Rubel Shelly: Eating and Drinking Christ

Jesus: The Living Water (John 7:1-52)

Dr. Rubel Shelly: Eating and Drinking Christ or His Words? Jesus said we eat and drink His Words as Spirit and Life. Quoted Sermon is here. You should read the entire sermon to make sure that our review is honest.

The concept of the literal flesh and blood is preached in this sermon: Eating Christ's Flesh and Drinking His Blood.

If you agree that the church has moved beyond the total Bible as the message God wants taught to the church then here is a sermon which will make you feel secure in your new revelations which voids 2,000 years of Biblical understanding.

If you are still a Bible believer (required to be a Christian) then we hope that you will grasp the blanks which we have filled in and look for "the rest of the story."

If you consider honest review as somehow "disdainful" then you have fallen victim to Post Modernism which says "no one is right and if you teach and hold anything as permanent truth then you are a Pharisee."

The water story begins in John chapter 5:

In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. John 5:3

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. John 5:4

Jesus didn't help the person into the water but pronounced him healed. All of the Seeker-Centers had magical pools and false preachers. Clement of Alexandria notes the musical connection with pagan sources of "water" which revealed the minds of the "gods" but it was just all made up by the drunken woman, the priest and the song leader selling false information.

"The fountain of Castalia is silent, and the other fountain of Colophon; and, in like manner, all the rest of the springs of divination are dead, and stripped of their vainglory, although at a late date, are shown with their fabulous legends to have run dry. Recount to us also the useless oracles of that other kind of divination, or rather madness, the Clarian, the Pythian, the Didymaean, that of Amphiaraus, of Apollo (Abaddon, Apollyon), of Amphilochus; and if you will, couple with them the expounders of prodigies, the augurs, and the interpreters of dreams. And bring and place beside the Pythian those that divine by flour, and those that divine by barley, (produces ergo a producer of "visions)

and the ventriloquists still held in honour by many.

Let the secret shrines of the Egyptians and the necromancies of the Etruscans be consigned to darkness.

Insane devices truly are they all of unbelieving men. Goats, too, have been confederates in this art of soothsaying, trained to divination; and crows taught by men to give oracular responses to men.

And of Castilia Sprints:

"At northwest of Athen, stands the sacred mountain called Parnassus. Nestled in the forested slopes and rocky crags are the ruins of the ancient and wonderful city of Delphi which however is best known as the supreme Oracle Centre of the ancient Mediterranean World. It is known that the oracular priestesses of Delphi would first bathe in the waters of the nearby spring of Castalia and then setting on the tripode gave the oracular response. Castalian spring to the East of the sanctuary proper in the ravine separating the twin Phaedriades, takes its name from nymph Castalia, and, in classical times, it was where pilgrims purified themselves before entering the sacred sanctuary of Apollo. In this spring all who came to Delphi for any religious object whatever had to purify themselves.. Murderers, however, bathed the whole body. The water was collected in along narrow reservoir (9m x 1 m) which fed seven jets . These jets fell into a rectangular court, 9m x 3m, reached by rock-hewn steps. Graziano Baccolini

The Post Modern view coming out of pulpit and university intends to EMERGE a new church of Christ. The "founding document" pronounces the end of the Christendom era and the emerging of "we don't yet know what." However, the new hatch of "locusts" emerging in "ministry systems" eating up all of the crop, is amazingly similar to the Seeker System of Apollo (Abaddon, Apollyon) at Delphi. Apollo's first task was to "transform himself into a harmless image" and use music to recruit his first tier of "ministers." These would be chief ministers of the collection plates and they would be rewarded with all of the "lambs" their knives could slay.

Therefore, with out commission to "test the spirits" in hand, we seek to evaluate the new "water" which no longer is identified with Spiritual food and drink. Because the 100% definition of the Word as that which God uses for spiritual "food" is now 0% the Word and 100% some direct revelation by the literal indwelling of 1/3 of the Godhead, our review is to show how the new system uses the Bible.

The entire Bible says that we eat and drink the Word of God as source of spiritual renewing. Dr. Shelly says that we eat Jesus in some kind of mystical "better felt than told" means which is not defined. Here is the view of those who rejected the Word of God:

See the connection between "eating the gods" and Apollo's oracle at Delphi.

In the Post Modern view, the horrors of Mount Sinai brough on by musical idolatry can be "narrated" as a "pattern for Christian worship and community." The Bible universally condemns SUN or planet worship; post modernism says, "We can just baptize or color the S.U.N. as the S.O.N."

Stones as food was also symbolic of Saturn who is the S.U.N. or "wandering star" or planet god condemned by Jude and identified as Satan who introduced music to take away the key to knowledge.

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Mt.4:3

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Mt 4:4

Alexander Hislop notes:

"The devouring on the part of Saturn of the swaddled stone is just the symbolical expression of the eagerness with which Adam by faith received the good news of the woman's seed; for the act of faith, both in the Old Testament and in the New, is symbolised by eating. Thus Jeremiah says,

"Thy words were found of me, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" (Jer 15:16).

This also is strongly shown by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who, while setting before the Jews the indispensable necessity of eating His flesh, and feeding on Him, did at the same time say:

"It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).

