Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

Is Your name in the “Book of Life”?

There is ONE chosen race that is “special” -- a word that means being “a valued property”. These had their genetic code written into the Book of Life, before the foundation of the earth! It is their responsibility to see that their names are not blotted out of the Book of Life! This confirms what Paul said about election being made before a person has done good or evil. The Bible does not record any progressive or later entries into the Book of Life! Eternal life is given to the redeemed out of those written in the Book, who are worthy.

by Arnold Kennedy

Introduction

In the Bible pages, we find references to the “Book of Life”. When is someone’s name written into the Book of Life? Popular religion would say that this happens when a person, “Gives his heart to Jesus”, “Is converted”, “Is born again”, or some such phrase. Then they sing songs like, “There’s a new name written down in glory, and it’s mine”. But is this true? What is the verse below saying?

Revelation 17:8: “They that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world”.

When were these names written into the Book of Life? Here it is said to be, from the foundation of the world”. The word “world” here refers to the “kosmos” of Israel. Firstly we can look into the tense of the phrase, were written”. This is perfect tense and passive in mood. The perfect tense is indicative of a completed action in the past that does not need repeating. The passive mood determines that the subject is the recipient of the action. That is, the subject did not have any part in causing it to happen. Thayer’s Lexicon gives “foundation” as “the injection or depositing of the virile semen in the womb”, or “of the seed of plants and animals”. We do not need to analyze the phrase, “the foundation of the world” further to see that the view of popular religion is quite wrong. The Bible does not record any progressive or later entries into the Book of Life!

One conclusion that can be drawn from this verse is that all peoples’ names were not written into the Book of Life “from the foundation of the world”, as this verse says. (See also Revelation 3:8 and 20:15 for confirmation). The phrase, “the foundation of the worlddoes not exactly parallel the Old Testament phrase, “the foundation of the earth”, but both are used in the sense of establishing something in the past, but detailed explanation of the difference is not necessary at this point. As to the time, Job 38:4-7 tells us it was, “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy”.

The word “names” as in, whose names were not written”, does not refer just to identifying names given by parents, but is used in terms of everything that name covers, such as authority, rank, character or “being identified with”. What we will consider is whether or not what was “written in the book of life from the foundation of the world”, might have something to do with genetic structure or DNA make up.

We will first explore this concept from part of Psalm 139. Reading the passage below carefully will immediately give some “feel” for the subject.

From Psalm 139

There is a passage in this psalm that is well known, but a word and grammar analysis brings out more about what has been said above. In this, some of the word-meanings below come from, The Theological Word Book Of The Old Testament (Harris-Archer-Waltke).

Psalm 139, 13-17: “For thou hast possessed my reins [1]: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made [2]: marvelous are thy works [3]; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance [4] was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book [5] all my members were written [6], which in continuance were fashioned [7], when as yet there was none of them. How precious [8] also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!"

Even without detailed study from this passage, one can get a feel that a person’s genetic nature, and hence what he “is”, is determined before he is born. A word-study of some of the individual words in this passage will add to this conviction. The following word study may be “heavy going” for some people to start with, but it will soon become more interesting.

[1] REINS [“For thou hast possessed my reins”] -- (Strong's 3629 kilyah)

The word “reins” as “kilyah” is translated 18 times out of 31 occurrences as “kidneys”. These 18 times are used in relationship to the Old Covenant sacrifices and are about hallowing those who minister to YEHOVAH God in the priest’s office -- (Exodus 29:1ff). The selection of priests was race-tribe-specific and the burning of the kidneys was performed after the girding of the priests with the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastplate. The whole complex procedure that follows is to the following end:

Verse 45-46: And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God”.

This whole matter concerns only one race of people, namely “the Children of Israel” and indicates the principle whereby YEHOVAH God will dwell amongst His people. Furthermore it gives the conviction that YEHOVAH is “their God”, that is, He is “The God of Israel”.

In Job 16:13, and Lamentations 3:13, death and destruction are spoken of as arrows slashing the kidneys (reins). We will be seeing what these arrows are that which causes death. The other 13 times where the word is translated as “reins”, are used in connection with the behavior we allow, that is they are usually given in conjunction with the “heart”:

Psalm 7:9: “God tries the hearts and the reins”.

Psalm 16:6: “My reins shall instruct me”.

The “reins” are what we are, and the “heart” is how we respond by our works. Vine’s Expository Dictionary gives “heart” as meaning, “Mans’ entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements”. Other dictionaries give such as, “Used figuratively of the seat of emotion and affection”.

In the New Testament pages, there is only one translation as “reins”, and this again is joined with the word “hearts”.

Revelation 2:23: “I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works”.

The “you” in this passage are those within the churches; their works bring a reward. In Jeremiah 12:2 we see that YEHOVAH God is far from the “reins” of the wicked, even when YEHOVAH is near in their mouths. This means that there are people in the churches who are “wicked” in this way. Medically today, we know that the function of the kidneys has to do with the purifying the blood!

Leviticus 14:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood”.

The “life” = “nephesh” = “soul”. A pure (Israelite) bloodline is important to YEHOVAH God. DNA is found within the blood as well as in every other cell of a person. There is therefore a strong connection between the blood and the soul.

[2] MADE [“For I am fearfully and wonderfully made”] -- (Strong's 6395 palah)

This particular word for “made” has a lot more to it than appears on the surface. The word is used in the sense of discriminating, as we see in usage such as:

(1) The setting apart, or the discrimination between, the Land of Goshen from the rest of Egypt,

(2) The angel of death discriminating between Egyptians and Israelites in the death of the firstborn children, and also of separating the cattle of each.

(3) It is also used in the separating those YEHOVAH God loves from all others.

In this verse under consideration it is Niphil Stem that gives the meaning as, “to put a difference” or “to separate one thing (or group) from all others”, or “to be marked out as being different”. So this phrase carries the idea, “I am fearfully and wonderfully different from all other peoples”.

In this Psalm, David is pointing out that this discrimination was made even when he was in his mother’s womb. This confirms what Paul said about election being made before a person has done good or evil. Because churches cannot accept this concept, they try to get around it by wrongly saying it means that YEHOVAH God knew what a person was going to do ahead of time, applying this to all races.

[3] WORKS [“marvelous are thy works”] -- (Strong's 4639 maaseh)

The particular word used is about YEHOVAH’s sovereign purposes and activity in a created world. It is not to be confused with Strong's 4399 “melakah”. The difference is shown in Genesis One and Two where “bara” (created) is about the initiation of an undertaking and “asa” (formed) that is about the fashioning of something. This particular word for “works” is about the ethical obligation and response to the thing created, so here it is about YEHOVAH God’s obligation to what he has formed. The meaning of the word “marvelous” tells us that the works of YEHOVAH God are extraordinary and difficult beyond our understanding. Here we get a glimpse that there is this great difference between those “created” and the Adamic man who is “made” for the Potter’s purpose.

[4] SUBSTANCE [“My substance was not hid from thee”] -- (Strong's 6108 “otsem”)

This is a little-used word that has been translated as “might”, “substance” and “strong”, and seems to be closely related to 6105 “atsam” or “bones”. Strong gives “bones” as one of the translations of “otsem”. It is used in Deuteronomy 8:17 where it is translated as “might” in, “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth”.

In Job 30:21 it is translated as “substance” in “Thou dissolvest my substance”. The translation from the LXX is given as, “Thou hast put me to grief and cast me away from safety”. These are somewhat different in translation and do not seem to match, but we can see from them that it seemed to Job that YEHOVAH God had taken something precious from him. Putting it all together we can get the feel of what this is about. What YEHOVAH has given His people is something intrinsic or built in. Where did this happen? It was before the “foundation of the earth” and it had happened in the mother’s womb, in their DNA. This is far from the churches, “choose Jesus” concept.

[7] FASHIONED [“In continuance were fashioned”] -- (Strong's 3335 “yatsar)

This word is translated as “ordained” in the ASV of this Psalm and as “planned” in 2 Kings 19:25. It is used about the shaping of an object, as in Isaiah 44:9-10 where an idol is pictured as being shaped by hammers. In 2 Kings 9:25; Isaiah 37:26; 46:11 it is shown to be used of YEHOVAH God’s pre-ordained purposes. What happened in a mother’s womb was ordained and planned before the child was born. The child was shaped by DNA hammers!

The root word for “fashioned” is used of YEHOVAH’s formation of the nation of Israel in the sense of bringing it into existence, in the same way a Potter uses clay to make different vessels for different purposes. This is as we see in Romans 9:21, Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Israel is made for a purpose that is not shared by other races. This is not immediately evident in the verse quoted, unless we note that Paul was referring to the Old Testament text and that this was in the context of the two Houses of Israel.

