Today’s topic, the serpent and the messiah, has been addressed on this blog before by Anny, but today I am going to look at it from a few additional angles. I recently had a great discussion about it with a friend. This friend doesn’t agree with esoteric teaching because she is a mainstream Christian, but we greatly respect each other’s views and enjoy a healthy debate from time to time.
I will share some highlights from the conversation. This post will also be geared towards both the Christian and the already mystic. For the mystic, I hope to teach you some additional info you may have not heard before. For the Christian, it is my desire to show you a deeper spiritual lesson meant to be conveyed in Genesis. Overall, my hope is to encourage everyone to look deeper. Some of the writing below may initially shock the Christian brought up on Western theology, but if you’ll keep an open mind and follow the post to its end I believe you’ll walk away with some great insight. 🙂
The serpent from the Garden of Eden has been a topic of great controversy. For the average Christian, the serpent in the Garden was Satan. In traditional Jewish thought, the serpent was simply an agent of negative influence toward mankind. There have been other views. According to the popular Jewish sage Rambam of the 12th century (Maimonides), the serpent was symbolic of man’s “appetitive faculty.” In my humble opinion, Rambam was on the right track, but he was more of a rationalists than a true mystic, and therefore, his interpretation lacks the depth and breadth of the truer mystical interpretation found in Kabbalistic thought. While seeing the serpent as man’s desire nature (appetitive faculty) is a big step in the right direction, it can easily give us the wrong pretense. Namely, that the serpent is solely representative of man’s ego. The true mystic understands that the serpent was neither good or bad, positive or negative. Rather, the serpent is symbolic of a universal truth regarding the consciousness of man and the creation of the physical world. In other words, the serpent isn’t just man’s desire nature, but also an integral aspect of his/her path to higher consciousness and experiential knowledge of God while in living right here on earth.
Do we have any Biblical proof for this, or is it just mystical mumbo jumbo as so many Christians have been apt to believe when speaking of the Bible and consciousness? This was my friend’s question. Our conversation lasted for about three hours, and by its end, she had much more respect for the mystical interpretation. Not only can we find additional evidence in certain stories of the Bible following Genesis for the mystical perspective, but it’s also in the Hebrew language itself.
Gematria: Mathematical Insight into the Serpent and the Messiah
Gematria is the practice of finding additional meaning in a text through numbers. In the Hebrew language, every letter has a corresponding mathematical value. By comparing the mathematical values of certain words or phrases, additional meaning can be gleaned through association.
Historically speaking, the first attested use of gematria can be found around 700 BC by the ruler Sargon II through an inscription on a clay tablet. The use of gematria probably dates much earlier, but we don’t have the physical evidence as of yet. After Sargon, philosophers such as Plato discussed it, and Pythagoras once stated that “Numbers are the language of the universe.” Ancient philosophers and thinkers clearly placed great emphasis on numerical values when explaining natural phenomenon in their writings. Furthermore, gematria was clearly in use when the Torah was written, and I believe it is safe to assume that when the Torah is explaining the origins of the universe, the Torah authors also had gematria in mind.
I want to make it clear that the use of gematria is a mystical practice. I also want to make it clear that Gematria has been greatly abused. The famous book, The Bible Code, is probably one such abuse. In it the author tries to prove that all future events could be decoded in the Bible by using a complicated form of gematria. But the author stretches the purpose of gematria by attempting such a feat, and he made some good money and fame through a sensational idea that much of the Christian world ran with.
The original Torah authors used a more simplistic form of Gematria to give additional insight to the meanings of names, places, and events in the stories. Rather than try to predict the future or find historical events encoded in the Torah, they used gematria to reveal higher spiritual truths through association with numerical values. One such example is the gematria value of the Hebrew words for serpent and messiah.
Before jumping into what that value is and means, it is important to note the accuracy of the Old Testament text we have today. With the Old Testament, we have one great advantage over the New Testament. While the New Testament is known to have been abused and mistranslated over and over in the early centuries of the church, the Old Testament was not. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls shocked many scholars, because it proved just how careful the Jews had been with the procurement and dissemination of their holy text. In other words, we can be assured through scholarly research that the Old Testament we have today pretty much matches the original. The rules for producing a new copy of the Torah were so stringent that if even one letter was added or deleted from the text the scroll was destroyed, even though the task of producing one scroll was an extremely long and painstaking process.
We don’t have to worry about mistakes in the Old Testament like we do in the New Testament, which brings us to a very important point when studying the original Hebrew words used for serpent and messiah: I think we can all agree–whether you’re a traditional Christian or mystic studying Kabbalah–that each Hebrew word was chosen very carefully. Therefore we can also assume that gematria values of each of these words was also very carefully considered. When I first began studying the priority of the spiritual meaning over the literal one in the Bible through symbolism and allegory, I was confused at the fact that the Hebrew word for serpent (nahash) and the word for messiah (meshiach) both had the exact identical gematria value of 358. Broken down, both words add up as such:
The word serpent / “Nahash:” nun (50)-het (8)-shin (300). Total: 358.
The word messiah / “Meshiach:” mem (40)-shin (300)-yod (10)-het (8). Total: 358.