That Adam eagerly received the good news about the promised seed, and treasured it up in his heart as the life of his soul, is evident from the name which he gave to his wife immediately after hearing it: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living ones" (Gen 3:20).

The story of the swaddled stone does not end with the swallowing of it, and the arresting of the ruin of the children of Saturn. This swaddled stone was said to be "preserved near the temple of Delphi,

where care was taken to anoint it daily with oil, and to cover it with wool" (MAURICE'S Indian Antiquities).

If this stone symbolised the "sin-bearing son," it of course symbolised also the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, in whose symbolic covering our first parents were invested when God clothed them in the coats of skins.

This life-restoring child is also know in Gnosticism and in today's churches as ZOE who is really know as the Beast. The worship of the S.U.N. rather than the S.O.N. is also associated with this story.

In in other material, the Catholic eating of literal flesh is associated with Cahna-Bal or Cahna-Baal.

The inability to associate the Word of a holy or pure Spirit God as being Spirit was proof in John 6 that the Jews could not understand Spiritual thought.

Thereby, by repudiating God's right or power to express His Words in commands or examples; and the repudiating the silence of God, the modern church repeats the failures of the Israelites and puts rituals for the eyes and ears before "feeding the flock" with the "milk" and "meat" of the Word.

After showing that it is pretty easy to "dupe" people by giving them the technical description of water, we note that it is also easy for priests to dupe people into believing that we literally eat and drink the flesh and blood of Jesus.

Others, have the ability to define the "flesh and blood" in terms which EXCLUDES the Words of Jesus.

For instance, in a previous sermon, Dr. Shelly ended his sermon while Jesus was still speaking parables to the multitudes and the doctors of the Law. Then,:

Dr. Shelly: "The eating and drinking of this text is about the daily appropriation of Christ as one's life and nourishment. Eating and drinking in this passage constitute a powerful metaphor for the nature of faith."

We find not a shred of evidence for this claim.

FAITH is not "faith alone" but demands that we appropriate the Spirit of Christ by "giving heed" to the Words of Christ in song and sermon.

If you diminish the Word to seven facts about Jesus then it would appear that there is no faith.

For the "undupable" to whom Jesus agreed to explain this parable, the real conclusion is that we don't eat Jesus in any sense:

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter (Law, Flesh), but of the spirit (New Testament): for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 2 Co.3:6

Our own indwelling spirit is made holy and capable of life and a Spiritual existance only if we affirm God by affirming His Son by affirming His Word.

One cannot be sure why one shoves claims about a Catholic-type Jesus whom we eat and drink in some not-defined way.

If Jesus is still speaking to you, we will see that Jesus continues in John chapter 7 to speak of eating of His Word as Spirit and Life even as the Apostles FED the people with the Words of Christ in song and sermon.

Here are a few of the Eating passages: there is no hint that we eat in some mystical way or that we literally eat Jesus.

We all eat meat and drink milk. However, there has never been anything which feeds the soul's hunger but the Word of God:

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Deut 8:3

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Mt 4:4

The elders were to be Christians by imiatating Christ as Son Who spoke only what He heard from the Father. That is, they were to teach only that which had been taught. When people give themselves an "office" to teach human philosophy in order to keep the Word from being taught they are anti-Christs.

Not something you learn from the philosophers (Christian or not) is the fact that to a believer the word is not bitter. Rather, the Word of God is like eating honey and drinking water out of the flinty rock. If this does not describe your view of the Word then you may be an anti-Christ.

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Job 23:12

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psa 119:103

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Jer 15:16

But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. Ezek 2:8

MOREOVER he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. Eze 3:1

Can the elders "feed" the church with Jesus in some kind of "mystical sense?" Can you feed the church with "FAITH?" Of course not. Can they feed the church by a direct operation of the Holy Spirit? No. Therefore, we have the charismatic, Postmodern view as opposed to 100% of the Biblical evidence that the church is fed with the Word of God which is Spirit and Life. For instance,

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Acts 20:27

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Acts 20:28

Why: For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Acts 20:29

Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:30

Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. Acts 20:31

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Acts 20:32

Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Col.2:7

The "teaching" passages perverted as "musical passages" seeks to "build up" with the sentimental poetry of humans.

This is a direct repudiation of Lord Jesus Christ and HIS Word.

The result, as in all of the "musical" events will be that the church hungers and thirst for the WORD and cannot find it.

Did Paul feed the Corinthians with Christ in a mystical way? No, the only food and drink is the Word of Christ.

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 1Co.3:2

And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 1Co. 10:2

And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 1Co. 10:3
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1Co. 10:4

The primary "food" was the Covenant by which mankind could live. However, Israel repudiated the oral Covenant of Grace, rose up to play in musical idolatry, and lost the Word as their spiritual meat and drink.

Does anyone schooled in the Bible feed others by a direct operation of the holy Spirit or with the body of Christ in a mystical sense? No.

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. Heb.5:12

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Heb.5:14
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 1 Pet 2:2

We cannot explain why it is impossible for the modern mind to see this connection between heavenly "food" and the Word of God.

We cannot explain why, in Postmodernism, all truth has "gone into a black hole and we cannot know truth. However, we can know this: if you believe that you know any truth and teach it as authority then you are still living in the 'modern' world and you need to be silenced."

