In our search for the
identity of Yahushua, and the identity of His sayings, we must establish
one major truth, to aid us in
our understanding as we search. Keep in mind that we are
looking
for the true identity of Yahushua, in order to identify His
sayings.
Knowing Him: From the Beginning
Let us observe a very
interesting item in the following verses:
Then said they unto him, Who art
thou? And
Jesus saith unto them, Even
the same that I said unto you from the
beginning. (John 8:25)
I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him
that is from the
beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have
overcome the
wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known
the Father. (1 John
2:13)
I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him
that is
from the beginning. I have written unto
you, young men, because ye are
strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the
wicked one. (1 John 2:14)
The phrase
from the beginning is a very interesting
phrase
in
Scripture. It occurs fifteen times in the Old Testament, 25
times
in the New Testament, for a total of forty times in Scripture.
The number "40" in Scripture speaks of
"testing" of the
Saints. This little phrase is not only prophetic, but is a
very important loose thread to many of the "mysteries" that Yahuweh has
laid up and hidden,
which He desires to reveal to His people.
We might add,
incidentally, that it is not possible for one to understand Yahuweh’s will, until the "mystery" of His
will is completed in that one, by the doing of His will first! The revelation of all things,
including mysteries, has been made known unto "us"
as a body in general, but each one of us must seek Him for the
revelation, so that each one of us might be included in the "us."
But let us proceed.
We see from some of the New Testament passages that the phrase
from
the
beginning refers to the time of the Creation, or more
specifically, the
Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. We recall that
the first word in the Bible is the Hebrew word
B’reshith,
meaning "the beginning." Indeed, even the Jewish Scholars
call the Book
of Genesis
"The Beginning," taken from its first
word. Thus
when we see the phrase
from the beginning, we
should remember the meaning of this phrase. Thus when we read all the
New Testament passages containing this
phrase, we have a clue to what it may be referring to. The
result is that an
avalanche of revelation and understanding will be unlocked, and will
fall upon the seeking one.
Let us also note that the words shown in brackets or in
italics in the Bible, indicate that they were added by the
translators, sometimes hiding some possible meanings from the
reader. The Greek text in 1 John 2:14 reads
"known
Him
from the beginning." We could speculate that from
this verse
that our search might start in the Book of Genesis, but we have been
brainwashed to think, "That is Old
Testament, and we are looking for Kingdom truth." So, is
there
additional witness of Scripture to lead us to the Old Testament to find
truths of Yahushua’s Kingdom?
To begin our search for
Scripture witness, let us look into the
following passage:
Then said he unto them, Therefore every
scribe which is instructed unto
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an
householder, which
bringeth forth out of his treasure things new
and
old. (Matthew 13:52)
This is another parable, as Yahushua had just explained, that has to do
with the end of the Age (notice the word
"therefore"
relating this to the
context of the previous verses). A scribe’s
"treasure" consists of his
writings – the
Word of Yahuweh!
He is
likened here as a householder, or master of his house – he
keeps his
soul and body under subjection to the Spirit of Yahuweh. If he
is instructed (discipled) unto the Kingdom of Heaven, he will bring
forth something from among his
treasures (treasures
speak prophetically of
the Fear of Yahuweh).
We see in the passage the scribe brings forth from his
treasures
the "writings" of Yahuweh – writings both New and
Old –
writings of both the
New and
Old Testaments.
There are at least two additional verses that show us the proper
perspective we should have regarding the things of the "Old"
Testament. Note carefully the following verse:
And ye shall eat old store, and bring
forth
the old because of the
new. (Leviticus 26:10)
Here we are told that we are to eat, to feed upon the Old Covenant
writings, and that we will bring forth, bring out into the
light, the food from the Old Covenant,
because of
the New Covenant. We know
looking backward in time, that the New Covenant Life and understanding
has been given to
us in Yahushua, and the meaning of the New Testament has been revealed
to us by the Holy
Spirit.
It
is thus the Holy spirit that illumines the Old
Testament to us, and makes it understandable, so that it will nourish
us, and become food for us. In the above passage, we see
there is
a "second course" to this meal – the understanding and
nourishment
we receive from the "Old," because of the "New."
Now let us look carefully at another passage that gives us a companion
message:
The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates
are all manner of pleasant
<04022> fruits, new and old, which I have
laid up for thee, O my
beloved. (Song of Solomon 7:13)
The above passage is addressed to "My Beloved," meaning it is addressed
only to those who dig deeply, and who will be a part of the Bride
Company. This passage reveals several
things.
First, the Hebrew word for
'Beloved' is
'dowd,' and is mentioned 39 times in
Song of
Solomon. The number "39" is 3 x 13, and speaks of
the
resurrection (number 3) of "Love" or the "Beloved" (number 13), which
is the Bride. Thus we see this message is to the Bride
Company.
The word
'dowd'
used for here Beloved marks this verse as special, in
that this verse is the 37th of the 39 occurrences of the word
in
Song of Solomon.
The
number "37" speaks of the "Word" of Yahuweh, so we see this
passage
makes prophetic reference Yahuweh's Word. For more detail
on numbers, see
Prophetic Numbers in Scripture.
Next we see that the
Hebrew word for pleasant fruits,
'meged,'
Strong’s Number <04022>, means "precious
things." We are told that these precious things, both
new
and
old, have been
laid up by Yahushua for
us.
This Hebrew word
'meged' is a direct
reference to the
things of heaven, and in this passage speaks of the "words or sayings"
He
has spoken to us, in both the "New" and "Old" Covenant
writings.
The word
meged appears eight times in
Scripture. The number
eight in Scripture speaks generally of new beginnings, new life, and
more
particularly of Yahushua Himself. Thus we see that this Hebrew word
meged
reveals aspects of life, and of Yahushua, and His Word, and His
sayings; thus we now have a link to "New" and "Old." Now look
again at the passage in John:
Then said they unto him, Who art
thou? And
Jesus saith unto them, Even
the same that I said unto you from the
beginning. (John 8:25)
Now we see that the words Yahushua said to us from
"the
Beginning" are words
Yahushua said to us
starting in Genesis 1:1. Now we may
conclude that our search for New Covenant, Kingdom Truth, and even our
"knowing" Yahushua, must begin in the Book of Genesis, in the Old
Testament. Thus the words of the above verses (John 8:25 and
1 John 2:13-14) give us a magnificent, new understanding of Yahushua's
true
identity.
We may briefly summarize in
saying in order to truly know Yahushua, we must search for Him, and
search out His
will for us, not only in the New Testament, but also in the Old
Testament! In fact, we may see Yahushua hidden in
every
book
of the Bible, disguised here and there in various personages,
prophetically revealing Himself in the activities and sayings of
various characters.