From James B. Jordan’s Trees and Thorns: [1]

The water in the ground of the garden is associated with Eve.

What Adam was to guard was the Garden, and preeminently Eve, its mistress. This is precisely what he refused to do. Later in the Bible, new Adams meet their Eves at wells, and defend them there. Eliezar met Rebekah at a well, and brought her home to Isaac (Gen. 24:11ff.). Jacob met Rachel at a well, and unsealed it for her — a sign as it turned out of his coming marriage to her (Gen. 29:10-11). Good Shepherd Moses met Zipporah at a well and defended her against bad shepherds (Ex. 2:16-19).

All of these women were outsiders, who were married by representatives of the Messianic line (compare also Joseph, Samson, Solomon, etc). The spring in Eden flowed out to other lands; the messiahs of the Old Testament married foreign women. In fulfillment, Jesus spoke to an outsider Samaritan woman at a well, asked her about her husband(s), and in so doing offered Himself as True Husband to her and her people (John 4:1-22). He associated the water He offered with the Spirit whom He would give (John 4:10, 23-24; 7:37-39).

I discussed this marital imagery briefly in connection with the Laver of Cleansing in Chariots of Water: An Exploration of the Water-Stands of Solomon’s Temple (available from www.biblicalhorizons.com). Here let me add that meeting earthly wives at wells (ground water) is part of the first creation. In heaven there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, for all are married to the Divine Husband. Thus, the well at which Jesus meets us is heavenly water, the Spirit. As the spring watered the Garden and grew the fruitful trees, so the marriage of woman and man is to be fruitful on earth, and the marriage of Jesus and God’s Daughter (humanity) is to be fruitful unto eternity.

Lastly, the care with which a gardener directs water to cause plants to flourish should be seen as instructive of how a husband should care for his wife and family. One does not grasp or force water, and neither can a man grasp or force his wife.

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[1] James B. Jordan, Trees and Thorns: A Commentary on Genesis 2-4. Available from www.biblicalhorizons.com
Art: Eden, 1930 Lithograph by Abel Pann.

Mother of Pearl

If you are a modern Christian and you haven’t read James B. Jordan’s Through New Eyes, you won’t appreciate all the Bible has to offer. We’ve looked at some of the meanings of the gemstones on the breastplate of the High Priest. That’s Adam. What about Eve?

Jordan writes:

The rainbow encircles God’s throne, but so, too, do the gemstones. In Revelation 21 we have a vision of the New Jerusalem, the city built around God’s throne (Revelation 22: 1). Jerusalem is an architectural replica of God’s glory-home:

The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolites; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysophrase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl.

In other words, the city was encircled with gemstones: stones of the land for Israel, and pearls from the sea for Gentiles. These foundation stones have already been associated with the names of the Apostles (Revelation 21:14), just as the High Priest’s twelve stones had written on them the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus, these stones represent people. (See also Isaiah 54:11-12.) We are God’s house of gemstones. The righteous people in the Church are likened to gemstones by Paul in a famous temple passage:

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [1]

Meditating on these things as I am wont to do, I had the thought that a pearl begins with a grain of sand, or some kind of irritant or wound. A bit of the Land—broken, isolated and cast down—enters the oyster-tomb and through suffering in the darkness is enrobed in a new body. [2] Together, they are a white stone, unbreakable and more glorious. This is the resurrection body, the witnesses in white, and the holy city. Quite obvious really, if we have the right kind of eyes.

Pearls are mostly associated with women. Esther approached the Emperor and stood at court on his “crystal sea,” a shining pavement of gemstones which included mother-of-pearl.

Pearls are rarely worn alone. They were plunder from the Gentile Sea. They were strung together by the Spirit as He built the bride. [3] This Sea will be plundered until there is no more Sea—only Holy Land.
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[1] James B. Jordan, Through New Eyes: Developing a Biblical View of the World, p. 77.
[2] See When Darkness Is The Last Word.
[3] The phrase ‘end of the age’ in Matthew 13 after the kingdom metaphors is a reference to AD70. See also Fairy Tale in a Field and Feasts in Matthew 13.

Thoughts on A White Stone 1-6 here.

whitston

The Head is always singular. The Body is always plural.

But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. —Genesis 2:20-22

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” —John 12:24

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. —Matthew 27:50-53

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. —Philippians 3:20-21

or Smells Like Holy Spirit

A friend recently gave me a unique gift. With some difficulty and great expense, he sourced the ingredients for the anointing oil of the Aaronic priesthood and I was the grateful recipient of a small, blue vial.

