Sharing God's Affliction: the Big Switch in the Theology of Dan Steele (Reading Biblical Characters in the Oneness of God, part 2)
One of the marvelous notes in the Companion Bible, which, by the way, I am not selling, is Bullinger's comment on Genesis 1: 2's 'was.' It changed my life. This comment popped out at me because of another margin note on Exodus 3: 14's "I AM." That comment was in my old Bible. When I was seven years old and learning to read, I suggested to my mother that I should learn to read the Bible, and if I had one, she and I could read together. She bought me an inexpensive Thomas Nelson KJV Red Letter Bible with a zipper, and honestly, I did not read it much until 1975 when I encountered a deceiving spirit. Providence had me keep that Bible with me until the day I looked up the word 'deceive' in its concordance and read:
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Revelation 12: 9-12, KJV, courtesy of https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rev/12/1/s_1179001).
The Bible was right all along, and I was going the wrong way! But that is another story. The margin note in that Bible on Exodus 3: 14's "I AM" said, "Lit. will be or become." 'Am,' 'will be,' 'will become'? The Bible is right, but which is it? Several years of theology school and decades (!) of Bible study did not answer the question for me (it was not the only thing I was looking for, of course), so when I read Bullinger's comment on 'was' in Genesis 1: 2, I was piqued. It read:
"was = became. See Gen. 2. 7; 4. 3; 9. 15; 19. 26. Ex. 32. 1. Deut. 27. 9. 2 Sam. 7. 24, &c. Also rendered came to pass Gen. 4. 14; 22. 1; 23. 1; 27. 1. Josh. 4. 1; 5. 1. 1 Kings 13. 32. Isa. 14. 24, &c. Also rendered be (in the sense of become), v. 3, &c., and where the verb "to be" is not in italic type. Hence, Ex. 3. 1, kept = became keeper, quit = become men, &c. See Ap. 7."
Appendix 7 says:
"ITALIC TYPE IN THE REVISED VERSION.
The Revisers ill-advisedly decided that "all such words, now printed in italics, as are plainly implied in the Hebrew, and necessary in English, be printed in common type."
One of the consequences of this decision is that the verb "to be" is not distinguished from the verb "to become", so that the lessons conveyed by the A.V. "was" and "was" in Gen. 1:2; 3 and 4; 9 and 10; 11 and 12, are lost. See the notes on Gen. 1:2.
For the general uses of various types in the English Bible see Ap. 48."
The upshot of all this was that the "I AM" in God's proclamation about himself in Exodus 3: 14 means "I will be" . . . as in becoming!!! "I will be (as in become)" is not his name; it is his nature. God is eternally becoming, and HE IS NOT DONE YET! The Hebrew root verb here is 'hayah,' 1961 in Strong's Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, page 32 (the most visited page in my concordance). Bullinger's point about 'hayah' is that there is transition involved in what "is." Yes, the one true God is eternally God, but he is developing, maturing, becoming. He is in eternal generation!
Well, I am becoming a bit shrill. What does it matter that God is eternally becoming? He was not as he is now. We are his image, and this image is of his DEVELOPMENT. We are given over to affliction and futility by him to perpetuate our DEVELOPMENT into him. Our affliction and futility mirrors HIS. What affliction and futility could the Almighty, Infinite and Eternal have? He does not have any mirrors to look into, and had to DISCOVER what he is. That was affliction and futility for him, and THAT is what we are doing, because we are him STILL IN THE PROCESS OF BECOMING.
Sorry for getting shrill again.
We are not separate from God, and we are not adjunct. Whatever the Ineffable is, It is imagining, and that imagining -- "God" -- has become us. God is all imagination, and God is man, and man is imagination, and every thing is imagined. Not 'imaginary,' but imagined. Therefore, as God said to Neville Goddard's wife, Bill,
"You must stop spending your thoughts, your time and your money; everything in life must be an investment" (1953, "Sound Investments"). Thought is the coin (the investable unit) of heaven. Invest it! You cannot stay the same, for we all are eternally changing, growing, maturing. This death we have been given (and all the "lives" we have within it) is for the express purpose of our developing in the image of the Ineffable. Our growing experience is His image and is revelation of Him (see John 1: 18). I hope you will learn how to look.
