ELTB Eat Learn This Book

ELTB 2 [∞]

General thoughts

A format something like The Magic School Bus books might be helpful for this information. Then you can filter it into several levels of teaching/knowledge. This makes it appeal to a broader age range, as the younger ones can go for the more streamlined “story”of the basic dinner theater idea and the older ones can read the explanatory information balloons or the introductory material and gain more of the training in theological thinking. This would enable you to put the alphabet and word information in there without bogging down a read-through. One reads the main text, and then all the interesting side tidbits and Bible verses that give it theological depth and context.

If you do this sort of format, I recommend condensing the main text somewhat so that it reads more like a cohesive narrative with a few main points per page. Then the foundational material can go in info bubbles surrounding it or expository windows around the page or on their own excursus kind of page. I’ve done some of that below; it needs some more finessing if you like the idea.

For this to be a book that introduces children to the topic who have no prior knowledge of the subject, I think you need a bridge between Adam and the dietary laws. Perhaps Aaron’s job, which ties together the roles of teaching and distinguishing between clean and unclean in Lev 10:10. That would provide a bit more of a repetition rhythm.

I also switched around the order to make it more story-like.  From the beginning Before God created anything, there was just God. [1] He looked for a place to put a universe. There was nothing larger than God. [2] There was no place outside of him to create. He could only put the new things inside of himself. He opened a pocket within himself and spoke into it. [3] When the heavens and earth were finished; he created his friend. [4] [5] [6] "Hi Adam, I am God; let me teach holiness and love. [7] I will give you a tree as a symbol of holiness. It is separate and different from other trees. You should not eat from it, just because I am God. [8] I am Holy. I am Love." Adam not understanding God, would 'declare' his own rules as God had done. [9] He ate the fruit from the tree. [10] There should be a more explicit connection here between eating and learning (probably about the otherness/holiness of God and the tree) in the context of Adam.

God's name tells us that Adam did not understand God. God's name is Elohim. 'El' means 'God', 'im' means 'his people'. The 'H' sound means they don't understand. God is separated from his people because they don't understand. Each of the letters are symbols with meaning.

Everything... absolutely everything after this is to teach who God is. Through the dietary law, he reveals his nature by showing how to select good teachers.  God wants everyone to know him Everything God made is designed to teach about him. [1] However, it is difficult to learn from the stars and rocks. We learn easier through words and actions. God chose some people; the Hebrews, to teach everyone else about him [2], but they didn't know him very well themselves. So God wrote a play and chose the Hebrews to be the actors. [3] He gave them some commandments, a tabernacle, and some feasts to live by. These things were the script for the play, acting out who God was and what he had done for them. Everyone else would watch the play and learn about God. [4] God used their lives to write another story. [5] [6] Using things in their history as symbols, God wrote about himself, Jesus, and the cross. [7] In this book, we will look at the script; the rules God gave them about things they could eat. Through the symbols, good and bad teachers will be revealed by their behaviors.

Symbols In order to hide a second story in the history of his people, God had to use symbols. [1] [2] When you look at a picture of an apple, you know that it isn't an apple but just a symbol of an apple. It is something to make you think about apples. Words are also symbols. The word 'dog' is not a dog. It is just a symbol to make you think of dogs. Words can be used as symbols of other words. When you are told to 'hop in the car', do you really hop all the way to the car and jump in? I don't think you do that. The word 'hop' is used as s symbol to mean 'get in'. Why would we use 'hop' instead of 'get in'? "Get in" sounds bossy. Parents really don't like to boss you around. To be just a little playful, they would say 'hop in'. We also use symbols in jokes and riddles. You’ve heard the joke: Why did the chicken cross the road? The answer is "To get to the other side". But if we look deeper into the symbol of the riddle, ”the other side" is a symbol for going to heaven. Then whenever we see a chicken, we think of the real answer of the riddle: chickens remind us of going ot heaven. This is similar to how God taught his people.  The dietary law is not about eating God gave the Hebrews a number of laws telling them how to live. Some of these laws told Israel what to eat and what not to eat (dietary laws). These laws were to be used as a script for a play. [1] They would act out the play, and the audience, everyone else, would learn from it. The play is written in symbols and riddle. As a part of his law, God ordained priests to teach his people. The priests were to teach people how to be holy in imitation of God. The priests taught the Hebrews to eat the clean things—the things that holy people could eat— and to avoid the unclean things that would divide them from God. In this way, Israel would act out the play that would show others what kind of people they should be and follow. For us in the audience, dietary law [2] says nothing about what we can eat. Instead, eating is a symbol for learning how to live [3]. It tells us who we should learn from, and who we should not learn from. Each of these animals is a symbol for a different type of teacher. Unlocking the riddle of the dietary laws leads to understanding what the kinds of teachers the animals represent.

