Many of the obscure and apparently obsolete details in the Torah are hints of events later in the Bible. Some of these details are not what is said but what is not said. And some of these unspoken hints are discernible only through identification of common structures. One example is a line missing from Genesis 1.

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CREATION

In the second Stanza, which concerns Day 2, there seems to be a space left deliberately empty that it might be filled.

Genesis 1:6-8

TRANSCENDENCE
And said God, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
(Creation – Ark of the Testimony – Initiation)

HIERARCHY
Let it divide between the waters and the waters.
(Division – Veil – Delegation)

ETHICS
And made God the firmament,
and divided between the waters under the firmament,
(Ascension – Bronze Altar – Presentation)

- – - – - – - – - – - – - -(Testing – Lampstand – Purification)

and from the waters above the firmament.
And it was so.
(Maturity – Incense Altar – Transformation)

OATH/SANCTIONS
And God called the firmament heaven.
(Conquest – Laver – Vindication)

SUCCESSION
And were the evening, and the morning, the second day.
(Glorification – Shekinah – Representation)

Here, there are many hints of future events, such as the “Testimony” in Line 1 parting the waters (As Moses parted the Sea and Joshua’s priests with the Ark parted the river). The interesting thing is that the lower waters became the source of the Land, the earthly Altar (Line 3) and the upper waters the arena of government, the crystal sea below the heavenly Altar (Line 5). The setting for each is hinted at in the structure of this Stanza. (Note that the actual creation of the firmament also seems to be a fivefold pattern with the “Ethics” missing.)

But the focus here is the missing line in the center. Here, God tore open a holy place for the Sun, Moon and Stars. Since Genesis 1 is a fractal, each stanza follows a similar pattern and yet there is a progression in the whole which expands on the one laid down in the first Stanza. What is missing from “the space between” in Stanza 2 is created in Stanza 4. This would be the reason why Day 2, or rather what was created on Day 2, was the only element that was not proclaimed “good.”

Genesis 1:1-2:3

1  Light and Darkness
(Creation – Ark of the Testimony – Initiation)

2  Waters Below and Waters Above
(Division – Veil – Delegation)

3  Dry Land and Firstfruits
(Ascension – Bronze Altar – Presentation)

4  Sun, Moon and Stars
(Testing – Lampstand – Purification)

5  Swarms in Sea and Sky
(Maturity – Incense Altar – Transformation)

6  Animals and Man
(Conquest – Laver – Vindication)

7  Rest and Rule
(Glorification – Shekinah – Representation)

We know that Adam failed to enter into God’s rest, the first Sabbath. A shedding of blood allowed God to open to Adam the fruit of the Land and the womb as He had intended, but with humbling limitations. The curse of death was mitigated only partially, and temporarily, through the sacrifice of animals.
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DIVISION

Israel’s history follows the same pattern, but what was once expressed in the Physical realm was now expressed in the Social realm. What was divided was not the waters but their representatives, the “waters” of the nations. The “stars” (waters above) and “sand grains” (waters below) promised to Abraham find their “Firstfruits” in Joseph, but there is no Pentecostal harvest.

You might notice that Israel’s failure is what stops this pattern being neatly chiastic. The forty years in the wilderness was another, similarly-shaped pattern, with the death of unfaithful Israel in the center, for their worship of false gods.

The stars missing from the original pattern but installed in the greater pattern were not Physical but Social. The serpentine kings of Egypt fell from the sky in a great darkness and a dividing of the waters, but the wise kings of Israel eventually filled the heavenly court and shone like the stars. David and Solomon were “Pharaohs” who listened to the testimony of Moses.
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ASCENSION

In this case, as the book of Hebrews tells us, Israel failed to enter into the heavenly country perceived by Abraham and all those of like faith.
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TESTING

This brings us to the big picture, the shape of Genesis 1 as it is played out across the entire Bible. The question is, who are the stars at the center? Why, the true sons of Abraham, of course, Jews and Gentiles who believed, beginning with those who shone on the day of Pentecost as a human Lampstand.

As with Abraham, God’s household in heaven was a tent of servants — the angels — but there was only one Son, through whom came all Creation. Just as the creation of the firmament between heaven and earth in the Physical realm was not “good” until it was filled, and Abraham’s empty tent was not “good,” so also the human firmament, the mediators between heaven and earth in the Social realm could not be proclaimed “good” until they were filled with the Spirit of God. Subsequently, it should be no surprise that in the book of Revelation, which follows the same structure, the Hierarchy is seven churches, an earthly replica of the seven spirits before the throne, a Lampstand decentralized and surrounding Christ, who communes with them between heaven and earth. This is a new Creation, and it is good.

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On the sons of Abraham as stars, see also Babylonian Bookends.

ART: Abel Pann, Abraham, ‘Look now toward Heaven, and count the stars…’ (Genesis, XV, 5)

“Sanctions corresponds to the Day of Atonement. One goat goes to heaven (as fragrant smoke) and the other goes to hell, carrying the sins of the people into the wilderness, to be eaten by the birds and beasts. The difference here is that we have not two goats, but two High Priests…”

Matthew 26-27: SANCTIONS

The fourth major cycle moves us from the Covenant Ethics to the Covenant Sanctions. This concerns the pouring out of blessings and curses for obedience or disobedience to the Covenant, and the cleansing of the Land from the guilt of sin and the ensuing barrenness.

Aligning this pattern with its corrupted prototype in Eden, the “war of words” between Adam (Jesus) and the serpent (the Jewish rulers) is over, and it is time for some face to face combat, and a reckoning.

