Revelation 22:4.

[John D. Brey]

Another recent thread here mentioned Revelation 22:4 in the context of the "knowers and the chosen" who've seen God's face. Since I don't know the context for "knowers and chosen," and since I don't want to weigh down that thread with too much jargon, I'm starting this thread on the primary topic of Revelation 22:4:

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.​

και οψονται αυτον το προσωπον και αυτον το ονομα επι αυτον των μετωπον.​

Revelation 22:4 juxtaposes the engraving or sign (χαραγμα) in the forehead (and hand) of the worshipers of the Beast, with this name found in, or on, the forehead of the servants of the Lamb of God. On the former χαραγμα (sign or engraving) in the hand and head of the worshipers of the Beast, Kittel's, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, says:

3. Rev. 13:11–18 describes the appearance of the second beast, which comes as the pseudo-prophet of the first beast (→ III, 135, 18 ff.), demanding religious recognition of its cultic image. The incident gains in dramatic force as this image itself comes to life and begins to speak (v. 15). It demands of all men without exception ἵνα δῶσιν αὐτοῖς χάραγμα ἐπὶ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν τῆς δεξιᾶς ἢ ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον αὐτῶν, καὶ ἵνα μή τις δύνηται ἀγοράσαι ἢ πωλῆσαι εἰ μὴ ὁ ἔχων τὸ χάραγμα τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θηρίου ἢ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ ἀνόματος αὐτοῦ, v. 16f. That the religious totalitarianism of emperor worship is indicated here is evident. Probably the choice of the word χάραγμα points to this if the reference is to the imperial stamp → line 11 f. Materially, however, the required acceptance of the χάραγμα means religious signing with the mark of the beast, which is branded on the right hand or the forehead​

Kittel goes on to point out that this kind of stigmatization was common in antiquity (and gives ample examples). Furthermore:

In Rev. 13:18 the mark of the beast is described as the name of the beast (→ V, 280, 9 ff.) concealed in the number 666 (→ I, 462, 16 ff.). If Nero is in view, the meaning of the number fits the context best, for in this case there is confrontation between the claim of the emperor and that of the Christ, whose seal (→ VII, 951, 1 ff.) is borne by the 144,000 servants of God who belong to Him, Rev. 7:1–8.​

The preterist idea that Nero is in view is invalid outside the thinking of theological invalids. Nevertheless, Kittel does point out that the marking in worship of the Beast is said, mirroring Revelation 22:4, to be the "name" of the Beast etched or written on the foreheads (μέτωπον) of his worshipers.

The fact that this politico-religious clash [the Beast and his worshipers vs. the worshipers of the Lamb of God] is meant may be seen from other passages in Rev. which refer back to 13:16f. The angel in 14:9, 11 threatens with eschatological wrath all those who have accepted the χάραγμα of the beast. The execution of this threat is described in 16:2 and judgment on the beast and his false prophet in 19:20, while in 20:4 all those who have not worshiped the beast or his image, nor accepted his marks on the hand or forehead, are exalted as eschatological judges.​

John

 

[Ebionite]

The incident gains in dramatic force as this image itself comes to life and begins to speak (v. 15)

And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
Daniel 7:3-4

The lion is the dominant animal of the English coat of arms.
The eagle is on the Great Seal of the United States.
Separation of the two was the revolutionary war and declaration of independence.

 

[John D. Brey]

The fact that this politico-religious clash [the Beast and his worshipers vs. the worshipers of the Lamb of God] is meant may be seen from other passages in Rev. which refer back to 13:16f. The angel in 14:9, 11 threatens with eschatological wrath all those who have accepted the χάραγμα of the beast. The execution of this threat is described in 16:2 and judgment on the beast and his false prophet in 19:20, while in 20:4 all those who have not worshiped the beast or his image, nor accepted his marks on the hand or forehead, are exalted as eschatological judges.​

On the same topic and found in the same dictionary explanation (Kittel's) concerning the "forehead" (μέτωπον) that's being marked (Revelation 22:4), i.e., the place where the "name" is found etched or stamped (χαραγμα and or σφραγίς)---we read:

​

This metaphor, which brings out sharply the externally recognizable distinction between the saved and the lost, and their adherence to two opposing rulers, has three roots, a. There would obviously seem to be a direct allusion to Ez. 9:4: Those who do not take part in idolatry in Jerusalem have ת marked on their foreheads by an angel. The Old Heb. ת is in the form of a cross; it is thus the form of cruciform σφραγίς which can be most easily inscribed and which is attested also of Isis (→ n. 10). Whether there is any connection with the mark of Cain is more than doubtful.3 We do best to think of the passover sign before the Exodus (Ex. 12:13), where those marked are also spared a plague.​