  Introduction The basis for this study is a first century hermeneutic demonstrated by the New Testament authors as they used Old Testament references, and an observable property of the Hebrew language called 'notarikon'. [1] Definition of notarikon here. John demonstrates a fluency in notarikon which is missed when the Septuagint is used instead of the original Hebrew texts. It can be demonstrated that John 1:1-4 is derived using these tools from the first three words of Genesis 1:1. Illustrate using בראשית The hermeneutic and use of notarikon eliminate the need to search for a mystical Q document to explain the so-called 'Synoptic Problem'. [2] Most people don’t know what Q or the Synoptic Problem is, so if you’re going to mention it, it needs a longer explanation.  For Israel The dietary law was written for Israel. 'Is' means 'man'. 'El' means God, just as it did in 'Elohim'. The 'R' sound means 'revelation'. Israel means 'man joined to God by revelation'. Jacob was called 'Israel' because God revealed himself through a dream [1], and by wrestling with him. [2] The Hebrews were called Israel because God revealed himself at the mountain. [3] You are called Israel because God has revealed himself to you through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Start page main narrative here: The Hebrews did not understand the riddles. They just acted them out. The answers to the riddles come from Jesus and the cross. We can understand the message of the play by the cross. The law tells us about God, by showing us the teachers that he wants for us. We don't need to act it out too. Since eating is a symbol for learning [1], each animal is a symbol of someone who teaches. There are some people we should learn from, and some we should not. Benjamin Franklin said, "He who lies down with dogs, gets up with fleas." He used dogs as a symbol for people who behave poorly, and fleas as bad behaviors we might learn from them. As we sit down to breakfast, we can eat the tasty bacon, think of pigs, and be reminded of what the riddle teaches us: that we should not learn (eat) from people who cannot tell if their own learning is good or bad.  Meditate on the word of God The clean animals are the ones the Hebrews were allowed to eat. They symbolize the people we should learn from. The clean animals of the Bible are described as those who 'chew the cud'. The actual word 'gerah' means to 'pursue the revelation that was not understood'. The cow will eat something and regurgitate it, up to three times, to chew it again and again until everything is digested. If you are a clean animal, you learn from God's word, then you 'chew the cud', thinking about it over and over again. The symbol of the cow reminds us to learn from people who spend time meditating (or chewing) on God’s word.

The cow has several stomachs, but you have only one. Please chew your food well before swallowing so that you only have to swallow once. Clean animals also walk on split hooves with two toes. These symbolize a 'separated walk' or life. [2] The way you ‘walk' is a symbol for the way you live. [3] If you have a separated life, you are living a life for God, separated from the things that distract us from God. You learn to walk with God by meditating on his word. [4] A good teacher is like this.  Camel The camel is an unclean animal. The Hebrews did not eat it because it didn’t have a separated hoof. Instead of walking with God, the camel is a symbol of a judge. [1] We hope our judges are good people. But God is using the judge to teach about himself through the nature of his teachers. Jesus said that we should not judge, or we too will be judged. [2]

Many people see God as a great and terrible judge. But he judged all of our sins on the cross of Jesus and forgave us to show that he is also love. When you are forgiven, there is no more judgement. [3]

God's teachers teach his love, the Gospel, by showing his forgiveness through the cross. He doesn't want us to become judges. He wants us to forgive as he has forgiven. [4] Jesus told a story about a man who owed a lot of money to a king. [5] He could never pay it back. When the king forgave him his debt, he put his neighbor in prison for owing him just a little money. The man was shown great love through forgiveness, but then became a judge who had none. The king threw the man in prison for not also forgiving. We should not learn to be a judge, because if we judge, we will be judged.  Coney The coney is another unclean animal that the Hebrews did not eat. When Adam named the coney he must have seen the coney take a treasure into his den, then return to the opening to defend it with bared teeth. His name means 'hide the treasure' [1] but it also means 'mystery פ of the biting teeth שן'. The coney is a symbol of a teacher who hides the Gospel.

God is Holy and he is also Love. Holiness is expressed by separation, the law, and judgement. His love is expressed by patience, long-suffering, and self-sacrifice. Judgement in the Old Testament was required to teach that he is holy. Now through the 'play' which was finished on the cross, His holiness is understood. When his holiness is learned through the cross, God is free to teach of his love. Consider when Elisha removed an ax head from the stream [2]: With an ax as a symbol of judgement, and the water a symbol of his word, he removed judgement from the Word. The same story is told when Jesus turned water; the word, into wine; a symbol of grace.

