2 Birds, 1 Stick, Red Thread, and a Branch

"Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:

As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:

And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. " - Leviticus 14:4-7

What's this with the birds (not just one but two), the thread (it must be red), a stick (it must be Cedar), and a branch (it must be hyssop)?! It all seems arbitrary until we see Jesus!

THE PLAYERS:
Two Birds - Jesus and us. Christ set aside his glory to become one of us - completely human.¹

Ceder Wood - The cross - Christ's and ours.²

Scarlet Thread - Thread representing what keeps us bound, Scarlet representing, sin³. It is our sin that binds us, breaks our relationships, and keeps us from living free.

Hyssop - Used for sprinkling sacrificial blood, water, or whatever on the people and things around the altar⁴ - God's blessings, His word, and His will are to be applied to our daily living, not just kept as theory.

Earthen Bowl - The real, tangible, physical world in which we live.⁵

Running Water - Life, activity, constant motion.

THE ACTION:
One bird killed, his blood gathered in an earthen bowl over running water - Jesus sacrificed on the cross at a point in time and a real place while life moved on and many never noticed.

Second bird, stick, thread, and branch dipped in the sacrificed bird's blood - Our lives, our daily trials,⁷ our many sins, are to be touched by Christ's sacrifice.⁸ His "blood" is to be applied to us and all we are or hope to be and do.

Second bird release - When touched by Christ's work on the cross we are set free from sin's bondage, released to live a full, abundant life!⁹

See, those laws are not arbitrary at all - the whole Bible is a book about one man - Jesus the Christ.¹⁰

- fritz

1 - Hebrews 2:14
2 - Luke 9:23
3 - Isaiah 1:8
4 - Numbers 19:18
5 - 2nd Corinthians 4:7
7 - Luke 9:23
8 - Hebrews 9:11-12
9 - John 8:36
10 - Hebrews 8:1-6, Hebrews 9:9

Whose your daddy?

They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. - John 8:39-44 (KJV)

Your father is determined and/or detected NOT by who does the most things for you or whose bloodline you are from, but who you act like.

The Pharisees said Abraham was their father, but Jesus countered that couldn't be true because they were not acting like Abraham.

They, then, said God was their father but Jesus countered that if that was true they would love him. He then told them who their real daddy was - the devil; and the acorn does not fall far from the tree.

All humans are not all children of God, we are children of the one we act like, and the only way to change fathers is by being born again (John 3:3)

So the question remains to be answered: Whose your daddy?

- Fritz

Truth is Not Freedom To All

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins...Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. - John 8:24,31-32 (KJV)

The oft quoted verse, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" was not said to all, as it is generally quoted by the world. It was said to a select few - the ones who believed on him. For others, truth will be anything but known, and anything but freeing.

Neither does knowing the truth come automatically. Jesus added an "IF / THEN" context which is, likewise, often omitted in quotations. He said "If ye continue in my word, then you are my disciples...and ye shall know...and it shall make you free".

- Fritz