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This is a portion of a book I'm working on called the Ancient Puzzle, it is a book on how to study the bible. This chapter is the second chapter on the 4 levels dealing with ramez, but also gives people a good understanding of how the levels work. Enjoy!
Eyes that See
A Deeper look into the Scriptures - 2nd Level Reading
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
What are the eyes that see? Well according to the Messiah it is a sign of those people whose heart was right when hearing the word that allowed them to see the hidden truths in the scriptures by giving them the meanings of the parables. Now we'll see as we go along that there are a few requirements for this to happen. You must hear the word, then you must have the desire to draw closer to the word to figure out what it means. I believe we will see a pattern in the way the Messiah taught and we will see the difference between those in the crowds who showed up to listen to the Messiah and those he called his disciples. Part of our problem in studying the scriptures is that we group words together and don't do a good job of discerning the difference between the use or meaning of one word or another. A simple example of this is the word follower vs. disciple. A follower may be anyone of the crowds who followed Messiah from spot to spot, There is a diference though between a follower of His and His disciples or students. One of the main contrasts is that a follower desires to be in His presence, while a students goal is to learn from Him. We still see these two types of people who say they believe in Messiah. Some just desire to talk about him here and there and just have him as a part of their lives, and there are those who study his word desiring to learn from him. We can see these two groups each time he teaches, He would ussually speak to a group of followers and afterward those desiring to know more (His Disciples) would draw closer to him and ask him to declare the deeper meanings of his word. Interesting because when we study his word we are really fellowshiping with him. So as we work through this concept of fellowshipping with the Messiah by studying his word closer I think you will see a pattern in the way he taught and distinguished between those who had eyes that see, and those who see but can't percieve.
Deu 29:2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
Deu 29:3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
Deu 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
This chapter is about a subject that may be foriegn to many people from non believers, to Jews, to believers and even disciples. When I started to study the bible like many people I didn't understand much but I was eager to learn and it turned out to be a blessing that I didn't realize there was big discussion over the meaning of the Scriptures. As a matter of fact I was so naive, I don't even think it crossed my mind that the different denominations didn't all agree on everything in the Scriptures. I guess It was like I got off a plane in a third world country and walked into a battle zone but didn't realize what was going on around me. See I thought the Bible was the word of God, Period! And so when I started reading I assumed I just didn't understand it so I kept reading. Later I found out some people were arguing over one thought or another and so I would listen to both sides and compare it to what I read. I wasn't trying to get out of doing one thing or another, or worrying that if this verse was true something else I thought would be wrong. I now am looking back to the countless chat room discussions, books, and debates and seeing why people are arguing. See the bottom line is I see many people defending a point, but not because they are zealous for truth because that doesn't become so combative. The truth after all is sharper than any two edged sword, and doesn't need our sharpening. Real truth can withstand fierce criticism while still being gentle in firmness, while stretched theologies that are based on misused and misguided bits and fragments of scripture are more like a dull butter knife.
It's like David and Goliath. David would represent the truth that needs not puff itself up to be effective, while Goliath is these made up understanding and teachings that have to put this verse with that verse and then you have to make an incinuation that means something almost none of the contributing verses really talked about directly. They are big stretches and big ideas. The reality is most main concepts are easily read in the scriptures. A child could read the whole book and figure out that it is about good and evil, and the consequences of doing good and evil. How can you miss it, in the most basic form it is described as light and darkness. Even if your color blind you can get that concept from reading the book. We make it complex. So where am I going with this? Well, the preverbial light went off one day when I was talking to my father and I saw the verse about "they have eyes that can't see, and ears that can't hear," why... because there heart is fat, it was a heart problem. The messiah came as an example to us, so lets look at how he taught. If you take a general look at his teaching accounts you'll see a pattern. He went out to large groups of people who were following him, or heard about him and he would begin to speak in parables. A parable is a story, riddle, or similitude. Now what does that mean? Well, not to get into the trinity concept that people love to talk about, but yes this is three in one. A parable is a story that is a riddle, and the riddle to be solved is what is the similitude, or what each item represents in the story. We see a definite pattern in the way the messiah taught. First of all, it says that he spoke in parables and there was nothing that he said that he didn't speak in parables.
