Ziklag F6.28 - To Buck

Small Hearts, Brothers Few and the Problem of Sin is Still Here

SOS Discipline - Daily Proverb and Red Letter Reader

A small heart and a slippery tongue make for a counterfeit life. cf Pr. 10:29

Brotherhood is everywhere, but brothers are few. cf Mt. 9:37

Victory is to the prudent. cf Sun Tzu 6.19

From Today’s Stack

Starting with Moses:

A study of Biblical tongues with an eye toward Biblical lore: this list is but a seed and very unfinished in scholarship. “P.I.E. Implication” means the meaning of the triune root in its most original, physical and material consideration.

1. Sin - To Miss

* Hebrew: חֵטְא (cheit)

* P.I.E. Implication: To miss the mark, as in archery. The action involves aiming and failing to hit the intended target.

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 罪 (zuì) - "sin"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 射偏 (shè piān) - literally "to shoot off target"

2. Error - To Mistake

* Hebrew: שְׁגָגָה (shegagah)

* P.I.E. Implication: To go astray, like an animal wandering off the path.

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 误 (wù) - "error"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 迷路 (mílù) - literally "to stray from the path"

3. Fault - To Indebt

* Hebrew: אָשַׁם (asham)

* P.I.E. Implication: Same root as guilt, indicating a state of being in debt.

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 过错 (guòcuò) - "fault"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 过错 (guòcuò) - literally "mistake"

4. Transgression - To Tresspass

* Hebrew: פֶּשַׁע (pesha)

* P.I.E. Implication: To step across a boundary or breach a wall, indicating a deliberate crossing of a set limit.

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 过犯 (guòfàn) - "transgression"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 越界 (yuèjiè) - literally "to cross the boundary"

5. Iniquity - To Twist

* Hebrew: עָוֹן (avon)

* P.I.E. Implication: To twist or bend, suggesting a distortion or perversion of what is right.

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 罪孽 (zuìniè) - "iniquity"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 扭曲 (niǔqū) - literally "to twist"

6. Betrayal - To Hide

* Hebrew: מָעַל (ma’al)

* P.I.E. Implication: To cover or conceal, implying betrayal or hidden disloyalty.

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 冒犯 (màofàn) - "trespass"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 掩盖 (yǎngài) - literally "to cover up"

7. Wickedness - To Buck

* Hebrew: רֶשַׁע (resha)

* P.I.E. Implication: To be loose or unbridled, restless and unrestrained, implying an active engagement of the will.

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 邪恶 (xié'è) - "wickedness"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 放荡 (fàngdàng) - literally "unrestrained"

8. Evil - To Harm

* Hebrew: רַע (ra)

* P.I.E. Implication: To break or shatter, to destroy, indicating ultimate purpose as “harm.”

* Chinese Standard Synonym: 恶 (è) - "evil"

* Chinese Hebraic Synonym: 破坏 (pòhuài) - literally "to break/destroy"

Devil’s First Rule

From Broken

There are only two kinds of spirituality in the world. One is wrong and one is right. One is false and one is true. One is a lie and one is real. One takes the form of the countless spiritualities that have gone out into the world as manifestations of the Antichrist and the other is God’s own holy spirituality. But which is which? How can you learn to tell one from the other?

It’s the same lie that he has been telling ever since the beginning (John 8:44, Genesis 3:4–5). As a result, he’s very practiced at it. He’s learned that there’s more than one way put a little spin on the same deception. He dresses up The Lie in new clothes, and he gives The Lie a new name. And at the drop of the hat, he can do it again. And again. And again. First he points you left. Then he points you right. But both directions are off the path, and lead down into a bog where the waters are muddy and fog blurs the sight. Slogging through those waters gets tough, but then along comes The Lie again (the same lie, but this time with a pretty wig and some fake eyelashes,) whispering for you to try yet another direction. Not back to the path—no, never that! Just, “this way.” “Over yonder.”

With each new step, the fog gets denser, and memories of the path grow dim. Your hands rub raw from the weeds and thorns. Your feet bruise on the stones sunk beneath the mud. Your conscience feels ragged and tired. Then here comes The Lie again (it’s the same lie, but now with a top hat, a monocle and a refined, compelling accent,) and this time he says, “You know, you have that dratted path to blame for all of this. If you’d never been on that path in the first place, none of this would have happened to you.”

You would think we humans, after all we’ve been through, might start to recognize that we’ve fallen for the same dupe so many times before. But the devil is the master of disguising his Lie. He is like a cook preparing immaculate masterpieces, worthy of gobbling up to the last delicate crumb. To the unwary, these dishes each look like a new creation, something never before seen or tasted. That is the true talent of The Lie. Even so, just as with any other kind of ingredient for a meal, there are only so many things you can do with The Lie. No matter how many spices you add to a tomato base, you can only take it so far, and after all that, it is still going to taste like tomatoes. For all the countless tweaks the devil stirs in to spice-up his dish, at the end of the day it’s the same old ingredients in the same old recipe.