Not only is Kittel comparing and contrasting the name/mark of the Beast with the name/mark of the Lamb of God, but, less explicitly, he's beginning to delve into scriptural nuances related to the followers of the two targets of worship. For instance, in Ezekiel 9:4 a bloody cross is used to mark the foreheads of those to be saved from the impending judgment. We know a cross is used since as noted by Kittel the mark or σφραγίς (stamp) noted in the text is the ktav ivri Hebrew letter tav which in that day was a cross. We suspect it's marked in blood since in the narrative the angelic messenger who will do the marking is statedly said to be standing with his marking tool near the altar of sacrifice as though filling his writing device with the blood that will be used to stamp a bloody cross on the foreheads of the worshipers of the Lamb of God.

Argumentation for the use of blood rather than ink is of the utmost importance to the juxtaposing of the worshipers of the Beast, versus the worshipers of the Lamb, since, for one, Kittel notes that the mark of the cross on the worshipers of the Lamb gains its meaning partly from the salvific-marking of Lamb's blood at the Exodus salvation from Egypt. The striking of the doorpost and the lintel with the blood (at Passover) has long been thought to represent the making of a cross (the upper doorpost meeting the upper beam such that the upward striking of blood is crossed, so to say, when the horizontal strike of blood ---the lintel-- crosses, so to say, the vertical strike or stripe on the mezuzah or doorpost). Moreover, in contradistinction to Kittel's prejudice, we can suspect with exegetical evidence that the same bloody ktav ivri tav, i,e, a bloody cross, found at the Passover, was indeed used in the salvific-marking of Cain since in the Cain narrative we're encouraged by the language of the sacred text to suspect that the mark on Cain's forehead is drawn in the blood of his recently slain brother such that he's saved by the blood of the lame, which is to say his recently deceased brother.



John

 

[John D. Brey]

Argumentation for the use of blood rather than ink is of the utmost importance to the juxtaposing of the worshipers of the Beast, versus the worshipers of the Lamb, since, for one, Kittel notes that the mark of the cross on the worshipers of the Lamb gains its meaning partly from the salvific-marking of Lamb's blood at the Exodus salvation from Egypt. The striking of the doorpost and the lintel with the blood (at Passover) has long been thought to represent the making of a cross (the upper doorpost meeting the upper beam such that the upward striking of blood is crossed, so to say, when the horizontal strike of blood ---the lintel-- crosses, so to say, the vertical strike or stripe on the mezuzah or doorpost). Moreover, in contradistinction to Kittel's prejudice, we can suspect with exegetical evidence that the same bloody ktav ivri tav, i,e, a bloody cross, found at the Passover, was indeed used in the salvific-marking of Cain since in the Cain narrative we're encouraged by the language of the sacred text to suspect that the mark on Cain's forehead is drawn in the blood of his recently slain brother such that he's saved by the blood of the lame, which is to say his recently deceased brother.

Rabbi Michael L. Munk explains that the final Hebrew letter, i.e., the tav, " . . . denotes the mark of man's final destination" (The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet). He points to the events of Ezekiel chapter 9 where the tav is being used to "mark" out certain people for salvation from the impending "judgment" which, judgment (the final kind being death) is man’s final destination:

And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark [tav] upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.​

​

Ezekiel 9:4.​

The Lord tells his destroying angels to place a tav (mark) on the foreheads of all those who sigh and cry because of the abominations that take place in Jerusalem. The people marked with a tav on their foreheads are to be spared the coming judgment. ---- At the time of these events the Hebrew script was ktav ivri, and not ktav ashuri. --- In the ktav ivri script, the tav was a cross and not a ligature of a dalet and a nun as it is in the ktav ashuri script. This created a problem for Jewish exegetes since they we’re uncomfortable with the idea of a cross being placed on the head of persons being saved from judgment; and even moreso if that cross was bloody. So they came up with an interesting extra-biblical interpretation that not only fixes the problem of people being saved by the mark of a bloody cross being placed on their person, but, since they weren't relying on the bible as a source, they found a way to actually demonize the cross while explaining away its salvific power.