The scent of the oil is intoxicating. You breathe it in and in some strange way you can “taste” it as it goes down. It is extremely complex and yet a single fragrance. The recipe is in Exodus 30:

Moreover the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Also take for yourself quality spices — five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of [calamus], five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. With it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the Testimony; the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense; the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests. And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on man’s flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.’ “

James Jordan observes that there are a number of “holy mixtures” prescribed for the Tabernacle, including the High Priest’s robe of a combination of linen and wool. The Law of Moses consists of boundaries, divisions. In God’s house, however, everything is integrated. It is a house of resurrection; of bread and wine, flesh and blood, heaven and earth (and of course, eventually even Jew and Gentile) recombined in a way beyond the skill of mortal men. Just as the Tabernacle would eventually be torn apart and “resurrected” as the Tabernacle of David, even the Law of Moses itself would be torn apart, taken to the grave, and resurrected as the Law of Christ.

“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16

Incense is the most complex symbol in Scripture. It begins in Genesis 1, as clouds of birds and fish created on Day 5. They symbolise an army consisting of many but combined as one. Five is a military number. Israel marches five abreast. David chooses five smooth stones. The oil of anointing had five ingredients. All the Bible’s Covenants have five parts. The fragrant clouds from the Incense Altar are the “bridal” hosts of God.

The symbol is used constantly. Israel’s obedience is fragrant to God, but He also tips the symbol on its head when she betrays Him. In the prophets, the literary structure often puts the “smoke” of her destruction at this point. Ezekiel’s reference to Judah as a stick that is burnt at both ends and good for nothing also appears at step five. Her burning of incense became a cloud to hide her disobedience. It became a stench in God’s nostrils.

The Tabernacle not only follows the form of the Creation week, but also of the human body. Even more interesting is that the human head is a mini-Tabernacle itself. Your brain is the Ark, hidden behind a veil, with your eyes as the cherubim, two witnesses. I figure that since the priests’ right ears were daubed with blood, this refers to the Table of Showbread, and the left ear is the Law/Lampstand. The nose is in the centre, the place of the Altar of Incense. And vegetarians, please note that your mouth as the Bronze Altar is where the animals are consumed! [1]

According to Jordan, just as gold is “solid light” (Day 1 is the Ark), so holy oil is “liquid light.” It is the Word from heaven that begins something new. Peter Leithart writes:

No human being gets anointed in Genesis; only pillars (Gen 28:18; 35:14). The pillars represent the “house” of Yahweh, the cornerstones of the future temple.

It’s not until Exodus 29 that we read of a human being anointed with oil. Aaron is the first Christ. He is also Bethel, the gate of God, the living house of Yahweh. [2]

Imagine being Saul or David, anointed with this wonderful oil that had been restricted to use by the Aaronic priesthood since its inception.

The Tabernacle was a place filled with sensory experiences, from the fragrance of the anointing oil (Day 1) to the delightful aroma of roasting meat (Day 3) to the air of the Holy Place perfumed by the Altar of Incense (Day 5). This is the transition from blood to Spirit, from the old creation to the new. Like Esther, the church puts Herself on the Altar and ascends to stand on the Emperor’s pavement of gemstones and mother-of-pearl. She has spent a year under a regime of oils and perfumes, and presents herself boldly before him as a fragrant myrtle, robed in His own righteousness.

This sample oil of anointing is a unique possession, and a fantastic teaching aid as well. Memories are very often connected to smells. Smells are things we never forget. But does this have any relation to our worship today? We are to anoint our sick with oil, but is the Lord concerned about the recipe?

In his lectures on Zechariah, Jordan observes that the new oil flowing from the two olive trees is not the same word as the holy oil of the Tabernacle. It is ordinary household oil. What this signifies is an expansion of holiness. It corresponds to even the pots and pans becoming as holy as Temple vessels. This progression continued, and by the work of Christ, everything is sacred. The Holy Space has grown larger than any of the Old Covenant territories, and will keep growing until it encompasses the world.

Back to Zechariah. This ordinary household oil expands the Lampstand into a blaze, squared from seven to forty-nine lights. This is a picture of the Restoration era. The two witnesses that flanked the now missing Ark no longer keep Adam from the gate with flaming sword. The symbols here are all agrarian. The angels have actually beaten their swords into plowshares. Israel would no longer be a nation of warriors but a nation of priests. She had been transfigured from an earthly body to a spiritual (but just as physical) body. Like Jesus, she could now walk through doors.

