Posted Sept 22, 2010
Dan quotes me from the archives:
“In the Hebrew it indicates that Abraham’s body was regenerated.” –
And then says:
The only scripture I could find that could indicate this was:
“Gen 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee [Abraham], according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” – KJV
The “unto” is not in the Hebrew and it reads differently if you take it out. Is this the scripture that you think “indicates that Abraham’s body was regenerated”, or is there a better one?
JJ
I was probably thinking of this chapter, which does give several hints. I’ll quote the first 14 verses as they tell an interesting story:
Genesis18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Genesis18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Genesis18:3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Genesis18:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
Genesis18:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
Genesis18:6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
Genesis18:7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
Genesis18:8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Genesis18:9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
Genesis18:10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Genesis18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Genesis18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Genesis18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Genesis18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
The first interesting thing about this story is that God appears to Abraham in the form of a man with two associates and eats with him. They eat butter, milk and beef so apparently God is not a vegetarian.
Actually, it sounds like three Masters visited him.
Then in verse 10 we read, “And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.”
This is a very awkward verse to translate. Most versions of the Bible merely imply that it means that God will return to visit when Sarah gives birth.
But if we look deeper it seems that more than this is implied. The verse begins: “And he said, I will certainly return…
It is interesting that “I will certainly” and “return” both come from the same Hebrew word, SHUWB. The word “return” is a common translation but it is sometimes translated as “restore,” “bring back” or “bring again,” as in, “for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again (SHUWB) Zion” Isa 52:8
One might ask why the translators of almost all Bibles completely leave out the first SHUWB or translate it as either “I will certainly” or “I will surely.”
The answer is that a literal translation does not make sense to them which would read, “He is saying, return return…” the second “return” seems unnecessary. Now the first “return” is in the infinitive tense and this implies certainty so they leave out the extra “return” and substitute “I will certainly.” This is incorrect as both returns are there in the Hebrew and there is a reason for it. What the reason is, is not clear to scholars.
The verse continues:
“And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life;”
“unto thee according to the time” comes from one Hebrew word which is ‘ETH and means “time, the motion of time or season.”
There is no way to prove a correct translation on this but this is what I think he was saying.
“And he said I will certainly return and you will be restored to your season (of youth) and Sarah thy wife shall have a son.”
One thing we know from the story and that is Abraham and Sarah were rejuvenated enough to give birth to a healthy child.
Sarah lived to the age of 127 and after that Abraham married a lady named Keturah and had six children by her. He finally died at the ripe old age of 175. He lived two long lifetimes within one life.
Ruth:
So he wasn’t saying that he could certainly return “as their son”, and be reborn at the right time, but rather he would return in the flesh to restore them both?
JJ
The scripture says that “The lord” did visit them later (Gen 21) and there is no evidence that Isaac was a master as his greatest accomplishment seemed to be having kids to continue the bloodline.
It doesn’t say when they were restored, but it had to have been before Sarah conceived, either right at the visit in Gen 18 or a shortly thereafter.
Ruth
If Abraham was a Master then couldn’t he restore his own body anyway without the help of other Masters?
JJ
When a person reaches that stage he doesn’t have a clue as to how to restore his body, just like you don’t have a clue as you how to duplicate a cell in your body, even though billions of cells do it every day. Rejuvenation will happen with assistance of higher and lower lives when a certain stage of consciousness is reached.
Ruth:
In the Bible, people are always washing other people’s feet?
Is this symbolic of cleaning the dirt/dust from the soul/soles of the feet, which connect the soul to the Earth as the roots of the tree? Or just because it portrays cleanliness and is soothing?
JJ
The feet of the disciple in motion are symbolic of his journey on the path of liberation. The feet at rest are a symbol of his place on the path. Washing the feet in those days was done more for rejuvenation than cleansing. It was very refreshing.
Washing the feet of a fellow traveler was symbolic of giving assistance to a fellow laborer and thus making his burden a little easier to bear.
Since the one washing the feet has to kneel before the other disciple this illustrates the standard interpretation that it symbolizes humility, but more important it shows this: Kneeling before the other disciple almost in the attitude of worship, is a recognition that God is in him and despite his faults you will seek to see the good, the beautiful and the true in him.
Copyright 2010 by J J Dewey