The fashioning already has taken place in the mother’s womb, and thus is not a function of a belief factor in the thing fashioned. The belief factor comes later in the vessel formed. This principle of fashioning is shown in Isaiah 51: 1-2, “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him”. That is, Israel was fashioned in Sarah’s womb. The individual application and the national application are really very little different. All this too is something churches will not subscribe to.

[8] PRECIOUS [“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!”] -- (Strong's 3365 “yaqar”)

There are 65 usages we could look at that tell us that this word conveys the idea of “heavy”, “honour” and “dignity”, and is about something which is considered valuable because of its intrinsic worth and separateness. In Lamentations 4:2 we are told the “precious ‘sons of Zion’” are worth more than their weight in gold. But can this “preciousness” be lost or destroyed? What a foreign (“strange” = nokriy) prostitute takes from an Israelite man is his precious life -- [soul] -- (Proverbs. 6:26). “For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life”. This is what sexual relations with this particular foreigner also does to the soul (life).

The None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life”, indicates that an Israelite man can lose his precious life by having a sexual relationship with a particular foreign woman as signified by the word “nokriy”! (see Appendix “A”). This shows the unforgivable nature of this act.

Proverbs 23:33: "Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things."

Proverbs 5:20: "And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?"

The word “bosom” is not used of the breasts of a woman, as it is used of both males and females. It is a symbolic physical term that is figurative of what a person feels deeply and in an intimate way. The uttering of “perverse things” are words of idolatry; the word “perverse” is often used in the Bible of words that are being spoken.

These verses tell about whoredom with “strange” (= “nokiy”) women of a foreign race. Care must be taken here as there are other words concerning “strangers”, “foreigners”, “aliens” and “heathen”. It is the idolatry that follows whoredom that takes away a man’s precious life.

NOTE: It is commented here that Ruth and Rahab were Israelite in origin. Regarding Moses’ Ethiopian wife, she was Hebrew in origin. Zipporah was the daughter of Reuel a Priest of Midian and is referred to as a Cushite. But one Biblical Cush was on the current Saudi Arabian peninsula. The eunuch who Stephen converted must have been white, as a black foreigner would have been stoned to death if he approached the Temple, under Israel’s law.

In the Bible there is a difference between foreign women that come from Abraham’s other wives, some who have a residue of that spirit that was renewed in Abraham, and all others. Those acceptable as a gene pool to take wives from, include such as the Midianites (virgins only) who come from Abraham and Keturah, and the other five sons from this union, from all other women.

Speaking about whoredom Hosea says:

Hosea 4:14: "…therefore, the people that doth not understand, shall fall [or be cast aside].

There is no “maybe” about this.

The Bible makes a difference between illicit sex between an Israelite man and a foreign (nokriy) woman, and illicit sex of the same man with an Israelite woman. Not that the latter may not be wrong; it is because the former is non-recoverable, whereas there is remedy in some circumstances with the latter. An example is the case of when Judah was tricked by Tamar when she posed as a prostitute. Judah did not die for this act with an Israelite woman. In this case it was Judah’s daughter-in-law and this happened after the daughter-in-law’s husband was dead (Genesis 38).

In some cases Israelite men were commanded to “raise up seed” to Israelite women they were not wed to. The Messiah confirms this in Matthew 22:24, “Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother”. In Judah’s case, we have to note that Judah had previously married a Canaanite woman and through this union produced two sons, Er and Onan. The Canaanite woman disappears from history and YEHOVAH God kills Er and Onan. In having previously married the Canaanite woman, there is no suggestion that Judah committed idolatry. Idolatry is the usual progression that follows racial intermarriage, over time, and is one aspect of what is so wrong with racial intermarriage. In reading this article, please keep in mind that it is idolatry that is judged so severely.

TELEGONY (No adequate proof to date, but could be valid)

Another aspect may or may not be found in the argument as to whether or not the sexual act with a foreign woman must in some way affect the Israelite man’s blood or DNA in a way that is not recoverable, even if outwardly no blood transfer is made. This is the claim of what is called telegony. A Zebra stallion was mated with a mare and the foal had signs of stripes. Then the same mare was later mated with a purebred stallion, that the foal still had signs of stripes. It is claimed that somewhere in this mixed-“kind” sex act, some genetic transfer was involved!

Horse breeders claim that the purity of a thoroughbred is sometimes considered impure if the mare has been previously bred to another stud that was not a thoroughbred. There seems to be no firm medical evidence for telegony in the scientific sense, although there is evidence that stem cells from an embryo affect the mother for the remainder of the mother’s life. Although there is mention of telegony from antiquity, there seems to be little modern scientific “proof”, unless of course the evidence is suppressed. Dictionaries use the word “supposed” about telegony. No weight should be placed upon telegony until there is proper evidence from controlled research.

Regardless of whether or not telegony is valid, something happens that is irreversible in the case of whoredom with strange (nokriy) women. We are not told what this is in any physical sense. What a man loses is his life, (the same word as that translated as “soul”). But to be complete, one must have body, soul and spirit, so any one of these is tied in with the other two. What cannot be undone or forgiven might well be the unforgivable sin.

We cannot eliminate the possibility that there is a transfer of some sort through bodily contact or body fluids, although this does not appear to be likely in the light of present knowledge available. The word “touch” = (Strong's 5060 naga) is used widely of bodily contact. Israelites are not even to “touch” dead bodies, lepers, certain animals, and even things belonging to wicked men. “Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins” (Numbers 16:26). We are not told exactly what happens, but we are told the touch of them and their property defiles. This is the same word translated as “unclean”, and usually this uncleanness was only for a period. Under the Law a sacrifice for this sin was mandatory.

The matter of whether this applies to non-Semitic foreigners only, part-Israelite women, and about Israelite women taking non-Israelite men as sexual partners will be considered further down in the article under the heading, “Qualifications”. This is an emotional subject, and we must keep in mind that emotional arguments prove nothing.

“Touch” in the New Testament

The word “touch” = “haptomai” in the New Testament is used the same way as “touch” in the Old Testament, as being about physical contact (including sexual contact). We see this in 1 Corinthians 7:1, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband”. But yes, it is also used in the normal sense of any bodily contact as well.

In the following passage we are told to not “touch” unclean people:

2 Corinthians 6:17: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate…and touch not the unclean (thing)…"

Paul is talking about people coming out from amongst people, not “things”. (The word “thing” is an added word). The “them” are people. Can any deny this? (“Thing” in the KJV and other translations is not in the Greek text as a word). The “them” in this verse are “unclean” people that are not to be “touched”. “Unclean” = akathartou shows that there is a difference between "clean" and "unclean" (people) -- with the clean (people) not to "touch" the unclean (people). We are told, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). The word “unbelievers” is “apistos” that means “without faith”, and this could well refer to non-Israelites who cannot ever possess the faith that was once (for all time) delivered to the saints (Jude 3). This passage continues on to say:

2 Corinthians 6:14-15: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"

The “yoke” here is with “heterozugeo” which means being yoked with people of “a different sort” (Vine’s dictionary), or “one who is not an equal” (Thayer’s Lexicon). This again presents the racial separation of Israel from other nations. YEHOVAH God also made clean and unclean animals and fish; each was born that way, and it is not unreasonable to suggest YEHOVAH God created clean and unclean people likewise.

The word “unrighteous” is “anomia” means “without law” and so in terms of the Law being given to Israelites only as a covenant, the “unrighteous” would mean non-Israelites -- (See Isaiah 26:2 where Israel is described as “the righteous nation). Throughout the entire Bible, we have a consistent theme; we find YEHOVAH God always keeping a portion of His Order pure, separate and undefiled by not “touching” other races in a sexual way.

Eating Blood

Eating blood of any kind also appears to do something adverse. We are not told about this being anything physical, and medical evidence does not seem to be available. YEHOVAH God said, Wherefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood” -- (Leviticus 17). This is not a prohibition of eating meat because we are told a number of times about not eating unbled meat, e.g., 1 Samuel 32-34.

Why the eating-blood prohibition? It is because the “life” (or “soul” -- Strong's 5315) of an Israelite person is precious to YEHOVAH God. How precious? Man’s life exceeds the value of his ability to redeem himself by any of his own actions or assets. Nor can he offer himself. Consequently YEHOVAH God alone can redeem His people, even at great cost. The Blood of the Messiah is described as being “precious”, a word we saw above.

