The Nuts & Bolts of the Bible Message

What is the purpose of the ritualistic laws of the Old Testament for us today?

There is a little known proverb of wealth called “shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves” (see note below). This proverb states that family members will go from shirt sleeves--working for others--to wealth through the creative effort of a family leader and then back to shirt sleeves in three generations or so. Once a creative individual has generated considerable wealth during his lifetime and passed the majority of that wealth to his children through careful estate planning, his children tend to drain the inherited wealth on uncreative activities. By the third generation or so, the wealth will be dissipated completely, and that generation of descendants will be in the “shirt sleeves” working class. It has been found that 70% of wealth builders’ descendants worldwide have fallen to the forecast of this proverb. It was found that the factors contributing to the success of the other 30% had nothing to do with the country in which the family lived, the political environment, the state of the economy, estate planning, and many similar factors.

In the successful families, emphasis was placed on developing its most important asset--the family members and their descendants. To accomplish this it was necessary for the family to function as a successful business with its primary focus on the success of its employees. Below are some of the very important steps and factors that must be accomplished:

1. The family must have a mission statement--a defined purpose

a: The family must develop a form of governance

b: There must be family meetings with rules for conducting the meetings

c: The family should have a “resume” from each member

d: Several other governance practices are suggested

2. The family must have a common vision--shared long-term goals

3. The family must have common values that define its uniqueness

4. The family must not have “secrets”, and any individual’s problems must be resolved

5. The family needs to recount its history

6. Each family member needs to understand her or his role in the family

If what the Bible states is true, then consider GOD’s method for creating an eternal family. We are not talking about a few hundred years or even a few thousand years. We are talking about eternity. When we look at the history of Mankind and the living examples of any family growing or even maintaining the unity of their family, we see a dismal picture indeed. This fact should only stress the immensity of GOD’s goal and bring us to the realization that GOD will not accept less than perfection. If we consider that time is not an important factor with GOD--but only the goal is important, the idea of perfection becomes completely possible because the time involved can be trillions of years or more, if necessary.

If we look at the Bible with the important factors listed above in our mind, we begin to see a pattern that is similar to building a family dynasty, as a small example. We see GOD dealing with Mankind in a way to establish the same qualities that have proven throughout history to strengthen a family and lengthen its existence and success in overcoming obstacles to its growth and prosperity. GOD’s goal is much bigger than a single family out of many, though. HIS goal is the unity of all life toward a single overall purpose--Christ the Omega. It is humbling to realize the immensity of the purpose but, in another sense, exhilarating to consider the glorious wonder of the opportunity each of us has been given.

As explained briefly in the Introducton, the life we are exists in a higher plane of existence or reality than the physical reality we sense with our five senses; and we must consider GOD’s method of telling us about our higher selves. The higher reality can only be explained to us by utilizing the lower reality we can sense. Therefore, the method of communication must be symbolic or allegorical because the lower reality is of a different nature than the higher reality. This communication must also be lasting to allow growth in understanding without losing foundational concepts. If each individual must begin where all of those who lived before him or her began then the growth in understanding for Mankind would be small indeed. Therefore, each generation of Mankind must build on what was learned by previous generations.

If the communication is symbolic or allegorical, then the method of governance for the beginning family must contain within its structure the form of the communication necessary to reveal the higher reality to those who are ready to recognize it. The method of governance then serves a dual purpose. It provides a method of maintaining order in the lower reality while revealing the nature of the higher reality. To insure that the communication is lasting, practices must be initiated in the method of governance that become ritualistic in nature and a tradition for Mankind. Such rituals must be followed until the message’s purpose contained within any ritual is accomplished or easily taught to future generations. Then Mankind can begin a new set of rituals that serve a similar purpose and build on what was accomplished with the old. The problem with this occurs when the old or new generations of Mankind begin following the set of rituals for their generation without understanding either. Therefore, the condition in the new generations would be similar to attempting to learn calculus without knowing how to multiply or divide. Eventually, the rituals are all that is important, and all caught in this trap are blinded to the message.

One way to overcome this problem is through stories. There can be stories that inform newer generations of the rituals followed by older generations. There can be stories of how older generations lived and the results of the actions they took. There can also be stories that are created specifically to reveal the higher reality’s nature. If these stories are very interesting, they are more likely to be recorded and told over and over from one generation to another. In the same way, if any story is considered extremely important, it is likely to also be recorded and told from generation to generation. With these stories passed from generation to generation, there is a higher certainty that individuals will arise during the history of Man and open the eyes of the generation of which they are a part. This eye opening event can then be recorded as a story to aid future generations.

So books of these stories are born and grows until they become Scripture--revealing the process needed for Man to attain his destiny. This series only looks at one of those books--the Christian Bible.