The rabbinic interpretation interpolated an ink mark in the place of a bloody cross. The ink mark marked the righteous, while the bloody cross marked those who were to be subject to the judgment (annihilation). This interpolation was extremely powerful in the Jewish mind since it nicely demonized the Christians who were wont to wear bloody crosses dangling from their necks. Saul Lieberman (quoted by Elliott R. Wolfson, Alef, Mem, Tau, p. 161), points out that in ancient times the Greeks marked criminals convicted of a capital crime with a "black-mark-of-death" (nigrum theta), a large Greek theta. Professor Wolfson points out that the Greek theta has an affinity to the Hebrew tav (particularly in ktav ivri where they look nearly identical, i.e. a cross). The Greeks placed the black theta cruciform on criminals convicted of a capital crime. The Greek theta symbolized "thanatos" (death, the final judgment) --- such that the Greeks marked those about to be executed with a black theta.

By the interpretation of the rabbis (Ezekiel 9) those being marked for "salvation" (rather than death) are to be marked with a black tav. This is the antithesis of the symbolism employed by the Greeks (where the black theta symbolized a death sentence). To correct this problem of the literal text the rabbinic interpretations adds a bloody-cross to symbolize the marking of a capital crime (and thus impending judgment). Professor Wolfson says, "Apparently responding to [the Christian interpretation of the cross as the mark of salvation] . . . rabbinic exegetes emphasized that the mark of blood signals destruction rather than deliverance."

In Revelation 22:4, as is the case in many examples of the impending wrath of God annihilating whole swaths of people, Passover language is employed (as it is when the angels come to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah). Furthermore, nowhere in the Bible is "ink" used to mark the righteous, while in the temple rituals blood is used to sanctify all the appurtenances associated with temple rituals. Blood from the brazen altar is sprinkled on the threshold of the temple, and placed on the high priest to sanctify him so that he will not die when he enters the Presence of God. On Passover it’s placed on the doorpost, the mezuzah. In Ezekiel the destroying angel stands at the brazen altar filling up his writer's case with the salvific blood that will mark those who will not die in the presence of the Lord's wrath.

Redak is himself forced to concede that the idea in Ezekiel is similar to the idea of the sign of blood on the doorposts in Egypt which protected the Israelites from the judgment that befell Egypt. And Rabbi Abulafia actually claims the blood on the doorposts at Passover formed an ancient tav.

Later in Ezekiel (16:6), blood is used in a salvific manner, "And I passed by you downtrodden with your blood, and I said to you, `With your blood, live,’ and I said to you, `With your blood live.’" -----Pirke d' Rabbi Eliezer interprets Ezekiel 16:6, "`With your blood live.' He repeats this a second time because they were redeemed with the blood of the Passover sacrifice and the blood of circumcision" (chapter 29). So in the same book, i.e., Ezekiel, angels are described as annihilating those not marked with a bloody tav, while blood is used to sanctify from death rather mark out those subject to it. Numerous Jewish interpretations claim that it's the blood of the Passover lamb, and the circumcision blood, which possesses saving properties (and both are said to be placed on the doorposts on Passover).




John

 

[Fool]

Rabbi Michael L. Munk explains that the final Hebrew letter, i.e., the tav, " . . . denotes the mark of man's final destination" (The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet). He points to the events of Ezekiel chapter 9 where the tav is being used to "mark" out certain people for salvation from the impending "judgment" which, judgment (the final kind being death) is man’s final destination:

And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark [tav] upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.​

​

Ezekiel 9:4.​

The Lord tells his destroying angels to place a tav (mark) on the foreheads of all those who sigh and cry because of the abominations that take place in Jerusalem. The people marked with a tav on their foreheads are to be spared the coming judgment. ---- At the time of these events the Hebrew script was ktav ivri, and not ktav ashuri. --- In the ktav ivri script, the tav was a cross and not a ligature of a dalet and a nun as it is in the ktav ashuri script. This created a problem for Jewish exegetes since they we’re uncomfortable with the idea of a cross being placed on the head of persons being saved from judgment; and even moreso if that cross was bloody. So they came up with an interesting extra-biblical interpretation that not only fixes the problem of people being saved by the mark of a bloody cross being placed on their person, but, since they weren't relying on the bible as a source, they found a way to actually demonize the cross while explaining away its salvific power.

The rabbinic interpretation interpolated an ink mark in the place of a bloody cross. The ink mark marked the righteous, while the bloody cross marked those who were to be subject to the judgment (annihilation). This interpolation was extremely powerful in the Jewish mind since it nicely demonized the Christians who were wont to wear bloody crosses dangling from their necks. As pointed out by Saul Lieberman (through Elliott R. Wolfson, Alef, Mem, Tau, p. 161), in ancient times the Greeks marked criminals convicted of a capital crime with a "black-mark-of-death" (nigrum theta), a large Greek theta. Professor Wolfson points out that the Greek theta has an affinity to the Hebrew tav (particularly in ktav ivri where they look nearly identical, i.e. a cross). The Greeks placed the black theta cruciform on criminals convicted of a capital crime. The Greek theta symbolized "thanatos" (death, the final judgment) --- such that the Greeks marked those about to be executed with a black theta.