Mat 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Mat 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Now I don't think people really grasp the magnitude of this about him. I mean what kind of person only speaks in riddles. we tend to think when we read the gospels accounts that he spoke a few riddles but then some plain stories based on the fact that we think we understand some of the stories he put forth. The reality is that we are not recognizing many little parables. The purpose of a parable is not to just see the problem, which would be the story, but the main use of the story is to solve the problem. Parables therefore are true story problems. The Messiah was nice enough to give us an example of what a parable looks like and how to solve it. So lets look at a parable that illustrates this process of how to learn from the master's teachings.
Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Here he tells a story or parable to the masses, and afterward some people who were there drew closer to him and desired to know the similitude or as it is sometimes called the Ramez of the story.
Mat 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Mat 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Mat 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
so he breaks it down for them item by item.
Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
Mat 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
So if we compare a parable to math, the first level or literal story (Peshat) is like basic math 1+1=2 this is easy to see and is like verses 24-30, the 2nd level or Definitions (Ramez) is like algebra a+b=c. This is given to us in verses 37-43 . Once we figure out the definitions we can plug the values in and reread the story to get the 3rd level or Understanding (Derash). It's like a basic algebra equasion a + b = c , then when you find out that a = father, b= mother, c = baby, then plug in the values
father + mother = baby. Lets get to the algebra of the Messiah.
he that soweth the good seed/sower = Messiah
Field = the world
Good seed = children of the Kingdom
tares = children of the wicked one
enemy = the devil
harvest = end of the world
reapers = angels
to be burned = cast into the furnace of fire
sowed = planted ( for sake of easy understanding)
barn = kingdom of the Father
he also notes that the tares or children of the devil are described as those who offend and break the law (iniquity), and notes that the wheat or children of the kingdom in contrast will be righteous and shine forth as the sun.
OK now lets plug in the values into the original story, i'll do it paralell so you can see how it works.
The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
The kingdom of heaven is likened unto the Messiah which planted the children of the kingdom in the world:
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But while men slept, the devil came and planted his children among the children of the kingdom, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
But when the children of the kingdom sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the children of the devil also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field?
So the servants of the Messiah came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou plant the children of the kingdom in the world?
from whence then hath it tares?
from whence then hath it the children of the devil?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
He said unto them, the devil hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
But he said no; lest while you gather up the devil's children, you tear out also the children of the kingdom with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
Let both grow together until the end of the World and in the time of the end of the world I will say to the angels,
Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them:
Gather ye together first the devil's children, who offend and Break the Law cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing
but gather the wheat into
and gnashing of teeth but gather the children of the kingdom, who are righteous and shall shine forth as the sun in
my barn.
the kingdom of the Father.
now re-read the story above in the red the parable from start to finish, and then re-read the entire underlying story and you will grasp the concept of both the parable and the similitude or Ramez of the scripture. The problem is that although the messiah was nice enough to share with those who desire to know the parable, most of the people at that sermon, just like most of the people who study the scriptures don't draw closer to solve the riddle and figure out the definitions (Ramez) , the this = that, of all the scriptures. The Messiah refers to this as knowing him.
Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
We will expound on this verse later to explain more deeply but for now we see he shows how he is in all the scriptures of the Old testament (Tenach) so how then will we understand this when clearly there is no real mention of him. But that is if you are reading only the Surface(Peshat), what we find is that the old Testament is a group of stories and they are parables that have underlying definitions and meanings also. It's like a cream filled cake. if you only ate on the surface all you would see is white cake and therfore assume the entire cake was just white cake, but once you dig a little deeper and you hit that raspberry layer it doesn't take long to figure out that it is under all the cake you just never saw it before. now back to the concept of knowing. Digging deeper to see the Ramez is a drawing closer to the word, once you realize the text has another layer you have more knowledge of the Word then do those who just read just the surface story.
like the concept in the beginning of adam knowing his wife, it is a closeness shared between a man and his woman. This ties into when the men said Lord, Lord, and he said I never knew you. To know someone is to draw closer to them. We will see again and again that every time the Messiah teaches, he teaches in parables, and that is given to the masses, then afterward those who desire to draw closer to him are given the Ramez or definitions of the parables to plug in.