The Covenant “macrostructure” is as follows (click the link for the previous blog posts):

Sanctions corresponds to the Day of Atonement. One goat goes to heaven (as fragrant smoke) and the other goes to hell, carrying the sins of the people into the wilderness, to be eaten by the birds and beasts. The difference here is that we have not two goats, but two High Priests: Caiaphas and Jesus. Which one would truly carry the curse of the sins of the people? The Herodian priesthood believed they were the true mediators, thus designating Jesus as the second goat. Of course, the opposite was true. In this case, the blessed earthly rulers would be cursed and the cursed heavenly ruler would be blessed.

The Sanctions section has two parts, and the events put an interesting spin on the Day of Atonement. This should not surprise us, since we have a mercurial God who loves to confound the wise, and thus never fulfills His prophecies in quite the way we expected.

On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest made two approaches to the Most Holy, offering the blood of a bull for the covering of the sins of the priesthood, including himself, and then the blood of the first goat for the covering of the sins of the people. Priesthood and kingdom are the “head and body,” a pattern which we see in the Ascension Offering in Leviticus 1. [1] So, how does the Spirit spin this in Matthew? The first cycle concerns Jesus in the hands of the Jews (representatives of one nation, Israel as the priestly head); the second concerns Jesus in the hands of the Gentiles (representatives of all nations, the Gentiles as the stately body). Land and Sea would both condemn the incarnate God.

Matthew 26 – FIRST APPROACH: Jesus in the Hands of the Jews

Because Matthew’s Sanctions is a shorter section, we can analyze it in more detail.

The correspondence of the event to the matrix pattern is fairly straightforward. But the matrix is only one strand of a woven cord. When we align the events with the other strands, the significance of each event as a fulfillment of the Old Covenant should make the saint weep.

Creation: The Plot/Jesus Anointed

These two accounts each follow the matrix, but together give the first step a head and a body. Moreover, both accounts also give us a head and a body. So we have the totus Christus working at three levels:

Head: Jesus speaking about Passover to the disciples
Body: The Chief Priests and the Elders gather in the palace of the High Priest

then, combining these two as the head,

Head: The Plot to Kill Jesus
Body: Jesus’ head and body anointed at Bethany (“House of God”)

The anointing at Bethany follows the Covenant pattern, with Jesus’ head anointed at Transcendence, the disciples murmuring at Hierarchy, Jesus defending the Woman (as Adam and Eve) at Ethics, Jesus’ body anointed at Sanctions, and the woman honored at Succession. Since these two stories together form the “Sabbath” of the greater structure, the irony is that while Jesus is reclining in “the House of God,” the High Priest and his minions are not only working, they are plotting a murder.

The structure of each account is sublime literary architecture. The second is outlined above, so I will only arrange the first here:

Take a moment to look at the symmetry here. Jesus predicts the plot at Ascension (opening the future, like Joseph and Daniel) and it is described in the matching stanza at Maturity. At the center of Ascension is the Son of Adam, and at the center of Maturity is the seed of the serpent (trickery). You might also notice that the plot to arrest Jesus appears at step 5, which is exactly where it occurs in the greater structure of Matthew 26. The cycle finishes with the rulers attempting to shelter themselves (Booths).

Division: Judas Bought/Jesus Sold/The Passover

The second step also has two parts. Judas’ meeting with the chief priests highlights the “Veil” theme. Division also concerns circumcision and Passover, so we have an illicit union to cut off the Lamb. Jesus’ pronouncement of “woe” upon Judas corresponds to His earlier woes pronounced upon all of Judah. Like Egypt, the Bronze Altar-Land of Israel was hungry for the blood of her murderous rulers. Jesus’ words, “It would have been better for that man if he had not been born,” are likely included to highlight the “firstborn” slain at Passover. This time, Jesus would not escape as He did as an infant.

Ascension: A New Covenant/the Disciples Scattered

At the Bronze Altar step, Jesus institutes a new feast. Here, He is “opening the scroll” and it is His own body, the Word incarnate. As the Land was formed and filled on Day 3, so Jesus, the true Isaac, the true Israel, and the true Land, is de-formed and de-filled. The bread is the old altar broken in two (1 Kings 13:5) just as Israel itself would be divided by the Gospel, cut up like a sacrifice and placed upon the altar. Since we are at the Ascension step, it is worth mentioning that at this step Moses received the Ten Words, written with the finger of God. God incarnate now uses ten fingers to break this “tablet” of bread in two. The typology here is both mind boggling and heart breaking.

The Table highlights the sacrificial lamb, and Jesus predicts the scattering of the flock (again, we have a correspondence between the prediction/promise at Ascension and the fulfillment at Maturity, the Giving and Receiving of the Law). The disciples identify themselves with the Lamb.

Testing: Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

The walk through the Tabernacle as a new Creation continues as we reach the Lampstand. The disciples are called to be “governing lights,” or watchmen, while Jesus prays in Gethsemane. The Lampstand was fuelled with holy olive oil, and Gethsemane is the place where olives were crushed for their oil. The Testing theme is highlighted with the cup, the jealous inspection (Numbers 5). The disciples fail to watch, so Jesus twice commands them to “see.” Their eyes are opened.

Maturity: Soldiers Arrest Jesus, Scatter the Disciples

The Maturity symbols here are many. Firstly, Joseph’s brothers betrayed him at this point in his first cycle. [2] We have swords and clubs and legions of angels mentioned, as well as a nod to the prophets. The high priest’s servant’s ear is of course significant, since the human body relates to the Tabernacle. Since the sword is usually in the right hand, it was likely his left ear, corresponding to the Table. The allusion is also to the servant whose ear was bored through to ratify his desire to remain in the service of his master’s house (Exodus 21:6). And Jesus would have healed it with His right hand. Jesus does not free slaves through revolution. It only leads to worse bondage. His reference to the swords of angels is also interesting, being another reference to Passover.

Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council

Finally, we have the face off between the two high priests, one an image of Jesus by office, and Jesus an image of God by nature. The structure tells us two things: firstly, it alludes to Adam’s trial before God (“He deserves death,” v. 66) and secondly it alludes to the recompense for faithfulness to the Covenant Oath. Of course, Jesus has been entirely faithful to His oath, but in dying He would become a fulfilled oath for all those who believe.

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.” (Revelation 3:14)

At step 6 within this step six cycle, the High Priest tears his robes (which was illegal for the High Priest alone), which corresponds to the open Veil at Atonement, the tearing of the Veil at the crucifixion, and the destruction of the Temple in the first century pattern. Even the silence of Jesus was a sword that would cut Israel in two.

Peter Denies Jesus

At Glorification/Booths/Succession, Matthew places Peter’s denial of Jesus. This step is about the outflow of step 6, Atonement, for the sake of the nations. Instead, Peter invokes a self-maledictory oath, legally cutting himself off from the shelter of Jesus, which looks like death but is life. The cry of the rooster is the only true witness to the coming dawn. Peter pictures unbelieving Israel, and his outflow is bitter tears.

Matthew 26 – SECOND APPROACH: Jesus in the Hands of the Gentiles

The second cycle follows the same pattern, but the action has escalated to a greater court. Since the Jews were prohibited from executing criminals without reference to Roman law, Jesus could only be murdered via a Jew-Gentile conspiracy.

Morning comes as a new Creation, and Jesus is bound as a sacrifice.

Judas again appears at Division, and the Field of Blood is a reference to the child sacrifices of Israel’s kings. [2]

At Ascension, Jesus is the silent Firstfruits Lamb, the “standing sacrifice.” The Revelation follows the same structure. Here, He gives no answer. The “opening” of His body would lead to a corporate mouth, the apostolic testimony. The indwelling Spirit would cure Peter’s fear and make him a bold witness.

At step 3 of the Testing cycle, we have the ruler and his wife, who receives a troubling dream, as Gentile rulers are wont to do when God’s man is faithful in a Gentile court. At the Atonement/Sanctions/Oath step (the Laver), Pilate washes his hands of the matter, while the Jews take full responsibility for Jesus’ death. This corresponds to the choice they were being given in the Gospel: be cut off with the Circumcision, or be cleansed and freed in Baptism.

At Maturity, we have the symbol of the robe of office, and the crown of thorns, which pictures for us the fruit of Israel according to the flesh: cursed thorns and thistles awaiting the fire.

Analysis of the Conquest/Atonement step of this chapter reveals Matthew’s reason for mentioning the things he does. The “anointed head” at Creation is the Place of the Skull. Jesus’ garments are divided at Division, matching the tearing of the Temple Veil at Conquest. The promise of a Temple rebuilt “in three days” appears at Ascension. Instead of the Lampstand, we have the midday darkness at Testing. And at Maturity, we have the true fruit of the Land, resurrected holy ones, who testify in the city. Conquest/Sanctions also contains the “oath” of the centurion concerning the true identity of Jesus. Matthew is a literary marvel.

The Sanctions section finishes with another Jew-Gentile two-part cycle, Jesus “priestly” burial, and His Gentile guards, hired by the murderous Jews. The “seal” on the tomb is a Day 6 symbol, the legal pronouncement upon all those captive to death. [4] But the Law was now satisfied, and all the prisoners were legally free.

Finally, for further meditation, it might help to align these two cycles, Jew and Gentile, visually:

If you’ve been around here for a while, you might understand the correspondence between this arrangement and the Ten Words, which is even more food for thought.

Having been condemned at the hand of the Jews, and also at the hand of the Romans, qualified Jesus as a Priest-King, after the order of Melchizedek. He was not bloodied on the right ear, thumb and toe only, but on both sides, ending the Circumcision, and making of the two “Abrahamic” halves one New Adam.

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[1] Of course, this two-fold approach is repeated “fractally” between AD30 (the ascension of Christ) and AD70 (the first resurrection). See One Taken, One Left Behind. Also see James Jordan’s fascinating comments concerning the “Day of Atonement” structure of Daniel 7 in his commentary, The Handwriting On The Wall.
[2] See Dogs and Pigs.
[3] See The Field of Blood.
[4] The “seal” upon Daniel in the lion’s den is step 6 (Sanctions) in the first cycle of the book. See Daniel’s Long Shadow.

In John 16:7-11, we read:

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

What does it mean for the Spirit to “convict the world in regard to righteousness?” And what is the causal connection with Jesus going to the Father?

The phrase “sin, righteousness and judgment” refers to a threefold legal process found throughout the Bible. By Covenant, God chooses and qualifies His representatives.

The threefold legal process relates to the Creation Week because it moves from a “forming” to a “filling” and then to a “future.”

The Covenant pattern itself is fivefold:

TRANSCENDENCE (who’s the boss?)
…..HIERARCHY (whom has He put in charge?)
……….ETHICS (what are we to do?)
…..SANCTIONS (what will we get?)
SUCCESSION (when is He coming back?)

However, this pattern contains the “forming, filling, future” structure of the Creation week:

Transcendence and Hierarchy are the “forming,” as uncreated authority is delegated to a representative. Yahweh is the cause and His representative is the effect.

Ethics and Sanctions are the “filling” of the Covenant. Here, the Laws are the cause and the blessings/curses are the effect.