In Ezekiel those being marked for "salvation" (rather than death) are, by the interpretation of the rabbis, to be marked with a black tav, which would be opposite the symbolism employed by the Greeks (where the black theta symbolized a death sentence).

To correct this problem the rabbinic interpretations adds a bloody-cross to symbolize the marking of a capital crime (and thus impending judgment). Professor Wolfson says that, "Apparently responding to [the Christian interpretation of the cross as the mark of salvation] . . . rabbinic exegetes emphasized that the mark of blood signals destruction rather than deliverance."

In Revelation 22:4, as is the case in many examples of the impending wrath of God annihilating whole swaths of people, Passover language is employed (as it is when the angels come to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah). Furthermore, nowhere in the bible is "ink" used to mark the righteous, while in the temple rituals blood is used to sanctify all the appurtenances associated with temple rituals. Blood from the brazen altar is sprinkled on the threshold of the temple, and placed on the high priest to sanctify him so that he will not die when he enters the Presence of God. On Passover it’s placed on the doorpost, the mezuzah. In Ezekiel the destroying angel in linen stands at the brazen altar filling up his writer's case with the salvific blood that will mark those who will not die in the presence of the Lord's wrath.

Redak himself is forced to concede that the idea in Ezekiel is similar to the idea of the sign of blood on the doorposts in Egypt which protected the Israelites from the judgment that befell Egypt. And Rabbi Abulafia actually claims the blood on the doorposts at Passover formed an ancient tav, while other Jewish sages claim it was placed on the doorway as a chet.

Later in Ezekiel (16:6), blood is used in a salvific manner, "And I passed by you downtrodden with your blood, and I said to you, `With your blood, live,’ and I said to you, `With your blood live.’" -----Pirke d' Rabbi Eliezer interprets Ezekiel 16:6, "`With your blood live.' He repeats this a second time because they were redeemed with the blood of the Passover sacrifice and the blood of circumcision" (chapter 29). So in the same book, Ezekiel, describing the angels annihilating those not marked with a bloody tav, blood is used to sanctify from death rather mark out those subject to it. Numerous Jewish interpretations claim that it's the blood of the Passover lamb, and the circumcision blood, which possess saving properties (and both are said to be placed on the doorposts on Passover).




John

good catch

but you're missing one more.

Though the mark on the foreheads of the righteous and wicked was certainly spiritual and thus invisible, it is possible that this mark on the forehead, at least the one placed on the wicked, may have had a physical and thus visible component. The seal or mark of God, though often invisible in Old Testament history, was sometimes physical and visible as it was in Exodus 28:36-37. Furthermore, sometime after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon possibly as early as the fourth century B.C. Jewish rabbis began to take Exodus 13:16 literally: “So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”1 Consequently rabbis tied phylacteries which were and are leather pouches containing portions of Scripture around their left arm and forehead as a physical sign of Exodus 13:15-16. These phylacteries are mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 23:5: “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long.” This physical sign on the forehead and arm was used by first-century rabbis to exhibit their devotion to the Law. However, the continued practice of the Law after its fulfillment became an idolatrous practice: “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood; he who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations (Isaiah 66:3)[.]” As implied in Isaiah 66:3 those who continued to practice the Law after its fulfillment in A.D. 70 were guilty of all sorts of abominable sins including idolatry. In light of Isaiah 66:3 one can see how this physical sign of devotion to the Law morphed into an evil mark on the hand and forehead after A.D. 70. These physical marks on the hand and forehead worn by those Jews passionately devoted to the Law after its fulfillment also served as physical signs of one’s equally passionate devotion to the beast.


you cannot serve the spirit of love, law of love to other as self and power of self over other as self.

 

[John D. Brey]

good catch

but you're missing one more.

I didn't really miss it so much as you're reading ahead, i.e., the messages that haven't yet been posted. . . . (btw, love the song from The Magnetic Fields. Sounds Leonard Cohenesque).



John

 

[John D. Brey]

Later in Ezekiel (16:6), blood is used in a salvific manner, "And I passed by you downtrodden with your blood, and I said to you, `With your blood, live,’ and I said to you, `With your blood live.’" -----Pirke d' Rabbi Eliezer interprets Ezekiel 16:6, "`With your blood live.' He repeats this a second time because they were redeemed with the blood of the Passover sacrifice and the blood of circumcision" (chapter 29). So in the same book, i.e., Ezekiel, angels are described as annihilating those not marked with a bloody tav, while blood is used to sanctify from death rather mark out those subject to it. Numerous Jewish interpretations claim that it's the blood of the Passover lamb, and the circumcision blood, which possesses saving properties (and both are said to be placed on the doorposts on Passover).