It was confusing because the concept of the serpent and the messiah were supposed to be diametrically opposed to each other, just as evil is to good and dark is to light. In my Western theological upbringing, it just didn’t make sense. Why would God allow these words to have the same numeric value? Was there something I was missing? Something that all my pastors and other religious teachers of my childhood and early adult years had missed? While some can easily gloss over such an uncanny thing, I could not. The serpent was supposed to be forever linked with evil Satan, and the messiah was God’s perfect son. How dare they have the same numerical value in Hebrew!
Of course I have since discovered the answer through mystical teachings, but I figured my Christian friend had never even considered it. I was correct. She thought about it for a moment before telling me there was only one obvious answer. She stated they must have the same numerical value because Jesus and Satan were both angelic beings and sons of God. Satan was once equal in power, but turned away from God, and therefore fell and turned into the evil being he is today. I told my friend for the sake of a good discussion, we would assume she was correct. So I asked her to provide additional Biblical info that would support this claim. I received a blank stare, and she eventually had to admit that she didn’t know. Frustrated, she turned the tables back on me. “What do you believe, and give me Biblical evidence for it,” she stated.
I’ll admit, I was more than happy to because it was a subject I had studied and given much contemplation to. I told her the reason why the serpent and the messiah both had the same gematria value was because both the serpent and the messiah, allegorically speaking, symbolize the same thing: the path to higher consciousness.
She didn’t like this idea at first, but she listened carefully and eventually admitted she couldn’t argue with the Biblical evidence. Here’s how our conversation unfolded.
I began with a reminder of what God told himself after man had eaten of the forbidden fruit:
“And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing both good and evil…” (Gen. 3:22).
In the literal interpretation, God sees a problem here. He cannot let man partake of the Tree of Life while in his current state of conscious fragmentation or he’ll live forever separately from God. If this idea seems off track, consider that Genesis 3:22 begs the question: what did God mean when he said man has now become like God? What new power did the eating of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil bestow to man? The answer is simple. The allegory illustrates that because man ate the fruit, his awareness was raised. The story illustrates a huge difference in man’s conscious state before and after the eating of the fruit. Before partaking, man had little free will. Being told not to do something as a child doesn’t teach us anything, it only gives a command. But once we disobey, and suffer a consequence, as children we gained a new awareness. Prior to eating the fruit, man was ignorant of good and evil, which could be equated to a very childlike understanding of himself and the world. But once his eyes were symbolically opened, he gained a new awareness (saw the nakedness of his flesh) allowing the opportunity for continual expansion of awareness with each new experience in the physical world.
When read literally, the story of Adam and Eve is about disobedience and falling from grace, but allegorically, it symbolizes human consciousness and what it means to become separate from God. The serpent further symbolizes conscious fragmentation, and the beginning of man’s journey with his new separated, individual conscious identity and ego. In essence, man’s fall is about the fragmentation of unity consciousness from God. Why would man benefit from leaving this unity consciousness? Simple. To be in unity consciousness with God without first having an individual ego meant that man would be a simpleton as far as awareness is concerned. The literal interpretation leaves us with superficial understanding, whereas the mystical interpretation provides us with the keys to understanding a better human condition.
The serpent, then, is eternally linked with man. And here’s the cool part: through the serpent’s influence, man has the continual opportunity to gain more awareness.
If this still seems like mystical mumbo jumbo, hang in there. We’re going to discuss more Biblical evidence below. For right now just remember that there is a good reason the serpent and the messiah have the same gematria value. As you’ll shortly see, the messiah is symbolic of the continuing process of raising man’s consciousness following what the serpent symbolically started.
The Serpent Rises Within Man
Rabbi David Cooper, a brilliant modern mystical teacher, states this in his book, God is a Verb:
“There is a different way to read the traditional translation in which Eve says ‘the serpent beguiled (seduced) me and I did eat.’ The word used here for seduction, hishiani, can be translated in a way to mean “to elevate,” or to “lift up.” Thus, one could translate this same sentence as: “He elevated me [to a higher state]…”
I will admit, Rabbi Cooper adds a footnote to this statement in the back of his book which makes it clear that this translation changes the letter shin into the Hebrew letter sin, which is something Talmudic scholars often justify since the Torah is written “strictly in consonants, without vowels or diacritical marks.” This may seem like a bit of a stretch, but based on other Torah passages I also found this meaning to be justified. By this I mean there is another Torah passage which shows a lifting up, or a healing of man based on the serpent itself being elevated or lifted up. We find in Numbers 21:9:
“So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!”
Jesus further provides us with the imagery that the serpent “was lifted up on this pole.” Symbolically, bronze refers to the mental state of man. In the story from numbers God had sent serpents into the Hebrew camp to bite the Israelites, and they were dying. However, anyone who looked upon the serpent lifted up on the pole was mentally and physically healed. The symbolic interpretation here refers to man’s healing within the psyche as well, the unity of his subconscious and conscious mind.
Here we have the concept that the serpent was lifted up, and man therefore had to respond by also by looking upwards, further symbolizing the fact that this potential energy from within creation and man, must rise for higher awareness, or higher consciousness. Jesus confirms this when he states that “just as the serpent had to lifted up” to heal the people, “so must the son of man be lifted up.” Of course Jesus here is also symbolically referring to the lifting up and raising of consciousness of all men. (For more on the subject of Moses lifting the Bronze Serpent click my article HERE.)