We cannot explain why "no truth" allows Narrative Theology and "taking liberties" with John's writings can fail to teach the "punch line" but insists on supplying a new Post Modern set of words to put into the mouth of Jesus.

But, that is the "worm hole" we are living in in the total vacuum between two epochs of time where the old Christendom Era ended.

However, this student is still "modern" in that we propose to fill in the blanks which tape up the mouth of Lord Jesus and refuse to allow Him to complete His teaching to those who have ears and eyes.

This week, Dr. Shelly notes that:

Rubel Shelly: "People shove claims at us every day under a heading like "important information" or "undeniable facts" - claims that dupe otherwise intelligent and decent people. It happens in sales pitches. It happens in politics. It happens in religion. It even happened to Jesus one day - in the context of a festival at Jerusalem that involved a water ceremony.

The Jews had taken liberties and added two new ceremonies which are best entertained in the modern lust to turn church or synagogue into holy entertainment. Jesus refuted this disrespect for the silence of Scripture by pointing out that all external rituals are build upon the inability to discern spiritual meanings.

The topic is "water." Therefore, we want to tell you up front that Jesus is not defined as the Water which people "drink and eat" in order to get some mystical experience.

Rather, the entire Bible sees WATER as that which flows out from God through His WORDS.

Furthermore, both Isaiah and Paul make it clear that the WATER of the WORD is a free comodity much like air. Therefore, anyone who attempts to dilute the water or make it into some other chemical formula is DUPING most religious people every day of the week because the 'threshing oxen' has taken up permanent residence in the customer's house.

God uses water as a symbol of Spirit or Word power which reaches from the dimension of Spirit into the dimension of material because it is very common and very necessary.

In the "taking liberties" theology, simple H²O might be life giving. However, if you break the H free from the O and light a match it will blow up in your face. That is what the Post Modern, Post-Biblical human philosophers are doing but they do not know that they are taking the life-giving Word apart and putting it back together and it will blow up in their face.

We believe that Dr. Shelly has separated the Parable (to fool the fools) from the Divine explanation (to truth seekers) and deprived the audience of the value of Pure Water of the Word.

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: Matthew 13:34

Multitudes is: Ochlos (g3793) okh'-los; from a der. of 2192 (mean. a vehicle); a throng (as borne along); by impl. the rabble; by extens. a class of people; fig. a riot: - company, multitude, number (of people), people, press.

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. Matthew.13:35

Peter made the Word spoken by THE Word to water:

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 2 Peter 3:3

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 2 Peter 3:4

But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 2 Peter 3:5

First test: We never have to pay for the free water unless someone has already flushed it through their commodes.

Captain Edward Johnson, in about 1631, wrote on what became Harvard University. The learned, reverend, and judicious Mr. Henry Dunster had received a patron for establishing a college. And he notes:

"And as in all the other passages of this history the Wonder-working Providence of Sion's Saviour hath appeared, so especially in this work,

the Fountains of learning being in a great measure stopped in our native Country at this time,

so that the sweet waters of Shilo's streams must ordinarily pass into the Churches through the stinking channel of prelatical pride,

beside all the filth that the fountains themselves were daily encumbered withal,

insomuch that the Lord turned aside often from them, and refused the breathing of his blessed Spirit among them, (Matthew 13)

which caused Satan (in these latter days of his transformation into an Angel of light)

to make it a means to persuade people from the use of learning altogether,

that so in the next generation they might be destitute of such helps as the Lord hath been pleased hitherto to make use of,

as chief means for the conversion of his people and building them up in the most holy faith,

as also for breaking down the Kingdom of Antichrist." And some other choice words.

The Foolish Rejection

Rubel Shelly: It was autumn and during our month of October when Jesus made the decision to return to Judea. You may remember that his healing of an invalid at the Pool of Bethesda on a sabbath day and his subsequent claim to be divine had created such a firestorm that the religious establishment set itself to kill him (John 5:1-18). So he had made a strategic retreat north to Galilee and taught people there. But his climactic hour was getting closer and closer now, and he knew it was time to return to face his accusers. He was rather secretive about his plan - keeping his intentions from his own family members (7:1-3).

A retreat may suggest cowardice. However, Jesus saw no need to teach a people bent on murder during the Great Feast of Tabernacles which is defined much like a Jubilee. This feast had degenerated into a fertility ritual. Furthermore, most of those who were gathering for the singing, playing music, clapping hands and even the elders dancing in the streets had been discarded by Jesus because they could not hear His Words.

Rubel Shelly: The reason we know the time of year is because the Feast of Tabernacles or Festival of Booths was being celebrated. It is the third of the three annual pilgrim feasts of Judaism. It was timed to coincide with the fall harvest and was something akin to our Thanksgiving Day in that respect. Theologically it was a harkening back to the time when the ancestors of the celebrants lived in tents (i.e., tabernacles, booths) for 40 years with Moses in the wilderness. Typically there would have been no general rains since those of spring. Pools and cisterns were low. And the days were starting to grow shorter, with nighttime darkness coming earlier each day.

