HE WHO HAS AN EAR

The intent of this study is to understand the phrase often spoken by Jesus, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear". Our objective is to understand who Jesus is speaking to.
To cover all our bases for whomever may read this study, we will try to understand this literally, then spiritualy, to see which way the Bible agrees with.

If we are to understand this phrase literally, then Jesus was speaking to everyone who physicaly had ears and was physicaly able to hear, this would include his diciples, followers and even the pharisees whom did not believe on Him. If this understanding is correct, then everything in the Bible should agree.

Now, let's take a look at this phrase and the context in which it it is found:

Mat 13:3
3 And he spake many things unto them in PARABLES, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;…..

Jesus is about to speak a parable to the multitudes around Him.

Mat 13:8-9
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 WHO HATH EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR.

At the end of the parable Jesus makes the statement, "who hath ears to hear, let him hear". Again, as we look at this literaly, there does not seem to be a problem yet. Let's continue.

Mat 13:10
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Here we have a VERY interesting question posed by the disciples? They wanted to know WHY was Jesus speaking to the multitudes in PARABLES. At this point, in order to have complete understanding, we must search the Bible to define what exactly a parable is.

Mar 4:30-31
30 And he said, Whereunto shall we LIKEN the kingdom of God? or with what COMPARISON shall we compare it? 31 It is LIKE a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
Mar 4:33
33 And with many such PARABLES spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
(KJV)

In Mk 4:30, we see Jesus speaking in a parable by using something earthly to COMPARE to something spiritual.
In other words, instead of Jesus speaking PLAINLY to the multitudes he uses plain WORDS (mustard seed, sown in the earth), but those plain words are not the real meaning of his teaching. Therefore we can understand a parable to mean an earthly story with a spiritual meaning.
Now back to the disciples question, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?". There was a reason Jesus decided to speak this way.

Mat 13:11
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is GIVEN UNTO YOU to know the MYSTERIES of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is NOT GIVEN.
(KJV)

The word "given" is Strong's # G1325 and it is also translated as the word "grant". God has granted his children to know, to understand the MYSTERIES of the kingdom of God as He enables us to understand them. The unsaved in whom the Spirit of God does not dwell have not been granted to know, to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Deu 29:3-4
3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:4 Yet the Lord hath not GIVEN you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
(KJV)

The Bible gives us further confirmation of this truth, that God is the one who grants his children the ability to hear his words and understand his spiritual truth.

Mar 4:11-12
11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God:but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
(KJV)

Notice first that the word "THESE" is not in the original text, so the last part of verse 11 is not speaking of SPECIFIC things but rather ALL THINGS. "….. but unto them that are without, ALL THINGS are done in parables".

This agrees with another verse we find in the Bible regarding parables.

Mar 4:34
34 But WITHOUT A PARABLE SPAKE HE NOT unto them:and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
(KJV)

This verse assures us that Jesus (the Word of God) did NOT speak without a parable.

Jesus explains further than not only has it not been granted to the unsaved to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but that although they can see (physicaly) everything that Jesus does in the form of miracles, they still don't understand the meaning or purpose behind it. Likewise when they HEAR Jesus physicaly speaking with normal earthly words, they don't understand the meaning behind the words. But who can?

Mat 13:16
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see:and your ears, for they hear.
(KJV)

Jesus tells us that it is HIS children who can hear and who can see, not just physicaly like the pharisees but spiritualy. They understand what the meaning behind the words are and what the meaning behind the deeds are (Once the Word of God explains it the them).

Now we must return to our original question, who is Jesus speaking to when He says, "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear". Mt 13:9

He can only be speaking to His children, the elect of God who have recieved spiritual ears to hear spiritual truths as God allows. The litteral interpretation of this phrase does not harmonize with the rest of the Bible, it is only when we understand this phrase spiritualy that it harmonizes with the Bible. Even the very phrase "ears to hear" is a parable.

He who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

JESUS CHRIST DIED TWICE
Most people that call themselves Christians, regardless of denomination or religion, have this in common, that they believe that Jesus Christ went to the cross to pay for sins. This doctrine became the very foundation of the churches throughout the world and has never since been questioned. God allowed this for more than 2000 years since Christ went to the cross, but when the time of the end came near, God allowed his elect to understand more from the scriptures.

Daniel 12:4 & 8-10 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

The words that God had sealed were unsealed at the time of the end, and the result was an increased understanding of His word, an understanding that was reserved only for God’s elect. That is the reason for such rejection of new information which has come forth from the scriptures, it is rejected because it is not understood.

Among the many new things that God had revealed to his people, one of them was that Christ died twice. Immediately, someone who has read the whole Bible through and through becomes confident enough within their own knowledge to say, “that is absurd, the Bible clearly shows that Christ was born once, grew to become a man, was persecuted by Israel then delivered to be crucified next to two thieves, buried, then raised to life and later ascended into heaven”. After which they would dismiss any more conversation regarding this topic. Yet the child of God must continue to proclaim and search out all of the truths which the Bible proclaims.

Amazingly enough, once God opened up the understanding of his people, we began to see all of the problems and contradictions that follow the doctrine of atonement occurring at the cross. This study will seek to demonstrate all such contradictions of why atonement (through the death of Christ) could not have occurred at the cross, but rather it occurred before the world began. Yes, we now understand that Christ died once from the foundation of the world and a second time here on earth to demonstrate what He had already accomplished before the world began.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE FIRST TO RAISE FROM THE DEAD

Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

If you read the Bible casually and see Christ only dying at the cross, you may miss the obvious problem with all those who were raised from the dead before Jesus rose from the dead in the New Testament era. There are six accounts of others having been raised from the dead before Jesus, and three of them were raised by Jesus himself.

