Template:The rod
The Rod
In order for us to follow the mission of Christ we need to be in one accord with Christ and therefore with each other. The Pharisees thought they were in accord with Moses just as many people thinking they are Christians today believe they are in accord with Christ... but are not.
If we have Christ in us we will seek to follow The Way of Christ naturally. Therefore we must actually love the real Christ and not one made up by men who creep into homes deceiving, seducing and snaring people that may have a desire to follow sinful or covetous ways.[1].
True love, challenges our hearts to sacrifice ourselves in service to Christ and for those who seek Him. This love is like the love of a parent for their children and they may also challenge their own children to love others in righteousness.
- Spare the rod spoil the child comes from Proverbs 13:24 "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
This word rod is from טבשׁ shebet[2] ShinBeitTet from an unused root probably meaning to branch off; and is normally translated tribe some 140 times but also rod 34 times.
What is the meaning or sense of a word that means both rod and tribe?
The appearance of the word rod here includes the letter Vav. This is the only place we see this form of ShinBeitTetVav.
The Vav at the end of the word may suggest a connection to the next word or following context for a fuller meaning of the BeitNun but here is seen as BeitNunVav. This word for son is followed by the word וְ֝אֹהֲב֗וֹ VavAlefHeyBeitVav which would commonly appear as AlefHeyBeit meaning "to love".
The next word in the original test[3] is shachar[4] שָׁחַר which is said to mean "to look early or diligently for". But again in this text of Proverbs 13:24 only the word shachar[4] has an additional Vav שִֽׁחֲרֹ֥ו.
The last word in the text is musar[5] from the word yasar[6] meaning "to discipline, chasten, admonish". Yasar is YodShemachReish while musar is MemYodShemachReish in the Hebrew.
The word rod in Proverbs 13:24 only appears as ShinBeitTetVav in this one verse but there is another form that ends in Vav in Judges 21:24 where we see the word ləšiḇṭōw לְשִׁבְט֖וֹ with the letters LamedShinBeitTetVav in the verse meaning something like returning "to his tribe" or taking their place among the branches or rods of the tree of their tribe.
Beatest him
We also see in Proverbs 23:
- "Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. 13 Withhold not correction from the child:[7] for [if] thou beatest[8] him with the rod[2], he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat[8] him with the rod[2], and shalt deliver his soul from hell." Proverbs 23:12
The Hebrew word naar translated "child" in this text is far more often translated "young man" or "servant".[7] The root word consists of the Hebrew letters NunAyinReish but in this text we see MemNunAyinReish. That variation only has 4 occurrences in the Bible. The three other times it is always used to denote young and old women or men[9] not children.
The Hebrew word we see for beat is NunKafHey.[8] But here in Proverbs only we see TavNunKafHey. The word we are told means beat without the additional letter Tav is said to mean everything from "smite" or "slay" to "stricken" or "given". To add a Tav, the letter for "Faith", it could be reasonable to suggest the correction these verses are calling for include speaking the truth. Since the truth can hurt it would seem reasonable that the rod is not made of iron or wood but actually represents something else.
The word for rod has the root of shebet[2] ShinBeitTet. But it appears as BeitShinBeitTet. The letter Beit added to a word that can mean branch or God's house here[10] suggest that by the adding of this one letter at the beginning of the word can suggest the rod consists of the housholds of God. The only other place this form appears is in Ezekiel 47:23 where it is translated relating to the word "tribe".
A literal interpretation that some how these verse are encouraging the beating of anyone or much less children to teach them about God is absurd.
The Kingdom of God was a network of families that set a moral standard of what was right and wrong based on the leading of the branches of the tree of life cultivated in a peculiar nations that were baptized in the Ten Commandments.
Branches or rods
As we saw in Proverbs 13:24 the term for "rod" appears as ShinBeitTetVav but there is another form that ends in Vav in Judges 21:24 where we see the word ləšiḇṭōw לְשִׁבְט֖וֹ beginning with the letter LamedShinBeitTetVav. related to returning "to his tribe" or taking their place among the branches or rods of the tree of their tribe by what you do.
- "And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance." Judges 21:24
This idea of returning everyone to their family and to their inheritance was part of the essential message of the Jubilee and the coming of the Messiah. The law of God is built into God's creation and through the power of the Love that created it and gives life. To stray from those principles is to stray from life and the righteousness of God.