Kittel says:

As regards the sign of the beast, all three passages seem fairly clearly to refer to the tephillin, since both forehead and hand are mentioned. If this is so, it would support a certain anti-Jewish trend in Rev., and the meaning of Rev. 13:16 is that he who does not bear the tephillin will be boycotted by the Jews. It has been suggested that in the days of Rev. one of the forces behind persecution was Jewish influence at the imperial court from the days of Nero.​

Jews are fancied acting as highly appointed advisers in the court of the Beast as they were in Nero's court, and as they were in the court of Julian the Apostate. Kittel's statement above pictures an end times revival of the unholy Roman Empire replete with Jews encouraging the death and persecution of the worshipers of the Lamb of God, such that examining the nature of the tefillin (under the assumption that the shel rosh might indeed be the χαραγμα and or σφραγίς, which acts as the "mark" on the forehead of the worshipers of the Beast) is of extreme importance to the faithful exegesis of Revelation 22:4. This is particularly so when Jesus claims that though his Jewish antagonists rejected his claim to being the Lamb of God, worthy of worship, nevertheless, when another comes in his own name, him, the Jews will gladly receive and even worship (John 5:43).




John

 

[Fool]

I didn't really miss it so much as you're reading ahead, i.e., the messages that haven't yet been posted. . . . (btw, love the song from The Magnetic Fields. Sounds Leonard Cohenesque).



John

Daniel 7:10

Revelation 12:10

Psalms 40:7

 

[Ebionite]

Later in Ezekiel (16:6), blood is used in a salvific manner, "And I passed by you downtrodden with your blood, and I said to you, `With your blood, live,’ and I said to you, `With your blood live.’" -----Pirke d' Rabbi Eliezer interprets Ezekiel 16:6, "`With your blood live.' He repeats this a second time because they were redeemed with the blood of the Passover sacrifice and the blood of circumcision" (chapter 29). So in the same book, i.e., Ezekiel, angels are described as annihilating those not marked with a bloody tav, while blood is used to sanctify from death rather mark out those subject to it. Numerous Jewish interpretations claim that it's the blood of the Passover lamb, and the circumcision blood, which possesses saving properties (and both are said to be placed on the doorposts on Passover).

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live.
Ezekiel 16:6

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
Habakkuk 2:12

 

[John D. Brey]

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live.
Ezekiel 16:6

This verse is used at ritual circumcisions. It implies, as interpreted, salvation through sacrificial blood (in the case of the Jewish bris, the blood-sacrifice associated with the removal of the foreskin).

I assume you're reading/interpreting the blood as a pollutant? Nevertheless, even if it was in this verse, it's pretty clear in the Tanakh and the Gospels that sacrificial blood atones, purifies, saves.



John.

 

[John D. Brey]

Daniel 7:10

Revelation 12:10

Psalms 40:7

The word of God is alive and powerful.




John

 

[Ebionite]

it's pretty clear in the Tanakh and the Gospels that sacrificial blood atones, purifies, saves.

Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psalms 40:6

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psalms 51:16

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.
Matthew 9:13

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of Elohim more than burnt offerings.
Hosea 6:6

Come now, and let us reason together, saith YHWH: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:18

But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Ezekiel 18:21

 

[John D. Brey]

Kittel says:

As regards the sign of the beast, all three passages seem fairly clearly to refer to the tephillin, since both forehead and hand are mentioned. If this is so, it would support a certain anti-Jewish trend in Rev., and the meaning of Rev. 13:16 is that he who does not bear the tephillin will be boycotted by the Jews. It has been suggested that in the days of Rev. one of the forces behind persecution was Jewish influence at the imperial court from the days of Nero.​

The shin is composed of three vavs . . . rising from a common base-point.​

​

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, The Alef-Beit, p. 313.​

The head tefillin (shel rosh) is engraved with a large shin on both sides. The importance of this in the context of Revelation 22:4 is that Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh tells us that the letter vav, three of which makes up the the letter shin (the three branches of the shin), is also the number six. The letter shin (made up of three vav) is therefore, pictographic-numerically, the number 666. When pictured as a ligature composed of the three vav making up the shin, the shin shines out from the head ornament as the number 666, the so-called number of the Beast. In this case, the tefillin-wearing Jew is wearing 666 on his forehead and his hand just as the Apostle John says he will in Revelation 13:16. The hand tefillin (shel yad) isn't itself engraved or emblazoned with the letter shin and thus 666 as is the head tefillin (the shel rosh). Nevertheless, Jewish law requires the Jewish worshiper to take the strap of the hand tefillin and wrap it around the fingers of his hand in a manner that forms the letter shin and thus 666.