The widow's son of Zarepath (1 Kings 17:17-24) Raised by Elijah
The Shunamite's son (2 Kings 4:20-37) Raised by Elisha
The man tossed into Elisha's tomb (2 Kings 13:21) Raised by the bones of Elisha

The widow's son of Nain (Luke 7:11-16) Raised by Jesus
Jarius' 12 year old daughter (Mark 5:35-43) Raised by Jesus
Lazarus (John 11:1-44) Raised by Jesus

How then can we reconcile the fact that Jesus is said to be the first begotten from the dead?

Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

The contradiction now arises to all those who believe that Jesus only died at the cross. If that is true, then Jesus cannot be the firstborn from among the dead, but we are told that He is. The solution comes when we harmonize everything the Bible has to say regarding Christ’s death, namely that he was slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Now we can see how perfectly Colossians 1:8 & Rev 1:5 harmonize as they rightly proclaim that Jesus is the first to raise from the dead.

continued...

THE BOOK OF JASHER, THE BOOK OF JASHER
In today's "Day in the Word " study, I will be covering one of the many books the Bible speaks of but don't seem to be in the Bible at all. The "book of Jasher" is one of those books.
I mean, why would God mention books like this in His Word? One reason is to see whether or not we will study to show ourselves approved and rightly divide the Word of Truth.
So, let's go ahead and see just what the Bible has to say regarding this book of "Jasher".

Joshua 10:12-14 (KJV)
Then spake Joshua to JEHOVAH in the day when JEHOVAH delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that JEHOVAH hearkened unto the voice of a man: for JEHOVAH fought for Israel.

If you noticed, verse 13 mentions the account that we just read, of God causing the sun and the moon to stand still at the command of Joshua, and it asked the question, “Is not this written in the book of Jasher?”. But where is this book of Jasher? Many believe it’s another lost book somewhere that needs to be found and yet others believe that they have indeed found it.

But that just goes to show you the lengths man will go to in order to demonstrate their lack of faith in the Word of God. Their insistence that there are many lost books out there, reveals that they truly don’t believe that God was able to preserve His Word perfect and pure throughout the generations like He said he would.

Psalm 12:6-7 (KJV)
The words of JEHOVAH are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O JEHOVAH, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

We know that since God promised to preserve His Word perfect and pure from this generation forever, that He has done just that. Nothing has been lost nor corrupted from all the Holy Word of God.

Now, returning to this book of Jasher, the best way to begin understanding any difficult passage is to start by looking up the difficult words used in that passage. And in our case, we want to look up the word “Jasher”. And, when we do, we find that this word is Strong’s #3477.

Now, when we look up this Strong’s number, we discover that this word is primarily translated as “right” or “upright” or as “righteous”.
As a matter of fact, by looking up this word we discover that “Jasher” is not even a name, it’s how the Hebrew word is actually pronounced. Well, the correct pronunciation is actually “Yashar”, but the translators decided to write it down as “Jasher”.

So, now that we’ve established that “Jasher” is not the name of a person but rather it’s a word that describes a person, we can better understand what God is saying in Joshua 10:13 when He references this book.

This book should actually be called the book of the upright, or the book of the right, or the book of the righteous. And once we make that substitution (which the Bible allows), we can actually begin to see that this book may be easier to explain than we previously thought.

The more we search out the word “yashar” the more we come to understand that God does indeed use this word to describe Himself. And we actually don’t have to search for very long before we came across some passages that helps us to see this.
Deuteronomy 32:4 (KJV) (Speaking about God, it says…)
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways arejudgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and "right" is he.
So, in this passage, the word translated as “right” which is being used to describe God himself, is our word that’s also translated as “Jasher”. It’s the Hebrew word, “Yashar”. Let’s also turn to Psalm 25:8.

Psalm 25:8 (KJV)
Good and upright (or, Good and Jasher) (Yashar) is JEHOVAH: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

So, we can conclude that the book of Jasher is the book of God himself. It’s referring to the Bible. That’s exactly what the book of the right, or the book of the righteous, or the book of the upright are referring to, they’re referring to the Word of God. So, with that understanding, let’s go back and see if we can understand what Joshua chapter 10 is saying.

Joshua 10:12-14 (KJV)
Then spake Joshua to JEHOVAH in the day when JEHOVAH delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he (meaning Joshua) said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? (Or in the book of the upright, or in the book of God, or in the Word of God?)
In other words, by God making the statement, “Is not this written IN MY BOOK?” God is declaring the truthfulness of this unbelievable account when God hearkened to the voice of a man like he did here with Joshua. Let’s finish reading this passage.

So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that JEHOVAH hearkened unto the voice of a man: for JEHOVAH fought for Israel.

The book of Jasher is another way which God describes the Bible. It's the Word of God.

The Bible is full of types and figures. This means that God, as the author, has chosen to use common words (people, places or things) and use them to represent something else entirely. By doing this, God confuses the casual reader who will not spend the much needed time it takes to understand what is really in view in any given passage. And so, their confusion is reflected by their faulty doctrines. Here is just one example of the MANY words (which we would normally think to be unrelated) God uses throughout His Word, in order to typify "The Word of God". There are 5 pages listed in alphabetical order.