While the clergy and most people were using religious rituals to try to find the lost God, the Feast ceremonies looked forward to the appearance of Messiah. However, the Water and Lights festivals had been added without authority based on the legalistic attempt to supply WATER POWER and a LIGHT SHOW in order to "regenerate" people through the human senses.

At the same time, the clergy had taken away the key to knowledge by muddying it with their own sermonizing.

However, even as they played musical games, Jesus the Messiah was waiting for the pagan festival to cease so He could present Himself to them to be murdered. This festival was quite identical to the "worship of the starry host" to which God had abandoned Israel because of their musical idolatry at Mount Sinai:

"Not surprisingly, most Israelites declined the prophet's invitation to enter into a dialog with Yahweh.  They preferred a less demanding religion of cultic observance either in the Jerusalem Temple or in the old fertility cults of Canaan.  This continues to  be the case: the religion of compassion is followed only by a minority; most religious people are content with decorous worship in synagogue, church, temple and mosque.

"The ancient Canaanite religions were still flourishing in Israel... the Israelites were still taking part in fertility rites and sacred sex there, as we see in the oracles of the prophet Hosea, Amos' contemporary.  (Armstrong, Karen, A History of God, p. 47).

(This is why Paul excluded the Sister Singers and Preside-over pastors with a tune.)

The First Century Feast of Tabernacles:

"As at the Passover and at Pentecost, the altar of burnt-offering was cleansed during the first night-watch, and the gates of the Temple were thrown open immediately after midnight. The time till the beginning of the ordinary morning sacrifice was occupied in examining the various sacrifices and offerings that were to be brought during the day.

While the morning sacrifice was being prepared, a priest, accompanied by a joyous procession with music, went down to the Pool of Siloam, whence he drew water into a golden pitcher, capable of holding three log (rather more than two pints). But on the Sabbaths they fetched the water from a golden vessel in the Temple itself, into which it had been carried from Siloam on the preceding day.

As soon as the wine and the water were being poured out, the Temple music began, and the 'Hallel' (Psa 113-118) was sung in the manner previously prescribed,

and to the accompaniment of flutes,
except on the Sabbath and on the first day of the feast,
when flute-playing was not allowed, on account of the sanctity of the days.

When the choir came to these words (Psa 118:1), 'O give thanks to the Lord,' and again when they sang (Psa 118:25), 'O work then now salvation, Jehovah'; and once more at the close (Psa 118:29), 'O give thanks unto the Lord,' all the worshipers shook their lulavs towards the altar. When, therefore, the multitudes from Jerusalem, on meeting Jesus, 'cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way, and...cried,

[Lulav or Lulab branch waved as the etrog. The etrog is held in the left hand during the service while the right hand holds the palm branch with myrtle and willow entwined. On the seventh day of Sukkoth the four species are carried seven times around the synagogue. During the singing of specified Psalms (Hallel), the etrog and lulab are waved upward and downward and toward the four points of the compass to indicate the omnipresence of God.]

saying, O then, work now salvation to the Son of David'! (Matt 21:8,9; John 12:12,13)
they applied, in reference to Christ, what was regarded as one of the chief ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles,

praying that God would now from 'the highest' heavens manifest and send that salvation in connection with the Son of David, which was symbolized by the pouring out of water.

For though that ceremony was considered by the Rabbis as bearing a subordinate reference to the dispensation of the rain, the annual fall of which they imagined was determined by God at that feast, its main and real application was to the future outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as predicted--probably in allusion to this very rite--by Isaiah the prophet (Isa 12:3). Alfred Edersheim, Chapter 14

Like too many religionists, there was intense religious ritual attempting to "lead the worshipers into the presence of God when God 'wasn't far from all of us.'" Music, specificially was used to call the gods into their temples.

When the Water of the Word Failed, the Jews invented an artificial "Water Drawing" festival. When the Light of the Word went out, they invented a festival of lights.

When the people hunger and thirst for the Water of the Word, we absolutely repeat the folly of the Jews and therefore Jesus will "not go up" to the opening ceremonies of our religious festivals.

The Prophesied Water of the Word

Water of the Word is something God gives. Therefore, the Gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift from the Spirit or Mind of Christ.

Isaiah castigated the merchants of the Word and prophesied that Messiah would bring free life and spirit by bringing a word which contained its own "preached" and "versified" power:

HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Isaiah 55:2

Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Isaiah 55:3

Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Isaiah 55:4

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: Isaiah 55:10

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11

And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. Zechariah 14:8

And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. Zechariah 14:9

Rubel Shelly: All these motifs came together in the festival observances. Families built lean-to shelters; the children loved it! Priests made a daily procession during the week-long event from the Pool of Siloam from whence they had drawn water to the temple where it would be poured out at the altar. They sang these words from Isaiah in the process: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isa. 12:3). On the final day of the festival, torches were lit in the temple compound, the priests circled the altar seven times with the water from Siloam, and finally poured it out as an offering into a bowl set on the altar. Before he is through, Jesus will have picked up on all these constituents as symbols of his own identity and mission.

The Musical Feast of Tabernacles in the Court of the Women

"At the close of the first day of the feast the worshipers descended to the Court of the Women, where great preparations had been made.

Four golden candelabras were there, each with four golden bowls, and against them rested four ladders; and four youths of priestly descent held, each a pitcher of oil, capable of holding one hundred and twenty log, from which they filled each bowl. The old, worn breeches and girdles of the priests served for wicks to these lamps.