ש = 666.

John

 

[John D. Brey]

​

ש = 666.

View attachment 88982

Revelation 22:4-5 directs the thoughtful exegete to a passage of scripture that situates the two head markings (the χαραγμα and or σφραγίς) in the most antithetical manner. Immediately after pointing out that the worshipers of the Lamb will wear his name in their forehead, verse 5 then states that "there shall be no night . . . and they need no lamp . . . for the Lord God gives them light." What the Lamb worshiper wears on his forehead foregoes his need for a source of light since the one named on his forehead is the light of the world. Consequently, Psalms 132:17-18 speaks first of Messiah as a light to the world, even a "lamp," and then juxtapose this light, lamp, against a head or hood ornament (לבש) that clothes the worshipers of the anti-Christ (the other messiah, Revelation's "Beast") in shame.

There I will make the horn of David bud: I've ordained my Messiah as a lamp.​

​

Psalms 132:17.​

His enemies I will clothe with shame: but his horn shall produce consecrated light.​

​

Psalms 132:18.​

John

 

[joelr]

Another recent thread here mentioned Revelation 22:4 in the context of the "knowers and the chosen" who've seen God's face. Since I don't know the context for "knowers and chosen," and since I don't want to weigh down that thread with too much jargon, I'm starting this thread on the primary topic of Revelation 22:4:

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.​

και οψονται αυτον το προσωπον και αυτον το ονομα επι αυτον των μετωπον.​

Revelation 22:4 juxtaposes the engraving or sign (χαραγμα) in the forehead (and hand) of the worshipers of the Beast, with this name found in, or on, the forehead of the servants of the Lamb of God. On the former χαραγμα (sign or engraving) in the hand and head of the worshipers of the Beast, Kittel's, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, says:




John

The Iranian Impact on Judaism


excerpted from N. F. Gier, Theology Bluebook, Chapter 12

It was not so much monotheism that the exilic Jews learned from the Persians as it was universalism, the belief that one God rules universally and will save not only the Jews but all those who turn to God. This universalism does not appear explicitly until Second Isaiah, which by all scholarly accounts except some fundamentalists, was written during and after the Babylonian exile. The Babylonian captivity was a great blow to many Jews, because they were taken out of Yahweh's divine jurisdiction. Early Hebrews believed that their prayers could not be answered in a foreign land. The sophisticated angelology of late books like Daniel has its source in Zoroastrianism.3 The angels of the early Hebrew books were disguises of Yahweh or one of his subordinate deities. The idea of separate angels appears only after contact with Zoroastrianism.



The Persian (first) version of end times, taken by Hebrew theologians during the 2nd Temple Period:



Revelation, from PhD Mary Boyce - Zoroastrians, Their Beliefs and Practices.


but Zoroaster taught that the blessed must wait for this culmination till Frashegird and the 'future body' (Pahlavi 'tan i pasen'), when the earth will give up the bones of the dead (Y 30.7). This general resurrection will be followed by the Last Judgment, which will divide all the righteous from the wicked, both those who have lived until that time and those who have been judged already. Then Airyaman, Yazata of friendship and healing, together with Atar, Fire, will melt all the metal in the mountains, and this will flow in a glowing river over the earth. All mankind must pass through this river, and, as it is said in a Pahlavi text, 'for him who is righteous it will seem like warm milk, and for him who is wicked, it will seem as if he is walking in the • flesh through molten metal' (GBd XXXIV. r 8-r 9). In this great apocalyptic vision Zoroaster perhaps fused, unconsciously, tales of volcanic eruptions and streams of burning lava with his own experience of Iranian ordeals by molten metal; and according to his stern original teaching, strict justice will prevail then, as at each individual j udgment on earth by a fiery ordeal. So at this last ordeal of all the wicked will suffer a second death, and will perish off the face of the earth. The Daevas and legions of darkness will already have been annihilated in a last great battle with the Yazatas; and the river of metal will flow down into hell, slaying Angra Mainyu and burning up the last vestige of wickedness in the universe.