When we compare the story from Numbers to that of Genesis, we clearly see what the imagery of the serpent symbolizes – a powerful force from creation that provides the opportunity for greater awareness. In other words, the fall of man had nothing to do with sin or disobedience to God per se as much as it has to do with what this physical experience means on earth: the ability to grow emotionally and spiritually, and to exercise true free will. Now let’s switch gears to the concept of the messiah.
The Jewish Concept of Messiah
Contrary to popular Christian belief, the Old Testament concept of the messiah is not a personal savior that sacrificed his life in order to reconcile us with God. This is entirely a Christian influence. In the Old Testament prophets, the messiah is portrayed as a Davidic-type ruler that will dispense justice during the end of days. Any unbiased reading of the Old Testament scriptures reveals this. However, there are some important parallels between the Christian and Old Testament messiah concept. Both are seen as the righteousness of God that provides a link from the common man to the divine. This is the parallel I want to concentrate on. It is here that the true meaning of the gematria values for the words serpent and messiah both equal 358.
The process that begins with the serpent ends with the messiah. In order for higher consciousness to truly be accomplished, man must incorporate what the messiah also symbolizes. What the serpent began culminates in the messiah. The messiah symbolizes the fully conscious man who is also united with the divine. The messiah further symbolizes the higher self that is born in the soul of man (more on this shortly).
The Garden of Eden and Man’s Consciousness
It should be obvious to the reader now that the Garden of Eden represents a plane of conscious existence beyond what we currently know. The writer of Genesis never meant to literally convey that Adam and Eve were created as two separate physical beings in a Garden paradise on earth. This is shown through a careful reading of Genesis chapter one. Remember, between chapters one and two there are two creation stories. In the first one and then later on in Genesis chapter five, the author hints that God created both male and female simultaneously.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image and likeness of God he created him; male and female He created them.” (Gen. 1:27).
“He created them male and female, and named them Adam on the day they were created.” (Gen. 5:2).
Pay careful attention! God created them in his own image, which is both male and female. Are we to take the literal interpretation here the God is both male and female gender? Of course not! God is a spirit (a level of consciousness) and is gender neutral. To interpret that verse literally is ludicrous and contradicts many other parts of the Bible. But notice how the Torah subtly hints at the fact that Adam and Eve was an androgynous being. And then the Torah repeats this idea (emphasized twice means pay attention and look deeper) in chapter five by saying they were both named Adam when they were created.
What does all this mean? Are Adam and Eve really an androgynous being, or is it about consciousness? Can it be both?
Before consciousness fell into matter (symbolized when Eve and Adam ate the fruit and realized their own naked flesh), Adam and Eve symbolize what I like to refer to as primordial consciousness. They were one, as God is one. This process of the fall of man is not actually a fall at all, but simply the fragmentation of primordial consciousness (without individuality) into individual egos. As a separate ego, mankind now had the opportunity to expand awareness through the experience of individuality and the flesh. This wasn’t planned, but is simply the nature and reality of how consciousness enters duality and robes itself with flesh. Then the fruit of experience and expanded awareness has the opportunity to take off.
At this point in the discussion with my Christian friend, the light bulb began to go off. I literally saw the expression change on her face. She then took back control of the conversation and asked me about the New Testament concept of Adam as symbolized by Jesus: through this question I could discern that she now began to understand that the messiah concept symbolically represents the highest stage of man’s conscious evolutionary process, where he/she becomes ONE again with God. The messiah, then, is the culmination of what was started by the serpent! No wonder both terms equals the same numerical value according to gematria: they both symbolically represent a change in man’s conscious state. The serpent and the messiah both must be lifted up within man.
As I have stated so many times on this site in many, many blog posts: Jesus makes it clear that the Kingdom of God (a state of conscious BE-ING and awareness) is within you!
I cannot end this blog post without mentioning an article written by Jamil Middleton on the website in pursuit of truth. I do not know him or even what he teaches, but from his quote below I can see that he has great mystical insight, at least into the understanding of the serpent and the messiah:
“When the serpent appears in the garden, the word that is used is Nacash. The meaning of the word is to “subtly whisper” as our subconscious likewise whispers to us destructive notions often rationalized in an intellectual manner. The root of the word Nacash though, has its root meaning in the concept of “learning by personal experience…This becomes interesting when we begin to look at the word Messiah, which in Hebrew is Mashiach which means to smear/imprint or awaken/empower the consciousness of man of the purpose of spiritual liberation. Messiah is man disciplining or discipling himself to be receptive and responsive to the light (inheritance) of God’s spirit in order to selflessly repair the brokeness of consciousness between himself and his creator.”
So as you can see, the serpent and the messiah are paradoxically both different and one and the same. Is to say so blasphemy? Only if you hold onto the literal traditional teachings of Western theology. The mystic isn’t restrained by dogma or doctrine, so he or she is free to explore the deeper mysteries of the scriptures without worry of offense.