The coney-like teacher hides the treasure, or message of love, and only presents the teeth; the law. He uses the Bible to threaten people with the anger of God.  Not dedicated to God Rabbits are unclean! Some teachers are symbolized by rabbits. A warren of rabbits may look like popcorn. They jump when happy; they jump when scared; they just jump sometimes. The name in Hebrew means 'divided jubilation' [1]. The rabbit is a symbol of teachers who mix all kinds of religions together. They hop about from one religion to the next. This week it is Christmas, Hanukkah, or Quanza, and next they are celebrating Hindu dust. To them all religions are good. They have no discernment about what to celebrate.

Some people say we can't trust the Bible because it says the rabbit 'chews the cud' and rabbits don't chew the cud. The Bible says that only in English. In Hebrew is says they chew the 'gerah' which is a thing pursued again because it was not understood. [2] The rabbit actually passes its food through a second time by eating its night droppings. Unlike the clean animals that meditate on God’s word, the rabbit-like teacher knows the word of God but is not a good teacher. The teacher symbolized by rabbit or hare is not a good teacher because the knowledge of God does not produce a separated hoof. He does not live what he knows. Without discernment of what to celebrate, the teacher cannot dedicate his life to God.  Swine Pigs are also unclean. Swine eat, or learn, anything, and teach it as truth. For example, some people say their favorite verse of the Bible is "God helps those who help themselves". That isn't in the Bible. The swine is a symbol of the self-righteous; people who think they are good just because they think they are good. The name (חסיר )in Hebrew means 'perceive חז a new י revelation ר'. They think their own ideas, or whatever new ideas they hear, are true. Swine pass off new teachings from others as if they are from the Bible. They hear from others that there are errors in the Bible. They pass it on as truth to make themselves look clever. Teachers may learn things from scientific theories and pass them on as absolute truth. One thing is absolutely true in science: what it says is true today, will not be true tomorrow. They may read the Bible and not understand it. They will teach their error as truth. When faced with things that appear to be opposite teachings in the Bible, they just choose one and ignore the other, rather than work to understand they are both true. The one who cannot understand the word of God is not a good teacher.  Swine -2 The attitude of the swine-like teacher is so contagious it is dangerous. God’s law to the Hebrews about the swine was that they should not even 'touch their dead bodies' [1]. This riddle in Hebrew about teachers means that we should not be 'joined to their foolishness nor plagued by it.'. A pig-like teacher may brag he gave an apple to a homeless guy. The next swine brags he gave two apples. The first responds that his was the only apple he had and he gave it. The swine will also make you feel bad for the good work that you did, trying to seem better than you. This bragging of works is contagious. Do not be joined to it. Swine attitudes of self-righteousness based on his own ideas are contagious because they appeal to our desire to be important. We want to be noticed and appreciated. We want to look good to others. Do not be plagued by it. Instead, seek teachers who build their students up. Have nothing to do with the swine or you may get caught up in their folly. Perhaps this is a source for Paul's teaching: 2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  Fish Water is a symbol the word of God, so the clean fish represents the teacher who has been commanded to pursue, or search, the scriptures.

The Hebrew word for 'fish' means 'commanded to pursue'. [1] When Adam watched the fish darting around the water, it seemed like an appropriate name. A clean fish has scales symbolizing the armor of God [2] , and is propelled by fins symbolizing that the love Jesus had for the word, which motivates the teacher. This is hidden in riddle. [3] God's teachers are always looking to understand God better. They study, meditate, and then live what they have learned. They correct their teaching and their lives as they learn more. They are motivated by the same love for God's people that God has for his people. They desire that others know God's love. The fish live in three kinds of water or word. [4] The word of God comes from the 1. Father, 2. Son, and 3. Holy Spirit. God is made known through his 1. works; the things that happen in life, 2. his word; Jesus and the Bible, and by his 3. Spirit dwelling within us. The one who wears the armor of God as he searches the scriptures, swims in the water of God’s word, and is motivated by the love of God, is a good teacher.

  Summary When we eat clean animals which ruminate and have a split hoof [4], we remember that our teachers should meditate on the Word of God [5], and it should produce a Holy life or walk, in them. The camel is a symbol for a judge. Jesus said that we should not judge others [7]. Judges aren't good teachers. The coney hides the gospel and only teaches the law. The rabbit appears to celebrate at inappropriate times. The swine are those who have no discernment in what they learn [6]. A swine shouldn't be a teacher. These animals represent the behaviors of some people. We will need to understand what symbols are, then we can examine how the symbols are used to represent various kinds of people. This needs a summary/reiteration of the theater/play idea. Also, a summary of the fish.