The Table

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Published: Tuesday, 18 December 2018 00:55
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“The Table”

17th District 6 Pastoral Thanksgiving Fellowship

Mc Donalds- Carmen, Rosales, Pangasinan

December 17, 2018 (Monday); 9:30 A.M.

 

My devotion on December 13, 2018 at 4:35 am reads this way in Ezekiel 41:22, “This” the man said stand in the Lord’s Table,” which I made a title, “The Table”

 

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A gigantic table in Los Angeles, California (Photo by Peps, 2006)

 

 

The whole context reads this way, “21 There were square columns at the entrance to the sanctuary, and the ones at the entrance of the Most Holy Place were similar. 22 There was an altar made of wood, 5 1⁄4 feet high and 3 1⁄2 feet across.[m] Its corners, base, and sides were all made of wood. “This,” the man told me, “is the table that stands in the Lord’s presence. 23 Both the sanctuary and the Most Holy Place had double doorways, 24 each with two swinging doors,” (Ezekiel 41:21-24).

 

Only at past 8:00 this morning that I realized that my previous daily devotion concerning “The Table” has something to do in today’s 17th District 6 Thanksgiving Fellowship which is no less than “The Lord’s Table.”

 

 

That day

That day at 13th December, 2018 at around 9:30 am we arrived at the 15th PAMANA Thanksgiving held at Sison Auditorium, Lingayen, Pangasinan. And that is a Table. The Guest Speaker is none other than Bishop Evangelio Mercado.

 

 

 

Day before

And a day before that, we held our “PMTL Christmas Party” at noontime in Barrio Fiesta along EDSA and Ortigas Avenue together with some Catholic and Evangelical Leaders. Again, that is a Table.

 

DEC 11/ TUESDAY QUIET TIME

12:35 am: “The Measurement”

  • Measure is three (3) times mentioned

  • Measurement is six (6) times mentioned

  • Measuring is thirteen (13) times mentioned

  • Gateway is forty six (46) times mentioned.

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Above photo is a Turkish policeman (Photo by Peps 2017)

 

 

Why God has to show to Ezekiel those measuring tools and the exact measurement how the temple is being built in Ezekiel chapter 40? Ezekiel is neither an engineer or an architect yet he was chosen to witness the measuring of the temple and the Holiest Place.

 

Because measurement refers to a standard. It is basic and constitutional meaning very foundational . Measurement is the act or process of measuring something. It provides integrity or exact proportion on totality of anything to refrain from human error.

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The Natural Science such as physics, chemistry or biology deals with the study of the physical and natural world and the events that is related to nature. Natural Science is complete by itself according to the writer of the Book of Hebrews. He writes, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,” (Hebrews 11:3).


The word “framed” in Greek “katartizo” refers to the “sound and complete order or arrangement.” It is like a jigsaw puzzle that is framed to show a certain image or picture. It is like a structural engineer who puts bones and muscles to a certain building which is being constructed. In order words, measurement speaks of order.

 

For example is the Great Pyramids of Egypt that still mystifies many of the present engineers and architect of today’s modern engineers and architects. Geometrical calculation is being applied according to 'Pythagoras' theorem' of this right-angled triangle as, Φ2 = Φ +1. That was two thousand years before Pythagoras. How could that be?

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How God framed our individual life also appears to be enigmatic by nature. How things like people and events fell on our lap inaccurate synchronization that creates our story. If someone will write your story and mine, it tells how things happened in our lives framing things into a real human drama then you call that a biography. Biography is the study of account of our lives. If very important event occurs, we call it history. History deals the chronological record of significant events. While history is the study of the past, biography can be written even when the man being written is still living which makes it a present time. You don’t need to become a seer to anticipate the future. In Makati during my younger years, I work with Investment Company that deals with the stocks and commodities. We were being trained to study the movements of the global stock markets. We are called “economic analysts.” Seers or prophets can foresee future events as the Lord gave them the revealed truth.


Measure in Greek “middah” (mid-daw) means “measure, measurement, stature, size, garment, size, standard or portion ; tribute, a vestment or garment “(verse 22).

 

Gate in Hebrew “shaar” means “gate (of entrance); gate (of gate inside gate i.e. marketplace, public meeting place: city, town); gate (of place, royal castle, court of tabernacle); gate of heaven.” It also means “an opening i.e. door or gate,” (Ezekiel 40:6).

 

If the earth is framed under heavenly pattern, how would our church will be measured in terms of spiritual accuracy on truth?

 

 

The Table

Table in Hebrew “shulchan” is interpreted as “a king’s table for private or sacred use.”.

 

 

If you remember there was a “great woman” in the city of Shunem who gave a favour to prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 4:10  “Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.” This woman with the consent of her husband provided the man of God a bed, a table and a stool. Shunem means “quiet.”