There was not a court in Jerusalem that was not lit up by the light of 'the house of water-pouring.'

The 'Chassidim' and 'the men of Deed' danced before the people with flaming torches in their hands, and sang before them hymns and songs of praise;

[Note: The Instruments of David] and the Levites, with harps, and lutes, and cymbals, and trumpets, and instruments of music without number,

stood upon the fifteen steps which led down from the Court of Israel to that of the Women, according to the number of the fifteen Songs of Degrees in the Book of Psalms.
They stood with their instruments of music, and sang hymns.

[The trumpets commanded by God] Two priests, with trumpets in their hands, were at the upper gate (that of Nicanor), which led from the Court of Israel to that of the Women. At cock-crowing they drew a threefold blast. As they reached the tenth step, they drew another threefold blast; as they entered the court itself, they drew yet another threefold blast;

and so they blew as they advanced, till they reached the gate which opens upon the east (the Beautiful Gate).

As they came to the eastern gate, they turned round towards the west (to face the Holy Place), and said:

'Our fathers who were in this place, they turned their back upon the Sanctuary of Jehovah,
and their faces toward the east, and they worshipped towards the rising sun;
but as for us, our eyes are towards the Lord.'

But, that was a lie. They never turned away from worshiping the starry host as proven by their killing of Stephen. This is quite identical to the worship of Ishtar and Tammuz at the temple in Jerusalem.

Contrary to this sermon, God repudiated it:

For Lamenting for Tammuz to define the "worship of the fathers" CLICK HERE.

See also Isaiah 33 where God condemns the Assyrians by warning Israel about their frequent musical processions to Zion. This procession was an "out take" of the Molech rituals where the Israelites burned babies in the red hot arms of Molech. That is, they were worshiping the S.U.N., Saturn and other planets.

The Jews here are repeating the ceremony as they are prophetically getting ready to murder the S.O.N. of God in the hopes of "getting a better message."

The First Century Feast of Tabernacles Perverted

The Catholic Encyclopedia notes of the Feast of Tabernacles:

"After the Exile, the feast was protracted to the twenty-fifth of the month, and two new rites were added to the old ceremonial.

Every morning of the celebration a priest went down to the Siloe Fountain, whence he brought in a golden ewer of water which was pored on the alter of holocausts

amidst the singing of the Hallel (Pss, cxii-cxvii) and the joyful sound of musical instruments.
It was possibly the performance of this ceremony (the institution of which may have been suggested by Is., xii, 3) which afforded to Our Lord the occasion to compare the action of the Holy Ghost in the faithful to a spring of living water (John, vii, 37-39).

After the near-pagan Feast had slowed down, it might be possible to teach:

Rubel Shelly: Midway of festival week, Jesus went to the temple and began to teach. "The Jews were astonished at it, saying, 'How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?' " (7:15). They were saying, in effect, that they didn't have to listen to Jesus. He hasn't been to school. He doesn't have a doctorate in rabbinic studies. He doesn't have a mentor-rabbi to back him up.

First, let's not let ignore the contention that Jesus worshiped with instrumental music in the temple. Jesus could not enter into the holy place (symbolic of the church) nor into the Most Holy Place. Nor, could the Levitical Sounders enter.

Hieron (g2411) hee-er-on'; neut of 2413; a sacred place, i.e. the entire precincts (whereas 3485 denotes the central sanctuary itself) of the Temple (at Jerus. or elsewhere): - temple.

Second, it is possible that they were in admiration of Jesus:

And the Jews marvelled (were in admiration), saying, How knoweth this man letters (writing or Scripture), having never learned? John 7:15KJV

And, perhaps Jesus is consistent in not speaking to the multitudes in clear language. What if Jesus was speaking to us?

The hidden message to us is that Jesus valided His Sonship by speaking only what He heard from the Father.
Those who spoke out of their own "taking liberties" mind were seeking their own glory at the expense of God.This was the sin of Satan and Jesus defines the Devil as one "who speaks on his own."

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. John 7:16

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:17

He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. John 7:18

This is a clear statement of fact: when you use "Narrative Theology" and "take liberties" with the Bible then you are "speaking of himself" and Jesus said that there can be only one reason for it: he seeketh his own glory.

Rubel Shelly: The people holding sway over that crowd on that day played on its gullibility. They warned and cajoled the people. They made themselves sound believable by appealing to "the Word of God" and by passing along traditional beliefs that were altogether antithetical to the text of Scripture.

No they did not.

Here is what they really said:

John 7:20: you have a devil.
John 7:25 Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?
John 7:26 But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?
John 7:32 The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

In his preamble to the study of John, Dr. Shelly claims that John's writings were old remembrances "sieved" through the philosophy of the day and their own personal agenda. Therefore, philosophers, it is asserted, determined the condition of the canon.

In the same way, hallucinating philosophers who have the power to push their views on every graduate of every "christian" collete claim that truth valid yesterday somehow has been lost and we cannot find it. Not to worry, however, we can make up a new version which fits the brains of the 'youth' which have experienced a quantum leap of evolution and speak a different language.