In each case, as cause becomes effect, “word” becomes flesh. The forming concerns the establishing of the legal parties and the filling concerns the expression of their relationship. It is a “head” and a “body.”

Finally, Succession concerns the “future.” Those who understood that the Ethics were intended for good and not evil (as Joseph did, and Adam didn’t), are given greater authority, just as Jesus promised.

The “forming, filling, future” process found not only within the entire Covenant pattern, but “fractally” within the Ethics step on its own.

The Law is given; the Law is opened; the Law is received. These three steps are the revelation of the Ethics of the Covenant as the beginning of a New Creation.

Aligned with the Bible Matrix, you can see that the Law is given at Ascension (Moses on the mountain as Firstfruits), the Law is opened at Testing (Pentecost), and the legal witness by (or against) Israel is received at Maturity (Trumpets).

This threefold process is seen typologically in a number of key ways.

Firstly, it is seen in the “three-decker” primeval world: the Garden Sanctuary (Adam), the Land (Abel/Seth), and the World (Noah).

Secondly, it is inherent in the three-decker architecture of the Tabernacle: the Most Holy contained the Laws of Moses (conviction of sin); the Holy Place contained furniture which imaged the blameless nearbringing sacrifice (blood/Table + fire/Lampstand + smoke/Incense altar = righteousness); the Court (blood and water = judgment). This construct is a miniature of the primeval world.

Thirdly, it is seen in the threefold offices of priest, king and prophet, which correspond to the three furnitures in the Holy Place. The priest makes offerings for sin against the Law (forming a holy place), the king models and upholds righteousness in the light of the Law (filling the place with light), and the prophet speaks of coming judgment (the two-edged “binary” future).

Priest: God’s face is against Adam until blameless blood is shed (Showbread/Ascension).

King: God’s face shines upon Adam (Lampstand/Testing).

Prophet: As a priest-king, Adam speaks as God’s face (Incense Altar/Maturity).

You might also notice that a priest deals only in judgment upon animal substitutes, a king judges human lawbreakers, but a prophet proclaims the end for entire nations and empires. Each role is also threefold, with its own level of dealing with sin, righteousness and judgment:

For the obedient Priest, atoning for sin, it is blood (sin), fire (righteousness) and smoke (judgment – God’s favor).

For the wise King, as righteous son, it is the process of hearing the testimony of witnesses, discerning their hearts by the Spirit, and executing a righteous judgment or showing mercy.

For the commissioned Prophet, it is hearing directly from God (faith: “they do not believe in me”); seeing the Sanctions poured out in a vision (obedience: “I go to my Father”) and speaking to the corrupted kings and priests on behalf of the righteous (legal witness: “the satan/prosecutor stands condemned”).

In the New Testament, Jesus paid for sin in the Garden, the “firstfruits” apostles proclaimed His righteousness and resurrection to the kings of the Land (leading to AD70 and the avenging of the blood of Abel), and the Church now carries their doctrine to the entire world, leading to the final judgment. Of course, each of these stages is a “fractal” extension, a “future” outcome of the previous one.

The triune ethical office also aligns typologically with Genesis 1:

Priest: Days 1-3 – FORMING (dividing light from darkness, etc.)

King: Days 4-6 – FILLING (beginning with the governing lights)

Prophet: Day 7 – FUTURE (entering into God’s rest)

We can also see it in Jacob’s vision of the heavenly Babel in Genesis 28:

Forming: And he dreamed, and BEHOLD, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven (dividing light from darkness, etc.)

Filling: And BEHOLD, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! (beginning with the governing lights)

Future: And BEHOLD, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. (entering into God’s rest) 

Jesus, as priest, king and prophet, is the entire creation in human form. At the centre of history, He is the Ethics of the Covenant given, opened and received for all humanity.

Finally, the causal connection between Jesus going to the Father and righteousness is that after He fulfilled the priestly office of atoning for sin, He ascended to rule as king in righteousness (Revelation 4-5 shows Him ascending as the “firstfruits lamb” and opening the New Covenant scroll, after which four gospel horsemen ride out into the Land). He did not return with tablets of stone, as did Moses, but instead sent His Spirit. The Spirit “convicted the world of righteousness” through the testimony of the apostles, which remains the primary channel, or “opening” of God’s work today.

Notice that Jesus’ kingdom began at Pentecost, where the tongues of fire correspond to the “seeing” of the Lampstand. Jesus sat at the Father’s right hand, as Joseph was Pharaoh’s right hand man, and Daniel was Nebuchadnezzar’s right hand man, with “all power.” He is the Covenant Head, the “Forming.” Filled with His Spirit, His people are made the “righteousness” of God, men and women who are qualified to speak as prophets.

We are still in the Covenant Ethics section of  Galatians. Not having looked too far ahead, I’m not yet certain of the overall structure of this section. So until this becomes clear we will stick with the secondary cycles. I have no doubt that the structure will become clear in hindsight, because it always does.

The first Ethics cycle concerned the purpose of the Law, communicated through a symbolic overview of Israel’s history. That cycle is perhaps the Transcendence of this cycle. The second Ethics cycle focusses on the Galatians’ response to the Law, so it appears Paul has moved from Ethical Transcendence to Ethical Hierarchy. This is the “circumcision” cycle, the sign that sets Israel apart, so Paul will be hammering home the death of the Christ as its fulfillment.
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or the Covenanto-Architecturo-Historico-Grammatico-Muso Method

“A seal is meant to be broken.”

During the first of his recent lectures in London, James Jordan tore a page out of his Bible. It was the page announcing the New Testament as a separate book with its own pagination. It is one thing to interpret the New Testament in the light of contemporary literature and history, but their importance pales in comparison to the texts being recognized as a continuation of the Scriptures.