This is the nature of resurrection. It is a harvest. The seed has fallen into the ground and there will be a bumper crop. This harvest of what was planted at the beginning of the Restoration era is the white field Jesus referred to. Israel’s national death was not only a judgment for idolatry, but also a scattering of seed. It resulted in the Gentile God-fearers who very often shamed the limited faith of Jews in the New Testament.

Jesus’ death made Him into a door: Passover. Jesus’ resurrection enabled Him to pass through doors: Atonement. The apostles’ biggest challenges in the book of Acts concerned this new requirement to pass through doors, passing through the Land of the Canaanites and taking it as an inheritance for Christ.

Revelation 9:17 “…and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.”

The Old Covenant concerned the fragrance of covered sin: perfect blood that founded a new house. The New Covenant concerned the fragrance of a new body (Eve), the filling of that house. It completes the story of the entire Bible as a full extension in human history of the perfect Creation Week.

In Revelation, both the resurrected bride and the unfaithful wife are pictured as smoke, ie, elders who rule in worship. Both are sacrificed in the first century and final fulfilment of Yom Kippur.

Revelation 15:8    The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

As with Saul and David, the end of the old administration meant the vindication of the new.

Revelation 19:3    Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”

For the Christians who had suffered at the hands of apostates for a full generation, the death of state-compromised Herodian worship was a sweet-smelling savour.

The truth is bigger than symbols. But modern evangelicals are so cerebral that they don’t teach the symbols. To understand the truths, we still need the symbols. Their withholding of these potent Scriptural elements, things that appeal to our “five senses,” is possibly the main reason the average modern Western Christian — and even those with theological degrees — still has baby teeth when it comes to much of the Bible.

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[1] This seems to make the palate the dome-like “crystal sea.” Perhaps then, seeing as we now know that the Revelation shows a change in administration from angelic elders for human ones, can we speculate that the created heaven has lost its baby teeth? The first century becomes the teething period of a more adult creation. Tooth and ivory concern judgment. This is the symbol behind the great white (ivory) throne of Solomon.
It is also interesting that if the right ear is the Table, it is Adam’s face facing “upwards” towards God, as an earthly mediator communicating with heaven. But with the Tabernacle as a complete body, Jesus has the seven stars of the Lampstand in His right hand. He is facing “downwards” as our heavenly Mediator. The minister, during worship, faces the front as part of the congregation, but faces the congregation as he brings the Word from heaven. The blood goes up and the Spirit comes down. Both are Christ.
[2] Peter Leithart, Living House, www.leithart.com

One of the best things you get from James Jordan is a big handle on the Tabernacle.[1] It was a miniature of the creation. It was also a further development of the Garden of Eden, being more glorious than the Garden itself (the trees were now worked timber, and the wood was covered in precious metal).

Jordan’s theory that Satan was to be a tutor to Adam and Eve, but fell in the moment he deceived them, finds support in the Tabernacle layout. (Angels tutor God’s people throughout the Old Testament.) Satan was the secondary lightbearer, the Lampstand, facing north.

Adam was to be broken bread and poured out wine, the Face of the Man, facing south, the Table of Showbread (the facebread).

Between them, Eve, the mother of all living, was the Altar of Incense. As element 5, Day 5, she is a “multitude” in one body. She is awesome as an army with banners. Women possess all their ova from birth.[2]

So, we have Eve between the serpent and the Man in a tug-o’-war where Adam doesn’t even pick up the rope. It is victory by default for the serpent.

What is even more interesting is that the pillars the Lord told David to build at the Temple entry correspond to the Table and the Lampstand. Priests were anointed by Jachin, the northern pillar. Kings were anointed by Boaz, the southern pillar. Jordan points out that over time these bronze pillars would have weathered and become a shade of green. Here are the two great trees at the centre of the garden. Adam was given access to the Tree of Life (Jachin, priestly bread), and Satan offered access to the kingly Tree of Judicial Knowledge (Boaz, a king’s “decree” cup of wine). [3]

What was at stake was the future of humanity. Nazis, Communists and the radical left understand that education is the future. The future is stolen when children are removed from their believing parents (as happened recently in Sweden, I believe) to indoctrinate them.

Children are the future. Satan understood this. Through Adam’s failure as Covenant Head to judge Satan, the future was filled with widows and orphans. And in Adam’s place, Satan became the corrupt tutor of all living, the father of lies.