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes are closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
When asked why he teaches this way instead of declaring it to everyone, he says that there heart is fat. fatness is ussually spoke of as satisfied or excessivness, as in the fat of the land. Here the messiah may be saying that because they don't desire to know him or draw closer they are not hungry enough for the word. Those whose heart is covered with fat do not desire a closer relationship with the Messiah. They are described as those who see but don't percieve, they hear but are dull of hearing, and it says at any time they would have a change in heart and return as it is stated in some translated as convert, but the general use of this word is of return, and they would be healed and their sins forgiven.
So although all of them came to listen to the Messiah, only some after hearing him desired to go further and therefore took action and it was rewarded with a deeper knowledge of the parables, in particular the giving of the ramez or definitions. This step made a pretty big distinction in those who knew him, and those who he never knew. Simply showing up to listen wasn't enough, because without the understanding of the ramez of the parable, it is nothing more than a story. As ussual we see a model of the Father asking us to do something, and the reward for doing it, or punishment for not. Obviously the punishment for not drawing closer was to not really know the Messiah, and since the Messiah is called the word, to not know him is to not know the word. In the same way they said they were casting out demons in his name and doing works in his name, so they had seen or heard him, but if they failed to draw closer then he didn't equate that as a close relationship. Compare to those who read the parable only getting the surface story and never really getting the underlying story or that there even is an underlying story. That knowledge was reserved for those who took the effort to draw closer to the Messiah, and the Word. Just as the purpose of the parable is to use it to get to the ramez or underlying meaning, the purpose of the scriptures is to get to the underlying meaning. This may seem radical to some, but not to the disciples of Meassiah because this is how the Messiah taught and therefore how we should learn.
This initial requirement is similar to the children of Israel having to apply the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, the Father ussually gives us something to do, and if we do it, he rewards us. If he desires us to know him, that is to draw closer to him. We must take the effort to do so. I believe that is exactly what the early disciples of Messiah were doing and therefore they were rewarded with knowing the Messiah in the scriptures. Now lets clarify something right now. This doesn't mean the scriptures have no value on the surface. Many people argue on one side vs. the other not realizing both sides are necessary. You'll find this in many arguments like faith vs. works. Messiah said it best when he said a house divided cannot stand. In the same way these poor theologies or teachings don't stand because they would say that it is faith vs. works, but James said it was faith by works. You need both so anyone selling you on one or the other is wrong no matter how zealous. Of course divide and conquer has always been a good stratagy. By this if you choose faith and discard works satan has won, and if you choose works without faith or just going through the motions, satan has won also. By giving you one choice or another he tries to make you choose one of his options both which are bad. A wiser person doesn't get caught choosing between two evil answers but searches for the right answer or in the faith vs. works argument chooses none of the above because it was a bad question. This is exactly how the Pharisees tried to trap Messiah by asking him questions where he would be in trouble if he aswered one way and in trouble if he answered the other. He usually replied by correcting the questions as when they asked him if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath and he said it is lawful to do good on the sabbath. Next the Sadducees asked whose wife would the woman be in the resurection and he told them they didn't understand the scriptures because we aren't given to mariage in the resurection. So each time they tried to trap him, instead of giving them the answer from their choices he corrected the question. When studying the Scriptues, it isn't the surface story or Peshat as it may be called vs. the Ramez or underlying story, it is necessary to understand both. People claiming one way of study is better than the other don't understand that it is the natural progression and both are necessary, but it is also nescessary to proceed from the surface story study to the Ramez,then to the Derash, and then the Sod. The purpose or goal of the Peshat or suface text of the Bible is that it leads you to the Ramez, and the goal of the Ramez is to get understanding or to the Derash, and the goal of the Derash is to get Wisdom or the Sod. So if getting Wisdom is the goal then we must go Through the other levels to get to it then those other levels are very important but we must get our goal right. Paul explains it as the law was the schoolmaster to bring us to Yahushuah. Many see then there is no need for the law, but they err in that if they never kept the law then they were never brought to Messiah without the schoolmaster you cannot be with the Messiah. It is by going Through the Law that we draw closer to the Messiah. The Jesus many people follow is a parable. They see the surface and think they are there, but they fail to draw closer to the word to know the Messiah. In the same way we must draw closer to the text of the Scriptures and go through the suface text to the deeper level of the Ramez, so we may go deeper to the Derash and make it to the Sod. This is the Goal of the text. Lets continue.