Conclusions
The Bible is already an incredibly complicated allegory, but to read Genesis literally makes things even more complicated with many Biblical contradictions. For example, God said the serpent was cursed more than any other beast of the field because of its seduction of Eve. But wait a minute! If it became more cursed than any other beast of the field, why were the other beast cursed in the first place? Did God create them with a curse? Other places in the Bible state God created everything from day one perfect. Surely then something is wrong.
It’s problems like the one mentioned above that spring up all over the Bible when reading it literally, and then believing it is meant to be a historical account. Every event, name, and place in the Bible is symbolically about mankind, and you. And while some of it is based on actual events or persons in history, we aren’t supposed to rely on the fact that it’s historically accurate.
As you hopefully saw, the serpent and the messiah are just two more examples of this.
Blessings.
Hi Joshua
What a blessing you are, I love the way you expand my mind, thank you. Is it also possible that the Serpent represents our DNA or the subconscious aspects of mankind. I feel as though we take on all that is in our ancestral DNA – good and bad in order to bring it to consciousness and transform it. In this way we are all Kinsmen Redeemers and possibly why Christ says “Who is my mother?” Do not define yourself according to your ancestry but remember who I AM is and BECOME.
Adrianne, it’s a pleasure my friend. In a sense I would say you are correct. Eve represents the subconcious and Adam the conscious as well. Another way to explain the serpent is this:
It’s a symbol of our inner forces of existence, and helps us grow the soul. Alot of ancient cultures realized that the serpent had power to transform the soul, which is exactly what happened in Eden when they gained awareness from eating the fruit. It is said there is the higher serpent and the lower serpent. The higher works on the buddhic stage of emotions, and is know as the serpent of wisdom. The lower serpent is of the desire nature, and appeals to mans senses.
Hi Josh,
A great article about a subject that has become very familiar to me by now but it is exciting to see new aspects of it every time it is addressed.
You write that for the average Christian the serpent is Satan. I never learned that explicitly but even then, the translation of the Hebrew word Satan is opponent. That does not have to have a negative meaning, although it is always interpreted in that way. But many texts that seem to have a negative meaning in the Bible prove to be positive instead once you look at them with gematria. The gematria of Satan is 300-9-50, which I have learned to interpret as the involution-evolution cycle of our development through its various stages (300), birth (9), of the state of Higher Conscious Awareness (50) as a result of this whole process. As such you could see the concept of satan as a tool like in a sport school, or an opponent like in sports as boxing, or judo and the like.
It is interesting to read what you write about Gematria as such. I never did go into the subject extensively as I only want to use the simplest methods, in which I recognize deeper meanings of Hebrew words.
You write: “It was confusing because the concept of the serpent and the messiah were supposed to be diametrically opposed to each other, just as evil is to good and dark is to light. In my Western theological upbringing, it just didn’t make sense.”
I believe that reuniting all these opposing concepts is what we are about today. The creation was the beginning of this whole cycle and it is clear that God created duality and imbalance in order to start this whole cycle of gaining conscious awareness by being exposed to all this first and then after the dark phase of slavery/addiction and being delivered from that, to start the final phase of restoring the balance and returning from duality to unity in diversity. A cycle of leaving a unity we were not aware of, immersion in duality, and a return to a conscious awareness of unity. But not a unity of sameness but a unity in diversity.
It is interesting where you quote Rabbi Cooper:
• “There is a different way to read the traditional translation in which Eve says ‘the serpent beguiled (seduced) me and I did eat.’ The word used here for seduction, hishiani, can be translated in a way to mean “to elevate,” or to “lift up.” Thus, one could translate this same sentence as: “He elevated me [to a higher state]…”
• I will admit, Rabbi Cooper adds a footnote to this statement in the back of his book which makes it clear that this translation changes the letter shin into the Hebrew letter sin, which is something Talmudic scholars often justify since the Torah is written “strictly in consonants, without vowels or diacritical marks.”
I did the same with this verb in one of my articles as indeed in the original unvocalized Hebrew there are no dots to show whether shin or sin is meant. However, in both my Hebrew dictionaries I found the verb to advise as a translation of the verb ‘hisi’. This is also a possible translation; the serpent advised Eve instead of beguiling her.
Anny, a very informative comment, especially on Hebrew being written without vowels and how we can interpret the verbs.
At first I was a little reluctant to do something again on gematria since you and Robert have covered it so extensively in previous articles, and you both did a great job, but I thought this additional info would pique some additional interests. It’s amazing, because even though this article is long, 4000 words, originally it was around 6000 and I had to edit it down because there was so much info I also wanted to discuss from different angles but didn’t want to overwhelm the reader. Maybe I should have left the additional info, or maybe I will include it in a part 2 to this post. But there really is so much to discuss on the Garden of Eden alone. I believe we could each write ten more long posts and still have volumes of books to write touching all the information that’s packed in the first few chapters of Genesis. Thanks for the comment.
Hi Josh,
It is indeed amazing how much we (all the writers) have written already about Genesis and how many new insights keep coming up. It shows how much is hidden in the symbols, which you could never all put out in a literal way. And it is there to find slowly, uncovering one layer after the other. Only in that way you get to discover the wonder of it all. The literal base certainly has its place though. I still remember how I enjoyed these stories as a child. And then, when the time is right, you start to wonder what it all means.