Speaking of Jacob, Isaiah 43:1-7 says, Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee….. for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him”. We do not ever read of other races being “precious”. In saying this there is no direct connection of blood with DNA mentioned in this passage, but DNA is in the blood as in all other cells. As to what happens exactly, we are not told, and medical science seems to have made no mention to date. Some of what happens otherwise is discoursed in Appendix “B”.

[6] WRITTEN [“In thy book all my members were written”] -- (Strong's 3789 kathab)

This word is used of something that is recorded in a permanent sense, but it is in the Imperfect Mood. This Mood describes a single action in the past in a pictorial way, and suggests there is some process before its full development.

The word is much used in the Old Testament as referring to the keeping of records. The Ten Commandments were “written” by the finger of YEHOVAH God. The idea is that which is written is not designed to be extinguished. Thus we have the idea of something being engraved or inscribed. We do not find any reference to “write” or “written” in the Book of Genesis itself, but in Genesis 5:1 we find reference to the word “book”, so we will move onto that word.

[5] BOOK [“In thy book all my members were written”] -- (Strongs 5612, “cepher”)

In this section we will look at Exodus 32 that is the story about when Moses went up the Mount of YEHOVAH God and received the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from the Mount, he found the people worshipping the golden calves Aaron had made. Here God tells Moses that He would blot the names of those who did this out of “His Book”. We must note that this was not expressly for sexual intercourse with foreigners; rather it was for worshipping the “gods of gold” as being foreigners’ gods.

This word "Book” is used in many general ways, such as mathematical activity, scribal traditions, legal documents, and official letters. It is also found as being records, such as, “The book of the wars of the LORD”, “The book of Jasher”, “The book of the generations of Adam” and “The Book of the Covenant”. It is also used of genealogical records. But there is one special “Book”. In the KJV of the Old Testament, there is only one passage with reference to My Book and three to Thy Book”, besides that which we have seen in Psalm 139.

Exodus 32:32-33 is in the form of a conversation between YEHOVAH God and Moses. “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin --; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of THY BOOK which thou hast written”. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of MY BOOK."

The context of Exodus 32 is about those who were sinning against YEHOVAH God in a particular way. The “Book” refers to one particular “Book” among other books. From Psalm 139 we have studied so far, we see this “Book” contains information about each person before they are born. Today we have discovered that this is found to be each person’s individual DNA. The offspring of Israel inherit their genetic code from their parents. As an Israelite can be blotted out of YEHOVAH’s Book, we need to be sure whether or not it is just for miscegenation, or that plus idolatry, or just for idolatry. The latter comes under, “Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image”.

At first glance it might appear that any sin would cause Israelites to be blotted out in the sentence, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of MY BOOK”. Here we need to look at the context to see if any one particular sin is being referred to, because it is clear that there are other sins that can be forgiven. We will see the blotting out is for the idolatry that follows from race mixing.

In Exodus 32 where this passage comes from, the particular sin is one of idolatry. Thus we need to see what led to this idolatry. We read earlier in this passage, “a mixed multitude went up also with them”, and in this passage that Israel started to worship the gods of these foreigners. And then, “the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play”. We are told, “Moses saw that the people were naked”. What does the word “play” mean here? In the Piel-stem form used here this is the same as that used about Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, that is, it is sexual. It is used elsewhere as in the phrase, “make love to us”. We can read a number of passages where the phrase, “play the harlot” are found. It is used of that sexual activity which went on in Sodom, and about Isaac “sporting” with Rebecca his wife. So it is not hard to find the sexual connection of, “rose up to play”, especially when done naked!

The indications are then that some Israelites had sexual relationships with the non-Israelite or part-Israelite mixed multitude who were traveling with them. Why say this? We read in Numbers 11:4, “And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting”. The Hebrew word used here (‘avah) is about bodily lusts and appetites. The passage goes on to tell us that what the Children of Israel (as opposed to the mixed multitude) wanted was just about food to eat. When YEHOVAH God told Moses, “for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves”, it is about the people as a whole inclusive of both groups. We are told how they did this in, “they have made them a molten image” (Deuteronomy 9:12).

What does “corrupted” mean? Strong lists a number of translations such as, “to be marred, be spoiled, be corrupted, be corrupt, be injured, be ruined, be rotted”. The number of Israelites who sinned this way is given as being “about three thousand” -- “And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men”. The Levites literally blotted these three thousand out physically by the sword! They were blotted out of the “Book” as well! Those who had sinned had not sinned in ignorance, because the eternal Law of YEHOVAH God was known long before it was given through Moses as a covenant to Israel. We see this when Isaac and Rebecca were grieved that Esau had taken wives from foreign (nokriy) peoples. Esau no longer could repent! That paints a very strong picture indeed!

The prime mover that led to idolatry was the association of Israelite men with certain foreign women. The sin was idolatry! For any Israelite man married to such a foreign woman, it would be hard not to compromise with a woman who could not “hear” the Word of YEHOVAH God, and given time, the Israelite man would compromise.

“Him Will I Blot Out of My Book”

As there are different word forms for the word “book” we can go back to the Greek Septuagint to see if the form used in Exodus 32 is the same as that used in the “Book of Life” in the New Testament. In this way we can have an indication that we are not comparing apples with oranges. They are the same so it is likely that “My book and The Book of Life are one and the same. We can look at this probability by comparing the phraseology found in both Testaments. In both we find the similar connection between the words “book” and “the foundation of the earth (and world)”.

Revelation 17:8: “And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world”.

As found in the Old Testament, we find the same New Testament reference to the certainty of people being taken out of the Book of Life. They are taken out for all time.

Exodus 32:33: "Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book."

Revelation 22:19: "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

Without searching out “The Scriptures” (that means the Old Testament) we could easily miss the reason why some will have their “part” taken from the Book of Life. The wrong attitude to “The Scriptures” is one reason why the churches miss the association between race mixing coupled with idolatry, as being the cause of names being taken out of the “Book”. What is the meaning of “His part” that is taken out of the book? Strong's 3313 “mer’os” as translated, shows something assigned to a person; that is his destiny. When was this destiny established? It was from the foundation of the earth. That was when the Book of Life was written!

Now we can give more shape to the doctrine of predestination and get a glimpse of what it is based upon:

Romans 8:29-30: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

This verse carries on from the words, “according to his purpose” and the tenses of the verbs are all aorist. The word “predestinate” has to do with destiny being determined beforehand, and as we see and have seen, this was decided before the foundation of the earth”.

Understanding more about the “Book” gives more shape to the prophecy about the resurrection:

Daniel 12:1: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written IN THE BOOK. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

Here is “the Book” again. Who are those resurrected? It is, “The children of thy people”. That is, it is Israelites ONLY who have not had their names taken out of the Book of Life! Those blotted out inherit “shame and everlasting contempt”!

YEHOVAH God's Intent to Maintain Racial Integrity/Purity in His People

In case some have gotten the idea that racial intermarriage is acceptable if there is no idolatry; this is not so because it is against YEHOVAH’s Law.

Through the Bible we can note a determination by YEHOVAH God to keep one selection of people genetically pure and those who transgressed this “law of God” were and will be, destroyed. The word “destroyed” is often the same word that is translated as “spoiled”. The temptation to transgress this law by yielding to the womanly wiles of foreign women is available and open to every man of the chosen race, as we find in the 13th verse of 1 Corinthians 10, below, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man”. The word “man” in context is the Israelite man. This does not say every Israelite man would be tempted, because we know this is not true. The background of the verse is about the time when Israelites had sexual relationships with Moabite women in the days of Balaam. Those who did have these relationships were slain! But this was not what they were slain for because of Midianite women came from an acceptable gene pool -- e.g., Moses married a Midianite woman.

Numbers 25:2: "And the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor."

They were slain for idolatry!

Deuteronomy 4:3: "Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you."

Israelites are capable of loving the shameful things foreign people do.

Hosea 9:10: "I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor,and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved."

Religious churches appear to know absolutely nothing about these inevitable consequences. There is no indication that the returnees from Babylon at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah were indulging in idolatry (they did not get a chance with their tough leaders) and these returnees were not slain when they had taken foreign wives. But they had to divorce their wives and children. Neither was Aaron slain, even if he made the golden calves under pressure from the mixed multitude.

In Numbers 31, Moses had let the Israelites keep the Midianite women alive provided they were virginal. Moses was unhappy about this, and the, “keep them alive for yourselves” that he said, does not insist they were taken as wives to produce seed that would consider them to be Israelites. The Midianite males were all slain. But why is it virgin women only? Again this seems to be an area of mystery that is not defined. We have to consider whether there is an unknown physical “something” that happens with the sex act, or whether it is psychological or something else. Because the answer is lengthy and has to do with “spirit”, it has been placed in APPENDIX “A”. Now this same theme about idolatry is found through the New Testament pages:

1 Corinthians 10:6:18: "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

"Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

"8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

"9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

"10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

"11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

"12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

"13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

"14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry."