Therefore, those holding sway in man pulpits have always "appealed" to tidbits of Scripture but have joined the "traditional" Catholic belief that Jesus said to "eat me" when their Post-Modern minds cannot even SEE the explanation in John 6:63 that we eat and drink the Word or Spirit of Life.

This is altogether antithetical to the text of Scripture as any one can read for himself by reading the entire chapter to TAKE THE TEST: "Is Jesus even speaking so that YOU can understand His parable?"

Rubel Shelly: They made practically everyone there skeptical of Jesus and moved them to vote to ban dihydrogen monoxide - when the very Water of Life, Heaven's Own H2O, the Ultimate Thirst-Slaker - was standing in their midst! Don't you be gullible enough to reject him!

The dihydrogen monoxide joke is an urban legend: everyone sees it as a joke and not even theologians know the punch line until it is told. No one really wants to ban water but lots of people want to ban the Water of the Word. We who were born before the last microsecond spell it:

Mayim-Dabar or Hudor-Logos

Water is a thirst slaker. God is the FOUNTAIN from which flows the FREE Water of the Word. Using logic, God cannot be both the fountain and the content and communicate with us.

O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. Jer 17:13

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. Jer 17:14

Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now. Jer 17:15

The words of a mans mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. Pr.18:4

We make fun of those who use only one cup (with a handle, of course) because we say they mistake the CONTAINER and the CONTENT. Well, here we have Dr. Shelly mistaking the FOUNTAIN for the WATER. Apparently the Post Modern mind cannot even spell W-O-R-D or see it in the text. Logos could not be found in the Old Testament so we have John "sifting" it out of Greek philosophy. However, Dabar is the Living and Written Word of God in Hebrew.

Rubel Shelly: To their credit, not everyone in the mob went with the prejudice and ignorance that prevailed that day. John informs us that some in the crowd had enough common sense to reason their way to faith by this simple process: "Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, 'When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?' " (7:31). Common-sense faith can still trump both unbelieving scholarship and uninformed prejudice.

The first reasoning was to prove that the rulers were cowards. Indeed, they had not been trying to stir up an old 'conservative' devious attack. The people could grasp that the reason the rulers didn't argue with Jesus was that they knew that He was Christ:

Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? John 7:25
But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him.
Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? John 7:26

Someone in the crowd questioned his ancestry but they did not use or misuse "that old Bible" against Jesus. Then, not able to "speak Bible" with Jesus they continued to try to arrest Him.

The Gracious Offer

In spite of the context of unbelief and hostility at the festival, Jesus remained true to himself. He acted out of his nature and mission, not out of the frustrating circumstances of that dismal moment.

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said,

'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' "

Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified (7:37-39).

Again, we need to note the difference between the Source and the Water: Jesus is the source and is never the water. Believers become secondary sources and can slake the thirst of others by giving the the water of the word.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. Jn 7:37KJV

Neither Jesus nor the believer are the water. Rather, out of Christ flowed living water which was His Word.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Jn 7:38

There might be some difference between saying "there was no Spirit" and the "Spirit had not been given." Jesus promised that He would come as "another comforter" (John14:16-18) and it would be Jesus in Spirit. He would remind them and guide them into all truth.

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:39NIV

As Jesus is the Incarnate Word, He would deliver His Mind or Spirit to the Apostles. Still speaking parables which the last sermon didn't grasp, Jesus explained to those who would not get too involved with fertility rituals in Jerusalem (called Sodom)

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63

Jesus refused to attend until the opening musical festival of singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, reading poems and sermons and selling books was over. The Jews believed that the festivals provided life when they held their water drawing festivals.

Well, we just kinda know that neither Jesus nor a personal Holy Spirit is drinkable and does not flow out of the belly or "innermost being." Therefore, that which Jesus came to speak as Spirit was His words which will AUTOMATICALLY flow out of a believer just as the "Son" speaks only what He hears from the "Father."

The Book of Job Explains Spirit and Belly

The Holy Spirit as a person separated from the One God does not flow out of the body of anyone! What does flow out are the Words of Christ which He clearly called spirit and life. This is confirmed many times:

Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Job 15:2
.......He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. Psa 147:18
.........He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. Psa 147:19

Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? Job 15:3
They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Job 15:35

Isaiah warned of those who invent their own songs and sermons that they were made pregnant by a "threshing machine" and gave birth to "stubble" which would be burned up in a "baptism of fire"--

Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath (Spirit), as fire, shall devour you. Isaiah 33:11

The wind is spirit (h7307) which is the same word as Holy Spirit in Hebrew.

Later, in the book of Job, Elihu could not stand the idle chatter any more and said:

For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me. Job 32:1
.........Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles. Job 32:19
.........I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer. Job 32:20

Rubel Shelly: The storm brewing over Jesus owes its awful, dark power to just this sort of thing. Against the purveyors of

tradition-encrusted,

ignorance-bounded,

spirituality-vacuous,

and death-dealing religion,

Jesus offered something new, fresh, and invigorating.

The, then and now, Pharisees deliberately invented their own "traditions" so that they didn't have to teach the Word of God. Their motive was their self-importance and their desire to steal the houses of widows and orphans. They know, and we know, that you cannot sell the Free Water of the Word without having Jesus also refuse to speak to us.