Gematria is a wonderful tool but as I already wrote, for me only in the simple version. It may be possible to discover new truths by making all sorts of difficult calculations but I believe that it is also possible to start manipulating that way. Whether or not that has happened I would not know but as I said before, for me gematria is a tool and not a goal in itself. I want to find what is there and not to put something into it that is not there. In the Bible stories certain words proved to be essential as they contain the whole meaning of the Bible message, whereas the stories sometimes have been manipulated. So I stick to those words and those simple calculations.
I think you were right not to make the article too long. Interesting though it is, it is impossible to grasp it all in one go. It is better to divide it into more articles then.
I would be more inclined to the mystical interpretation rather than a literal interpretation because of what Jeremiah wrote in 8:8:
You say, “We are wise
because we have the teachings
and laws of the Lord.”
But I say that your teachers
have turned my words
into lies! (CEV)
And again, in the New Testament Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14-15:
Christ gave his own body to destroy the Law of Moses with all its rules and commands. (CEV)
These seem to be a clear rejection of any literal interpretation of the Bible.
David…
Thanks for quoting that verse from Jeremiah and giving us one of the interpretations that I think is right on! I also agree with Ephesians, but many will argue that Jesus came to do away with the law, period. It is true that the law is allegorical too, but many who believe literally and then say Jesus did away with the law have a huge problem. Ezekiel makes it clear that in the future reign the messiah and sons of Zadock will reinstate the blood sacrifices. I think most literalists don’t want to discuss that 🙂 And for good reason, because it contradicts the New Testament. That is something they will never have a good answer for 🙂
Thanks for the comment David.
Enjoyed the post. Allegory can be interpreted many ways. I believe the serpent stands for sense consciousness. With the opening of the senses man begins to see duality and seek gratification from the things of sense rather than the divine within him.
Shawn, you are right on! See my first comment. You’re also agreeing with Rambam, who was correct also. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks! Having read ur article which I find very mystical to understand as one who is searching for salvation into aligning with God Almighty. How can i exalt my inner self in one with Christ nature i mean I want to become one like Christ. Second, the Bible taught me that we should not exalt any creatures above Him but some portion as gave the narrative of saying we can be like Christ Jesus even though we mere mortals. I be glad if you could do justice to my questions. Looking forward for your reply sir. Shallom! Labour
Labour,
Through going within, meditation. God is found in silence, and the inner Christ arises in this silence.
I like this new style of writing which defines the mystical and also explains it to inquiring minds who are new to this. It is more of a conversation than a lesson. I especially took notice of your mention of the OT prophets describing the Messiah as “a Davidic-type ruler that will dispense justice during the end of days” in contrast to the conventional Christian concept of Messiah as a hero figure who is a literal human sacrifice. I think the Messiah you describe is symbolic of a highly evolved human consciousness that has learned to be in harmony with a larger collective consciousness, which brings about the healing of the world. It still is not clear what the larger collective consciousness is. We have clues that it exists (synchronicities, etc.). This informs us that we are not alone. Also I am glad you distinguished between abuses of Gematria and its proper use. By the way, I looked up the number 358 in wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/358 ) and discovered that it is an ancient calendar year that is related to the number 1111. I think there is a numerological significance to 1111. Also you published this post 14 days after the total solar eclipse. I wonder if that has any significance. Finally, I can’t help but wonder, even if most of the literal-historical interpretation of the bible is a delusion, is it still served some beneficial purpose for people living in that delusion?
Robert, thanks for the encouragement. I did try to make it more of a conversation style instead of just preaching. And yes, I also see the Davidic style ruler in this light.
The abuse of gematria does run pretty rampant on the internet. Some will use it to find any meaning that they want, which can be done with computer software, etc. Actually, you can do the same thing in English with any literature novel.
And 358, 1111, and 14 probably doesn’t have much significance, except to the delusional. It may have some benefit, especially if they’ve been drinking 🙂
Good joke. Still these numbers do have significance to many people who are not delusional or drunk.
Just messing, Robert. Agreed 🙂
Hi Robert,
You ask: “Finally, I can’t help but wonder, even if most of the literal-historical interpretation of the bible is a delusion, is it still served some beneficial purpose for people living in that delusion?”
I would not call the literary interpretation of the Bible a delusion. It may not be literally true but it certainly brings a message as well. And it depends on the people who interpret the texts what this message turns out to be.
Right now I often see very hateful words from people who interpret the Bible literally and who are angry when being confronted with interpretations that are symbolic or with people who believe in a different way than they do but that does not necessarily say much about a literary interpretation itself. I have often mentioned the stories about people in World War II who put their life on the line in order to save fellow human beings and who often had to bring that sacrifice. Many of those were Christians who were raised with a literary interpretation of the Bible. It had made them very loving beings who tred in the footsteps of Jesus literally. My grandparents and my parents were such people, even though they were never caught but still they had run the same risk and hidden people who were persecuted, Jews among them. It changed them forever. Still they believed in the literary interpretation of the Bible until they died many years later without any fear of death at all. I feel blessed to have known them and to have been raised by them. It made me ready to turn to another way of interpretation without fear.
I believe that the measure of our Love might very well be more important than how we interpret the Bible.
