Bully's Blog

or Back To Egypt in Ships

“That which they sought to save them from the condemnation of the Law of Moses has also innoculated them against the grace and Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

Pope Francis, in a recent homily, has written,

“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! `Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. `But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

This exhortation is not radical. It exposes the Roman Catholic Church for what it is, as least on paper (its official doctrine). The problem is that the Bible says nothing of the sort, which is one of the big reasons behind the Reformation. But this is only the primary problem with his statement.

Continue reading

“And, most heartbreaking, most breathtaking of all, is His willingness to actually become the veil, the flesh that was torn away to reveal the “naked” mind of the Father, the unhidden face of His mission for a bride for His Son.”

“And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Genesis 6:6)

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:36-37)

The relationship between the Father and the Son is an eternal to-and-fro. It is this primary “chiasm,” a “there-and-back-again,” a forming and a filling, which gave shape to the Creation Week and every facet of the Word of God and of human life.

Continue reading

If you have read chapter two of Bible Matrix III, you should be able to follow the application of that “prophetic grid” to the plagues upon Egypt in this chapter, Brood of Vipers.

Continue reading

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Sacred Geometry and Marked Men

Chapters 35-36 bring us to the end of this structural analysis of the book of Numbers. The position of this final cycle is in red.

Overview of Numbers

Continue reading

Snakes and Chains – 2

“They shall take up serpents…”

Thoughts on the Covenantal significance and serpentine nature of biblical “leprosy.”

Continue reading

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

We have reached the sixth cycle of Numbers, which seems to include chapters 30-34. Seeing as it has been a while since we looked at Numbers, here’s the overview again, with this next cycle in red.

Overview of Numbers

Continue reading

Shedding Blood in the Dark: The Liturgical Shape of Skyfall

[This post contains detailed spoilers.]

James Bond: Everybody needs a hobby.
Silva: So, what’s yours?
James Bond: Resurrection.

In the late 60s and early 70s, the structures of traditional Western storytelling were deliberately omitted from “thinking” films. Bleak narratives reflected the randomness of life without faith. Movies were becoming formless and void.

Continue reading

Part 1   |   Part 2   |   Part 3

Strange Fire

We’ve reach the central “cycle” of the book of Numbers, the attempt by Balak to destroy Israel. To the unbeliever, it is a story about a talking donkey. For believers, it is a story about a wicked prophet and a carnal people. For those with a wide angle “Bible Matrix” lens, the entire landscape suddenly comes into focus as something familiar and terrifying.

Continue reading

“To have a God-given internal moral compass is to have God Himself.”

Maturation is the process of making God’s “external law” into our internal law, our operating, animating principle. This has huge implications for sanctification, but it also explains a lot of what is going on in the Bible’s symbolism and architecture.

Continue reading

Part 1   |   Part 2

Lifting up the Best

Numbers didn’t seem to be long enough for there to be seven “matrix” cycles, but it seems now that this may be a possibility. For the Covenant “five” to “bloom” into a seven, the “Ethics” of the Covenant structure is split into three: Firstfruits, Pentecost and Trumpets, or “Head,” “Fire’” and “Body.” Since Cycle 3 is “Firstfruits,” we should expect the story to include motifs such as Ascension, the Altar-Land, Levitical ministry, the firstborn, tithing and “devotion.” Hey, guess what comes next in Numbers?

Continue reading