Saturday, September 15, 2007

Seven Virtues And History


2 Peter 1:5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

Using my method of laying patterns of seven over one another, I will explore these 3 verses for blog brevity.

The four biblical millennia suggest a full seven when we view all human history as an addendum to faith. Thus, when compared to Peter's seven virtues here, we have the chart revealed below:

Adam's millennium ~ goodness
Noah's millennium ~ knowledge
Abraham's millennium ~ self-control
Solomon's millennium ~ perseverance
Apostle's millennium ~ godliness
Reformational millennium ~ brotherly kindness
Kingdom millennium ~ love.

Day One
is the work day when God says "Let there be light." The worlds are framed by FAITH, by the Word of God. This is a day of GOODNESS, that begins millennially with the Garden of Eden. God saw what He was doing and behold, it was very good.

Day Two is the division of sky and water. It is the millennium of the flood and the final emergence of the man of faith, Abraham. The KNOWLEDGE of the Lord is being revealed.

Day Three is the day of the revealing of dry land and vegetation. It is the millennium of the beginning of the Jewish Age, when the Jews come into their promised land. It is the day when God reveals His Law, SELF-CONTROL.

Day Four is the Genesis 1 is the day of the great lights: the stars, the moon, and the sun. It is the millennium of the Temple and the Jewish tenuous hold on their inheritance. They attempt to PERSEVERE in the face of opposing empires. The millennium ends with John the Baptist (the moon) revealing the Messiah Yeshua (the sun).

Day Five is the genesis of fish and birds. It is the millennium of the spread of Christianity and the message of the cross. GODLINESS is the key word here. The symbol of the early church is the fish. The birds of the air carry the good news.

Day Six is the day of beasts and man. It is the final millennium of God establishing His Son's dominion. The keyword is BROTHERLY KINDNESS. This is the emergence of the unified assembly of the faithful who will inherit the earth.

Day Seven is the day of rest. It is the millennium of peace under the Prince of Peace, Yeshua. The keyword here, from Peter's ascending virtues, is the greatest of all learned virtues: LOVE.
Faith is the ground of our life experience. It is the foundation we build upon. To our faith we add these ascending virtue. We go through stages as the Holy Spirit guides us. We should check to see if we are lacking in any of the things Peter mentioned, and then seek to incorporate them into our lives.

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