This is what the faith of Abraham and the nation of Israel was all about. The the ministers of Christ like the Levites before them served the tents of the congregations as the people were willing to gather and serve one another. The same was true of the congregations of Christ who gathered in tens as he commanded to provide a daily ministration of pure religion through faith, hope, and charity providing the wages of righteousness through love. Seeking that government of God called the kingdom of God instead of the wages of unrighteousness of the world requires that we repent of the covetous practices of force, fear, and fealty.
Israel as a nation was not to be bound together by schemes like the Golden calf nor by compacts of forced corban. It was to be bound together by love. The same is true of the early Church. And certainly should be true for the family.
Another word הטמ matteh[11] MemTetHey composed of different letters is also translated tribe 182 times, rod 52 times, staff 15 times, staves once. It is said to be from the word הטנ natah NunTetHey which means to stretch out or turn. Letters in Hebrew have meanings that can help us understand the full meaning of a word. See Sophistry.
Could it have come from the spirit of a parent or other willful spirits given influence over the child who want to impose their will on the child by the use of fear through physical violence by the infliction of emotional if not physical pain?
More about Golem.
Proverbs 13:24 is a part of a list and is preceded by Proverbs 13:23 "Much food [is in] the tillage of the poor: but there is [that is] destroyed for want of judgment."
This is a reference to the precept that was the sin of Sodom which is mentioned in Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
Giving without judgment weakens and even destroys people.[12]
The family of man
What is true in a family applies when you seek to form a congregation based on the love of Christ.
It is hard to win the trust of sheep but with consistent guidance of love and patience it can be done.
We cannot force compliance to Christ by forcing others to comply with what we believe is doctrine. We exercise faith by doing all we do in love.
I will not spare the rod of a good shepherd.
- Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.[13]
Most of us do wrong by habit and of course you can train people to do good by forcing them to do it over and over again and by fear of punishment. But to win the hearts of people according to the ways of Christ, our tactics and policies must be His tactics and policies. That does not mean that a parent or even an adult may never use force to obtain compliance what righteousness is at stake and certainly not when safety of others is at stake. You may. But force is not used to win the hearts and minds of the people. And we need to desire that our children hear the wisdom of Christ in us.
Habitually returning to error or the habit of sin is usually the result of Trauma where there is a part of our heart and mind that has been stunted or closed off. It becomes like a dark corner or room in our minds from which evil may influence us or those around us.
People need compassion and love which often includes forgiveness and patience to remove the influence coming from the dark trauma in our hearts or the hearts of others. Sin can be nothing more than Addiction.
From the beginning God has wanted us to choose to follow Him and walk with Him. He did not want brother to rule over brother like Cain and Nimrod by force. He wants us to follow the ways of Abraham, Gideon, Moses and Jesus Christ.
- "I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine." John 10:14
We must choose to follow the narrow path He leads us on. This is not an intellectual choice but a spiritual one. Many will not understand this because they live in the tree of knowledge and imagine they make choices by their own reason.
Somewhere in our spirit our pride or humility will filter the evidence of truth, accepting or rejecting that validity and reason of God and His divine will. Our intellect is often used as a rod to steer us away from the inconvenient truths that God has laid before us.
Many who we have loved will not love Christ enough to hear His whole gospel. Anything less than the whole gospel is a lie.
The truth is there are many people who think they are Christ-loving, Bible-honoring, grace filled, gospel-preaching, self-debasing, peace-loving believers but are not. You know they are not because they do not do what Christ said to do. In fact they are doing exactly what the Pharisees did.
In truth most modern day people who call themselves christian, are not serving God but are by their ways and means serving the ends of the Fathers of the world and Satan.
How do they do that?
They fail to be the social welfare of the people according to the perfect law of liberty by providing for one another through true love and pure religion that is not a snare or a trap. Even more, their ministers encourage and condone the people to go pray to the men who call themselves benefactors and exercise authority one over the other by offering a welfare that is a snare and a trap. This action entangles them in the bondage of the world again.
In order to keep the people under a strong delusion of false salvation these benefactors will need some ministers and priests out there doing good works to keep fooling many. They need to present some form of godliness but will be denying the power thereof.