The break between Malachi and Matthew (whom Jordan and others believe was indeed the first to pen a gospel) was not the first period of silence. The New Testament is, in fact, the “fourth testament.” But there is another equally important factor, and that is the continuation of the practice of woven, or fractalline, literary structure based on Covenant history.

The fact that the literary structure of all the Old Covenant Scriptures proceeds in an identical fashion in the New is not something commonly discussed, especially in the kind of detail which follows below. Such an application might be an imposition on the text, but the degree to which it does work indicates a strong possibility that it is actually the key to the structure of the text and thus the author’s “Covenantal” intent.

If the case is the latter, then the position of every phrase within the literary structure reveals it as a powerful allusion as the author recapitulates the  histories of the Covenant people over and over again. If this literary convention is indeed the lens through which we must view the text, all the commentaries so far are wanting. There is a hidden dimension waiting to be explored and discussed and enjoyed and admired.

As we will see, this practice not only enables the author to pull these allusions out of the grave but also to give them some surprising “resurrection” (New Covenant) meanings without saying a word. The structure itself speaks volumes. (I could write about this for decades, so if anyone rich feels like becoming a patron of the arts, drop me a line.)

Identification and “parsing” of such an interpretive grid demonstrates the unbreakable ties between the New Covenant texts to the Old. It also exposes the embarrassing flatness of the historico-grammatical method. When I spout arrogant fire like “there’s so much more going in the text but it goes right over our heads,” I’m not blowing smoke. Thousands of scholars have pored over the text looking for rhyme and reason and not noticed that it is written in a three dimensional architectural-literary code.

If you are coming to this without a reasonable familiarity with the interpretive process described here, you won’t understand what is going on. See the Bible Matrix videos in the link at the top of the page for some basics. But to those familiar with the tune, you can sing along and enjoy Paul’s New Covenant lyrics written to an Old Covenant tune, a tune begun in Genesis 1.

Perhaps we should call this hermeneutical science the “Genetic” method, seeing as it is a combination of history, liturgy and poetry (unimaginable!). The modernist New Testament experts had better learn to whistle along.

Needless to say, if this thesis is correct, the beauty of these precious texts far surpasses anything we could have possibly written — or even imagined. (See The Eye of Sound)

CREATION (TRANSCENDENCE)

The structure of the first stanza not only asserts Paul’s authority from God (his name is the inspired source), it makes his apostleship a new exodus (Hierarchy). The will of God makes him an altar, the symbolic four-cornered Land, and the Gentile saints are his firstfruits, which is surprising because that role under Moses was limited to Levites, the pure of the pure, the Jews’ Jews. This is mindblowing — until we remember Jesus’ words about giving the kingdom to those who would bring forth the fruit God desires. The stanza ends with both Jesus and the New Covenant believers as spiritual offspring of the Father (Succession). Can you see what I mean now, about this “two-coordinate” method? Paul’s letters are “woven” in the same way as the Torah.

DIVISION (HIERARCHY)

Notice the heavenly places at the centre. This stanza reminds me of the structure of the Revelation, which puts the seven churches, beginning with Ephesus, in the heavenly places as a “de-centralized” lampstand, a new hierarchy in the firmament.

Notice that the “choosing” before the foundation of the world in the structure is “bridal,” a summoning at Trumpets, and us being holy and blameless is set at Atonement.

It is interesting that the ESV puts “in love” at the beginning of the next sentence. Yet the structure requires a final line in the second stanza. Who needs punctuation when you have the Bible Matrix?

ASCENSION (ETHICS 1)

This one kind of speaks for itself, but we must remember that this stanza is Ascension. This blessed adoption puts us on the Altar with Christ. Notice the “bridal song” at step 5.

TESTING (ETHICS 2)

The centre of this stanza, and thus of the entire structure, is “the forgiveness of our trespasses.” Here, the bridal result of Jesus’ faithful offering is plunder rather than plagues, the “riches” of His grace. Notice also that “lavished” appears at the Day of Coverings. When the Sanctions are applied to the saints, the Lord only has blessing for His new Creation, and no cursing. Wisdom and insight refers to our position as wise judges, joint-heirs, co-regents, elohim who shall discern between the angels.

MATURITY (ETHICS 3)

The “Tabernacle” thread appears to shine the most brightly in this stanza. At Maturity, it refers to the New Covenant house, the bridal body, the Jew-Gentile Church, eyes opened, unveiled and mediating for the nations, face to face with God in Christ. The use of “fullness” at step 5 in stanza five is “fragrant,” the Springtime of the resurrection.

CONQUEST (SANCTIONS/OATH)

Stanza 6 corresponds to Joshua (inheritance) and coverings (investiture with glory). The Church, covered by Christ, is now His covering, His glory. Notice that the structure places Christ as the firstfruits head and the first century saints as the firstfruits body, the harvest. The structure of the book of Revelation does the same thing. The “counsel of His will” is the Spirit, appearing in this stanza at Pentecost, the “holy fire.” As always, the underlying process not only refers to harvest but also the process of the rite of sacrifice. Revelation is a giant sacrificial rite. Israel is put on the altar as a whole burnt offering (an “ascension”) and divided into harlot and bride, the ashes of mourning swallowed by the Land and fragrant, pleasing smoke rising to God as a witness to her judgment (1 Kings 13:5; Revelation 19:3).

GLORIFICATION (SUCCESSION)

I can see the exact structure of the book of Revelation in this final cycle, which is not surprising. Commentators will rattle on about how precious and wonderful it is that we as saints have been sealed. But what does it mean to be “sealed”?