You ought never say, "This is me. This is what I am," for we are the process of His growth. Do not get snagged on some idea that you cannot change what you are. There is no static am. This is what you have become thus far. Keep rolling. God will rake us over coals to get us moving, growing, becoming further . . . in this life or the next. We have been and will be doing this generating, developing for eternity until we fulfill our destiny of becoming Him. We are the Eternal. What good, benevolent kindness do you want to become NEXT? Enjoy it!
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Revelation 12: 9-12, KJV, courtesy of https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rev/12/1/s_1179001).
The Bible was right all along, and I was going the wrong way! But that is another story. The margin note in that Bible on Exodus 3: 14's "I AM" said, "Lit. will be or become." 'Am,' 'will be,' 'will become'? The Bible is right, but which is it? Several years of theology school and decades (!) of Bible study did not answer the question for me (it was not the only thing I was looking for, of course), so when I read Bullinger's comment on 'was' in Genesis 1: 2, I was piqued. It read:
"was = became. See Gen. 2. 7; 4. 3; 9. 15; 19. 26. Ex. 32. 1. Deut. 27. 9. 2 Sam. 7. 24, &c. Also rendered came to pass Gen. 4. 14; 22. 1; 23. 1; 27. 1. Josh. 4. 1; 5. 1. 1 Kings 13. 32. Isa. 14. 24, &c. Also rendered be (in the sense of become), v. 3, &c., and where the verb "to be" is not in italic type. Hence, Ex. 3. 1, kept = became keeper, quit = become men, &c. See Ap. 7."
Appendix 7 says:
"ITALIC TYPE IN THE REVISED VERSION.
The Revisers ill-advisedly decided that "all such words, now printed in italics, as are plainly implied in the Hebrew, and necessary in English, be printed in common type."
One of the consequences of this decision is that the verb "to be" is not distinguished from the verb "to become", so that the lessons conveyed by the A.V. "was" and "was" in Gen. 1:2; 3 and 4; 9 and 10; 11 and 12, are lost. See the notes on Gen. 1:2.
For the general uses of various types in the English Bible see Ap. 48."
The upshot of all this was that the "I AM" in God's proclamation about himself in Exodus 3: 14 means "I will be" . . . as in becoming!!! "I will be (as in become)" is not his name; it is his nature. God is eternally becoming, and HE IS NOT DONE YET! The Hebrew root verb here is 'hayah,' 1961 in Strong's Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, page 32 (the most visited page in my concordance). Bullinger's point about 'hayah' is that there is transition involved in what "is." Yes, the one true God is eternally God, but he is developing, maturing, becoming. He is in eternal generation!
Well, I am becoming a bit shrill. What does it matter that God is eternally becoming? He was not as he is now. We are his image, and this image is of his DEVELOPMENT. We are given over to affliction and futility by him to perpetuate our DEVELOPMENT into him. Our affliction and futility mirrors HIS. What affliction and futility could the Almighty, Infinite and Eternal have? He does not have any mirrors to look into, and had to DISCOVER what he is. That was affliction and futility for him, and THAT is what we are doing, because we are him STILL IN THE PROCESS OF BECOMING.
Sorry for getting shrill again.
We are not separate from God, and we are not adjunct. Whatever the Ineffable is, It is imagining, and that imagining -- "God" -- has become us. God is all imagination, and God is man, and man is imagination, and every thing is imagined. Not 'imaginary,' but imagined. Therefore, as God said to Neville Goddard's wife, Bill,
"You must stop spending your thoughts, your time and your money; everything in life must be an investment" (1953, "Sound Investments"). Thought is the coin (the investable unit) of heaven. Invest it! You cannot stay the same, for we all are eternally changing, growing, maturing. This death we have been given (and all the "lives" we have within it) is for the express purpose of our developing in the image of the Ineffable. Our growing experience is His image and is revelation of Him (see John 1: 18). I hope you will learn how to look.
You ought never say, "This is me. This is what I am," for we are the process of His growth. Do not get snagged on some idea that you cannot change what you are. There is no static am. This is what you have become thus far. Keep rolling. God will rake us over coals to get us moving, growing, becoming further . . . in this life or the next. We have been and will be doing this generating, developing for eternity until we fulfill our destiny of becoming Him. We are the Eternal. What good, benevolent kindness do you want to become NEXT? Enjoy it!
posted by Daniel C. Branham-Steele at
2:30 AM
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