The sin is idolatry! The Israelite sexual contact with the women of Moab led to the idolatry. We have to take note that this is a New Testament admonishment, and any modern church idea of, “That’s Old Testament stuff”, is not rational. We can also note here that these “Gentiles” were Israelites!

In the words, “not lust after evil things” the word “things” is (1938 epithumi), a word that means, “to lust for a lover”. The word “evil” here is “kakos” that means “intrinsically and fundamentally evil”.

The same temptation to take a lover from foreign women is one that could be in the mind of every Israelite man. The fact of being tempted is not a sin. The God of Israel says His people are able to withstand this temptation and to have the means to escape this snare. But if they do not know it is a snare, they are the more likely to fall into that snare. More than that, if they are encouraged by their church leaders by wrong doctrine, Israelite men will be even more likely not to take heed to the lest he fall” of verse twelve above.

Likewise today, as the Messiah said of the teachers in his day,

Luke 11:52: “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered”.

Of church leaders we read,

Jeremiah 2:8: “They that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Ba’al, and walked after things that do not profit."

Ba’al worship is what those who, have forsaken the commandments of the Lord" (1 Kings 18:18) are doing, even today. The definition has not changed! Ba’al worship is multi-racial and does not recognize YEHOVAH as, “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, as Elijah did on Mt. Carmel, and as YEHOVAH God said to Moses, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:6-Acts 7:32). Likewise the prophets of Jezebel worshipped Ba’al. The proportion of true prophets to false prophets was something like 1:800!! It is probably a similar ratio today.

Because the Law of YEHOVAH God in regard to this particular sin is not taught in the churches, they are destroying YEHOVAH’s people through lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4:6: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."

This passage about being destroyed for lack of knowledge is often used out of context. The next verse says, “They shall commit whoredom”. It must happen! It happens through lack of knowledge! This is because of the teachers and their lack of teaching about the Law of YEHOVAH God. YEHOVAH says He will not only forget them, but He will also forget their children. Now we are getting some idea of how serious this is:

It was deadly serious in the case of Esau who could not find repentance. This is given to us as an example!

Hebrews 12:16-17: "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears."

Esau was both a fornicator and a profane person. It was this combination that made him unable to find repentance. The 9th verse of I Corinthians chapter 10 reads, “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents”. The word translated as “serpents” is derived from the word (Strong's 3700 “optanomai”) that has the meaning, “to allow one’s self to be seen, to appear”. It shows that what is in the inner self is manifesting outwardly. The Israelites that did this were also both fornicators as this applies to sexual acts, and profane in that they worshipped the gods of the Moabites. It was open to all to see.

We have seen what is shown in Exodus 32 as to how names are blotted out of “My Book” and how there is no forgiveness for this one particular combination of fornication and idol worship. This is summarized in the next passage:

Hebrews 3:7-12: "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."

This gives what happened in the wilderness as being an example. To depart from the living God is idolatry.

The Genetic Code

There are differing bodies and fleshes:

1 Corinthians 15:38: "But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds."

Whatever natural “body” YEHOVAH God has given in each is something that is pre-determined genetically. The Bible refers to man's offspring as the "SEED OF MEN". YEHOVAH refers to future generations as "SEEDS." He speaks of seeds as if He already knows what they are. Seeds are produced after a seed is fertilized and splits into two completely different cells with similar but different DNA instructions that will only apply to each particular new seed. YEHOVAH God calls these containers of genetic instructions, "seeds." That is, the same set of directives that were ordained of YEHOVAH God, are also written in the seeds of descendents. We observe this act of creation every time we plant a seed, and watch it grow. A baby is born according to the set of instructions written in the baby's seed. We are told in Genesis many times that everything brings forth “after his own kind”. Sets of instructions are written in the seed of all life on earth. These sets of instructions are written in coded form inside each cell of each seed. This coded set of instructions is not the “Living Word” of YEHOVAH God that we call, “The Scriptures”, because the Words of YEHOVAH God are spirit (pneuma) and life (zoe).

Regarding the Adamic man in Genesis Two, YEHOVAH “formed” a man from those who had been created in Genesis One, and breathed into him the breath of life. Eve was cloned from Adam, and became the mother of “all living”, that is, the mother of those with the breath of God potential in their genetic make up. This life is activated in these by belief in Yeshua the Messiah.

Seeds enclose the coded genetic directions of the Living God. These written directions located in the seeds, be it vegetable, or animal, contain the instructions that will command the elements of the earth, to bring forth life according to YEHOVAH's instructions written inside the seeds. Everything physical is made from the elements found in the dust of the earth.

Genesis 2:7: "And the LORD God formed man of the DUST of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Now, to go back to the matter of race, we are told even from newspapers, that medical professionals must have matching candidates to enable organ transplants. If the donor organ's DNA language does not match the recipient's DNA language, the recipient's immune system will come into play and refuse the transplanted organ. The recipient's immune system will destroy the donor organ because of this genetic language barrier. This organ will be rejected because the donor's DNA and the recipient's DNA are not speaking the same genetic language. This is one reason why hospitals ask for racial backgrounds before treatment and surgery.

But when a donor and a beneficiary are closely related, such as a father and son, or mother and daughter, the operation is much more likely to succeed. This is because both of these close relatives speak pretty much the same genetic language, therefore the donor's DNA, and the recipient's DNA can communicate with each other and do not become antagonistic. That different races are mismatches in terms of genetic compatibility, tells us that there are intrinsic genetic differences between the races. There are, of course, other factors besides race that may cause mismatches.

Geneticists tell us that the genetic code consists of “words”. These “words” are commands. Words are made up of letters, and languages are made up of words. These words written in our DNA have power to command, instruct, and bring forth life according to the specifications of the DNA of a living cell.

Eternal Life is not written into the genetic code, but those with the genetic code of Israelites can come to have eternal life by belief. The Messiah said of the Israelites, “I am come that they might have life, and that THEY [the Israelites] might have it more abundantly”.

1 John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life (Yeshua)."

1 John 5:11: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

The context is about Abundant Life -- not physical life. The verse refers to what the Messiah achieved by his death in giving to his people everlasting Abundant Life.

Philippians 2:16: “Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ”.

“Holding forth” means “taking heed to”. The Messiah is that “WORD OF LIFE” made flesh. Eternal life is given to the redeemed out of those written in the Book, who are worthy.

Revelation 5:9: “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of [Greek: εκ] every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation”

This does NOT say “of” every nation. It is of Israelites who are gathered “out of” or from amongst every race and place where they had been scattered. “Out of” does not mean “of”.

Revelation 20:15: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Those to be burned are those conceived as tares, together with those corrupted Israelites who, “kept not their first estate”, and who were blotted out of the Book of Life. Those “written in the Book of Life” had had their names written in from, “the foundation of the world”. The tares were NEVER written in!

Those who were written in genetically can fail in their spiritual life by unbelief:

Hebrews 4:11: "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

2 Peter 2:10: "But rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Revelation 17:8 speaks about those, “whose names were NOT written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. What then is a name? A “name” is not a mere tag of identification. It is an expression of essential personality or potential and identity. Those so named who are overcomers are to be given a “new name” (Revelation 2:17-3:12).

1 John 1:1: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us)”.

The “us” are the Israelite disciples. This is the condition of real fellowship, “And truly our fellowship is the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ”. Those of YEHOVAH’s race who believe are “fellows”!

Look well at the next verse:

1 John 3:9: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Most church people cannot make “head nor tails” of this verse and the translation does not help. At first glance it appears that there are people who cannot sin in any way at all. Popular religion wrongly changes the word “commit” to “practices”, because it uses this only in the spiritual sense. “Commit sin” is the single-word noun, “hamartia”. The word “born” should be translated as “begotten” and those “begotten” are those who come from the “sperma” of YEHOVAH God. The “seed” is the grain or kernel that contains within itself the germ of the future plants. This “seed” is the DNA. If this DNA is unchanged in the present physical sense, then there is no missing the mark (sin) in regard to what the “seed” is. This is in the physical sense only, just as the “seed” of Abraham is physical. (In the spiritual sense though, this seed can sin by unbelief).

Always this “seed" brings us back to “the seed of Abraham”. This is a genetic seed selected by YEHOVAH God before “having done good or evil(Romans 9:11, “Neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth”). It has nothing to do with being converted. But for this “seed” to become justified before God, it has to become converted to be like Abram whose works were counted to him for righteousness.