These last two stanzas are talking about the events in Revelation 7, where the firstfruits saints are sealed (“Numbered” Jews and numberless Gentiles, all in white robes) for the purpose of being martyred. The seals on the saints are not a pretty mark from God but replicas of the seals on the New Covenant scroll, the one the Lamb has opened to claim His inheritance (the nations).

A seal is meant to be broken. These saints were not to simply sit in pietistic wonder at their precious Jesus. Their mission, as the sacrificial body, was to die as an army of firstfruits lambs, a bridal multiplication of Jesus. These blessed were sealed as living epistles, sent out as horsemen to have their seals broken (yet remain Covenant virgins, see Tokens of Virginity) through death and resurrection, filling up the sufferings of Jesus, bringing down the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy upon Israel for the last time. (See The Secret and Images of God.) They would fulfill the book of Leviticus not in animal blood but in their own blood. Now that Jesus had ascended, God could accept human sacrifices “in Him.” These were the sheep Peter was entrusted to feed for the slaughter.

This brings us to the end of the first cycle, so the matrix structure is working at three fractal levels: stanzas, cycles and epistle (and of course the epistle is part of even greater literary and historical structures). But it does not bring us to the end of the chapter, so the remainder must begin the second cycle.

It is passing strange that the modern mind is open to fractals in nature and technology, but modern theology so far seems resistant to the idea that the entire Bible is structured in such a way. Unraveled as it is above, it resembles DNA. Lined up in columns it resembles a woven cloth. The Word itself was knitted together in the womb of Israel, and the birth pangs of the Jewish war — the blood and the water — gave a new body to the people of God in the world. Totus Christus.

Click for a larger view.

Of course, the point of this is not art. It is hermeneutics. To attempt to ascertain the meaning of a passage or a line without any reference to its structure or position in the text is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle without any reference to the shape of each piece. Thankfully, the Bible comes ready-assembled. Which means a lot of modern hermeneutics involves interpreting each tile of the Mosaic and deliberately ignoring where it is and what is next to it. This is nuts. Structure is a non-optional means of communication for ancient authors. To ignore it is to deliberately read the text in a way that was not intended.

For some very interesting work on the “warp and weft” nature of the Torah, visit www.chaver.com

Part 1 here.

We’ve covered the first “Covenant cycle” in Numbers, which in theory should set the pattern (fractally) for the remainder of the book. Here’s my go at the second cycle, which (again, in theory, if my suspicions are correct), should be an “exposition” of the second part of the first cycle, which concerned the “military” arrangement of the tribes around the Tent of Meeting (Delegation). So, even though this cycle works through all seven steps, each step should reflect an “Exodus/Hierarchy” or Delegation theme. Each step thus has two literary “spatial coordinates,” an X and a Y. Each step must thus employ a symbol that pertains to two different Covenant steps, or describes the relationship between them.

This is no mean feat, yet we see it everywhere in the Bible. It’s probably wise to demonstrate this process with a diagram:

When laid out vertically, or “in series,” the text looks like DNA. However, when laid out “in parallel,” this literary architecture is like the “warp and weft” of weaving. It is a tapestry, but not in the warm-fuzzy quilting circle type way that most commentators use the word “tapestry.” It is a precise, mathematically-ordered grid of ideas. [1] (I have also diagrammed this process using the feasts. Click here for a graphic.) So, that’s the theory. Let’s see if it works.

As mentioned previously, it seems that Numbers only consists of five cycles (an “un-opened scroll”) but I think the central cycle might consist of three sections, making the entire book a sort of miscarried seven. We’ll see.

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[1] See also Warp and Weft.
[2] Only the Eastern and Southern tribes are mentioned in the Hebrew. “One alarm was the recognized signal for the eastern division of the camp (the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun) to march; two alarms gave the signal for the southern to move; and, though it is not in our present Hebrew text, the Septuagint has, that on three alarms being sounded, those on the west; while on four blasts, those on the north decamped. Thus the greatest order and discipline were established in the Israelitish camp–no military march could be better regulated.” (JFB) The head tribes of east and south were Judah and Reuben, the lion and the man, so perhaps the omission is deliberate. Structurally, the four separate commands concerning the trumpets are already FOUR HORNS for the Altar.
[3] We see the same ironic reversal when Elisha cuts off the children of Jezebel (Bethel’s golden calf) and yet reverses the miscarriages of the believing Gentiles in Jericho using a bowl of salt. Israel’s offense and sterility brought life to the Gentiles (Romans 11).
[4] Israel turned these blessings into curses. See Kids in the Kitchen: Passover in the Motherland.
[5] See Red Cord, Blue Threads 1, 2 and 3.

Hope and Holiness

A Structural Analysis of Numbers 15:37-41

He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”  Ruth 3:9

The passage in Numbers 15 concerning Israel’s tasseled robes contains all the matrix elements, but it has taken a few days to crack what’s going on structurally (although it’s more like cutting a diamond). The first difficulty is that English translations swap words around, so the text below sticks to the Hebrew word order. Secondly, a number of the stanzas leave out lines, or “matrix threads,” to make a point. The only way to identify these is to parse the entire passage. If you finish the puzzle with the pieces you have, you can see where the holes are!

The richness of the Biblical mode of expression is entirely beyond compare. God makes as much of a point by what He doesn’t say as by what He actually says.

TRANSCENDENCE – Genesis
Creation – Initiation – Sabbath – Light – Ark

The first stanza initiates the Covenant process. The five-fold stanza is a microcosm of the seven-fold poem. This is because the command at the center will be opened into three steps (Law given / Law opened / Law received), which is Covenant Head, Covenant Fire, Covenant Body.

