν Κύριον λέγω).  Jesus then cited Psalm 110:1, where David said that the Lord said to his Lord to sit at his right hand (Εἶπεν Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου).  He should sit there until he put all his enemies under his feet (ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν σου).  Jesus then posed the big question.  How can David call the Messiah Lord (εἰ οὖν Δαυεὶδ καλεῖ αὐτὸν Κύριον) if he is the son of David (πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν)?  This is a trick question.  Why would David call his future son or descendant his own Lord, master, or greater than him?  The response was that Jesus, the Son of Man, and descendant of David, was greater than David.  Peter repeated this citation of Psalm 110 in his preaching in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2:34-35, also.

The ruah spirit comes to the bones (Ezek 37:9-37:10)

“Then Yahweh

Said to me.

‘Prophesy to the spirit!

Prophesy!

Son of man!

Say to the spirit!

Thus says Yahweh God!

Come!

From the four winds!

O spirit!

Breathe

Upon these slain ones

That they may live!’

I prophesied

As he commanded me.

The spirit

Came into them,

They lived.

They stood

On their feet,

A vast multitude.”

Yahweh told Ezekiel to prophesize to the spirit. He was to tell the spirit, ruah, to come from the four winds, ruah, and breathe, ruah, on these dead fleshy dry bones. Thus, they might live. Ezekiel, as usual, did what Yahweh had asked him to do. Then the Spirit of Yahweh, ruah, came to these dried-out bones. All these dead bones got a new life. This great multitude of former dry bones stood on their feet. Mission accomplished.

The skin and flesh of the bones (Ezek 37:8-37:8)

“I looked!

There were sinews

On the dry bones.

Flesh had come

Upon them.

Skin

Had covered them.

But there was

No spirit

In them.”

As Ezekiel looked on, the moving dry bones picked up some sinew or muscle, flesh, and skin. However, they did not have the spirit yet, just bones with some fleshy muscled skin.

The movement of the cherubim (Ezek 10:16-10:17)

“When the cherubim moved,

The wheels moved

Beside them.

When the cherubim

Lifted up their wings

To rise up from the earth,

The wheels

At their sides

Did not veer.

When they stopped,

The others stopped.

When they rose up,

The others rose up with them.

The Spirit

Of the living creatures

Was in them.”

Ezekiel said the same thing here about the cherubim that he said about the living creatures in chapter 1. When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved with them. When the cherubim rose from the earth, the wheels also rose. Wherever the cherubim would go, the wheels went with them. However, the Spirit of the living creatures was in the cherubim here.

Ezekiel lies on his left side for Israel (Ezek 4:4-4:5)

“Then lie on your left side!

Place the punishment

Of the house of Israel

On it!

You shall bear

Their punishment

For the number of the days

That you lie there.

I assign to you

A number of days,

Three hundred ninety days.

This is equal

To the number of the years

Of their punishment.

So you shall bear

The punishment

Of the house of Israel.”

The voice of Yahweh or the Spirit continued telling Ezekiel to lie on his left side for 390 days to indicate the number of years that Israel would be punished. Thus Ezekiel would assume this punishment that was intended for Israel, lying there on his left side one day for every year, like a scapegoat. It is hard to figure out where this number came from since it is more than a year of days. The exile did not last this long.

Ezekiel is the son of man (Ezek 2:1-2:3)

“Yahweh said to me.

‘Son of man!

Stand up

On your feet!

I will speak with you!’

When he spoke

To me,

The Spirit entered

Into me.

He set me

On my feet.

I heard him

Speaking to me.

He said to me.

‘Son of man!

I am sending you

To the people

Of Israel,

To a nation

Of rebels.

They have rebelled

Against me.

Their ancestors

Have transgressed

Against me.

They

Have transgressed

Against me

To this very day.”

Yahweh spoke to Ezekiel with the title, the son of man, a mere mortal. He told him to stand up on his feet, because he wanted to speak with him. When Yahweh spoke to Ezekiel, the Spirit entered into Ezekiel. Yahweh set him on his feet. Then Ezekiel heard Yahweh speaking to him, as if he was not directly speaking to him. Yahweh told Ezekiel that he was sending him to the people of Israel, a nation of rebels that had rebelled against Yahweh. Both their ancestors and they themselves have transgressed against Yahweh even to this very day.

The connection of the four wheels to the living creatures (Ezek 1:19-1:21)

“When the living creatures

Moved,

The wheels

Moved beside them.

When the living creatures

Rose from the earth,

The wheels rose.

Wherever the Spirit

Would go,

They went.

The wheels

Rose along

With them.

The Spirit

Of the living creatures

Was in the wheels.

When they moved,

The others moved.

When they rose

From the earth,

The wheels rose

Along with them.

The Spirit

Of the living creatures

Was in the wheels.”

Ezekiel said that when the living creatures moved, the wheels moved with them. When the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels also rose. Wherever the Spirit would go, the living creatures went. The wheels went with them. The Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Thus when they moved, the others moved. Then repeating what was in the earlier verse, he said that when the living creatures rose from the earth, so did the wheels. Then repeating again, he said that the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Thus there was a clear connection between the four living creatures and these wheels. I am not sure where this is going.