They were not ignorant: they just "saw godliness as a means of financial gain." That is, they saw sermonizing and praying as a clergy role for which they could collect dishonest gain.

Jesus didn't offer something new: He offered something free and faithful to the universal Old Testament symbolism that the WATER is always the WORD

The doctors of the law had "taken away the keys to knowledge" and in Amos 5,6, 8 and Isaiah 5 the people died of thirst because the clergy:

Were Post-Modern. There was no Divine truth so they were free to make up their own narrative.

They did this in order to silence the Word of God.

In the Temple sect, new wineskins and music was the instrument (weapon) which had replaced the Word of God.

People were under a curse in the Law and Temple system. However, Jesus just offered again the Abrahamic Covenant in a spiritual form.

By firing the false clergy each believer would become a source of living water simply by being an "earthen vessel" and teaching the Words of Christ in song and sermon.

Those who were faithful "water dispensers" went out where the people were thirsting for the Word.

Isaiah prophesied of a TRUE worship system

And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones:

and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Isaiah 58:11

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Is.58:13

If we can find those poking fun at patterns and not breaking down the walls and eleminating the Word and SPEAKING THEIR OWN WORDS then we can locate the

purveyors of

tradition-encrusted,

ignorance-bounded,

spirituality-vacuous,

and death-dealing religion,.

Rubel Shelly: God had given the ancient Israelites water in the desert centuries before, but it had to be given anew every day. Even so, the people who drank it ultimately died. The water that been poured out that day at the temple altar was a community ritual whose significance as a reminder to look to God for satisfaction had, for the most part at least, been missed. Now Jesus was offering something more than a collective observance of an annual ritual. And it was not being offered to people on the basis of their membership in a select group.

The Water and Lights rituals had been added by the Jews WITHOUT BIBLICAL AUTHORITY.

This, connected with the clergy's polluting the Water of the Word led Jesus to condemn this human-invented religious ritual because it was based purely on the externals. The water drawing and lights was a very early Post-Modern "light show" to bedazzle the gullible so that they would kep on making contributions to the supposed to be free teaching.

Jesus was not the "water" in the desert but as Rock He supplied the literal and spiritual water. They did not DRINK the Rock but they drank OF what flowed from the Rock. That which flowed from Jesus was the unaltered Words of the Father.

And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. Is.48:21

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1Co.10:4

When they "claved" Jesus the Rock, both blood and water gushed out. However, Jesus said that we don't drink the literal water or blood but we drink of His Word: that which He poured out upon the earth.

Jumping all the way to the book of Revelation, Jesus the Lamb will still lead them to the waters but we will not nurse from the lamb:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Rev 7:17

If we take Jesus as the real WATER and attempt some mysical, but not defined, method of drinking Him, then we repeat the errorr of the Pharisees. The "burden laded" on the backs of the people used like pack animals was "spiritual anxiety created by religious ritual." Jesus died to remove the burden and the burden laders. He died to give us rest beside still waters. Jesus as the Chief Shepherd is not "eaten" by the sheep. Rather, Jesus as Shepherd and Lamb leads people to the source of LIVING WATERS. See the difference? If not, the the water of the word is still being taken away from people duped into believing error.

Rubel Shelly: News services carried the story several years ago of a hospital in a city in America's Midwest where it was discovered that its emergency firefighting equipment had never been connected to a supply source. For more than a quarter century, it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients and staff in case of an emergency. But it had never been hooked up to the city's water main. The big pipe that led from the building extended four feet into the ground - and just stopped.

It hadn't occurred to the hospital staff that anything could be wrong. Clearly marked cases held hoses in plain view. Brass valves were kept shiny. They assumed that if a blaze broke out, they could break the glass, stretch out a hose, turn the valve, and solve the problem. It was revealed to be a false security, for it lacked the most important thing of all - water.

The test of the Son is that He speaks only that which He hears from the Father. Jesus told the Apostles what to preach and Teach. Paul followed that pattern. Paul instructed the people in the falsely-labeled "singing" passages to "speak that which has been written, the Word of Christ or the Spirit." He further told the elders to only teach that which has been taught.

Jesus said that He was the Vine and we are the Branches: if we do not continue to feed on the water of the Word He sent out from Jerusalem then we will die on the vine.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7
.........If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
.........even as I have kept my Fathers commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:10

The churches run as hospitals trying to concock a new "medicine" can be identified when the sermons are not connected or badly connected to the Word and the "performance team" speaks sentimental poetry in a direct repudiation of the direct command of Paul and the "approved example" of Jesus in "hymning."

Those who proclaim Post Modernism, the Core Gospel and disparage the rest of the Bible, have cut themselves off from the Water of the Word and they will never get another Connection Permit.

The Eucharist which drinks the literal Jesus and eats Him crucifies Him over and over to make the blood flow out of the broken body.

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,
.........and have tasted of the heavenly gift,
.........and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, Heb 6:4
.........And have tasted the good word of God,
.........and the powers of the world to come, Heb 6: 5

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;
.........seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh,
.........and put him to an open shame. Heb 6: 6

For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: Heb 6: 7

But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. Heb 6: 8

Denying that the Water is 100% the Word of God is a denial of all that the Word has to say on the matter. Enlightenment is gone and Paul said that "it is impossible" for them to ever see or hear the Word again.