Spoke the Lord  (Transcendence – Who’s the boss?)
…..to Moses, saying,  (Hierarchy – Who’s in charge?)
……….“Speak  (Ethics – What are the rules?)
…..to the sons  (Sanctions – What do I get?)
of Israel  (Succession – What’s next?)

“Sons”  appears at Sanctions because this step concerns “holy” mediators. In the seven-fold “opened” pattern, this is Day 6 (sacrificial animals and the sacrificial man). What is amazing is that this single line of text not only echoes the events in Genesis, it is a microcosm of all of Israel’s history. This ended in AD70 when the Old Covenant administrators handed the baton over to the Church. The “nation” became a priesthood of “all nations.” Are you amazed? I am.

HIERARCHY – Exodus
Division – Delegation – Passover – Waters – Veil

The second stanza is a delegation of authority. Just as God stretched out the heavens, and Moses parted the waters, Jacob gave Joseph a robe.

and tell them (Initiation)
…..to make tassels (Delegation)
……….on the corners [wings] (Presentation/Purification/Transformation)
…..of their garments. (Vindication)
(Representation)

The stanza begins with a command for the mouth of Moses as mediator. The tassels are a delegated authority. The corners are the unopened Law, the trinity of Bronze Altar, Lampstand Fire, and Incense Altar Smoke. The word literally means “wings.”Because of the three-level “Altar” combination (heaven and earth with fire in between) we would expect horns. But it’s wings. This is because delegation is carried by the Spirit, the dove “vibrating” over the deep, the holy fire mediating between heaven and earth. It is also why God refers to carrying Israel out of Egypt on eagle’s wings: Exodus is step 2.

“Garments” appears at Sanctions. This is the point in Adam’s Testing at which he and his wife would have received robes of righteousness had they been faithful. Tassels (authority) and garments (office) are matched chiastically, and what is it that unites them or divides them in the literary structure? Obedience to the Triune Law: Death – Spirit – Resurrection. Have you ever seen so much packed into so few words? Fractals in nature make living structures extremely efficient. In the Bible, they mean that every passage is a commentary on every other passage. [1]

Notice that the final line is missing. There is no rest for Israel in mere delegation. It will only come after the purifying fire has done its work. Only then can Israel truly represent God. In the big picture, this little stanza alone wipes the floor with dispensationalism. Since Pentecost, it is the Church, not Israel, which represents God on earth.

ETHICS 1 – Leviticus
Ascension – Presentation – Firstfruits – Land, Grain & Fruit – Bronze Altar & Table of Showbread

Here is why the last line was missing. Israel is not yet pure. This third stanza puts Israel’s “generations,” her obedient Firstfruits on the altar, and waits for fire from heaven. We see this fulfilled finally in Christ’s ascension and Pentecost, but in the big Bible picture, Israel’s history from Moses to Christ was “Ascension,” flesh set apart (sanctified through circumcision – Abraham) and placed on the Altar awaiting fire – Moses/Joshua.

Their generations (Initiation)
…..shall put the tassel (Delegation)
……….on the corner (Presentation)

ETHICS 2 – Numbers
Testing – Purification – Pentecost – Ruling Lights – Lampstand

The second step of the “opening” of the scroll exposes Israel to the eyes of God, or in this case, God’s Law to the eyes of Israel. It was at this exact point in the structure of the Testing of Adam and Eve, and the Testing of the couple on the Emmaus Road, that their eyes were opened. In the first case, their eyes were opened to their nakedness, but here God uses clothing to open eyes.

A cord of blue (the one)
…..shall become a tassel (the many)
……….to look and remember (the seven eyes of the Law)
…..all the commandments (the Law repeated)
of the Lord (the One and Many)

It’s interesting that “a cord of blue” is placed at Transcendence. The Hebrew includes the word “become” which seems to get ignored in the English because they aren’t looking for any minute structure or process. A cord is not a tassel. A cord is singular but a tassel is plural. The One yet Triune God becomes The Many in Israel through the delegation of His authority.

ETHICS 3 – Deuteronomy
Maturity – Transformation – Trumpets – Swarms – Incense Altar

The Law has been given (Altar), opened (Fire) and is now received (Smoke). The one body of the sacrifice is a cloud, a swarm, a “many.” The Adamic Body has been cut and a Bridal Body has been formed.

To do
…..and not follow
……….after the heart
……………after the eyes
……….which you played [the harlot] after

Not one word is idle. The mention of harlotry is significant to this stanza. The tassel is “Deuteronomic,” or a repetition of the Law. As the blood on the four horns of the Incense Altar was a memorial of the blood shed at the Bronze Altar, so God reminds the sons of Israel of the consequences of their Adamic eyes. This step concerns the results of obedience or disobedience, the multiplied plunder or multiplied plagues. Again, there is a step missing, in fact, two. Stanza 5 has five lines. If Israel disobeys, she is slain, burned with fire, and her future goes up in smoke “forever and ever” as a memorial to her harlotry (Rev. 18:9, 18; 19:3). The whore in Revelation is Israel post-Pentecost. Instead of a sweet-smelling fragrance, she was a stench in Jesus’ nostrils, unclean as a corpse. Not so the new Body, the Church.

SANCTIONS – Joshua
Conquest – Vindication – Atonement – Mediators – Sacrifices and High Priest

Here is where naked Adam was clothed in bloody animal skins. Here is where the High Priest does not wear his glorious robe but a linen “skin” to be stained with blood, spotted by the flesh. Israel’s robe is the robe with which the High Priest was reinvested when he emerged from the Most Holy Place (we see the same process in Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet). It is the robe Jesus wore when He left the linen in the tomb. Israel, as Greater Eve, wore robes of holiness because sin was atoned for.