Ahura Mazda and the six Amesha Spentas will then solemnize a lt, spiritual yasna, offering up the last sacrifice (after which death wW be no more), and making a preparation of the mystical 'white haoma', which will confer immortality on the resurrected bodies of all the blessed, who will partake of it. Thereafter men will beome like the Immortals themselves, of one thought, word and deed, unaging, free from sickness, without corruption, forever joyful in the kingdom of God upon earth. For it is in this familiar and beloved world, restored to its original perfection, that, according to Zoroaster, eternity will be passed in bliss, and not in a remote insubstantial Paradise. So the time of Separation is a renewal of the time of Creation, except that no return is prophesied to the original uniqueness of living things. Mountain and valley will give place once more to level plain; but whereas in the beginning there was one plant, one animal, one man, the rich variety and number that have since issued from these will remain forever. Similarly the many divinities who were brought into being by Ahura Mazda will continue to have their separate existences. There is no prophecy of their re-absorption into the Godhead. As a Pahlavi text puts it, after Frashegird 'Ohrmaid and the Amahraspands and all Yazads and men will be together. .. ; every place will resemble a garden in spring, in which


there are all kinds of trees and flowers ... and it will be entirely the creation of Ohrrnazd' (Pahl.Riv.Dd. XLVIII, 99, lOO, l07).

 

[John D. Brey]

There I will make the horn of David bud: I've ordained my Messiah as a lamp.​

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Psalms 132:17.​

His enemies I will clothe with shame: but his horn shall produce consecrated light.​

​

Psalms 132:18.​

The statement in Psalms 132:18 lends itself to numerous important points. In the context of Revelation 22:4, which speaks of the clothing/ornament (or mark/name) worn by the worshipers of the Lamb, Psalms 132:18 would be speaking of the antithesis of the "name" worn by the Lamb worshipers; it's speaking of what the worshipers of the Beast wear.

The Hebrew word translated "shame" (what Psalms 132:18 says God's enemies wear) is boset בשת; the significance being that boset can be thought of as the "home" בית, of the shin ש, whereby the shin ש takes the place of the "mark" of circumcision, the yod י in the middle of the word for "home" (בית becomes בשת).

Similarly, the "batim" of the head tefillin (the shel rosh) is a "home" or "housing" (batim means "house" or "housing") where the shin ש is engraved or embossed as a mark marking the nature of the batim as the house or home of the shin בשת. Pictographically, the word for "shame," boset בשת, pictures a house בית housing the shin ש, which is a perfect description of the head tefillin. The square box/house (batim) of the head tefillin is literally the home of the shin such that if we place the shin ש in the middle of the house בית (covering the mark of circumcision, the yod י, which covering up of the mark of circumcision is the shameful idolatry known as "epispasm") we get בשת boset (which is the word found in Psalms 132:18 speaking of what will be worn by the enemies of God). If we place a shin ש, on the "batim" (the "house") worn on the head, we get the head tefillin otherwise known as the shel rosh.

Calling this covering up of the mark of circumcision "epispasm" implies that the shel rosh (head tefillin) doesn't just get placed willy nilly on the forehead of those who don't worship the Lamb of God. The indication from the pictograms and the symbolism is that the shel rosh (head tefillin) covers up something, hides something, veils something, already on the forehead that's the true home of the true circumcision. Point being that the head tefillin isn't worn to shine a light on what it hides in darkness, but to darken the revelation for which it's a coverup.




John

 

[John D. Brey]

Calling this covering up of the mark of circumcision "epispasm" implies that the shel rosh (head tefillin) doesn't just get placed willy nilly on the forehead of those who don't worship the Lamb of God. The indication from the pictograms and the symbolism is that the shel rosh (head tefillin) covers up something, hides something, veils something, already on the forehead that's the true home of the true circumcision. Point being that the head tefillin isn't worn to shine a light on what it hides in darkness, but to darken the revelation for which it's a coverup.

3. I.e., he removed the mark of circumcision.​

​

Footnote in Rabbi Dr. I. Epstein's translation of the Babylonian Talmud.​

The footnote above is in response to Sanhedrin 38b:

Rab Judah also said in Rab's name: Adam was a Min, for it is written, And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? i.e., whither has thine heart turned? R. Isaac said: He practiced epispasm:3 For here it is written, But like man, [Adam] they have transgressed the covenant; whilst elsewhere it is said, He hath broken my covenant, R. Nahman said: He denied God. Here it is written, They have transgressed the covenant; whilst elsewhere it is stated, [He hath broken my covenant, and again,] Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God.​

The note points out, in line with various other examples of Jewish midrash, that covering up the mark of circumcision (grammatically speaking the yod י), i.e., epispasm, is synonymous with breaking or covering up the covenant between God and Israel. Covering up the yod, as occurs when a shin covers the yod in the word for "shame" (בית becomes בשת), is a form of idolatry so extreme that the covenant itself is said to be broken and the target of the covenant, the Jew born circumcised, is rejected and replaced by his beastly doppelganger.