Deu 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
After all we are told that to establish something as truth you need 2 witnesses, therefore, the Literal(Peshat) is one witness, and the Definitions(Ramez) is the second witness, once you work them out, they not only both make sense on their own level, but they support each other also to reveal the true understanding given. If you are going to search for the truth, which is within the scriptures, you've got to first realize that most people don't have it. The truth is not found in men but in the unraveling of the word of God. That being said let's get to some more unraveling.
The Messiah actually even gives us a place to start. As with any great teacher, he gives us a few examples of how to study the word and the parables. He even tells us where to start. Notice what he tells his disciples.
Mar 4:13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
So he tells us that the first parable to study is the parable of the Sower. And it is fitting as the parable is about how we recieve the truth & Correction. Let's look at this parable and see again how the Master teaches his disciples to study.
Mar 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
Mar 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
Mar 4:5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
Mar 4:6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Mar 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
Mar 4:8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred.
Mar 4:9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Now after it says that he gave this parable to the masses by the sea side in verses 1 and 2
Mar 4:1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
Mar 4:2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
then as ussual those who had the desire drew closer to him
Mar 4:10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
And he gave them the Ramez as follows in verses 4:14-20
Mar 4:14 The sower soweth the word.
Notice how he already in an earlier explaining of the ramez gave us the meaning of the Sower being Messiah. We can then plug it in here also and you'll then find the nex rule of Ramez. That there can be more then one value that equals one thing. Let me go back to my algebra example
if a = b and b = c, then a=c, now hold on I know what your thinking, why are we talking algebra here, I thought we finished that in the 7th grade. Bear with me now for your own benefit. Look again at this equasion this way. If I am a husband, and I am also a father, then in my household I am father and a husband, I can be called both. This will help you understand the gospels better. One of the ways we get these definitions is by paralellism or from parallel verses. What I mean by this is that if the same story is told in two different gospels and one word is used in the story and another in another story then they actually equal each other in the ramez. Here is an example.
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mar 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
and their eyes they have closed, and their ears are dull of hearing,
That seeing they may see, and not percieve and hearing they may hear and not understand
and should be converted, and I should heal them.
and should be converted, and their sins be forgiven them.
When you line up each item with the item of the other story, you see that in one the Master says he would heal them, and in the other he says that their sins would be forgiven them. Now do you think he just forgot the story, or mabye changed his mind about what to do with them. I don't think so. if your not sure if this technique is true then find another witness. Truth is established by at least two witnesses, but there are many witnesses to the truth. mabye he says these two statements are equal because the pharisees asked him a question another time and he answered :
Mat 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
Mat 9:3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
Mat 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
Mat 9:5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
Mat 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
notice that the man was sick, and he was healed by saying his sins were forgiven. The Messiah again just after that says
Mat 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Mat 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Comparing those who are righteous to those who are whole, and those who are in sin are sick and need healing or forgiveness for their sins but first must repent. Interesting how he ties this in to the verse
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
unless at any time they would see and hear and understand with their heart, which was the problem their heart was covered with fat, then they would it says convert, but the word here is mostly used as return or turn back, which is repent and they would be healed. Now we put that with the verse about the physician and he calls people to turn back to righteousness and from sin and then he can forgive them and heal them. So paralell definitions are one way of getting the ramez, the first way is the direct giving of ramez, when the Messiah explains a parable those are the examples, The next is the written definitions, thay are scattered throughout the scriptures and that is where it says this is that, or this equals that. An example of some of those is:
Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
law=Light
commandment = lamp
correction and instruction = the way
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but through me.