So remember you may (Transcendence – Command)
…..to do (Obedient Delegates)
……….all my commandments (Ethics – All the Law)
…..and be holy (Sanctions – No Curses, only Blessing)
to your God (Succession – Gathered to their Faithful Fathers)

SUCCESSION – Judges
Glorification – Representation – Booths – Rest – Shekinah

God was the final line, the “destination” of some of the previous stanzas. So now He is the “destination,” the final home, of a holy people. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

I am the Lord your God, (Transcendence)
…..who brought you out (Hierarchy)
……….of the land of Egypt, (Ethics)
…..to be your God: (Oath/Sanctions)
I am the Lord your God.” (Succession)

Notice that “Egypt” is Testing, just as it was in Genesis 15. Israel came out as a swarm, after atoning plagues and with great plunder. In Abraham, Joseph, Moses and Joshua, Israel moved from Canaan to Canaan, from promise to possession. God Himself is the Promised Land in this stanza.

In part 2, we will contrast this blue tassel with the red cord in Rahab’s window.

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[1] See Cross-eyed Exegesis.

A documentary on fractals showed a scientific team in a rainforest. Through careful measurement, they worked out that, when graphed, the ratio of branches to trees was the same as the ratio of trees to forest.

If you have an imagination informed by the Bible, every time you look at a tree you should see a picture of the Covenant process, rooted in the relationship of the Trinity. Jesus is salvation. All of Creation is the “working out” of salvation.

A tree is a fractal, and so is Revelation 22:2:

CREATION (Transcendence – Sabbath)
“In the middle of its street,

…..DIVISION (Hierarchy – Passover – Circumcision)
…..and on either side of the river,

……….ASCENSION (Ethics 1 – Firstfruits – Head)
……….was tree of life,

……………TESTING (Ethics 2 – Pentecost)
……………which bore (Transcendence)
………………..twelve fruits, (Hierarchy)
…………………….each yielding (Ethics)
………………..its fruit (Sanctions)
……………every month. (Succession)

……….MATURITY (Ethics 3 – Trumpets – Body)
……….The leaves of the tree

…..CONQUEST (Sanctions – Atonement – Baptism)
…..were for the healing

GLORIFICATION (Succession – Booths)
of the nations.”

Now, if we take a step out from this structure, we discover that the seven-fold Creation pattern in this stanza is actually Day 2 of a greater structure. The entire Revelation is built this way. Not only are we cursed if we add anything or take it away, the very text itself, like DNA, is self-correcting.

If the terms listed above don’t make sense to you, get the Bible Matrix books.

See also: Key to Psalm 1?

ART: Coral Tree 2 – Joseph Austin

Richard Bledsoe has kindly reviewed Bible Matrix II: The Covenant Key on amazon.

“The Bible is an earthy, pungent, dazzling, aromatic book…”
(p. 191 Bible Matrix II)

Bible Matrix II following Bible Matrix I is a development and advancement. In Bible Matrix I, the author cut his teeth, and wrote an interesting and very helpful introduction and guide through the Bible. Here, he is chopping his way through thick, dark forests, and not many have been where he goes before. Mike Bull certainly can see things and put things together that I never could. The author sees fractals as perhaps the most basic reality of Bible structure (as it is also utterly fundamental in nature, God’s other book) and he sees them everywhere. He sees boxes within boxes as one revelation from God unfolds into the next with greater complexity and fullness.

The great American political philosopher, Leo Strauss published Persecution and the Art of Writing (1952) with the theme that medieval and earlier philosophers practiced writing books with complex structures and hidden meanings, in order to hide their true meaning and escape persecution by illiberal regimes. Some of Strauss’s own disciples have perhaps written their own books with complex and hidden structures and messages hidden within them. Allan Bloom purportedly did so in several of his volumes.

There is an interesting parallel to what Michael Bull has written. God has hidden his meaning, not per se to hide it from illiberal regimes, but from sinful and unsubmitted eyes. But, if one will submit to God’s covenant structure, one can begin to unlock the hidden meanings previously hidden everywhere. A five-fold covenant structure begins at the beginning, and is a prism through which the seven creation days in Genesis 1-3 shines through, and is then this is unfolded fractally, through the whole Bible to the very end. In the Creation Days, we see the first three days being days of creating a form, and the last three days as days that fill that form. The seventh day is a day of completion and rest. The author is a graphic designer, and has the gift of visualizing and graphing patterns that are very complex.

I recently wrote this to the author:

“As far as I can see, all of the long, ‘mind numbing’ descriptions of architecture in Exodus, Ezekiel, and elsewhere, supply patterns that have been waiting for gifted interpreters (such as you) to come along and decipher for the rest of us. I have long used the ‘form and fill’ pattern in the creation days of Genesis. But then to replicate that all over the place… well it is wonderful. Your capacity to SEE things as a graphic designer, and to be able to diagram them. I well remember diagramming sentences in the 7th and 8th grades. I was no good at it. Here you are diagramming the whole structure of the Bible and God’s Covenant workings.

“I recently read CS Lewis’s introduction to a new translation of a little volume (On the Incarnation) of Athanasius. He said that it was often his experience that in reading a serious work of theology (like that volume) it was far more devotional than reading a devotional work. I have felt that way in reading MATRIX II. Your book deserves to be widely read and absorbed (it is not the sort of book one just reads–one needs to live with it and let it soak in).”

BMXIIreview