John

 

[Fool]

Love is divine, holy


1 John 4:4-8

​

4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

 

[John D. Brey]

Calling this covering up of the mark of circumcision "epispasm" implies that the shel rosh (head tefillin) doesn't just get placed willy nilly on the forehead of those who don't worship the Lamb of God. The indication from the pictograms and the symbolism is that the shel rosh (head tefillin) covers up something, hides something, veils something, already on the forehead that's the true home of the true circumcision. Point being that the head tefillin isn't worn to shine a light on what it hides in darkness, but to darken the revelation for which it's a coverup.

In this light, and almost beyond belief, we have a pictogram designed by the great Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch depicting in no uncertain terms, and with his explicit commentary, what the head tefillin covers up:

There I will make the horn of David shine forth: I've ordained my Messiah as a lamp.​

Psalms 132:17.​

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no menorah, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light .​

​

Revelation 22:4-5.​

Psalms 132:17, with Revelation 22:4-5, imply not only that Messiah is the Lord God, but that he's the living archetype for which the menorah is merely a lifeless, though functional, symbol. On pages 223 and 224 of Rabbi Hirsch's Collected Writings Vol. III, he parallels Messiah and the menorah, stating that the undeniable relationship between the two is so remarkable as to be "sublime." It's there, on page 224, that the image above is produced in Rabbi Hirsch's book.

Rabbi Hirsch fails to note that his image is the one found beneath the head tefillin such that it was a bridge too far for him to realize the incredible reason that one of the shin on the head tefillin has four branches rather than the typical three (and nowhere in the Tanakh is a four-branched shin found). The four-branched shin is found on the head tefillin for the simple reason that the four-branched shin, on one side of the head tefillin, when combined with the three-branched shin on the other side of the head tefillin, makes a total of seven branches such that the head tefillin takes on the symbolism of the seven branched menorah it covers up.



John

 

[John D. Brey]

There I will make the horn of David shine forth: I've ordained my Messiah as a lamp.​

Psalms 132:17.​

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no menorah, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light .​

​

Revelation 22:4-5.​

And there shall come forth a rod (חוטר) out of the stem (גזע) of Jesse.​

​

Isaiah 11:1.​

The image of Rabbi Hirsch's menorah/cross uses Isaiah's "stem" (גזע) as the foundation that the rod (חוטר) grows out of (see image above). Isaiah goes on to say the "spirit" (רוח) of the Lord shall rest upon him. Ergo, Rabbi Hirsch's "rod" (חוטר) transforms into the the word "spirit" such that the rod is itself the spirit of God. Isaiah then speaks of what Rabbi Hirsch makes into the two arms of the menorah/cross: wisdom, understanding, council, and knowledge and fear of the Lord. The Hebrew names for these qualities make up the right and left arm/hands of the Hirsch menorah/cross. The head atop Rabbi Hirsch's cross/menorah is the letter dalet that Jewish tradition uses to represent "Hashem," the unspeakable Name of God.

If we examine this passage from Isaiah more closely, we will find it consistent with all that we have noted as the construction plan of the menorah, a consistency so striking that we cannot help thinking that this passage is, in fact, an expression in words of the ideas symbolized by the menorah. . . the מנורת הזהב [golden menorah] which is described specifically in the text.​

​

Collected Writings III, p. 223-224.​

​

There I will make the horn of David shine forth: I've ordained my Messiah as a lamp.​

​

Psalms 132:17.​

Mind you, the passage of scripture Rabbi Hirsch is so excited about comparing with the menorah speaks literally and specifically of the messianic-branch growing out of the root of Jesse, whereas the golden menorah represents the spirit of the Lord God. Rabbi Hirsch appears to forget himself, perhaps from his excitement in seeing the undeniable relationship between the menorah and the branch or rod of the Lord which is Messiah; a Messiah who's more often disguised in the signs and symbols that presage his arrival. Rabbi Hirsch appears almost to forget that Judaism doesn't believe in a divine messianic-branch?

According to all etymological analogies הריחו can only mean to "permeated" a man with spirit, to fill him with a spirit, or to "spiritualize" him. Thus, the Divine spirit coming to rest upon the "shoot from the stock" of Yishai is described in terms of the sevenfold fullness of its many aspects . . ..​

​

Ibid., p. 224.​

​

There I will make the horn of David shine forth: I've ordained my Messiah as a lamp.​

​

Psalms 132:17.​

​

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.​

​

Revelation 1:12–13.​

John