Yahushuah = the way
Yahushuah = the truth
Yahushuah = life
The third way we get the ramez is by reversing the ramez we already have. Like if the law = light then darkness = without the law. Lets see if this works in the scriptures and look for another witness to this.
Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
I am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.
I am the law of the world he that followeth me shall not walk without the law but shall have the law of Yahushuah.
Here we replaced from proverbs the law = light, Yahushuah = life, and darkness = without the law. now when we read the ramez does it follow what Yahushuah has taught us. he says above that people who follow him shall not walk without the law. this is an indicator of who his true followers are and how you will know them. Lets see if he proves this to be true in the scriptures:
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Here he says you'll know those who shall enter into the kingdom by them doing the will of his Father. His Father's will is the walking in his law
Jos 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
The contrast then in these two verses and emphasised in mat 7:21 is that is wasn't those who said or talked like they were his servants but those who did it that would enter into the kingdom. he explains this in a parable later
Mat 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
Mat 21:30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
Mat 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Here he draws the contrast between two sons, one that said he wouldn't but did do it, and one that said he would but didn't do it. The point being made that what one says doesn't matter as much as what one does. In Mat 7:21 he repeats this theme by saying many came to him in that day saying things, but they didn't keep his Father's law as we see later in verse
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Iniquity = Lawlessness or being without law)
So we see that his followers and those who will enter into the kingdom will be known for walking in his Father's law which would also mean walking in the light in contrast to those who will not enter the kingdom and are not followers of Yahushuah because they will walk in darkness and without the law. This illustration is just to show you how to recognize the Ramez and then to test it to make sure it is true by getting multiple witnesses to see if you have got it correct. Now when we read again the ramez of the scripture we can really get a deeper understanding of the truth which is a drawing closer to the word and therefore if Yahushuah is the word then we have also drawn closer to him to know him. Notice in Mat 7:23 he says I never knew you. This was because he said they were workers of iniquity or breakers of the Law. See they were out doing things in his name but not keeping the law and this is how they are discribed. They thought they were doing great and then they were surprised not to receive a thank you, but a rebuke for not keeping his Father's law. Those who draw closer to him and the word will find that to know the ramez is to draw closer to the truth and the truth is Messiah kept and loved his Father's law and no one could claim to be close to the Messiah without loving and doing the Father's law. Yahushuah gives an example of this with his own mother.
Mat 12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
Mat 12:48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
Mat 12:49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Lets look then one more time at the ramez of the verse and put it together with the other witnesses to see the actual picture of what is being taught:
I am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.
I am the law of the world he that followeth me shall not walk without the law but shall have the law of Yahushuah.
By saying he is the law of the world he is establishing he shall rule the world and his subjects, or the people of his kingdom shall obey his law and he shall rule over them. So what we see here is in the Ramez he teaches us that you'll know his servants according to if the walk in his ways. This is how when he returns he knows who are his because they will be subjecting themselves to his rule which is those who have the law of Yahushuah which as we know is his Father's law as that is what he lives by.
OK now lets continue to see how we find the Ramez in the scriptures. So far we have had it given directly by Yahushuah in his declaring of the parables, second is by parallel verses, third by direct definitions(This is that or this = that), and fourth is by reversing the ramez you have. Some Ramez is harder to find than others and some parables are harder than others. These are sometimes called hard sayings. The key to remember is that as you get more of the ramez just like in a puzzle, it gets easier to find the peices once you have the supporting peices. Don't get in to much of a hurry. One of the reasons I explained a little deeper in the last one was as you come accross some harder ones you may want to just give something a definition without really testing it enough. There is slight differences from one word to another and many are similar but not the same. We must be diligent to not rush it on some of these as the final way of getting ramez is the hardest. That is ramez through understanding. What I mean by this is that some definitions are not just given like (this is that). They must be searched by reading all the uses of a word und drawing the meaning of it. Sometimes this gets lengthy and good old trial and error is used by plugging in meanings when your close but not quite sure then going back and plugging in that definitions to the verses and testing it to see if it works, if it doesn't work in all of them there may be a slight problem. You may be close but not quite right.