- 2 Timothy 3:5 "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
They will need to keep pointing to the few quotes that talk about belief in Christ and that supposedly being all you have to do. They will never point to all those places where He instructs a person to...
- keep commandments in order to have eternal life,
- seek the kingdom of God first,
- strive to be righteous if you want to be saved,
- give or you will not receive,
- forgive or you will not be forgiven,
- be doers or you are not one of mine.
- pray to your father in heaven
If you really believed, all these things would be evidence of your faith. But that is not what we see in the modern Church.
Do we believe in what Jesus said?
Or do we believe in the doctrines of men gleaned from parts of the gospel?
The true ministers of God know the love and patience of God and know that he has sent them to rebuke those who think they are Christ-loving, Bible-honoring, grace gospel-preaching, self-debasing, peace-loving believers. Those people are actually allowing, promoting and condoning the same Corban of the Pharisees along with many other "damnable heresies" and delivering the people back into the yoke of bondage of the world.
Many preachers water down the gospel to keep their congregations whole. But we are not to be preaching our gospel but Christ's. The congregation must belong to Christ, not to the pastors. The ministers of God are supposed to be calling all to repentance, including those who think they are Christ-loving, Bible-honoring, grace gospel-preaching, self-debasing, peace-loving believers. Instead, those calling themselves ministers are going the way of the Pharisees and sending the people to pray to the men who call themselves benefactors but exercise authority.
We were directed not to be that way, and those who believe in Jesus should easily see that it is coveting your neighbor's goods to desire those benefits. This was and is the gospel of Christ and those who will not receive it are not Christ-loving or Bible-honoring and they will not be saved until they truly repent.
Many will not repent just as many Pharisees did not repent because they knew neither Moses nor Christ even though they thought they were Moses-loving, Torah-honoring, God-preaching, self-debasing, peace-loving Pharisees.
Yes! Many ministers will say they prophesied and preached in His name, and in His name cast out devils, and in His name have done many wonderful works and outwardly appear righteous unto men by their own standards, but within they are full of hypocrisy and iniquity... because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold and they will not sustain a society by faith, hope and charity.
Instead of doing it as Christ said and the early Church did, they will not attend to the weightier matters and they will not turn away from the Corban of the modern state Church which encourages all to pray to Caesar, Pharaoh and Nimrod to feed His sheep. Nor will they lift a finger to set the table of the Lord.
- ↑ 2 Timothy 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 07626 שֵׁבֶט shebet [shay’-bet] from an unused root probably meaning to branch off ShinBeitTet; n m; [BDB-986b] [{See TWOT on 2314 @@ "2314a" }] AV-tribe 140, rod 34, sceptre 10, staff 2, misc 4; 190 appearances often including at least 4 different additional letters in as many as 30 different variations.
- 1) rod, staff, branch, offshoot, club, sceptre, tribe
- 1a) rod, staff
- 1b) shaft (of spear, dart)
- 1c) club (of shepherd’s implement)
- 1d) truncheon, sceptre (mark of authority)
- 1e) clan, tribe
- ש Shin Eternal Flame of Spiritual Revelation, bound to the coal of righteousness, the Divine Essence. [sun... teeth... consume destroy] (Numeric value: 300)
- ב Beit Purpose: God's Dwelling Place Below - a house or God's house here. [household, in, into] (Numeric value: 2)
- ט Tet Introversion - The Concealed power of good or paradoxically evil [to twist a snake... wheel To surround (gestation)] (Numeric value: 9)
- See The Rod.
- 1) rod, staff, branch, offshoot, club, sceptre, tribe
- ↑ Westminster Leningrad Codex
חֹושֵׂ֣ךְ בְטֹו שֹׂונֵ֣א בְנֹ֑ו וְ֝אֹהֲבֹ֗ו שִֽׁחֲרֹ֥ו מוּסָֽר׃ - ↑ 4.0 4.1 07836 שָׁחַר shachar [shaw-khar’] a primitive root; v; [BDB-l007b] [{See TWOT on 2369 }] AV-seek early 4, seek 2, diligently seek 2, betimes 1, misc 3; 12
- 1) to seek, seek early or earnestly, look early or diligently for
- 1a) (Qal) to look for diligently, seek
- 1b) (Piel) to seek, seek early
- see The Rod.
