The Christian caricature known as “the Lord Jesus Christ,” whereby god is not only modeled after pagan deities, this god was formed in the very image of man. His likeness is ubiquitous in places of worship and prostration. And he is most often adorned with a halo, symbolic of the sun. In this, the Second of Three Statements inscribed on the First of Two Tablets, we read: “You should not make a practice of bowing down and worshipping them or speak for them (lo’ hawah – you should not religiously prostrate yourself in obeisance and homage to them, show any allegiance to them on an ongoing basis, nor consistently promote their message because doing so will influence you (hishtafel imperfect)), and (wa) you shall not habitually serve them (lo’ ‘abad – you should not continually work or labor in their cause as their ministers, nor should you submit to them in servitude, neither should you act upon them or consistently engage with them).” (20:5) This instruction is designed to clearly distinguish the kind of images Yahowah considers inappropriate, as well as to affirm that it is our response to these political and religious symbols, not the act of “making” them that is destructive to the relationship God is seeking to achieve with us. To engage in the Covenant, we have to walk away from political, religious, and societal allegiances. And yet look how often people sing national anthems to their flag, pledging to serve what it represents. By standing at attention, removing our hats, and placing our hands over our hearts while others salute, we transform this political symbol into an object of worship, and then we speak for it by bellowing out its anthem in the presence of roaring cheers. In America, the Lincoln Memorial is a shrine, a temple to man. And the Statue of Liberty, the national image of freedom to which countless patriots opine, is the Greek goddess Athena, complete with her light and sunburst crown. Since it is our ongoing response to these pagan and political symbols which is at issue, we should not be surprised that there are two verbs in this brief statement. The first, hawah, was once again negated by lo’. It was inscribed in the imperfect because Yahowah realized that we “would make a habit of religiously bowing down to, worshiping, and speaking for” the images mankind had crafted. But more than this, hawah was engraved using the hishtafel stem, something so rare it is only found 170 times in the Hebrew text. It is known as the causative reflexive form. And it reveals that the subject, which would be you and me, are influenced by the way we act with respect to the verb. Those who bow down in the presence of religious imagery will find themselves prostrate before God in judgment. Those who worship will be associated with the object of their faith. Those who speak for and promote the gods and institutions man has created will be seen as being allied with them. The truth is: religion and politics change people, just as the military does, in a way that displeases Yah, thereby disassociating those who fall prey to their beguiling nature. The most obvious, and indeed egregious, violation of this divine edict today is the example of Catholic and Orthodox Christians bowing down before and praying to one of the millions of statues of Mary, whom they believe is “the Mother of God and Queen of Heaven,” although those titles are both Babylonian, as is the religious festival named in her honor: Easter. So by using the imperfect with “lo’ hawah la” to say “you should not religiously bow down and worship, speak for or to, nor continually show any allegiance for” what could only be construed as “political and religious symbols,” and by announcing that “you should not make a practice of promoting their message because doing so will influence you,” Yahowah has expressed His utter disdain for humankind’s propensity to place its collective faith in that which is conceived and controlled by man. But He was not done providing instruction for our benefit. You see, the next verb is “lo’ ‘abad – you should not continue to serve them.” Once again, Yahowah used the imperfect conjugation, which speaks of habitual, ongoing behavior with unfolding consequences. But this time He used the hophal stem. It is the passive counterpart to the hiphil, which is to say in this case that religious imagery and political symbols influence an individual based upon how that individual acts towards them. An example of the hophal stem is: “Satan compelled Paul to coerce billions of souls into worshipping him as god, convincing them that he died and was resurrected ala the pagan gods of old.” So while the lost souls are participating in the action, they were beguiled into doing so. ow.ly/ppOrr
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 10:45:15 +0000
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