Luke 1:54: "He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, TO ABRAHAM, AND TO HIS SEED FOR EVER."

Who sows this good seed as the children of the kingdom?

Matthew 13:37: "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one."

Tares are grown from tare seeds. The genetic composition of tares cannot allow them to change into wheat. The destiny of the tares is for them to be “cast into the fire”. Psalm 29 says many things the VOICE OF THE LORD brings to pass. It is the sort of thing we can read without taking in what it is saying:

Psalm 29:9: "The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests:"

When YEHOVAH God speaks, things happen! But how do they happen? How does a hind know when it is time to give birth? It is triggered by its DNA! How do forests become “discovered” (A word meaning stripped of leaves). It is written into its DNA! The DNA then is a place where the VOICE OF THE LORD is heard in this respect.

We are told the voice of the LORD thunders. It thunders in both the physical and the spiritual realms. There are genetic commandments. There are spiritual commandments. The VOICE OF THE LORD is often connected in the Bible to the phrase, “Commandments of God”. The VOICE is described as being terrible! There is a very loud message in this! We can read about obeying the LORD in regard to not mixing seeds. There is no case for mixing the seed of one race with the seed of another race.

There is no case for the mixing of the seed of plants with the seed of animals in the sense of genetic engineering! But food and drink intake can indeed bring about physical changes that may affect future generations. This may be in another part of the genetic structure that is affected. We can witness what Jacob did:

Genesis 30:37: "And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted."

We are not told if this goes on to the next generation when the “rods” were not put into the water. Behavior can also bring changes that have the appearance of being within another part of the genes; we see this in the case of King David and his progeny:

2 Samuel 12:10: "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife."

We see something like this in the case of the Rechabites:

Jeremiah 35:18: "And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."

We have to distinguish between physical life and spirit life. The part of us that lives eternally does not carry any genetic material because:

(a) YEHOVAH God is spirit, and not genetic

(b) Genetic material is needed only for reproduction and there will be no giving in marriage in eternity

(c) The Messiah said that which is spirit IS spirit and that which is flesh IS flesh

(d) Spirit can exist without a body, but a body cannot exist without a spirit -- that is why the natural body turns to dust and is never revived again, as such. When the transfiguration occurs, the physical body turns into an unconstrained spirit that can take a human (or probably any other) shape it wishes (or it may be constrained by the soul/personality to take only its own formerly, individual, recognizable human shape when it is manifested as a human being -- but in its perfect physical form).

All This is Not the Popular Church Teaching

The popular teaching is that DNA or inborn “spirit” differences do not matter, because in that view it is only “belief” that matters. Today, the popular understanding is that all races come from one source and most Christian churches subscribe to this view, believing that race is a social or environmental phenomenon, rather than being biological and genetic. That races have perhaps 99% in common genetically is considered sufficient proof of this. But within that 1% difference are the characteristics of race, and what else is ignored is the matter of “spirit” that features through the Bible. Can “spirit” matters be identified genetically? There seems to be no experimental scientific evidence of it but possibly the experts do not look for this, although they freely speak about race-behavior genes. As this is a fact then environmental factors alone would not be all that affects behaviors.

Quoting from Diversty in the Human Genome by Glayde Whitney, we read:

“Genes govern every detail of every structure and function of every cell in the human body. Although they operate in constant interaction with the environment, genes control every physiological function, from growth to healing to digestion to data-processing in the brain -- and they do so from conception to death. A tremendous amount of information -- the entire biological blueprint for each individual human being -- is contained in the genes. Until very recently most of our knowledge about genetics consisted of deductions from patterns of inheritance of traits among family members, and statistical inferences from traits in populations. We have known very little about the actual molecular chemistry of inheritance. This lack of knowledge has resulted in never-ending arguments about the causes of race differences.

"For example, it is widely accepted among scientists (although rarely acknowledged in public) that blacks and whites differ substantially in average IQ. The never-ending arguments hinge on whether the cause of the difference is genetic or environmental. Over the last 40 years both environmentalists and hereditarians have generally agreed that an adoption study would settle the question. If black children, adopted and reared in middleclass white families, grew up to function intellectually and emotionally like whites it would be a strong argument for environment. If they grew up to function like blacks it would establish that the race differences were largely genetic."

Controlled studies have been made about racial behavioral differences on different planes. That these can be reproduced tells us there is a genetic dynamic that over-rides or modifies environmental factors. It might be put this way that a gene is like a match that on its own is little problem -- it is environment that strikes the match. Actual behavior is effectively a combination of both.

But with Israelites an important feature is the matter of spirit:

Ezekiel 39:29: "For I have poured out My spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the LORD God."

Isaiah 44:3: "I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring."

In the first verse the mood is perfect, that is, it is a done deed for all time. The second verse shows that the same applies to all the offspring of Israelites in the future. There is NO MENTION of the spirit being poured out upon any other race. In Joel’s prophecy, the context is that of Israelites, and so “upon all flesh” means “upon all flesh of Israelites”.

Israelites are free to use or to not use the spirit YEHOVAH God has placed in them from conception. Being with foreign women creates a wrong environment and thus a wrong stimulus. The Messiah said, “What is begotten of spirit is spirit and what is begotten of flesh is flesh”. Our spirit is contained in a mortal body and thus is subject to the needs of that body. Body, soul and spirit are intimately and inextricably intertwined during life.

Culture is the consequence of collective/community behavior that is inbuilt. Israelite culture changes when Israelites disobey YEHOVAH God. Israelites are told, “Learn not the way of the heathen”  (Jeremiah 10:1). This is precisely what the education system in white countries is encouraging -- led by the controlled media and many churches. We can see why YEHOVAH God set boundaries to the different races. He even separated the inheritance area of each tribe of Israelites!

In the Bible, the use of words, such as “generations” (in the sense of a genetic line of descent), are frequent.

Genesis 6:8-9: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."

The word “generations” is a “gene” word. Biblical genetics is a neglected subject. In this respect we are told Noah was “perfect” (or complete) in his genes. This enabled him to walk with God. But why did Noah survive the flood? This passage goes on to tell us, “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth”. The word corrupted is the same as that shown earlier in Exodus 32:7, “Thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves”. How did they become corrupted (spoiled)? IT WAS BY NOT REMAINING “PURE” GENETICALLY AS NOAH DID.

It was not the Ark that saved Noah -- YEHOVAH God had Noah build the Ark because he was perfect in his generations, and besides that, He walked with God”. Racial corruption always tends towards to idolatry and not walking with YEHOVAH God. There is much about “corruption” with this meaning throughout the Old Testament. Religious translation “doctors” have taken the scalpel to the matter of Noah being “perfect in his generations”. This has been taken out of most versions since the KJV. The version makers have been clever in excising similar things, thus deceiving the majority church people.

Yes, Israelites can be “cast off” and “cut off” for other reasons, but after punishment and chastisement they can be restored. They may sin until there is no healing (2 Chronicles 36:16, Proverbs 16:15). But when they commit idolatry they are “spoiled” and when “spoiled” THERE IS “NO REMEDY”. The Book of Jude tells us about such people in the church scene who are, not having the spirit, and about another group, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh”. The two groups are poles apart. The first group predominates in denominational churches. Ethnic churches are, “not having the spirit”, and could not possibly be any different!

There is a verse in picture form that may have a bearing on this subject:

Amos 9:7: “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.”

The word “sift” is about shaking something to try to make it move, in this case it is the House of Jacob. The word “grain” = ts\eror denotes something packaged in a bundle, and is used of saving one’s life, as in the following verse:

1 Samuel 25:29: "And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling”.

The word “sieve” is metaphorical of the discipline of YEHOVAH God (Isaiah 30:28, Luke 22:31), and the phrase “bound in the bundle of life” is suggestive of what is bound or contained in a single grain, in that it contains the total DNA in a bundle. The words “bundle” and “grain” are the same word in Hebrew. YEHOVAH God is going to terribly shake His people Jacob, and “All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, which say, ‘The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us’”. Amos detailed the sins of the people and that those who would not listen would die. One could well ask what is going to happen to the “Rapture” enthusiasts who say they will escape tribulation!

Jacob’s ladder is pictorial of the DNA helix. The word “ladder” is unparalleled and exclusive to Jacob, and is a perfect description of the genetic spiral ladder that science has recently discovered, Jacob being the father of the chosen exclusive Israelites. The Hebrew also means, “I lift up -- I cast up -- I exault” or “the sum total”. These elohiym messengers (angels) knew the way for Jacob’s seed to receive an inheritance blessing.

Genesis 28:13: "And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed."

But this is exclusive to Jacob and his descendants!

