RIVER OF TRUTH

Twelve

Chapter One

Mark

In this chapter I will compare the shortest of the Gospels with equivalent passages in TUB in order to illustrate the greater depth, subtlety, detail, and clarity of TUB. Yet they both agree on the essentials of the Gospel message.

In Mark 1:2 it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way: the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight –

This refers to Is 40:3 (which is the first of 15 chapters of Deutero-Isaiah):

A voice crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain shall be made low; the uneven ground shall be made level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

In Mark 1:9 ff it is written: In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.’

TUB reports the same incident with this wording, This is my beloved Son; give heed to him. But without the dove. However, it also identifies the personality of the Father as Sananda, the Father’s Guide Spirit in Jesus which become personalized by the Father at that precise moment.

Mt 3: 17 gives This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Lk 3:21 gives us Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased. On the other hand, John 1:19 ff gives a much fuller account from the testimony of John the Baptist, ending with 1:32 ff, I saw the Spirit descend as a dove and remain. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.

After healing a leper, Mark 1:43 ff tells us that Jesus sternly charged him not to tell anyone but to go and show himself to the priests and carry out the rule of Moses as stated in Leviticus 14:1 ff. This is evidence of Jesus’ endorsement of the law of Moses, the Torah of the Old Testament, including the whole Pentateuch.

Mark 2:23 ff tells us that the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to eat ears of grain from the fields on the Sabbath, but he refuted them by quoting 1 Sam 21:6 ff, thus corroborating the validity of that OT account.

In Mark 2:27-28, Jesus tells us that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Here he refers to himself as the son of man. This is a direct reference to the book of Daniel, Dan 7:13 ff: I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

So, at the very beginning of Mark he confirms that Jesus is the true Godman, both Son of God and son of man, the one foretold by Daniel. As regards the founding of the Sabbath, the details given in both Ex 23:12 ff and Deut 5: 14 ff amply confirm his claim that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

It is in a way strange that Jesus fully endorsed the book of Daniel. It was the first apocalyptic book and was written about 163 BC, while claiming to be written in the 6th century BC. It is considered by most scholars to be a work of fiction, a bogus prophecy written after the historical events it describes actually occurred. Yet it is quoted even in TUB, as well as endorsed by the Gospel Jesus, and it contains references and descriptions of things that, if we are to believe TUB, could only have been described by superhuman beings. From my point of view I regard it as partly fiction, in the same way as a good historical novel is partly fiction, but at the same time there is a thread of divine revelation in it, and that is contained in the parts that deal with the visions of Daniel. Like Robin Hood, Daniel is a patriotic legend, but there is some fire glowing behind the smoke of myth and legend. Something really happened that people were desperately anxious to remember. Although many historical details have been mixed up or lost, something very important happened, and it was powerful enough to initiate an apocalyptic genre that continued for about 400 years, well into Christian times.

In Daniel, the relation of the visions are not in linear order, because, IMHO, some of the different descriptions are just different versions of the same vision. This is typical of many biblical books. Even the vision I quoted above is, I think, part of the preceding account, in Dan 7:9 ff – As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

Parts of this very passage are quoted in TUB itself:

(314.5) 28:6.6 The Memory of Mercy is a living trial balance, a current statement of your account with the supernatural forces of the realms. These are the living records of mercy ministration which are read into the testimony of the courts of Uversa when each individual’s right to unending life comes up for adjudication, when thrones are cast up and the Ancients of Days are seated. The broadcasts of Uversa issue and come forth from before them; thousands upon thousands minister to them, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before them. The judgment is set, and the books are opened. And the books which are opened on such a momentous occasion are the living records of the tertiary seconaphim of the superuniverses. The formal records are on file to corroborate the testimony of the Memories of Mercy if they are required.

This illustrates the extreme thoroughness and precision with which God, Our Father, in union with the Holy Trinity, organizes all responsibilities of Creation. With Him mercy and justice walk hand in hand. The Ancients of Days are Trinity Sons, created sub-absolute beings, infinite in some respects, and are part of ‘God the Sevenfold’ in association with the Infinite Paradise