Agreed. Still, when I was a child I believed Mickey Mouse was real. I was a member of the Micky Mouse club. It taught me to be a good kid. But it was a fantasy, made up, alternate non-existent reality, delusion, mythos, whatever you want to call it. It was not real, but it was beneficial then.
Again, another fantastic insightful article. I could spend all day reading. I wish you would consider videos. I love to read, however videos like what bill donahue does would be great too. I just cannot get enough of the truth. I also wish there was a class where we could all read a part of the old testament together and decider it. I could spend a lifetime with this. Thank you for all the awareness. Many Blessings to all in this site.
Denise…
Thanks for the comment. Actually, my friend Paul and I have done a few things on youtube, but we have a lot more planned for that in the future. I’ve also been thinking about placing some of my pillar articles on my own channel. We’ll see if I get the time. Blessings!
Fantastic article, Joshua. I love the way you weave together all the information contained in the article in a way that makes sense, and in a way I had not considered before. It leaves me in the state of comparing the two trees in the garden in the same way we compare Messiah/Serpent. In fact, I believe the Serpent and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil are one and the same, and that Messiah and the Tree of Life are one and the same, and that all of them represent one source, but different manifestations.
Isn’t it interesting that Christ tells us to “[e]ither make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit?
He doesn’t tell us to plant another tree, or find another tree. It’s all about conversion. “Take this corrupt tree and make it a good tree,” is what he seems to be saying.
So in the end what it says to me is that Serpent/Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil/Messiah/Tree of Life” all represent gradually ascending states of becoming.
Once again, great article. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Hi Paul,
An interesting take on the subject, which fits very well when you consider the concept that God is All that is and that within that whole everything is connected to everything else.It depends on how you look what jumps into view. It is the inherent oneness of All which only appears to be separate for a while but in reality is not.
And isn’t what you wrote: “So in the end what it says to me is that Serpent/Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil/Messiah/Tree of Life” all represent gradually ascending states of becoming.” the same as the cycle of development that I have written about so often? It is another way to describe ti.
Paul, very good point. We do make it what we want by our thoughts and actions, don’t we. Great comment!
Satan/ego is our false identity we assume in this world and is our opponent/adversary, a negative force that we listen to way too often.
Messiah/Christ is our true identity, spirit, a positive force; Love, peacefulness, joy, kindness, generous…. that speaks more clearly but less audible…
Dawie…
Satan is the ego. When Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me Satan,” the text alludes to this, as Peter represents the personality and lower man, which again, is symbolized by Satan. When we truly believe we are only the ego, we are deceived. But the serpent / Satan is also more than that. The symbols represent and integral part of our lives on the journey to transform the lower ego into the spiritual ego.
Thanks for the comment and many blessings.
Satan is an individual, and he appeals to the ego. Ego is flesh, the carnal man. Paul discussed his own struggle with his ego, indeed the eternal struggle we all face on a daily basis is what do we choose? Satan whispers tantalizing lies in our ears daily and we must discern his voice and stand against it. The flesh (ego) is influenced by what we give our attention to and scripture says ‘choose this day whom you will serve’. So are you going to serve God with all your heart, mind and soul, or be deceived by the wants of your ego? Holy Spirit will show you the one true Way, and it’s not the mystical way.
As the Jewish Rabbis teach there are at least 7 different interpretations of these mystical allegorical stories. (first one) The serpent clearly represents the kundalini energy rising up the spine. It is also the fruit we receive, the gift from the Christ (Fire, seed, Christ, nun) embedded in that energy. The temptation of the serpent, is the desire to expel that energy or fruit, from our bodies. This is called the “kundabuffer”. It is taught in all the ancient religions of the world to preserve this energy, and transmute it into “Spiritual Energy”. Expelling it is a sin against the holy spirit,(christian) because this precious energy is what gives you life and helps keep you free of diseases, and many other spiritual benefits. Sexual chastity is stressed in all these religions, meaning refraining from the ORGASM. Moses stated clearly “The one saving his seed is not a sinner”. This is one angle that is taught by the Jews themselves. The letters in the word Nahash are, nun (seed,life, semen, the Christ, son of nun?) Shin (fire, holy trinity)
James…
Thanks for the great comment. The serpent no doubt represents the kundalini energy as well. The Book of Revelation is filled with it, especially with all the references to 3 1/2 years, etc. As you probably already know kundalini is said to be dormant at the base of the spine in 3 1/2 coils (metaphorically). I’ve written some articles on this. The Rabbis also state that Eve partaking of the fruit means that her and Adam gained the ability to procreate, so there is a lot of truth to your comment. However, the teaching about not spilling the seed is one I never really bought into. I have studied it from this angle in many ancient religions, and I know it represents a view from certain sects in all of them. I’ve read how this is supposed to work metaphysically, but take the route of meditation that allows the kundalini to rise, along with emotional maturation. While there may be some truth in the sexual aspect, the Bible also clearly teaches that meditation is the key above all else. I will do a series on that some time in the future.
Again, thanks for the additional info.
