If there was something within the Bible calling for the conversation’s regeneration, what would it sound like? One of the issues I’ve found among individuals wanting to understand the Bible is the problem of expecting the Bible to be what is imagined. This isn’t too cool to do because while the Bible plainly articulates its own character, we venture into it assuming a character for it. By doing so, we miss its essence.
The Bible advises the Jerusalem of its mind to wake up. It says, “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion,” Isaiah 52:2.
These words are present tense. When dipping into the Bible, Jerusalem is presently captive, and this “Jerusalem” is not a reference to any literal connotation we may think of. In the Bible, “Jerusalem” is a “city” and , in context, is a reference to an assembly. We read:
“And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken,” Isaiah 62:12.
“…and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel,” Isaiah 60:14.
“Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee,” Isaiah 25:3.
“…the city which is called by thy name…thy city and thy people are called by thy name,” Daniel 9:18,19.
In context, a “city” is a “people.” In context, “Jerusalem” is an epithet for an assembly of individual conversations reflecting the living God’s devotional character. If a member of “Jerusalem,” one is a figurative member of a congregation whose conversation possesses the Bible’s devotional character. This is why there is a call for Jerusalem to quit their slavery.
The message is philosophical. There is, within denominations subscribing to a Jewish religion, conversations having the potential to become members of “Jerusalem,” or members of the Bible’s intended congregation knit together in unity by mind. It would be remiss of me not to say that this congregation is “the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,” Hebrews 12:23, not literally but, again, in mind and in devotional character.
This assembly, this city, is invisible to the eyes yet visible in character. The Bible’s mind counsels potential members of its assembly and classroom to awake from their denominations and to begin to cultivate the character of their conversation. This cultivation is necessary because the individual is to be a member not of a religious denomination and not of their of self, but of the mind within the Bible.
The illustration of shaking from the dust sends the mind back to Adam in Eden’s garden. Adam was created from and taken out of the dust. What does this mean? The meaning of “dust” is found in the saying:
“Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth,” Genesis 28:14.
“And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth,” Genesis 13:16.
In right context, “dust” equals “seed.” Adam arose from the ground of a seed of people, or from a denominated assembly. The record of Adam in Genesis is an allegory pointing to the regeneration of a conversation from a religiously erroneous denominated world. This train of thought is further emphasized by how it says, “…and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,” Revelation 5:9.
Bible philosophy is simple. The goal of the Bible’s philosophy is to redeem the conversation from out of people or nations (denominations) to personally cultivate a conversation matching the devotional character within it. This can’t happen if unwilling to awake or resurrect from one’s present self-cultivated or inherited belief.
The Bible can only benefit the conversation willing to regenerate from the ground of its belief. Every message within this book, when held in right context, points to the fact of personal devotional resurrection. By letting go of what is believed, a living belief is to be assigned to the conversation, allowing our joy in the Bible to be where we know it should be.