SEPARATING THE SPIRITUAL FROM THE PHYSICAL
THE HIDDEN MEANING
INTRODUCTION
In these next scriptures, we at VAL-TE’ believe that forensic reconstructions of individuals from this period indicate, on average, a rugged appearance, often characterized by a thick neck, a heavy brow, and a broad nose. The Revelation of Immanuel, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Immanuel, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near… I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Immanuel, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Immanuel. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the omega, the First and the Last,” and “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. Revelation 1:1-16 NKJV
Biblical Word
FINE BRASS – Is this the way you repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. Deuteronomy 32: 6-9 NIV
Reference
Acts 17: 22-26 – Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, “I see that in every way as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, ‘To an Unknown God.’ That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone. From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live. GNT
Significance
Middle Eastern Jew (Specifically a Jewish inhabitant of Galilee or Judea) – We at VAL-TE’ also believe rather than the light-skinned depictions often found in Western art, people of this region generally had features similar to modern populations in the Middle East – such as Lebanese, Syrians, or Egyptians. Men likely had short, dark, curly hair and full, untrimmed, or neatly trimmed beards, which were common among Jewish men of the era. Because the society was a system where the economy is based on producing, managing, and selling crops – many people were physically fit, hardened by manual labor, such as farming or fishing. The most common, evidence – based image used to represent this population is based on a 2001 forensic reconstruction of a Galilean skull, often cited as a more accurate depiction of Immanuel’s appearance than traditional art.