Qualifications

We must look at whether on not there are any qualifications or exceptions to what has been said above in connection with race.

(1) Israelite women having non-Israelite male sexual partners.

We can note here that the “blotting out” does not happen when an Israelite woman goes with certain foreign lovers, as it does with others. In the Books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Lamentations, and Hosea, there are references to Israel (symbolized as a woman) as having many “lovers”. We are told in Ezekiel 23:7, She doted with all their idols”. Israel played the part of a Harlot woman (Book of Hosea), BUT GOD TAKES HER BACK AGAIN. Two questions arise:

(a) Are these figurative of Israelites worshipping “Ba’al”?

(b) Are they of literal races, and if so, then what races were these lovers of”?

In this article, it is the latter we need to look at. Seven times the lovers are described as being “Assyrians”. Ezekiel 23:22 expands this to describe these lovers as being, “The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa”. Looking into these words, we can see that all of these relate to one particular area that is the area from which Abraham originated. Further to this, in Ezekiel 23:5, 12 the Assyrians are described as being “neighbors” -- a word that is sometimes translated as “kin” or “kinsmen”. Ezekiel 16:26 includes the Egyptians (of Hebrew origin) as “neighbors”. The word “Assyrian” comes from the name of the second son of Shem. There are many difficulties in matters of identification, for example, Yadi in Assyrian terminology meant Judah. The Assyrians referred to a Yadi in the northwest of Syria as well as Yadi of Judah in the South. An Assyrian inscription mentions Azaryah of Yadi campaigning in the north. Azaryah (also known as Uziah) was a king of Judah. Regarding Azaryah of Yadi he was contemporary with Jeroboam of Northern Israel and in alliance with him. Jeroboam was described as reconquering Hamath that belonged (previously) to Judah. Hamath as a geographical region (and not just a city) encompassed Yadi. It would stand to reason that Jeroboam reconquered Yadi in the north and returned it to the control of Judah in the south which at that times was ruled by Azariyah. But one thing seems certain and that is that these lovers were all “kin” in the sense of them all being Semitic in origin. This of course does not mean all other Semitic women are of an acceptable gene pool for taking wives from.

(2) Israelite men having part-Israelite women or non-Israelite Semites as sexual partners.

About an Israelite male having sexual relationships with part-Israelite women, a presentation can be made for acceptability in certain cases. For instance, we read:

Deuteronomy 23:7-8: "Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation."

The word “abhor” is used in the ritualistic sense, (Piel Stem). After three generations of marrying back into Israelite stock the offspring have again sufficient spirit-bearing capacity to again be acceptable to YEHOVAH God. The NASB puts it this way, “The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD”. With Moabites and Ammonites the banned period is ten generations. With Caananites the offspring are barred for “all generations” from being an acceptable gene pool to take wives from. Some make the claim that “ten” in “ten generations” is a Hebraism meaning “for all time”, but if so, why would “all generations” be used in regard to the Caananites?

There is a further discussion about this in Appendix “A”.

In the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, there are passages that appear to cut across what has been said so far.

Ezra 9:1-2: “Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands."

The “doing according to their abominations” may not be about idolatry as practiced by all these peoples. It may be about such things as eating unclean food, as the word (Strong’s 8441 towebah) is used in the sense of the not keeping of YEHOVAH’s commandments as being an abomination. The point here is that those Israelite men who had taken foreign wives were not destroyed because there is no record of idolatry. Divorce was commanded, as the mixed marriages were contrary to the Law of YEHOVAH God. The children were not to be considered to be Israelites, and had to be divorced with their mothers.

Nehemiah says that the wives were taken from the Ammonites and Moabites only. These were of Semitic stock. What was demanded was the divorce of all the foreign wives and their children. The three generations factor had not been fulfilled because Judah had not been back in Palestine long enough at that time for that to have come to pass. What we are told in verse 13 is, “Our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this”. What they did had been done in ignorance and YEHOVAH showed His great mercy when they paid the high divorce price in repentance. There was no idol worship committed in this case. In Nehemiah 13:23 we read of a limitation as to who had married whom. “In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab”. The accounts in Ezra and Nehemiah have “Ammonites and Moabites” in common as being those from whom wives were taken. These were descended from Lot, and thus they were of kindred Semitic stock. There are other indications in the Old Testament about wives being taken from other Semitic stock in this manner. The male side of Ammon and Moab are permanently condemned.

NOTES: The reference to Ashdod is obscure. The LXX gives this word as Azotia, a word that is hard to trace in terms of word meanings and identity. The word “Ashdod” may refer to part-Israelites living there in that Philistine city. Another difficulty is found in Nehemiah 13:1, “On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever”. This of course appears to conflict with the “tenth generation” factor as mentioned above, but when we look into the differences between “for ever”, “for ever and ever” and “for all generations”, we can see that the Moabite women were banned for a single “for ever” time period, and so this does not conflict with the “ten generations. The Moabite and Ammonite males were banned for all time.

The Unforgivable Sin

From Adam to Abraham, Adam’s pure line contained the breath of life (see Job), so where did the people come from who did not have the breath of life? These men and women originated from Genesis chapter One. Through misgenerative activity, pollution was introduced to the bloodstream of the sons of Adam, and we find that YEHOVAH God sought to eliminate the products of such activity. Noah was “pure in his generations” (Genesis 6:9), and so he and his racially unmixed family were preserved whilst those outside of the ark were destroyed. This is only about those on the “face of the earth”, a phrase which does not mean the whole globe. Later, the Children of Israel were to destroy the mixed breed of the Canaanites. These could NOT receive the things of the spirit of God”. They could NOT witness in their spirit and say, “The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16), as an Israelite is able to do. This principle is a continuing theme in the Bible.

Through Abraham and Sarah, YEHOVAH God was restoring the spiritual power for Abraham’s seed to “become the Sons of God” (John 1:12). YEHOVAH was making a new beginning with Abraham. None other than the seed of Abraham, through the child of promise, Isaac, has this opportunity or potential, as we are told, “In Isaac shalt thy seed be called” (Hebrews11:18). Abraham’s seven other sons did not have this seed identity because they were not “In Isaac”. The descendants of Isaac were begotten of the spirit from their conception. This is why those who believe among Isaac’s descendants are regarded as being anointed by the spirit (Galatians 3:16). Paul is able to declare, “Now He which stablishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us is God who has also sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). In 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 Paul, confirms this, telling the “brethren” (kinsmen of the same womb of Sarah) that they have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit of YEHOVAH God (verse 12). He says that through this we might know (or comprehend) the things that are freely given to us, (the brethren), of YEHOVAH God. He goes on to further declare that the “natural” man (those not born of Isaac’s line) cannot receive the things of the spirit of YEHOVAH God. He agrees with the Messiah who says that anyone who is not begotten of the original sowing (in the womb of Sarah) cannot “see” the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God. Those who can are those “born from above” (not “again” as translated) in John 3:3, from the original sowing.

“Elohiym Seed”

What would happen if men who had the ability to see the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God had children with women of other races who could not see the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God? The consequence would be children with a dilution or removal of their ability to “see” the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God.

Malachi 2:14: "Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth."

The word “godly” here is "'elohiym”. So we see that YEHOVAH is seeking an “'elohiym” seed. The word “seed" is “zera”, a term used of the offspring of plants and animals, and so this is not any “spiritual” seed. An unfaithful Israelite husband who produced seed with a foreign woman would have children who were not “‘elohiym”. They are no longer one with YEHOVAH’s people. In the New Testament these “'elohiym” people still exist. They are named here as being a “theos” sort of people in the New Testament.

3 John 6: “Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly (theos) sort, thou shalt do well”.

The word translated as “sort” means “worthy”. Who else would be counted worthy to judge angels but the “‘elohiym”? The “throne” is a place from which judgment flows.

Revelation 3:21-22: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

Revelation 3:5-6: "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

Has anyone ever heard a sermon about people who are “’elohiym”? (See Psalm 86:6, Isaiah 41:23 and John 10:34).

Revelation 21:7: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."

What do the “overcomers” overcome? This passage goes on to say something about “whoremongers”:

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Overcomers do not commit whoredom with foreign women! Nothing has changed in the New Testament! The Old Testament pages are still relevant!

Numbers 25:1-3: "And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel."

The racially mixed children can never become unmixed. The genetic mixture of the child has become fixed. There has been a sin against the “spirit” of separation. The Messiah said:

Matthew 12:31: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."

We have read earlier, “None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life”. The consequences are identical!