 

What would this woman provided this prophet a table? “I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually,” (2 Kings 4:9). The word “perceive” in Hebrew “yada” (yaw-daw) means “recognized.”

 

Not all people or believers can recognize God. When Peter persuaded the remaining disciples to go back fishing (a form of backsliding) and went to the sea to fish they saw a man standing on the seashore grilling some fish meat. Of all the disciples, only one recognized Jesus and it says, “Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord.” (John 21:9). In the same way, not all churches or pastors can recognize Christ at times. Only the discerning and probably given such gift of divine visitation can recognize the things of God.

 


A meal

The word “Table” implies as a “meal” (Strong).

 

I was meditating while driving sometime on, August 3, 2017 (Thursday) at 11:38 P.M. about “meal” or “dinner” when the host of the radio station number 99.65 talked about “the bread and the wine.” The radio commentators’ topic reminded me this verse: 



“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me,” – Jesus Christ to the Church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:20)



And I am telling you the same thing what would the Lord wants to sup or eat with us? What for?





Deipnon

The Lord promised to "dine" ("sup" KJV) with the one who would hear His voice and open the door (Rev. 3:19-20). "The word translated sup is deipnein and its corresponding noun is deipnon. The Greeks had three meals in the day. There was akratisma, breakfast, which was no more than a piece of dried bread dipped in wine. There was ariston, the midday meal. A man did not go home for it; it was simply a picnic snack eaten by the side of the pavement, or in some colonnade, or in the city square. There was deipnon; this was the evening meal; the main meal of the day; people lingered over it, for the day's work was done according to William Barclay.

Orientals invariably begin by eating an “akratisma” in the morning before they will smoke a pipe, or drink a cup of coffee; they have also an insuperable prejudice against the internal use of cold water at this hour.

The Greek “áriston” literally means "without boundary, designation" – which is "undetermined," referring to the meal eaten anytime before the main meal (isupper or deípnon).



Titan Hakate

Encyclopædia Britannica, Hekate has power over heaven, earth, and sea and is able to grant prosperity and all the blessings of daily life.. The main purpose of the Deipnon was to honour Hekate and to placate (appease) the souls in her wake who “longed for vengeance” according to Aeschylus, “Doubtful Fragment.”

A secondary purpose was to purify the household and to atone for bad deeds a household member may have committed offended Hekate, causing her to withhold her favor from them

Hekate, according to the Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon, means “bringer or giver of light” or Ekatephosphoros. At the darkest part of the month, we prepare our homes for the transition to a new month. Hekate's Deipnon is a time of purification of self, home, and affairs.

Hekate’s Three Process

(This is measurement or standard)

  1. Place an offering on a crossroad.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life,” (John 5:24). The passing over in Exodus by the Jews from Egypt to the Promise Land is a crossroad by itself in the same way we decide our destiny to accept Christ or not.



  1. Atonement.

“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement,”  (Romans 5:11).



  1. Purification.

Purification in Greek “hagiazo” means separation

“That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”

( Ephesians 5:26).





Table, as a writing table

Revelation 3:14, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” Write in Greek “grapho” mean “to write” or “to grave.”

 

The angel on assignment at the Church of Laodicea has been commanded to write whatever John received as a revelation against the believers of that city. Writing down constitutes legality and becomes a public document and it can be used in the court as needed.

 

Christians in Laodicea are being branded as a “lukewarm, neither cold nor hot” as a Church they are judged by the angel through writing as “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” (Revelation 3:16-17) therefore they were strong “rebuked” and demanded “to repent,” (verse 19). Such is the condition of some of the churches today.

 

Lukewarm is being described as “tepid” in Greek word, “chliaros.” Metaphorically, the church’s “condition of the soul is wretchedly fluctuating between torpor and fervour of love” according to Thayer.

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The word “Laodicea” originally derived from, “Laodikeia” meaning “justice of the people.” Laodikeia is derived from the Greek word “dike” (dee-kay) meaning “a judicial decision especially a sentence of condemnation” where the “goddess of Justice avenge justice” (Thayer). This could be the reason why the Lord said to the angel, “WRITE” that denotes proclamation of sentence.

 

Laodicea is situated on the long spur of a hill between the narrow valleys of the small rivers.

 

God used the geographical location of Laodicea to point out the very condition of the Church.

 

 

The question is this, is it the political situation of the Philippines today makes the Filipino Church as lukewarm as Laodicea?



The city of Laodicea was one of a triad of cities with Colossae and Hierapolis and was the southernmost of the seven cities. It lay about 40 miles southeast of Philadelphia and 90 miles east of Ephesus.

