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| the woman with the issue of blood |
Of Virtue
by haRold Smith
based in Jerusalem, Israel
And Yeshua, immediately knowing in Himself that Virtue had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" Mark 5:30
"And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went Virtue out of Him, and healed them all." Luke 6:19
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jewish leaders, Yeshua came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Shalom be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Messiah. So Yeshua said to them again, "Shalom to you! JUST AS the Father has sent Me, EVEN SO I am sending you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive ruach hakodesh (spirit of the holy). If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." John 20:19-23
"By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because JUST AS He is EVEN SO are we in this world." 1John 4:17
What do these words mean if not to "be" or "become" like Yeshua is? The restored Kingdom is not some future event to be looked for over yonder, bye and bye - it lives among us right now, in the choices we make concerning our walk, our behavior, today (see Inhabiting Inheritance click on highlighted words to view scripture).
Words mean things. The traditions of men that have been overlaid upon the words of scripture and handed down to us as truth have completely skewed the original meaning and intent of the words coming from the lips of Yeshua. These traditions of men are the only thing Yeshua ever pointed to that would render the words of Spirit null and void, ineffective and devoid of power. Let us be courageous in our quest for Truth today by laying aside those traditions to look at the words of the Master just for what they say and what they actually mean as the benchmark by which to measure all things – including other scripture (Mark 7:13, and see Who's Word Is It?).
The last article, Just As - Even So, explored the number of places where scripture enlightens us as to how Yeshua sent His disciples into this world - “just as” He was sent by the Father (meaning likewise, in like manner, in similar fashion). If we are to understand what those words mean for a believer abiding in Him today (John 17:20), the question becomes - how was Yeshua sent? We are told in John 3:17 that the Father sent Yeshua into the world that the world might (not would) be “saved” through Him. The Greek word translated as “saved” in this verse is sozo and literally means “to save one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health” (nothing about the “hereafter”). Since Yeshua equates forgiveness with healing in Matthew 9:5, should it come as any surprise, then, that the same correlation is also made with those who are sent “just as” He is sent - that with the power to heal and deliver would also come the authority to forgive “just as” He forgives? As commented on in the previous article, notice there is nothing said here about the Father’s forgiveness – only the exercise of the Spirit within the disciples (also see Abiding In His Name).
So, just how did healing occur with Yeshua? The scripture from Luke above tells us that when Virtue went out of Him, the multitudes surrounding Him were all healed (as with the woman with the issue of blood). If it is from Virtue over which the power for healing and deliverance flows, the question that must be asked is – what is Virtue and where does it come from? If being sent into this world “just as” Yeshua was sent (that is, to “save”) requires the activity of Virtue from which healing flows (the same as being forgiven) – then how is that Virtue obtained?
Virtue comes from the Greek word dynamis and is described in Thayer’s Lexicon as "inherent power; the power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature". It is from the nature of a thing that its power is derived. For instance, the nature of a wolf can be observed in the capture and devouring of his prey. The wolf does not contemplate the morality of his impulse prior to engaging the prey – he is simply motivated according to his inherent nature. He does what he is.
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Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Yeshua, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be clean.” Mark 1:40-41 |
The Name of YHVH that passed before Moses in that passage is the response to his request to “show me your Glory” in Exodus 33:18 and is the definition of what manifests as the Nature of YHVH. It is what Yeshua referred to as having manifested to the disciples in John 17:6 - and the Glory given to Him by the Father He gave to them and all who would believe because of their word (John 17:22), “Glory” is translated from the Hebrew word kavode which has its origination in a similar word, kavad and means to be heavy or weighty, to be honorable or glorious. One of the derivations of the Hebrew meaning of this word, kavad (2), also means "liver" – the liver is the heaviest organ in the body. Thus, we see the compassion flowing from Yeshua as being from the Glory or the Nature of YHVH residing, or “resting in” His liver – His innermost being.
As the Essence of YHVH’s Nature comes to rest in, settles in a believer through the embrace of ruach hakodesh (Hebrew for “spirit of the holy”), the liver is revitalized. The main function of the liver is to cleanse the blood of impurities – and the Life of the flesh is in the blood (Joel 3:21, Leviticus 17:11). The Essence of the Source of Life becomes a part of our physical being to cleanse and purify our blood; thus, our nature is changed into His. The purer the consistency of the blood becomes (the Life within us), the frequency of resonance is raised and the more brilliant the Light within us radiates - the more pulsating a force it exerts in the physical realm (for a full explanation, see the Power in His Name). This is what Yeshua meant by bringing the Kingdom of YHVH into this earthly realm – “…Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. The Kingdom of Heaven is within Luke 17:20-21 – but it all begins with the blood.
From where, then, did Yeshua initially obtain His Nature? Many believe it is because He “pre-existed” with the Father from creation. But, in order to properly understand Hebrew scriptures, it is important to view them through the same mindset as the Hebrews who wrote them even though the traditional doctrines handed down to us by men have become the popular theology. We must constantly remind ourselves that this Hebrew Book we are given speaks of a Hebrew Spirit. He is the God of Israel – not the god of mankind. From a scriptural Hebrew perspective, then, what it means to “pre-exist” is captured in the passage of Hebrews 7:4-10 where Levi “pre-existed” in the loins of Abraham – although he was not yet born. A child is not fathered until it is conceived, but the declared purpose of a man is to father a child - as was YHVH's declared purpose for His Son (see the Word and a Pre-Determined Destination for more insight).
