Tammy's Notes: True Freedom

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

A colorful scriptural firework - Calligraphy by TimothyBotts

With the United States celebrating Independence Day this weekend, my blog focusing on Nehemiah continues to resonate in my soul and mind. The Israelites were freed from their exile – their captivity in a foreign land. God’s chosen people returned to their homeland with a renewed eagerness to live by God’s standards and obey his word. It is a heart-warming story of thanksgiving and freedom!

At the completion of the rebuilding of the wall the people assembled at the Water Gate and Ezra spoke the Book of Law of Moses (originally written on the tablets of stone). The Israelites attentively listened with clear understanding as they reverently stood for the reading (Nehemiah 8:1-9).

http://tammyjdub.blogspot.com/2017/06/tablets-of-stone.html

ReflectingOn Our Attitude towards Scripture - Neh 8:1-12

DemonstratingReverence For God

Independence Day brings with it many celebrations and musical events. Again, reflecting on the Israelites journey out of Sushan in ancient Persia – also known as Susa, caused me to notice another Sousa connected with July 4th concerts and music. John Philip Sousa’s lively band compositions have become synonymous with American freedom.

Sushan / Susa / Sousa – concerts / orchestra

More reflections in the news as I read and watched the viral video of the dog coming on the stage as the orchestra played during the International İzmir Festival in the Turkish city of Ephesus. The historical location of this concert caught my attention. https://kusadasilive.com/fazil-say-concert-white-dog/

Adorable Labrador dog steals the show during orchestra performance in Ephesus, Turkey

The June 20 event hit the news waves on June 29/30 ... the eve of Princess Diana's birthday and the re-dedication of her temple-like memorial at Althorp House in Northamptonshire. Oddly enough, the ancient people of Ephesus worshiped the Roman idol Diana (known to the pagan Greeks as Artemis) and built temples for her.

Ephesus was among the early church locations that the Apostle Paul traveled to share the Gospel. In Ephesus Paul preached repentance and faith in Christ to the gentiles and Jews living there. With our recent focus on Moses and the golden calf, it is refreshing to review how the people (like the Israelites in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah) cleansed their lives of idols – they freed themselves from those false practices.

Acts 19:17-19 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts [magic/witchcraft] brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Their favorable response brought a new joy and freedom to their lives, yet it was met with resistance.

The Big Riot Against Paul at the Theatre of Ephesus!

History and the bible combine in today’s media!

Acts 19:28-29 - Uproar at the Ephesus Theatre – Diana/ Artemis

And when they heard these sayings, they [the idol craftsmen] were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana [Artemis] of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

Revelation 2 records Ephesus as one of the seven “lampstand” churches - verses 1 and 7 are noted:

1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The hope and reward of freedom is presented

…the honor to freely eat of the tree of life in God’s paradise.

As a Christian this is our highest goal to obtain true freedom in the presence of our awesome God and to share this joy with others that they, too, may partake.

Revelation 1:5 explains how we are set free

– loosed, released, cleansed from sins by the blood of Christ:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And from Yeshua The Messiah, the Trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead and The Ruler of the Kings of The Earth - him who loves us and has loosed us from our sins by his blood.

Greek

luó: to loose, to release, to dissolve

Original Word: λύω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: luó
Phonetic Spelling: (loo'-o)
Short Definition: I loose, untie, release, destroy
Definition: (a) I loose, untie, release, (b) met: I break, destroy, set at naught, contravene; I break up a meeting, annul.

3089 lýō – properly, loose (unleash) let go; release (unbind) so something no longer holds together; (figuratively) release what has been held back (like Christ "releasing" the seven seals in the scroll in Revelation).

http://biblehub.com/greek/3089.htm / http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/1-5.htm

louó: to bathe, to wash

Original Word: λούω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: louó
Phonetic Spelling: (loo'-o)
Short Definition: I wash, bathe
Definition: (lit. or merely ceremonially), I wash, bathe (the body); mid: of washing, bathing one's self; met: I cleanse from sin.

3068 loúō – properly, to wash (cleanse), especially the entire person (bathing the whole body). 3068 /loúō (and its derivative, 628 /apoloúō) implies "fully-washing" (literally and metaphorically) – i.e. a complete bathing to cleanse the entire person (body).

http://biblehub.com/greek/3068.htm

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3068&t=KJV