“Laodicea was a wealthy town that was known as a strategic banking centre. They used their own wealth to pay for the reconstruction of the city after a devastating earthquake in A.D. 60, rejecting offers of financial aid from Rome. The city was also famous for the soft, black wool it produced and its ancient medicine, particularly an eye salve. All three industries – finance, wool, and eye salve – came into play in this letter. Laodicea’s water supply was also relevant to the message in this letter as the water had to travel several miles through an underground aqueduct before reaching the city. Therefore, the water arrived foul, dirty, and tepid – lukewarm, just like the people in the church.”

 

The word “write” in here is similar to the writing table which is given to Moses in Mt. Sinai in Exodus 24:12 which is the Ten Commandments or Torah. Moses then was the first lawmaker and a judge. We went to Mt. Sinai in June, 2017 where Moses received the tablet or table.

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Deipnon as unhurried meal

“It was the deipnon that Christ would share with the man who answered His knock, no hurried meal, but that where people lingered in fellowship. If a man will open the door, Jesus Christ will come in and linger long with him,” according to William Barclay.

Strong Bible Dictionary define “deipnon” i.e.as the supper, especially a formal meal usually held at the evening, it is used of the Messiah's feast, symbolising salvation in the kingdom; food taken at evening.

Deipnon refers to “Messiah’s Feast, symbolizing salvation in the Kingdom,” according to Thayer Definition.

 



Meal set out at a crossroads

The people of God, the Jews were on the crossroad between Egypt and the Promised Land according to the God’s promise to Abraham (Gen.12:1-4)



When God called Moses, he refuses and very doubtful and fearful. Moses was on the crossroad. So the promise of God to Abraham is at the crossroad as well. It is the sign of the cross is a crossroad? Crossroad is crossover. Passover is a crossroad.

Exodus 3:11 “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Passover in Hebrew “pesach” i.e. Passover, sacrifice of Passover, animal victim, festival or victim. Root word “pasach” (paw-sakh) i.e. to pass over; spring over, to skip, to be lame, to limp, to hop, skip over, hesitate, halt, to dance. (Exodus 12:11, 21; 12:27)

Expiation i.e. Atonement

Jewish Atonement. Exodus 29:33, 36-37; 30:10; Numbers 35:33; Lev. 4:26; Atonement during Sabbaths, new moons, set feats, for holy things Nehemiah 10:33; Christ the ultimate atoning sacrifice Romans 5:11, “Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement “ i.e. “katallage” (kat-al-lag-ay)i.e. exchange of the business of money changers; reconciliation, restoration).



Purification

Jewish Purification: Number 19:9, “for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin,” purification is “chata’ah” (khat-taw-aw) i.e. sin offering; purification from sins of ceremonial uncleanliness; penalty, sacrifice; punishment of sin. Luke 2:22; is Greek “katharismos” i.e. cleaning, ritual washing (before and after meals), ablution, washing off.” You see some jars inside Hagia Sofia as well in Sultan Ahmet (Blue) Mosque in Constantinople (or modern Turkey today).



I firmly believe that our “Prayer Caravan ” in 2017 from Egypt to Mt. Sinai up to Jerusalem is God’s appointment. We have taken the exact route where Moses led the Israelites from their Passover or Crossroads in the time of Exodus.



The Church was born in Jerusalem but persecuted that drove the Spirit-filled believers to fled for their own safety to Asia Minor now Turkey and grew there by multitudes and it is from there that is being dubbed as the “Cradle of Christianity.” We saw the ancient paths how atonement and purification vessels were used from the ancient time of Moses to the time of Constantine in Asia Minor,

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This is mentioned in Acts 21:26 “days of purification” Greek “hagnismos” i.e. purification or expiation. While the ancient Greek root word, “hagnizo” means “ceremonially (to make pure, purify, cleanse, sanctity)” as we witnessed those basins and pool in Hagia Sophia and Ahmet Mosque in Turkey very recently.

Biblically, historically and geographically – we are living witness of the past and the present that can link us to the future. “Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever.” Our ancient hope is in the future, that you and me and all of us will finally join Jesus Christ in “The Lord’s Table.”

Have a Blessed Christmas!

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17th District 6 Pastors’ Thanksgiving Fellowship

Mc Donald’s Carmen – December 17, 2018



NOTES:

Geometry of the great Pyramid

By Nicholas Kollerstrom ; Published 6th January 2009 -

The three Giza pyramids are located at 30° North, within an arcminute. (1).The sides of the Great Pyramid point North within two or three arcminutes. (2)Its slope angle is closely one-seventh of a circle, i.e. 51.4°. More exactly, it is given A when cosA = 1/Φ where Φ is the golden ratio. So slope angle is 51° 50'.

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A 'golden triangle' defines the slope angle, with sides 1 for the base, √Φ for its height and Φ for its long side (hypotenuse); thus its sides increase or 'grow' in the same proportion.

We may write the 'Pythagoras' theorem' of this right-angled triangle as, Φ2 = Φ +1. That was two thousand years before Pythagoras.