Josh, In entering the mystical holy of holies the seven seals open to the many mysteries seen in the seven promises given to the overcomes in the the seven churches. The seven pieces of furniture ascending from bronze to solid gold each reveal and open these seals when considered in meditation. One of the promises is the morning star being revealed. Lucifer and Jesus are both the morning star and one. Lucifer is the teacher and causes us to deal with the deep fear we are born into in Adam. Lucifer causes bondage even as Pharaoh (ASP) was the instrument to cause Israel to want to leave toward the promise. The point in time when we are shown this mystery we lift up the serpent within us and the two, Lucifer and Christ are revealed as one. Thus the morning star rises within our hearts and the purpose for this paradox is revealed. Our soul is untethered from the inner battle between good and evil and we ascend into this untethered bliss which is the marriage of the lamb. The lamb opens the seals..the mystery of the lamb is that there is only the tree of life and we partake. Your blog and readers comments are amazing ..keep sharing…
It is wonderful experinecing the Morning Star arising and the mystery of the Most High revealed. I appreciate the sound of “our soul is untethered from the inner battle between good and evil and we ascend to this untethered bliss which is the marriage of the lamb.” When I discovered that good translates as functional and evil translates as dysfunctional in hebrew, it became easier to discern my journey home to our original e-state of Oneness.
I guess Josh doesn’t know that “male and female” are principles of being in the true spiritual since, and that the Father (the TRUE GOD) is BOTH. Of course, the false creator “god” (Yahweh, Jehovah, etc.) has no male/female principle and therefore can only “create” and NEVER “beget”. Also Josh, the first creation account in Genesis is that of “MAN” (primordial), that took place long before this physical universe was created. “MAN” = Father (Mind), Mother (Thought), Son (Will). This is our higher SELF. The TRUE man (Human One). Thus Jesus could say he was the “Son of Man”, after the Christ descended into him at his baptism in the Jordan.
Also, the false creator god, (Yahweh, Jehovah, etc.) separated “adam” into “male and female”…..two separate beings. This very act alone was the beginning of DEATH for them because now the two could “procreate” ( make more physical bodies ) and the false creator god could enslave the Spirit of Man continually through reincarnation (birth and rebirth).
Great work here!
Maybe the serpent and Christ are one in the same, where only the dual nature of this world keep them separate. Christ comes down into matter (“cross”ing over into the physical, hung on a “tree”, carnal mind, ego, serpent coiled for striking, Adam fallen into flesh, first Adam (natural), son of the morning (“Lucifer”) fallen from heaven. After Christ descends down (falls from heaven), the serpent is lifted up with pride living via the carnal mind. But only after we “see” the serpent lifted up can we be truly humbled back down and we then take our “captivity captive”, the serpent (captivity) is bound and our true power (God) is released by binding the serpent’s power. It is all symbolic of what we must do to take the serpent captive (bind, cover, crush head, etc) and property “control” it (captivate “charm”) The flood of waters (doctrines) out of the subtle serpents mouth (double tongue) truly help us if we can see its power and take our captivity captive. Gotta love the Bible. (Rev 13:10 and Eph 4;8). Because for every venom (serpent) there is anti-venom made by using the very venom itself! But you have to first catch the serpent and look it in the eye. God Bless
I’m 49 and have been a Christian since 25. I started looking into the underlying/hidden/mystic meanings in the bible after discovering Bill Donahue on the internet. I have always looked at some things in the bible with a grain of salt. Like the story of Jonah in the fish.. I can see the mystic logic in the discussions in this website and in what Bill proclaims, but I have some questions that no one seems to address if anyone who has ‘experienced’ what I have to say can shed some on this. I appreciate all the insight I’m getting through this website. It’s like no one seems to address these things and I keep looking for someone else to address what I’ve experienced. People always tend to talk about the Christians and their beliefs in the stereotypical way its usually portrayed, as in how they are literal, dogmatic, fundamentalist, etc. Which is true. Many are and they seem to never go beyond that.. But many Christians do come to really know God. When I came to God through the literal words of the bible, not knowing anything about Christianity or the bible, except that I needed forgiveness and Jesus paid for my forgiveness, I gave it my full heart. I didn’t know anything except what I was taught and could understand. I threw away all my hard rock albums and tried to live holy, etc. But soon realized that I just couldn’t do it. I’m not holy outwardly. So, I still kept seeking God feeling condemned and ashamed because I couldn’t keep any standard of holiness. I felt inferior. But as I kept reading the new testament over and over, I started getting insight from God through whom I call the Holy Spirit. I soon realized God didn’t accept me based on my performance. He was just after my heart. I was amazed that he kept showing me things inwardly despite how much I fell short outwardly. I used to read the bible and what it has to say about grace and forgiveness, and acknowledged it with my head, but in my heart I didn’t feel like I deserved it or it applied to me because I’m not the poster child of Christianity I hear preachers talking about on how it is supposed to be. After 20 years of feeling condemnation and shame, one day I just said to myself, I can’t do this. If salvation is dependent on my performance I can’t do it. I’m just going to believe I’m forgiven even if I don’t feel like I am. God knew what I had decided and I was flooded with a revelation of grace, forgiveness, and love. I had never received his forgiveness though I had been a Christian for so long. I had in my head but not with my heart. So, I learned that what God says in the bible has to mixed with faith. Not head faith. Heart faith. The Holy Spirit has shown me other things in the new testament since then as well. Most of the time when God shows me something its when I’m in deep contemplation rather than meditating trying to clear my mind of everything. I’ve heard the still small voice one time that it talks about in the bible, but most of the time the Holy Spirit reveals it.