To Conclude

From the context of the Book of Jude, there are persons who are, “not having the spirit”, that are obviously found within the assemblies of YEHOVAH’s people. Like it was in Sodom and Gomorrah, these had gone after “strange" (= “hetros” = not the same) flesh that was not matching theirs. They are as, “the angels which kept not their first estate” (Jude 6). Their mouths speak “great swelling words” and they like being admired -- (Jude 13). They may even be pastors, have ministries, church newsletters and sound more spiritual than others. They will practice a form of separation (Jude 19).

To those untaught, the genetic code may seem far removed from the Gospel as commonly presented. But the real “great commission” is about the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the Kingdom that is to be restored to Israel. This Kingdom has a king, laws, territory and a particular people belonging to that king. The Gospel is addressed to Israelites and is about Israelites. It is to those whose names were written in the “Book of Life” and written there “before the foundation of the earth”. This is to whom the Gospel is addressed alone. The disciples were told to go to all nations where Israelites had been “scattered”. The message to these Israelites that were found within, but not “of” other races, is Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" -- (Matthew 4:17).

The Messiah said to his disciples, “But rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). The Messiah had not paid the price at that time! Each of these Israelite disciples’ names was ALREADY “written” (in the Book)!! They did not write them in themselves, or do anything to have their names written in, because the grammatical "voice" of this statement is passive. Where were the names written? They were already written in heaven in YEHOVAH God’s Book. WHEN were their names written? Again, it was, before the foundation of the world”.

The basis of being found written in the Book is a matter of genetic election, according to the foreknowledge of God (1 Peter 1:2). The one pure genetic code, or set of racial genes, is that that is written in the Book of Life. Every racial corruption by Israelites, who take wives from an unacceptable gene pool and who commit idolatry, causes their names to be blotted out of that Book.

This world’s system is not racist!

The church system is not racist,

But “the God of Israel” is racist!

YEHOVAH God would not be known by that name, “The God of Israel if He were not racist. We can presume all we like about the non-Israelite races and their destiny -- there simply is no theme about them throughout the Bible!

But we do not have to presume about the other races. They are to be separated from Israelites. The politically correct crowd likes to say this is not so, saying things such as, “There is absolutely no question of any genetic differential”, or, “The genes of the different races are 99% the same”, to say they are not different. They do not present matters about racial genes, behavioral genes and “spirit”. Misinformation abounds. Truth is only found by them that seek it. The war to win minds is still on!

For those of a less scientific bent, the verses below are sufficient for them. But they may find it hard to locate a church that believes these verses:

Deuteronomy 7:6: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth”.

Deuteronomy 10:15: “Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people”.

1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people”.

That is, there is ONE chosen race that is “special” -- a word that means being “a valued property”. These had their genetic code written into the Book of Life, before the foundation of the earth! It is their responsibility to see that their names are not blotted out of the Book of Life!

Appendix “A” -- Midianite Women (A psychological view by R. N. Phillips of Sydney)

The Bible is ultimately concerned only with our soul/spirit and its acceptability to God. Our physical life is not worth two pence. When it comes to the matter of a partner, the Bible tells us that Adam went looking for a counterpart. It also uses the words ish and ishah to describe Adam and Eve and, on further investigation, we find the same words used to describe any matched male and female breeding pair (it is used of animals). In Adam and Eve's case, we know that Eve was the perfect counterpart for Adam, but to what degree or on which plane? Obviously they were the matched pair for the purpose of producing children, and one presumes they would have been well matched mentally, but not quite, because it was Eve who failed.

Genesis 2:24 tells in the English translation that the man and woman "shall be one flesh". However, this is not what the Hebrew says -- it contains the Hebrew preposition, le, with the Shiva (like a colon under the letter), which should be translated: “shall be as if they are one flesh". In other words, they will cooperate and work as one towards common goals, physical and spiritual.

Every man and woman remembers the person and circumstances when they lost their own virginity. Nothing wipes that memory out. Therefore, any Midianite woman who had known a man would always have a knowledge and fondness for her Midianite man and would always have a certain reticence in making the complete cultural shift and commitment to things Israelite. If nothing else, there would always be a longing for that man, given that he was taken from her by force. This is hardly the basis for a stable relationship with anyone of the race who slew her husband. So Moses' instructions were, if nothing else based on sound psychological principles. A virgin Midianite girl had youth and inexperience on her side and certainly no strong bias against Israelites, other than for the familial ties to father and brother(s) who may have been slain.

But on top of the psychology of Moses' ruling, remember also that many of the Midianite women who had known a man had also been involved in the sex-based idol worship and that this led to the subsequent corruption of Israelites. How would anyone know if any particular, sexually active Midianite woman had been involved in either religious based sex practices and/or in corrupting Israelites? If the women who had been prostituting with the Israelites were committed to their cause and if those who had had any association with their sex-based religion were allowed to live, would they not continue to corrupt the ways of the Israelite men? So on this level, Moses' ruling was also ruthlessly protective of Israelite way of life.

Did Moses intend that the virgin Midianites should be taken as wives, concubines or slaves? Let's check what we know.

Genesis 25:2 -- Midian is a son of Abraham and Keturah. Moses married a daughter of a Priest of Midian (Exodus 2:18, Exodus 3:1 and Exodus 4:18 and in Numbers 12:1 she is also called an “Ethiopian”). In Exodus 18:10-11 Jethro (Moses' father-in-law) recognizes YEHOVAH God and pronounces Him to be greater than all gods. In verse 11 and 12 he makes a formal sacrifice to YEHOVAH God and the sacrifice is shared with Moses and Aaron. Moses would not have tolerated such a thing if Jethro had been a pagan priest and idol worshiper. In Numbers 10:29, Moses asked his brother-in-law, Hobab to go with them to Palestine -- this demonstrates Hobab's complete acceptability as far as Moses was concerned and there is no mention of that being wrong. However, Hobab wanted to return to his land and his kindred but agreed to travel with them for a little while, at least.

This establishes that at least Midanite woman (who were not idol worshipers) were acceptable in Israel at that time. The matters involving Jethro's sacrifice and Hobab imply that Midianite men who were not idol worshipers were also acceptable. However, Hobab did not have the wit to jump at Moses' offer to join Israel. Nor is there record of Jethro travelling with Moses, despite Jethro's proclamation. These observations suggest that although the Midianites had sufficient breathe of life to recognize YEHOVAH God, they did not have sufficient breathe of life to recognize the advantages of joining up with Israel when they had the chance.

Note: On the basis of the names Balaam used for YEHOVAH God (“Jehovah my Elohim” -- Numbers 22:18; Jehovah their -- Israel's -- Elohim, -- Numbers 23:21; El) and his vision of the angel, Balaam was a renegade Israelite who was living with the Midianites. He addressed all utterances to Elohim but he expected his answers from YEHOVAH. For his dealing with the elders of Moab and Midian, Balaam was killed when Israel attacked the relevant Midianite tribes.

In Deuteronomy 20:14,15, Israel was allowed to take the women, cattle and children of the cities that were far off, but they were to take nothing living, man or beast, out of the cities of the people occupying the Promised Land.

It is interesting that five of the six nations mentioned in Deuteronomy 20:17 and six of the seven nations mentioned in Deuteronomy 7:1 also appear in Genesis 15:19-21. If the ten nations in Genesis 15:19-21 are all the nations occupying “The (that) Earth”, then it is reasonable to assume that the nations described as “far off” are the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites and Rephaims. The Kadmonites are thought to be the people of the East from whom Jacob selected his wives (Genesis 29:1).

Later we are told that Ezra says that some of the people had married women who were classed as nokriy (Ezra 10:2). This term is used of all the descendants of Canaan. It is doubtful that the Persians of the day can be described as nokriy because (a) Esther married the Persian King and (b) he was clearly in support of the Israelites against others who made up the empire.

Therefore, because of the acceptance of Esther's marriage, the Persians would appear to be of Shem's line whereas the women Ezra described as nokriy were of races that Israel was forbidden to marry.

The Amorites were the leading tribe of those that occupied the Promised Land. YEHOVAH God told Abraham (Genesis 15:16) that his descendants would take the Canaanite lands when the iniquity of the Amorites was full. Ellicott comments on this verse state:

"We learn from this declaration that the Canaanites were not extirpated by any willful decree to make room for Israel, but as an act of justice, like that which, because of their moral depravity, overwhelmed the Sethites with a flood....and we see also that if the Amorites had not made the scale of justice weigh down so heavily, they would not have been deprived of their country."