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[1] Jordan’s Garden of God lectures available here.
[2] The High Priest reflected this structure as well, with the 12 gemstones (tribes) on his chest. As a “better” Adam, he carried the children before God—on his bosom— as an advocate. For more on the High Priest as Tabernacle, see Gold, Onyx and Bdellium. For Greater Eve as a “Trumpets” army see Ish and Isha.
[3] The laver symbolised the “springs of water” under the garden, and the bronze altar the outlying land. At a more complex level, the Tabernacle layout also symbolised heaven and earth. See the diagram from Totus Christus in Trinitarian Judgments.

or The Hungry Eyes of Jesus

The content of this post has been revised and included in Bible Matrix II: The Covenant Key.

Time for another weird post I think. Here’s some thoughts on Genesis 2:

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Why the change from Adam and Eve to Ish and Isha? Perhaps because the words are symbolic, and symbols describe relationships.[1] There is the possibility that these words were used because they sound like eish (fire), regardless of their differing derivations (the jury is still out on this one after 6000 years). Jordan mentions that Adam was to be an Altar made of earth, and with his own blood shed comes the “fire” of Isha, the woman as the shining on the altar, the glory cloud on Mount Sinai. It certainly corresponds with the feasts. Adam “ascends” to headship over Eve in marriage (Firstfruits), and then he is to “open the Law” to Eve and fill her with light (Pentecost), which he did, but failed to repeat the Law (Trumpets) after she was tested. Atonement followed.

But there is also the idea of fire-and-fire. He is the blazing torch and she the smoking firepot; he the Ark and she the Incense Altar (smoke), awesome as an army with banners; he the High Priest’s golden forehead, and she the breastplate carrying the tribes. Adam is the head, and Eve is the body. Adam fills Eve with light (as the Lamb in the holy city), and she fills the world with a holy host.

Day 1 Sabbath – Word to Adam (Ark) [2]
Day 2 Passover – Adam is divided (Veil)
Day 3 Firstfruits – the Lord fills Adam (Bronze Altar/Table of Facebread)
Day 4 Pentecost – Adam fills Eve (Lampstand)
Day 5 Trumpets – Eve fills the Land (Incense Altar)
Day 6 Coverings – Eve, as Land, (feminine in Hebrew) begets a Man from the Lord (Laver)

Because of Adam’s failure, every child that opened the womb was a “man of sin” and required redemption by blood.

We also see this pattern in Leviticus 1. The priest puts the fire on the Altar on “Day 4.”

Satan is the false light-bearer (a shining beast, like a golden calf), and demons are “strange fire” on the Altar, scavenger birds that need chasing away. 

So Ish and Isha are terms related by Covenant. And they are brought near (sacrifice/offering in the Old Testament is literally “nearbringing”) by blood sacrifice. Based on this, when Ish (husband) fails to “die”, Isha (wife) is filled with darkness. Blood opens the veil between the Ark and the Incense Altar, and head and body are united to conquer the world.[3]

In the first century, the last Adam died and filled the church with the seven Lampstand lights of Pentecost. But a Herod also ascended—unwilling to die—and the false church was filled with seven demons (Matthew 12:45). False Eve worshipped the image of a beast, and begat a man of sin, a Cain, whom the Lord destroyed on “Day 7″ with the breath of His coming.

“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week,
He appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom He had cast seven demons.” Mark 16:9

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[1] Chilton observes that Bible symbols are not primarily to describe the “spiritual essence” of something, but rather to describe the thing’s symbolic value in relationship to something else. Jordan points out that in Revelation 12 Satan is a serpent to the Women (deception) but a Dragon to her offspring (persecution). This could also be a solution to the problem of how many wings cherumbim have. When in relationship to the four cornered Bronze Altar of the Land (Israel) they have four wings, but when seen in heaven, in relation to the Trinity, they have six wings. There are thus twenty four elders mediating between heaven and earth.

[2] The instructions for the Tabernacle in Ex. 25-31 follow the days of the Creation week.

[3] Note that despite the picture above, there were no stairs in the Tabernacle or Temple. Each section did imply an “ascension” to a higher level, but this “ladder to heaven” was laid out on flat ground in all cases. Actually, there’s a lot wrong with this picture, but you can see the Table, Golden Altar and Lampstand before the Veil.

“Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”  John 19:27

Although they are spread throughout the four gospels, Jesus’ seven words from the cross are easy to put in chronological order. Once in order, they follow the themes of the annual Feasts.