So, much of these articles on this website and what Bill Donahue teaches are very insightful and interesting. But most of them don’t speak of personal experiences or interactions with God like I’ve had not knowing all of these underlying meanings in the bible. In my experience God is interactive with us. Even in ignorance of what I’ve recently learned in mystic teachings. Some of the replies to the articles on this site don’t even acknowledge Jesus as being real, but rather as symbolic. Does anyone of you who don’t believe Jesus was a real person and really died for us have experiences with God you can share? I’m not trying to point fingers at anyone’s beliefs. I just want to know because I’ve only experienced God as a Christian and it would make it easier to incorporate many of these teaching which make sense into how I view things.
Also, in the bible it talks about the house of the Lord being finished being built and there was a big celebration and the priests couldn’t stand to minister because the presence of the Lord was so powerful. I’ve experienced this in church. Christians tend to call this ‘the Annointing’. Really it’s God’s Presence.. I’ve been in church at times when God’s Presence was so powerful you could hardly stand. All ego boundaries seem to fall away and love beyond words permeates your entire being when this happens. Why would God move like this in the Christian church if they are not seeing all the things discussed in this website and others like it? It seems to show me that God is not biased on us knowing all the answers. He just loves us where we are. He looks on the heart. I’d also like to know of experiences of God with people who are in other religions that aren’t Christian for my own understanding of how God views things. I’m interested in learning only. Not judging. No one knows the deep things of man/woman except the spirit of that person. The kingdom of God is within and doesn’t come with outward observation.
I am 54 and had a spiritual awakening at 35, and you will KNOW IT. I started off in a baptist church and sat there for 20 years thinking I was saved, but had never researched what I had been taught. When i took the next 8 yrs and really studies what went on at the council of nicea, the truths hidden in other ancient texts, tHE DISCOVERY OF THE OTHER GOSPELS CALLED THE NAG HAMMADI GOSPELS, AND TIME ASKING GOD FOR THE REAL TRUTH AND TREATING OTHERS IN EVERY SITUATION LIKE I WANT TO BE TREATED/LOVING MY HIGHER POWER MORE THAN I WANTED TO EAT AND SLEEP, THEN I BEGAN TO BE LED BY MY SPIRIT TO THE INFO ON THIS SITE. YHIS SITE HELPED CONFIRM WHAT I HAD ALREADY BEEN LEARNING. I had to get the true definition of what Christ was, what God is, what christian really means, why there were many branches of christianity around long before the roman/greek version, who were the nazarenes/naasenes, who were the ebionites/essenes(they were all christians), why there was a teaching for the uneducated and asleep (OR MILK FOR BABES) CALLED THE EXOTERIC INTERPRETATION, AND A DEEPER TEACHING FOR THE DISCIPLES(THOSE WHO WERE DISCIPLINING THEMSELVES/DYING TO SELF ,EGO DAILY) CALLED THE ESOTERIC TEACHING/INTERPRETATION WHICH IS THE MEAT.; HOW CHRIST MUST BE FORMED IN YOU, WHY JESUS SYMBOLICALLY BECAME THE CHRIST AT THE BAPTISM IN THE JORDAN AND NOT BEFORE; WHY ADAM WAS BOTH MALE AND FEMALE(AND HE CALLED THEM, THEM…ADAM, JUST LIKE ELOHIM IS PLURAL FOR MALE AND FEMALE; WHO SOPHIA WAS THAT SOLOMON WAS TALKING ABOUT CALLED WISDOM; ALL THIS I HAD TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE I COULD GET ON THE RIGHT TRACK……..YOUR LIFE WILL CHANGE AND YOU WILL SEE THE WAYS OF THE CARNAL NATURE THAT MUST BE CRUCIFIED. YOU WILL TRULY KNOW THE ENEMY AND ITS WAYS AND WILL UNDERSTAND YOU M UST CUT THE HEAD OFF THE GISNT GOLIATH/YOUR EGO/CARNAL NATURE/666. IT IS A PROCES OF KNOWING THE CORRECT KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE IS WHAT SAVES YOU AND BRINGS FREEDOM/BLISS WITHIN AND WITHOUT. MY PEOPLE PERISH FOR ONE REASON, A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE(SPIRIT-LED KNOWLEDGE/GNOSIS); THEN YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE NUMBER 7,12, 33 IS SO PREVALENT IN ANCIENT TEXTS OTHER THAN THE BIBLE AND IMPORTANT TO THE ANCIENT FREE MASONS AND THE NAZARENS/NAASSENES.WHY MANY CHRISTIANS WORSHIPPED THE SERPENT AS WELL AS MOST ALL ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS? SIR, YOU JUST HAVE TO ADMIT YOU KNOW NOTHINBG, TEAR THE OLD TEMPLE DOWN AND BUILD ANEW ON THE FOUNDATION OF REAL TRUTH. THAT IS MY ANSWER TO MR. DANNY. WITH LOVE MR. DANNYFROM EMMETT SMITH.