Hence we see that the Canaanites were unacceptable to YEHOVAH God because they had failed to show any repentance during the 400 years (the four generations of Genesis 15:16 -- see Ellicott) allotted to them. The purpose of the 400-year period was to establish the fact beyond doubt. The factors of 400 are 40x10x10 -- tested for a time that is more than sufficient to prove the point. This means that whatever amount of the “breathe of life” they had inherited from Noah, there was insufficient of it left to bring about any national reprieve by the time of the Exodus. They were unable to produce offspring with enough breath of life to make any difference. On the other hand, we have seen that in the Midianites, who descended from Abraham, that some vestige of the spirit persisted in the form of Jethro's ability to recognize YEHOVAH God as the Supreme god. Furthermore, the Midianites were demonstrating this degree of spiritual capability at the end of the same 400-year period that the Canaanites were failing their test. Therefore, Moses allowance of the virgin women to survive and for them to be wives is in keeping with the observed facts about the state of the capability of the Midianites to at least recognize God -- AT THAT POINT IN HISTORY.

This now makes some sense of Deuteronomy 31:10-14 which describes the circumstances under which one could take captive woman to wife. But it also follows, that that woman could not be a nokriy or zuwr, because that would contravene other laws. So the only way to satisfy this law was for the woman to be of the related “stranger” categories. The Israelites were told they must not take anything alive out of the nations that occupied the Promised Land. Given that Moses did not rebuke them for taking captives and cattle of the Midianites, it follows this battle had not taken place within the confines of the Promised Land. This is further gives support for the "quality" of the Midianite bloodline -- it had not been corrupted to the extent of the people of the land of Canaan. When YEHOVAH God told the Israelites to "smite" the Midianites (Numbers 25:17), the scope of the meaning of the word in this context covers wounding and killing -- that is, to render great physical damage on the Midianites. It is clear from Judges 6:1 that the Israelites did not wipe out the Midianites. (So, another good reason for Moses to tell the Israelites to kill all the women that had known a man was that when word of that got back to the surviving Midianites, they would know there was no value in mounting a rescue for the surviving woman folk -- if any of the men should have enough courage to want to even contemplate it.)

On balance, Moses' instruction to take the virgin Midianite women for themselves, and reading that as allowing them to be wives or slaves, is in keeping the facts of their history to that point in time and it was in keeping with the Law. Moses' ruling had nothing to do with mysterious biological changes and there is no Scriptural evidence that such is the case. On the other hand, his ruling had everything to do with physical practicalities, religious practices and psychological realities. But over and above all of this, the matter of the Midianite virgins was applicable in that day and that day only. There are no grounds whatsoever to generalize what was acceptable for this people and apply it to all and sundry or to any other race of people for any other purpose. That is going way past the scope of all that is written in Scripture.

APPENDIX “B” -- Eating Blood

The stricture concerning blood is also a matter of belief. Either we accept who and what we are and we accept the symbolism for what blood represents at the level of the mind and spirit or we reject it. This is just the same as accepting the communion wine and bread as representing something different form the ordinary use of wine and bread. It is the same as dealing with the circumcision -- it has practical relevance, but its symbolical relevance is by far away more important.

Genesis 9:4: "But flesh with (Hebrew: beth -- with, of accompaniment) life its soul (Hebrew: nephesh) (which is) its blood ye shall not eat." The two phrases, its soul and its blood are substantives in Apposition and hence require which is in the translation to show the relationship.

Ellicott states:

The words are remarkable. "Only flesh in its soul, its blood, ye shall not eat." The Authorised Version is probably right in taking blood as in apposition to soul, which word means here the principle of animation, or that which causes an animal to live. This is God’s special gift; for He alone can bestow upon that aggregation of solids and fluids which we call a body the secret principle of life. Of this hidden life the blood is the representative, and while man is permitted to have the body for his food, as being the mere vessel which contains this life, the gift itself must go back to God, and the blood as its symbol, treated with reverence.

Hence this verse gives the explicit statement that the blood IS the soul, meaning it is the seat of the soul and hence of life. The next verse continues: “And surely your blood, which is for your souls, will I require [that is, avenge]; from every beast will I require it and from man: even from a man’s brother will I require the soul of man”.

The last clause literally is…“at the hand of man, at the hand of one that is his brother, will I require the soul of man”. This has nothing to do with the avenger of blood for accidental death.

Leviticus 17:11: "For a soul [is] The flesh with The blood. And I have given it to you on The altar to atone for lives souls of you. For The blood, it by means of The soul will atone."

This verse tells us several things. Firstly, it defines a soul as having two parts, the blood and the flesh -- which makes sense because neither can exist independently (in the normal physical sense). Secondly, it states that it is the animal’s soul that makes the “atonement” for our souls. Thirdly, because we cannot see the soul as a discrete entity, we are told the visible blood (as the seat of the soul) represents the soul in these ceremonies.

The only difference between Adam’s descendants to Abraham and the descendants of Abraham-Isaac, is the manner in which their spirit is incorporated into each generation. In Adam’s line the amount of spirit present in Adam and Eve was spread across each generation (each individual receiving less as the number of people increased). In Isaac’s descendants, the same amount of spirit was conceived in each child and hence the pool was inexhaustible, irrespective of the number of people born.

Leviticus 7:11: "For a soul [is] The flesh with [Hebrew: beth -- with, of accompaniment] The blood. And I have given it [separate pronoun, for emphasis, referring to the animal’s soul] to you on The altar to atone for lives souls of you. For The blood, it [separate pronoun, for emphasis, referring to the animal’s blood] by means of [Hebrew: beth -- by means of, denoting the thing which is supposed to be the means] The soul will atone."

Deuteronomy 12:23: "For The blood, it [is] The life soul and ye shall not eat The life soul together with The flesh."

In total, these three verses show that the animal’s soul is not a substitute for our soul or our life -- because if it were, it would mean an animal’s soul was acceptable to YEHOVAH God. Rather, it is the belief associated with performing the sacrifice that provides the atonement. The animal’s blood was required to ceremonially sanctify the person so he could approach YEHOVAH God in worship. As no one can approach YEHOVAH in human form, the blood of the animal represented the death of the person, family or nation, (depending on the type of animal), so that the person could symbolically rise to the spirit plane. Thus the sacrifice reminds the person that, but for the Grace of YEHOVAH God in allowing this means of reconciliation, his own soul would face eternal death. The fact that the person lives on after the sacrifice points to eventual resurrection and eternal life. That is why each and every offering (with one exception for the poor) required blood to be shed as the first step. (The sin offerings of Leviticus were specifically for sins of ignorance and were distinct from the other burnt sacrifices).

When we look at the New Covenant, we find that the Messiah laid down his soul (Greek: psuche) when he shed his blood for us (John 10:15,17). The expression, shedding blood means to die by other than natural causes, that is, to die early, of non-natural causes. This means it is our souls that are doomed to die because of our sin and it is our souls that the Messiah’s early death redeemed (because of his perfect life). We also know that the Messiah became a spirit containing Abundant Life (Greek: zoe) -- His soul (psuche) took on Abundant Life to live in its spirit form.

Hence, before his fall, Adam had three things (three is the number of completeness):

(1). Soul -- Hebrew: nephesh, Greek: psuche

(2). Spirit -- Hebrew: ruach, Greek pneuma

(3). Abundant Life -- Hebrew: neshamah chyim, Greek: pneuma zoe.

When Adam sinned:

(1). He lost his Abundant Life.

(2). He became flesh (Genesis 6:3), as if he were of natural mankind, with his soul trapped by its dependency on blood.

(3). He retained the breath of YEHOVAH God (his spirit) in his nostrils.

When the flood came, those with the spirit of YEHOVAH God in their nostrils were drowned (except for 8 people -- Noah and his family).

Leviticus 17:11 refers to “atonement”. This word, together with words such as expiation, oblation, remission and propitiation are used interchangeably and hence too loosely to understand what they mean in English. Without going into the Hebrew of the words (which is the subject of a separate study concerning sin itself), it is worth appreciating at least the English meaning of these words:

Deuteronomy 12:23: "For The blood, it [separate pronoun, for emphasis, referring to the blood] [is] The life soul and ye shall not eat The life soul together with [its] [Hebrew: am -- with, in the sense of the same origin] The flesh."

These verses imply that blood donations and blood transfusions are highly inappropriate. They constitute giving away of soul on the one hand and the consumption of soul by somebody else. What is the difference between eating blood and transfusing it?

END NOTE: In this article, there have been references made to the inherent spirit that YEHOVAH God placed in the genetic code of His people. An article, Who Is "Born Of the Spirit," And When is available on our website.

-- Edited by John D. Keyser.

 

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Proclaiming the Good News of the Soon-Coming Kingdom of YEHOVAH God Here on This Earth!

Hope of Israel Ministries
P.O. Box 853
Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A.
www.hope-of-israel.org

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