New wineskins and instrumental music was the cause and MARK that God had turned Israel over to the BEASTS to be consumed (Isaiah 5)

Rubel Shelly: Liberal denominations have the cases with the glass covers, hoses, and brass hardware of church. There are clergy and budgets, ritual and prayers, history and heroes.

There's just no Living Water -
no virgin-born, bodily-raised Savior and thus no gospel.

The only clearly-defined "worship" word in the New Testament is to "give heed" to the Words of Christ. We speak in order to teach but the singing and melody is in the heart. This is the only place where God looks for worship "in our spirit" or mind. In the Isaiah 55 water cycle worked only when the Word of God flowed out from Him, through those who were thirsty and then returned to him in singing and melody in the heart.

Anything done with the body called "worship" is a ritual and rituals can be examined to see that:

The water of the word is stripped out of song and sermon.

And there is not a microsecond of time to meditate on the meaning of the Word taught "as they have been taught."

We can run the "water" test: just look at what happens in pulpit and the "musical worship team standing in the holy place." Look at the so called sunday schools which will leave a 20 year graduate saying, as we heard in a TV sermon today: "God shut Noah and his family in the Ark of the Covenant.

Where's the Water? "Preaching" by definition presumes to spike up the Water of the Word with "new wine" or whatever comes over the internet as chicken soup.

Rubel Shelly: Conservative groups can be just as guilty though. There are system and doctrine, rules and judgments, tradition and bluster.

But there is no Living Water -
just the dusty jars of institutional custom and control. A noble vision of the kingdom of God has been swapped for maintaining a hollow institution. Church membership doesn't save. Only Christ can do that.

One truly believes that all of this comes out of a minority who see themselves as constituting the Priesthood and thus competent to bash the Pharisees (who didn't use music). All of the bluster, judgment, false doctines, new rules and tradition originates in the pulpit which has no authority other than a stand to hold up the Word.

One supposes that a "dusty jar" is the same as an old wineskin. The institutionalism could cease tomorrow: let all of the non-productive "staff" just resign or go out preaching the Word. Mega churches with 50 non-biblical "ministry" systems is institutional.

However, those who are faithful to the Word and all common knowledge and refuse to join the musical bands of "holy theater" are not institutionalized. Perhaps most churches close the doors during the week and the minister is involved in ministering outside of the building. That is de-institutionalized.

Jesus said that you had better "stay awake and keep your clothes with you" when someone tries to define the kingdom. Why? Why, because the kingdom of God is within you. The "rituals" of conservatives are essentially the rituals of the denominations. They all seem hell-bent to make sure, just as does Satan, to keep anyone from time to worship which happens ONLY in the mind or spirit. You cannot worship with the works of human hands whether clapping, raising or swaying to the Voodoo beat of pseudo-gospel hymns which are all Contemporary Christian Music whereas the Music word is not a Christian word.

The solution, one supposes, is to build a bigger Venue for Holy Entertainment. No. Church as "ekklesia" has no "standing army" or tower of Babylon ministry system sucking up all of the surplus cash and human potential.

"Assembly" in the New Testament means to "synagogue." Church as pagan worship center is denominational or paganistic. However, the "church" in the Bible is SCHOOL OF THE BIBLE or as A. Campbell said THE SCHOOL OF CHRIST. This was the way the Campbells proposed an assembly of various background. When you turn church into ritual then you automatically exclude those who are offendec by hand clapping.

As synagogue churcn has no instruments and it has "no praise service." Is that too tough for the Phd mind? Then ask whether the praise team can violate Paul's direct commands while the preacher is lecturing. There you have the answer: Christ will not let you do it when He is trying to speak.

"PostModernism" says that God is Dead, the Scriptures are hoplessly "sifted," there is no known truth and we just have been sucked into a philosopher's Black Hole. Strange, my dog still died when hit by a car and I still like vanilla ice cream. The laws of "floods" still washes out my water tank and water still flows down hill. Not a jot or tittle of the Word has changed meaning and it will be there when the schizophrenia (part of Post Modernism) is cured and the scholars are seen as a laughing stock.

Rubel Shelly: "Let anyone (i.e., any individual among you) who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink," said Jesus. Such a personal, individual response of a seeking, trusting heart will meet the One who can satisfy its needs.

But, Jesus explained this to mean:

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38

Does the "direct indwelling Holy Spirit" flow out of the heart of the believer? Does Jesus in some mysterious way flow like water? No. The point is that a believer is a disciple or learner and whatever they learn naturally flows out to teach others.

Here is the prophecy:

BEHOLD, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. Isaiah 32:1

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Isaiah 32:2

And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. Isaiah 32:3
The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. Isaiah 32:4

The vile liberal is named after the nebel or harp. Here are the doctors of the Law whose vested interest was to keep the "audience" as ignorant as possible to preserve their unlawful occupation on the backs of widows and orhans:

The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. Isaiah 32:5
For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity,
.........to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord,
.........to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. Isaiah 32:6
The instruments (musical psaltery) also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices
.........to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. Isaiah 32:7

But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. Isaiah 32:8
Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech