Chapter 1 Organization/ Power/ Prosperity

This section is taken from Bones, What They Teach About Law… And Vice Versa. The book is still in process (one chapter to go!). When it becomes available as an ebook I will indicate that here.

One of the early characteristics we learn of God is His love of organization.

In the creation story¹ we see how He, as Creator, took an unorganized mass of elements² and organized them into a beautiful world. (He can do the same thing with a disordered life! )

Before He put His stamp of approval on the first sanctuary, He waited until Moses had first put everything in order (Exodus 40:33-34).

In Ezekiel’s vision of “dry bones” the prophet saw the Savior first organize them, then cover them with appropriate layers, then fill them with His spirit (Ezekiel 37).

Before He sent His Holy Spirit to empower and lead His fledgling church, Christ first helped them become united and “of one accord” (Acts 2:1-2).

We see this same characteristic of order in the law.

THE DIVISIONS OF LAW AND BONE

The most universally known group of laws is the Ten Commandments. They form the foundation of God’s kingdom. As we examine this set we notice the Creator organized it into two divisions: love to God, and love to man³. Four of the Ten Commandments (40%) deal with our direct expression of love to God. The last six (60%) relate to our expression of love to man.

The same Mind that formed the foundation of His government also created the foundation of our bodies, our skeletal system. This being so, and since our bodies were designed to represent God to the world⁴, we should see a corresponding order in the organization of our bones.

The skeletal system also has two divisions, as does the Law –the axial and the appendicular. The axial division includes the head, neck, sternum, rib cage, and spine. The bones in this division protect and serve the vital organs. So which division would make the most sense: Love to God or Love to Man? We assigned it to the “love to God″ division because it, like the first division of the Commandments, is so vital to life. Even Scriptures use this part of the anatomy to identify the position Christ takes to His body of believers:

Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body.

The bones of the arms, legs, hands, and feet, along with the “yoking bones” of the shoulder and hip girdles, would compose the appendicular division. As the axial deals with the divine aspects, this division deals with the human aspects. This is the part of our body we use in serving or helping one another. Lacking these extremities, we would find it very difficult to do someone a favor! God’s law shows that getting involved in the needs of others is pleasing to Him, and part of His divine plan – as Jesus’ earthly life so demonstrated.

I John 3:17 18 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

A SUBGROUP

The appendicular division is composed of two subgroups of bones, the appendages that minister to the rest of the body, and a smaller group of “yoking” bones that joins the arms and legs to the trunk. This latter group contains bones of an entirely different character than the appendigal bones. They appear in function more like those of the axial division, but anatomists have associated them with the appendages.

[Note: In counterpart teaching sometimes a question is raised about the side we are more familiar with because we see in the other side something that we understand is true, though we haven’t seen its equal yet. That is what is happening now. A second but smaller group of bones with a very specific purpose shows up and calls for its position in its counterpart. So we must go searching.]

In our expression of love to man, are there two ways to serve one another? And does the Bible say anything about another smaller group of laws, besides the Ten Commandments, that deal with our love to man, a group that appears more divine than human and that joins us to Christ in service? Yes on both! John records a set of 2 commandments, besides the 10 of the Decalogue, that Jesus gave concerning our love to man.⁵ We call them the “yoking bones”. (See chapter 2 for more detail.)

This suggests that there must also be a select group of people who stand between the Lord and the public, and act as pastors, ministers, priests, Bible workers, or even seers or prophets, helping connect man with God, and for this assignment we will see (in the next chapter) how God has specially endowed them with certain benefits. The wider group would be perhaps those who serve one another as neighbors, friends, family, or in their employment (as law enforcement officers, social workers, etc.)

DISTRIBUTION

206 bones compose the human skeleton. Of this, 6 are in the yoking subgroup, leaving a total of 200 to divide between the axial and appendicular divisions. To illustrate the power of counterpart study, by my asking a few questions you will tell me how many bones are in each division, though you may never have had an anatomy class in your life (or forgot what you learned)!

Since we do not know our skeletal anatomy we access its counterpart in the word, the Ten Commandments. We want to know how many bones are in the axial section, so we look for the division that best fits that part of the anatomy. This, of course, would be the “love to God” section, since it is the vital part. And then we see what percent of the law it contains (40%, the first four commandments). If this truly equates with the axial division of the skeletal system, then we would guess 40% of the 200 bones should be found in that section.⁶ That, by the way, IS the number of bones in the axial skeleton! Simple subtraction will give us the number of the bones in the appendicular division, and to this we must add the 6 yoking bones that join for service⁷, which are also classed as appendicular.⁸ These yoking bones describe those who stand in the place of God to man, which, hopefully, we all might have opportunity to do at some time.

COUNTERPART HIGHLIGHT Do you realize what we have just done by using counterparts? We have taken what we already knew in the spiritual body (the percent of commandments in each division) and assumed it to be the same in the physical body (the one God designed to be a representation of Himself). We stretched our left foot out into the darkness and placed it accurately on the rail paralleling where our right foot is on the spiritual rail, making a conclusion that was consistent with both realms! And the scientific findings backed us up! We could not do this if the two weren’t really counterparts, unless it was just a coincidence. If our study ended here it would prove little. But you will find as you read through these chapters that we will be doing this many, many times. We can do this because of the truth in Malachi 3:6, I am the LORD. I change not.

THE POWER FACTORS

The Bible speaks about the law having two power sources, the letter and the spirit.

Rom 7:6 MKJV But now we having been set free from the Law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

The letter of the law is its “mechanical” or “inorganic” nature. It is more functional than relational. The letter does not depend on a living factor. It works whether something is dead or alive. We can see the “letter” of the Law operating even without a living relationship with Jesus. It will “mechanically” reward those who obey it. There is a satisfaction the obedient receive, a peace, contentment, and perhaps even a slight “charge” when one hears the law and does it, according to the letter.

• Avid runners talk about the “high” they get from running. The high is not just a satisfaction, it is an actual production and distribution of hormones and chemicals resulting from the exercise.
• Space scientists, even though by act and word may deny a Creator, or may not believe in Jesus Christ, are rewarded for their faithfulness in obeying nature’s laws to the letter. Astronauts can do marvelous things because of their attention to the letter of the law.
• The Pharisees were also an example of such a group. Their devotion to the letter was classic. Jesus addressed it often.

Matthew 6:2,5 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward…. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Because the letter of the law superficially rewards the obedient, the letter can actually work against the spirit of the law, even to the point of killing its purpose in us! Many are content with going only that far, so they never experience the real power of the law, its spirit.

II Corinthians 3:6 Who hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Conscientious people can be moral and upright just because it makes sense and has good results, and miss developing a relationship with the Source of morality and goodness. Many can be convinced that healthful living and natural healing are the way to go, and even become powerful speakers on the subject, and miss every spiritual lesson they are designed to teach. Business people can be sticklers on promptness, efficiency, and thriftiness and still react against those who expect the same from them in church board meetings. The letter, by itself, can kill.

However, the law is also spiritual⁹. This is the “organic” factor. We say this because for something to be classed as “organic” it must have a living element in it to work. In the case of the Law, its function is dependent upon the Lawgiver. So in order to enjoy the law’s more powerful aspects – its spirit – one must have something beyond, or outside of, the law itself. One must have the living, vitalizing presence of Jesus, the Lawgiver, in the life! The Law is the very character of Christ. Or to say it another way, Jesus is the embodiment of the Law. If we have one we have the other.

Without God dwelling within to help us through the divine aspects of the law, that part will seem strange, foolish, and impossible to comprehend – like trying to understand the game of football from the ball itself.

I Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Now let’s look at bones again. We are learning that bones and divine Law were designed to teach us about each other. From the spiritual side we know there are two power factors, one, much weaker, not needing life to work and another more powerful one dependent on a living factor. This being so, we can expect to see the same also in bones. One should be inorganic and another organic.

And that they are!

THE LETTER

Salt crystals give bone their rigidity and mechanical strength. When a force is applied to these crystals, a tiny electrical charge is created called Piezo Electricity. This power is inherent in crystals and is not dependent on any organic or living factor. It is along these electrical pathways that, in living bone, the bone forming cells lay down or pick up mineral salts, giving osseous tissue its unique strength. This miniscule charge is internal and mechanical. It answers to the “letter of the law”.

THE SPIRIT

However, the real power of bones comes from outside the skeletal system, from the breath of life, the very life of God. As long as bones contain this vital factor, they can grow, adapt, store fats, and produce blood. Lacking it, the bones are no more than a crystal “casket”!

When the life force of the bone is lost, that living factor only God can give, then rigormortis sets in and stiffens the body. Read about the unbending nature of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.¹⁰ Notice the insensitivity of Achan.¹¹ Consider the stiffness of Ananias and Sapphira.¹² The letter of the law without its spirit will actually shut up the kingdom of heaven to its adherents.¹³ In this sense the letter of the law (by itself) can kill. We become content with a miniscule power and reject the supreme benefits in Jesus. Beware of these indicators of moral death!

And connecting with the RIGHT spirit is important too. When Christ was buried and sealed in the tomb, the whole economy of heaven and hell was hanging on what would happen that third day. If Christ didn’t rise, Evil would triumph. If Christ did rise, Good would triumph.

You can be certain that Satan took no chances on having a few imps of darkness guarding that tomb and preventing the resurrection. I imagine every devil of hell, including the master of them all were at that tomb! And is there power in darkness? You can be sure of that!¹⁴ Yet how many GOOD angels did it take to send the whole host of darkness fleeing? One!

Matthew 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

Yes, there is power in the spirit, but let’s make sure we are connected to the right Spirit!

COUNTERPART HIGHLIGHT The student of the Word comes across a truth: the law has two powers, the letter and the spirit (Romans 7:6), and learns that spirit is greater than letter, but is aware of only one power in bones (bones can do all they do only when there is life in them). So confusion sets in. If bones and God’s Law are REALLY counterparts then there must be another power inferior to life, something that is not dependent on life (inorganic), that also is part of bones. So we do some more research and learn about Piezo electricity, broadening our understanding how bones work. Counterpart learning has done it again. It has given us an edge over conventional learning.

But we want to make sure this counterpart thing isn’t just a contrived idea, someone putting random ideas together to make it appear to work. So let’s continue our study. In this next point I really felt I had found the weak link.

BLOOD FACTORIES

In God’s order, redemption was to come by blood, not law. Blood has preeminence. The blood is the life of the flesh and by it is atonement made.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

So what should we expect in the physical realm? We have been taught since childhood that our bones make our blood. If bone is made before blood, and produces it, then it should have the preeminence, shouldn’t it? Children come from parents, so children should honor their parents (5^th commandment). As in the natural, so in the spiritual. (Finally I believed I found the bottom of this counterpart thing, a depth bones and law could not go.)

How surprised I was as I checked out when and where blood first appears in the developing fetus! God is consistent! He did design blood to come before bone! The first detectable site of blood cell production (hematopoiesis) is outside the human embryo in a structure called a yolk sac—in less than 3 weeks after conception! By 5-6 weeks the fetal liver becomes and remains the primary site until the 6th month of gestation and may continue to produce blood cells normally until about 1-2 months after birth. The spleen also assists in blood cell production between the 4th and 8th months of gestation. And after birth the liver and spleen (and sometimes even the lymph nodes) may become active blood cell production sites under stress.

But apparently God’s intent was for us to associate blood production with bone. Red bone marrow becomes the principle site of hematopoiesis after the 6th month of conception, and the only active site when the liver quits 1-2 months after birth, and remains so (except in diseased or stressed conditions) for the rest of our life.

So why have blood come from bone? God wanted us to connect redemption with His Law, the sacred transcript of His character. We would not know we needed a Saviour if it were not for God’s laws.

Romans 7:7 I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Galatians 3:5 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Our body first made blood, then it made bone, then it had the bone make the blood! In other words, blood has preeminence over bone as well as law. Without the pre-existence of a divine Intercessor, a heavenly Saviour complete with redemptive blood waiting to be applied, law could not have been made. What an assurance to mortal sinners! And what a God! The very existence of the law guarantees the presence of a Redeemer, a Saviour. There is no law greater than our Saviour’s redemptive blood; and, consequently, there is no sin (breaking of a law) Christ’s blood cannot override with our permission. This is one of the first lessons of the gospel written in our bodies! How fearfully and wonderfully we are made!

Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

COUNTERPART HIGHLIGHT Notice in this illustration how counterpart teaching worked. A spiritual fact (redemptive blood is greater than any transgressed law) challenges a life-long teaching (blood comes from bone). If blood and redemption are counterparts as are bone and law, and blood comes from bone, then obedience to law would preempt faith in a Redeemer’s atoning blood. We must first be sinless before we can be forgiven. Of course this goes directly against the Gospel (as in Romans 5) and would prove this counterpart idea worthless. So we look deeper into the development of bone and blood and find, yes, initially blood does come before bone! So now the student of God’s Word can look at God’s Law as a friend, to help us throughout life, not as a threat to condemn us.

BONE BANKS

Guess what. God also wanted us to associate His law with prosperity!

Deuteronomy 29:9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

Prosperity is the condition one is in when supply exceeds need. God is pleased to bless us beyond our need so that we can be a channel of blessing to others. But there is more to prosperity than just supply. The truly prosperous person must also have unrestricted access to that supply.

Old man Rutherford was a miser if there ever was one. It can be said that never did he spend a penny foolishly. Probably, to be more accurate, we could say he never spent a penny. His appearance, with old, worn-out shoes, patched trousers, and a tattered second-hand coat demanded a sympathetic look by the hundreds of people passing him daily. Rutherford was a street bum in New York City and was deeply respected by his peers as a master beggar. The old codger knew how to squeeze a nickle out of nearly anyone–even other beggars!

But he had a strange practice. He never spent his “earnings”. Every Thursday he would go to the bank and make a deposit. If he needed “new” shoes, he would scrounge around the rubbish behind some shoe store looking for a pair someone discarded, or, if things got really bad, he would beg a pair off one of his “friends”. When hungry, Rutherford would find a soup line somewhere or raid the trash cans behind a grocery store or bakery. I tell you, old Rutherford had it down! That is, until the winter of ‘32.

It was a hard winter that year, with the depression, unemployment, and all. And people were holding their money to themselves as tightly as their wraps. Not even the master beggar could squeeze a penny out of them. It was bad. But worse yet were the soup lines. Street bums were everywhere and the lines were blocks long. By the time Rutherford got to the serving deck the soup was gone and only a few crumbs of bread were left. This went on for weeks. The old man was getting weaker and weaker. Eventually he got to the point where he could not stand in the lines, and that meant his only source of nourishment would be at the sympathy of fellow beggars. But this winter there was not much money or sympathy anywhere.

Three days before March old Rutherford died. They say it must have been of starvation. He was never sick in all his 74 years. Since he never married (he couldn’t conceive of “supporting” someone), his only brother, 5 years his younger, was notified and came to arrange for the funeral and gather up what remained of 26 years of street bumming. Rutherford’s pattern of Thursday trips to the bank was discovered, as well as his deposit book, so the brother checked the bank to see if there was enough to help defray the burial expenses. To his surprise he found $134,788.15 in Rutherford’s account—in those days a small fortune—yet the beggar died of starvation.

Rutherford, by some people’s standards, was a prosperous beggar. But because of his self-imposed restriction on drawing on his account, his wealth did him no good in emergencies. If we are prosperous, but Need has limited access to Abundance, the benefits of prosperity are drastically reduced. God’s type of prosperity fulfills both conditions, supply and accessibility.

The Bible associates prosperity and favor with fatness.¹⁵

Genesis 41:2-4 And behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow. And behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine.

But prosperity can become a burden, a taskmaster, a destroyer. It depends on how we handle it, where we put it, what we do with it. A rotund cartoon character often is used to illustrate worldly prosperity. His wealth is external, visible to all, superficial.¹⁶

Psalm 17:9-10 the wicked…. are enclosed in their own fat.

Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

God tells us where our fat (prosperity) should be.

Psalm 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness.

Isaiah 25:6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees [preserved], of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

Isa 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones

You notice the association of fatness with marrow? Worldly prosperity is visible; God’s is hidden. Prosperity, like law, was intended to be unobtrusive, out of sight.¹⁷ The Saviour expressed His disgust with those who made a show of their abundance.

Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Energy is the currency of nature; and fats are the high octane fuel of the body. Besides providing more than twice the amount of calories for energy than carbohydrates or proteins, fats also are used to build cell parts. Fats insulate too. And fats compose much of our brain. (I wonder about the “worthiness” of fat-free foods!)

So to make sure that our life current has sufficient energy to keep things going, ample supply for cell parts and proper brain function, and an insulation against the extremes and emergencies of life, the bones start a “savings account” by changing the red blood-producing marrow into yellow fat-storing marrow. But God does not tie up His assets! If ever the need arises for more blood to be made than the present red marrow can provide, God turns the yellow marrow “savings account” back into the red marrow “checking account”!

ANOTHER COUNTERPART EXAMPLE

Where would you expect the greatest concentration of yellow marrow to be in our skeleton, and when would our body start making it? Normally, these would be questions an anatomy teacher would ask her students. But, using counterparts, we can answer that without the benefit of an anatomy book. To find out, let’s go back to the Bible.¹⁸ In the text below we find what makes our bones “fat”.

Isaiah 58:10-11 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Did you catch that? It is our expression of love to man that brings fatness into the bones, that puts us in a condition of divine prosperity. And what bones do we use to serve mankind? The bones in the appendicular division, our arms and hands, legs and feet. Would it not be consistent, then, to assume that the yellow marrow, the fat-storing tissue of the bones, would be more predominately in the limbs? Yes. This is exactly the case!

But what about the timing? When does our body start this “savings account”? Again let’s go to the Scriptures.

Paul says in Hebrews 5:13-14 that babies are unskillful in service; whereas adults by reason of use have their senses exercised for service. The more experienced we become in ministering to the needs of others the more mature we are and farther away from “babyhood”. According to this, then, it sounds like our expression of love to man that brings fatness into the bones is not typical of babyhood, that yellow marrow production would be an activity of the body beyond babyhood.

During infancy and childhood blood cell production is the main theme of bone marrow; but as the demand for blood decreases, the bones start replacing the blood-producing tissues with fat-storing tissues. The bones kept as blood-producers are those closest to the trunk, like in the yoking bones. The more distant appendages become the sites for fat-storers.

Our true prosperity is in willing obedience to God’s laws and loving service to others.

III John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

COUNTERPART HIGHLIGHT As we study our Bible we learn about prosperity, what hinders spiritual growth and what benefits it. When we learn that heaven-ordained prosperity is associated with the bones, what it is and when it begins, we are gaining insight into a development of our skeletal system. And by using counterparts it will be considerably easier to remember what the greater number of anatomy students will soon forget (after the exams).

SUMMARY

The bones have a lot to teach us about Jesus. We learn that order and organization are very important to Him. We have seen how the Creator divided the bones and His gospel law in exactly the same way. Love to God is fundamental, primary, but service to our fellow man is also part of God’s design – as Jesus’ life demonstrated. There is a power in strict obedience to the letter of the law, but it pales drastically when compared to the power of God’s Spirit giving life to the law, making it applicable to daily needs. And we have observed that true prosperity is not intended to be on public display and comes to those who become channels of God’s blessings to others.

Yet we have just begun in our Counterpart Study!

Psalm 119:18,24 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law…. Thy testimonies are my delight.