You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
1 Woe [howy] to the rebellious [carar] children [ben], saith [n@'um] the LORD [Y@hovah], that
take [`asah] counsel [`etsah], but not of me; and that cover [nacak] with a covering [maccekah],
but not of my spirit [ruwach], that they may
add [caphah] sin [chatta'ah] to sin [chatta'ah]: KJV-Interlinear
1 “Ah,
stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and
who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; ESV
Counsel and covering. These are two of the principle ingredients of the spiritual life. They indicate both the information that is necessary for life and the mode in which that information is made available and utilized within the spiritual life.
Rebelliousness, is what people do when they fight against the natural and normal design of life.
Rebellious, ‘carar,’ means to turn away, backsliding, rebellious, a revolter, someone who revolts, the process of being in revolt, to slide back, stubborn, withdrew. This characteristic can be accomplished proactively as in outright defiance or stubborn rejection, or passively as in indifference or apathy.
Counsel, ‘etsah,’ means instruction, learning, teaching, advice, information or experience or perceptions on which ones beliefs are based.
Cover, ‘nacak,’ means to pour out, especially a libation, or to cast (metal); by analogy, to anoint a king:--cover, melt, offer, (cause to) pour (out), set (up).
Covering, ‘maccekah,’ means a pouring over, i.e. fusion of metal (especially over a cast image), a libation or solute, a vail.
The cover is the process of forming the cover, and the covering is the environment or wrapping in which one becomes contented or surrounded.
And woe, is of course, the severe warning to those who reject truth and embrace or wrapping themselves up in anything other than truth.
There is Gods counsel which is found in the scriptures, and of which is learned and becomes a part of ones essence, when wrapped in the spiritual process which God has designed.
And there is the counsel of the world, apart from God and truth.
But not of me, is the reference to the rejection of Gods advice, in preference for the views of the world.
And, not of my spirit, is the reference to the spiritual environment in which the spiritual life functions. We call this the sphere of righteousness or fellowship.
So, God has laid out a natural order to things. Some things are obvious. Some things are more subtle. But in every case, truth is the natural order and non-truth is the unnatural order. Learning while in fellowship is the natural order and living out of fellowship is the unnatural order.
Now, someone asked the question if long hair was a sin. And the obvious answer is no. But, the unobvious answer is that long hair on a man could, repeat, could, be an indication of a dysfunctional life, which always leads to sin. God made man and God made woman. Each gender has its obvious attributes, which are generally known to everyone. I trust that this does not have to be explained. Long hair on a woman is natural. Short hair on the man is natural. And in the grand scheme of things, these are probably the preferred attributes.
When a person rejects or ignores doctrine and their spiritual life, then their beliefs and attitudes get turned upside down. So that a dysfunctional man could have long hair, and the dysfunctional woman could have short hair. But remember that this is not a rule, only a possibility. Hair length is a personal thing, and you do what best fits you and your personality.
Anyone who rejects doctrine will have a dysfunctional spiritual life, regardless of their hair. You cannot look at anyone who has hair of varying length and say that they are spiritual or non-spiritual. Hair is not the soul. And you cannot look into their soul. But you can observe their behavior, and from that you can get a good idea as to the spiritual status of someone. Presuming of course, that you yourself have a good spiritual understanding.
But in this world there are many examples of rejection of Gods counsel and the embracing of the unnatural things of the world. Sexual confusion is one, male-female roles get confused or twisted, parent-child relationships can have difficulties, husband-wife, employer-employee, government-citizen, right-wrong, freedom vs. socialism, and the list can go on and on and on. The world is full of opposites and philosophies and beliefs which turn things upside down one way or another.
And regardless of what the counsel is that people follow, if it is not from God, then it is evil. And this is where people get themselves into trouble.
They will tend to remain stubbornly in their beliefs, wrong as they might be, and that leads them to an endless stream of sins.
Some things may not be a sin, such as hair length, but the attitude of ignoring ones role in life and therefore rejecting Gods counsel, will lead to sins, due to the rejection of truth, which is Gods counsel.
Now, typically there will be those who will get fixated on hair, and not read anything else. But that too is an indication of subjective thinking, and the lack of objectivity, or even the lack of paying attention, thus missing the whole point.
And the point is, that when you ignore truth, ignore your spiritual responsibilities, refuse to pursue your spiritual life as God has designed it to be pursued, then you will fall into the trap of dysfunction and that will lead to the pattern of sin, leading to sin, leading to sin and so forth. Note that the dysfunction may or may not be the sin, but the lack of truth will lead to dysfunction and that will lead to sin and failure in ones life.
And that is a trap in which you should not ever find yourself, lest you lose out in life and suffer dramatically, because of your stubbornness.
And when everything is said and done, it is your willingness or lack of it, in learning or listening to Gods counsel, that determines the state of your life.
These studies are a part of the massive daily study web site at DailyBibeStudy.Org, and are written, so that you can come to Christ if you have not done so already, and therefore not be lost forever.
And if you have already believed in Christ, then these studies are written so you can learn and understand and grow in your spiritual life, so that you can come to the full knowledge of Christ, so that you can fulfill your meaning and purpose in life as God intended for you, and so you can qualify for a phenomenal eternal reward which you will have forever.
To ignore this opportunity to pursue a daily study means you will be incomplete, unfulfilled and you will lose out, big time.
The Daily Bible Study is online, making it possible as never before in all of human history, to advance in ones relationship with God, through Christ, and to complete yourself beyond your imagination.
But you have to decide to make that commitment. No one else can study for you. You have to do that yourself.
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