An example of this kind of ramez study is wine. In the Ramez wine = teaching or doctrine. Now we don't have this in a clear definition, so we can read all the verses in the scriptures with the word wine and then if we plug in teaching and test it to see if it is correct. Here are a few verses to consider:
wine = teaching
Psa 60:3 Thou hast showed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
Here he likens the showing of things to drinking wine. In the same way when Messiah showed or taught his disciples he was giving them wine. When you combine this with wine = blood, as it is called the blood of grapes, and our blood is compared to wine:
Isa 49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
wine = blood
Then you can see deeper into the Passover (some call Last Supper) where Yahushauh says drink this is my blood ( he was referring to the wine), but in the ramez he was saying drink my teachings. To take them in and let them effect your judgment. Now one of the additional witnesses is nature. YHWH created all things and therefore just as nature is used in many parables and as models, his very creation can be like an additional gospel to teach us things. Compare wine drinking. There are many aruments on whether wine is ok or not in many religions. In the Scriptures we see it any many places even being commanded, but in others we see it refered to in a bad light. Well if the Ramez for wine is teaching then we see how good teaching is good, but then bad teaching could be bad. This is exemplified in how wine works also. A little is said to be healthy for you, but in excess you get drunk. Being drunk changes your judgment. Now in the scriptures there is positive mention of drunkeness and negative depending on the teaching. When learning it's best to only take small sips, just as too much new teaching could be counterproductive for a new learner. Bad teaching in small or large quantities isn't good and too much bad teaching can definetly change your judgment. The Messiah explains this in a parable.
Mat 9:17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
Now a little background here helps in this parable. First is bottles is not the right translation, it is skins:
G779 ἀσκός askos as-kos' From the same as G778; a leathern (or skin) bag used as a bottle: - bottle.
it is not used as bottle and therefore makes it hard to understand. When putting new wine in skins as it sets it lets off gases and expands so it stretches out the wineskin. If you put it in an old wineskin that has already been stretched it will burst it because it isn't as flexible as a new unstretched skin. So we see how this relates to teaching or doctrine because if you put new teaching in an open flexible mind they can receive it and not be damaged, but if you take a new teaching and put it in a mind that has been made up and is not interested in new ideas it will be a waste and is even damaging to the rigid thinkier because they will now reject that teaching most likely later if it is presented again because they feel they already made a decision on that teaching. So it is best to share teachings with people who are willing to accept it and not try and pound it into someones head who doesn't want it.
So again we see the relation of wine to teaching or doctrine. We also see how an example of how something natural works and gives us insight to additional truths and helps us to unlock the Ramez. That is what I call looking at the natural model. Now we barely scratched the surface of the study on wine as ther are over 2oo verses with the use of wine. Then if Wine = blood you have to take into account the 375 verses on blood and check them for additional insight. Sometimes you can't get the exact Ramez of something by only studying it, so you might have to find out if it is equal to something else and in studying that you get your definition. For example say I read all the verses on wine and my definition wasn't clear but when I find it equals blood I can then broaden my search and find the ramez of blood and then double check to make sure there isn't a slightly diferent understanding of blood and wine. But I may find a clear understanding that blood equals teaching and from there can equate that wine equals teaching. So my point being that as it says we establish truth by 2 or more witnesses, it means that the truth leaves clues. You will start to see repetitions of the truth so after reading all the verses on wine, looking for definitions, then searching out the natural model and function of wine, then seeing the corelation of wine and blood and looking at the natural model and function of blood and looking for the definition I should start to unravel the Ramez for wine. Some definitions are easy and some are complex and the rewards are great for unraveling those hard ones. Remember that each one helps open the door to finding the next so keep searching as there is an entire Bible underneath the one we already have. May YHWH bless the work of your diligent study by opening your eyes to the truth. Once your eyes are opened to the truth they can never be shut. Shalom
A disciple should diligently search for the truth and humbly deny and reconsider it's possession.
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