At Firstfruits, Christ on the cross is Moses, mediating between heaven and earth. From the mountain, He transfers His legal responsibility for His mother to John.

He calls her Woman. At this point in the garden, the Lord married Adam to Eve. Of the seven elected Judges, this is Deborah, the warrior-mother. This step is always about the Covenant head lifted up to make a house for Greater Eve.

With this loving act, Christ prefigures the responsibility for the faithful remnant of Old Covenant Israel being transfered to the Apostles.

Interestingly, Revelation 18:7-8 follows the same structure. At the Firstfruits/’Woman/Bride’ step, Israel, who has rejected and killed her Messiah, says, “I am no widow.”

Why is baptism for both males and females, when circumcision was only for males?

I have been following the Exodus pattern through the Bible, and an offshoot of that was an ‘accidental’ application to baptism. I’ll let you decide whether or not you think it holds water.

There are two ‘waters’ in the exodus pattern, the Red Sea (death) and the Jordan (resurrection).

Both are ‘baptisms’, but circumcision pertains to the Passover, the 2nd feast (unleavened bread). It is exit from the world and entry into a new people. There is blood and then water.

With Jordan, there is water, then blood – Jericho, the first conquest. This second baptism pertains to Atonement, the sixth feast. It is entry into, not a people, but an army. (The order of feasts comes from Lev. 23.)

Sabbath – God’s word through Moses (a single mediator for the people – Adam)

000PASSOVER – a baptism (death) that removes Adam’s sin. A ‘people’ assembled

000000FIRSTFRUITS – Moses ascends to receive the Law

000000000Pentecost – the Law given, the people tested

000000Trumpets – the ‘army’ is assembled and the Law repeated (Deut)

000Atonement - baptism (resurrection) and blood shed that removes ‘Eve’ from sin

BOOTHS – the army makes the Promised Land home (a corporate mediator for the nations – Eve).

Israelite males presented themselves before God at Passover/Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Booths. (Exodus 23:14-17) picturing the death, resurrection and marriage of the “bridegroom.” Trumpets summoned the people to prepare for Atonement, making ready the “bride.”

WEPOW

The sign of the Covenant has progressed from the removal of Adam’s sin (Passover) to Eve’s removal from sin (Atonement).

Circumcision was only for males, because Israel’s history concerned the coming of the Adam. Baptism, however, is for both males and females, imaging the resurrection for war of a corporate Eve—the body (Trumpets).

Circumcision brought near those who could not stand on their own (Isaac). Baptism brings near the mature (Esther), who present themselves before God’s ministers as plunder from the nations, submitting to church government to be enrobed, washed, and seated in the royal priesthood.

Obeying the gospel identified us with Greater Adam (circumcision – death), a circumcision “made without hands” (Colossians 2:11).

Submitting to baptism, however, identifies us with Greater Eve and her government over us—the Saturnine sword of the Covenant (resurrection).

Circumcision and Passover looked forward to Christ’s death. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are Covenant memorials, but also look forward to the final Conquest cleansing and resurrection.

A New Covenant believer’s baptism is a knighthood, or “Nazirite-hood.” One mature enough to publicly testify to his faith bows before his Captain and is symbolically beheaded by the sword of Conquest, smashed by the rod of iron—the church. We must be dominated before we can dominate. He rises and stands on the Laver (“Arise a knight!”) – the Jordan, picturing the crystal sea before the Throne. After access to the “marriage feast” he rides into battle as an authorised emissary. Only he who has submitted to the sword is enabled to carry it. As an image it certainly communicates the gravity of the responsibility.

As far as the world is concerned, the Christian has hoisted the Jolly Roger. As far as Christ is concerned, he has nailed the colours of Eve to the mast and deliberately, publicly, joined the brotherhood.

Infant baptism dims the glory of this New Covenant sacrament of corporate maturity.

Israelite males presented themselves before God at Passover/Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Booths. (Exodus 23:14-17) picturing the death, resurrection and marriage of the “bridegroom.” Trumpets summoned the people to prepare for Atonement, making ready the “bride.”

Sabbath - God’s Word initiates the pattern in Adam

000Passover - Adam is summoned and dies (Israel’s circumcision – Red Sea)

000000Firstfruits - Adam is resurrected

000000000Pentecost - Eve is tested in the wilderness

000000Trumpets - Eve is summoned and dies

000Atonement - Eve is resurrected (Christian baptism – Jordan)

Booths - Marriage feast of the Lamb
WEPOW