Luke 1:35 tells us “the power (again, the Greek word, dynamis – “inherent nature”) of the Most High” overshadowed or passed over Yeshua at conception. If He already existed as God, then why was it necessary to insert the Nature of YHVH into Him? It says ruach hakodesh (“spirit of the holy”), the Nature of the Father, was passed into or breathed into Him – “just as” it had been breathed into YHVH’s first son, Adam, in the Garden (see the Need For Atonement). What was breathed into them both was the LIFE of the Father, the DNA of Holy, the Nature of ruach hakodesh. Their nature was made pure by the Source of Life found in the Essence of the Nature of YHVH mingling with and cleansing their blood (see One Spirit, One Name).
| “But you shall receive Power (dynamis) when ruach hakodesh (spirit of the holy) has come upon you…” Acts 1:8 |
The word translated “power” in this verse is the same Greek word dynamis we have been focusing on and is translated as “Virtue” in other scriptures - “the power residing in a thing by virtue of its Nature". When we receive ruach hakodesh (the spirit of holy), the DNA, the Nature of the Father settles or comes “to rest” in our liver “just as” it did with Yeshua and with Adam – and our nature is changed. But, as with any organ, the liver can become overpowered with impurities to the extent that it is no longer able to function – and death occurs.
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“…and there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified (or
cleansed
) by My Glory.” Exodus 29:43
"Do you not know that you are the tabernacle of YHVH and the Spirit of YHVH dwells in you?” 1Corinthians 3:16 “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat ...” Exodus 25:22 |
As we embrace the Nature of YHVH in ruach hakodesh, His Throne becomes seated in our earthly tabernacle to cleanse our blood and make it pure “just as” it was and is with Yeshua. “Already you are cleansed by the Word I have given you
(John 15:3)
and the Word you hear is not mine but the Fathers Who sent me
(John 14:23-24).
If you keep (continue to carefully attend to) My Words (commandments), you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love"
(John 15:10).
As noted, the function of the liver in the body is to keep the body free of impurities by a continual cleansing of the blood – a continual washing of the water of the Word
(Ephesians 5:25-26).
“Only those who do the will of the Father shall enter the Kingdom”
(Matthew 7:21).
The will of the Father is expressed in His Words – all of His Words.
To believe in, to abide in His Name is to receive ruach hakodesh (spirit of the holy) and to keep His Words, In so doing, we are embracing the very Nature of Who YHVH is which gives us the “power” to become sons of the Most High as it says in John 1:12-14. The Greek word translated “power” in this verse is eksousia and means “power of choice”. To become a son is not an automatic blessing. We must exercise the power given us IF His Words are to become flesh within us “just as” those Words became flesh in the life of the Son. In order for the blood of the sons to remain pure requires a choice to keep His Words. “IF you would enter into LIFE – keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). Those words we are to keep are given to us in Exodus 20:1.
Thus it is that in the same way the Hebrew apostle Sha’ul (Paul) can conclude in 1Corinthians 15:56 that the ability the nature of sin is able to draw its power over one’s soul is from the abuse or neglect of the Words of the Father (popularly renamed “the law” and noted in Thayer’s Lexicon); conversely, we can also conclude that the power of healing (“sozo”) is drawn forth by the effect the embrace of the Words of YHVH (the law) has upon one’s nature (see the Law of Grace for a detailed explanation).
When Yeshua said to "be perfect even as your Father is perfect" in Matthew 5:48, He was not giving us something to do that was beyond our reach - nor was He telling us anything new. He was not giving us a "new" command. He was quoting 1Kings 8:61 from the Tenakh (the original Book) where the Hebrew word shalam is translated as "perfect" and means complete (of keeping covenant relation), peaceful, whole, full, at rest (and out of which comes the word shalom). To be perfect, then, does not mean to be flawless, but made complete in keeping His Covenant - which the Psalmist tells us IS perfect and by the keeping of it, our soul is converted, returned or brought back to its original state, restored to Life and revitalized (Psalm 19:7). In the Torah, this exercise is called "being holy because YHVH is Holy" (Leviticus 19:2) – meaning, to "be" holy is to remain set apart from the world influences He has separated us from by His Spirit by resting in obedience to His Words (Leviticus 20:26, 1Peter 1:16).
| But to the wicked YHVH says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?” Psalm 50:16-17 |
Notice who it is that YHVH considers to be “the wicked” in this verse. Today, there are many who claim to “hear His Voice” but have put away His Words saying they do not apply anymore – that we are under a “new” covenant of grace that supersedes His Words. And, yet, it is those very words that define His Nature and illumines what impurities there are that affect the blood. It leaves one to wonder what “voices” they are hearing (see why there is only One Covenant spoken of in scripture).
“What? I have been taught that I am not ‘under the law’ and the things of the law do not apply any more to those under Grace.”
Just because a concept is popular does not make it Truth. The contention here is that the modern school of self-styled "grace teachers" have in reality "turned the grace of God into lasciviousness" (Jude 4). This is why we need to look at what the words themselves say and mean – to be sure we are not making His Words of none effect by simply following the doctrines and traditions handed down to us of men (for more insight, see Who’s Word Is It?).
Next we shall take a look at “What is the Law?”
| "The spirit of a man is the lamp of YHVH, searching all his inmost parts." Proverbs 20:27 |
Please feel free to email them to me at harold@hethathasanear.com. While not claiming to have all the answers, it would be an honor to share with you what the Spirit is uncovering.