- 1) to seek, seek early or earnestly, look early or diligently for
- ↑ 04148 מוּסָר muwcar [moo-sawr’] from 03256; n m; [BDB-416a] [{See TWOT on 877 @@ "877b" }] AV-instruction 30, correction 8, chasten 4, chastisement 3, check 1, bond 1, discipline 1, doctrine 1, rebuker 1; 50
- 1) discipline, chastening, correction
- 1a) discipline, correction
- 1b) chastening
- see The Rod
- 1) discipline, chastening, correction
- ↑ 03256 יָסַר yacar [yaw-sar’] a primitive root; v; [BDB-415b] [{See TWOT on 877 }] AV-chastise 21 instruct 8, correct 7, taught 2, bound 1, punish 1, reformed 1, reproveth 1, sore 1; 43
- 1) to chasten, discipline, instruct, admonish
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1a1) to chasten, admonish
- 1a2) to instruct
- 1a3) to discipline
- 1b) (Niphal) to let oneself be chastened or corrected or admonished
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1c) (Piel)
- 1c1) to discipline, correct
- 1c2) to chasten, chastise
- 1d) (Hiphil) to chasten
- 1e) (Nithpael) to teach
- see The Rod
- 1) to chasten, discipline, instruct, admonish
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 05288 ^רענ^ na‘ar \@nah’- ar\@ from 05287 shake out or overthrow; n m; AV-young man 76, servant 54, child 44, lad 33, young 15, children 7, youth 6, babe 1, boys 1, young 1; 238
- 1) a boy, lad, servant, youth, retainer
- 1a) boy, lad, youth
- 1b) servant, retainer
- 1) a boy, lad, servant, youth, retainer
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 05221 ^הכנ^ nakah \@naw-kaw’\@ a primitive root NunKafHey; v; {See TWOT on 1364} AV-smite 348, slay 92, kill 20, beat 9, slaughter 5, stricken 3, given 3, wounded 3, strike 2, stripes 2, misc 13; 500
- 1) to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill
- 1a) (Niphal) to be stricken or smitten
- 1b) (Pual) to be stricken or smitten
- 1c) (Hiphil)
- 1c1) to smite, strike, beat, scourge, clap, applaud, give a thrust
- 1c2) to smite, kill, slay (man or beast)
- 1c3) to smite, attack, attack and destroy, conquer, subjugate, ravage
- 1c4) to smite, chastise, send judgment upon, punish, destroy
- 1d) (Hophal) to be smitten
- 1d1) to receive a blow
- 1d2) to be wounded
- 1d3) to be beaten
- 1d4) to be (fatally) smitten, be killed, be slain
- 1d5) to be attacked and captured
- 1d6) to be smitten (with disease)
- 1d7) to be blighted (of plants)
- 1) to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill
- ↑ Genesis 19:4, Joshua 6:21, Esther 3:13
- ↑ ב Beit Purpose: God's Dwelling Place Below - a house or God's house here. [household, in, into] (Numeric value: 2)
- ↑ 04294 מַטֶּה matteh [mat-teh’] or (fem.)מטה mattah [mat-taw’] 05186 MemTetHey; n m; [BDB-641b] [{See TWOT on 1352 @@ "1352b" }] AV-tribe 182, rod 52, staff 15, staves 1, tribe + 04294 1; 251
- 1) staff, branch, tribe
- 1a) staff, rod, shaft
- 1b) branch (of vine)
- 1c) tribe
- 1c1) company led by chief with staff (originally)
- מ ם Mem Fountain of water, a flow, a fountain of the Divine Wisdom [massive, overpower chaos] (Numeric value: 40)
- ט Tet Introversion - The Concealed power of good or paradoxically evil [to twist a snake... wheel To surround (gestation)] (Numeric value: 9)
- ה Hey Expression--Thought, Speech, Action. Manifest seeds of thought and life. [Emphasize, jubilation, window, fence] (Numeric value: 5)
- 1) staff, branch, tribe
- ↑ Plutarch, Polybius, Benefactors
- ↑ Proverbs 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Proverbs 27:5 Open rebuke is better than secret love.