Issued: 02/24/24

“Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life…No one comes to the Father except through me…I have given you a model to follow, so that you should do as I have done for you.”

Matthew 7:14; John 14:6, 13:15

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: http://www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only and Most High God.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

Son, Father’s Implementer: Overview

   With his incarnation, Yahweh Son became the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth, essentially continuing his former stewardship, though this time stripped of any ruling power (Philippians 2:5-8).  He had become ‘man’ in order to leave a record of the behaviors Father expected from every mortal being.  Though Son by “birth” [↔Psalm 2:7], not for him the special privileges and considerations people in authority lavish on relatives and cronies.  To please the Father Who makes no distinction amongst His creatures (Deuteronomy 10:17; Romans 2:11), the ‘only begotten’ Son had to bite the bullet like everyone else—and did.                  

   The crucial thing we are being told in the opening verses is that contrary to popular belief neither all religions nor their founders lead to Father:  Only Jesus is both gate and path to mankind’s Divinity.  Nevertheless, as faith and worship must be personal choices, everyone is free to believe what he/she wishes (Romans 14:5); with the understanding that on Judgment Day, subjective beliefs may not induce the Judge of all Flesh to cut anyone some slack (John 5:22; Acts 10:42, 17:31).¹  Even those boasting of ‘miraculous’ résumés will be found false (Matthew 7:21-23).

   Paul tells us that Jesus had to suffer by way of perfecting those who would believe in him (Hebrews 2:10↔Isaiah 53:3), while in the process shaping and validating Jesus’ leadership qualifications.  Not for Father the way of leaders telling others what to do or die for while sitting pretty on their posteriors.  Fair was fair:  Jesus had to endure what men did if he was to have the moral stature to ask others to imitate him. Unlike human aspirants to power, Jesus did the talk and walked the walk.

   Now Paul was not talking off the top of his head:  He was building upon, as was his ministerial style (Acts 26:22-23)—and Peter’s (1Peter 2:24)—on Isaiah 53, particularly those verses leaving no doubt that the Messiah’s suffering, though inflicted by Satan and his minions, were permitted by Father (53:4,6,10)­—His norm in Scripture of accepting personal responsibility for any type of suffering (Isaiah 45:7↔Daniel 4:35).  And Jesus corroborated:  “Shall I refuse to drink the cup of sorrow which the Father has given me to drink” (John 18:11); or when Jesus told Pilate that the latter had no power over life and death unless given him from above (John 19:11).  If he was to fulfill his Messianic role, Jesus had to endure whatever Father imposed on him to the bitter end (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 26:53-54; Philippians 2:8).

   Before going on, we should not ignore related Scriptures bearing on this objective.  For one thing, it validates the assertion that “the elder will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23; Romans 9:12), which specifically applies to Esau and Jacob [shadow]; but in the substance way—again the Scriptural norm—prefigures aspects of Jesus’ ministry.  He was the elder Son serving his brother Jacob/Israel (Genesis 32:28; Psalms 22:22), since Israel was to be the focus of his earthly labors (Mark 7:27, 10:45) as he laid the foundations of Father’s human-bricked Temple (Ephesians 2:19-22; Hebrews 3:6; 1Peter 2:5; Revelation 21:14).  In course of time Jesus’ Jewish Apostles became the springboard that catapulted Christianity onto the world at large (Acts 1:8), confirming a second assertion that salvation would come from the Jews (John 4:2), the “olive tree” into which Gentiles would be grafted (Isaiah 5:7; Romans 11:17-24).

   Thirdly, Jesus intimated that as loving though He was, Father was to be feared rather than taken for granted (Matthew 10:28↔Romans 11:22; Hebrews 10:29-31,38).  Neo-Christian evangelism has replaced fear of Father, the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 110:10; Proverbs 1:7), with the destructive notion He is straight-jacketed by amoral love (Isaiah 29:13) for His wayward children.  All Biblical exhortations are to submit fully to Him because there is no human way to resist Him (Ecclesiastes 8:2-4; Isaiah 66:2; Daniel 4:35; 1Corinthians 10:22). The time when He will ‘mollycoddle’ men is not on this world but the one to come (Revelation 21:1-4).

Son, Father’s Implementer: Details

   Before “Light” (Genesis 1:3), symbolizing Father‘s creation of Son within the context of time [i.e., the “today” of Psalms 2:7], Son had been unaccounted for in timelessness (Genesis 1:1-2). Father, by definition “Father of lights in Whom there is neither variation [↔Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6]² nor shifting shadows” (James 1:17), could in no wise have a hand in the creation of Lucifer, the antithetical “Darkness” of Genesis 1:4. Thus while proclaiming “Light was good,” but making no assessment regarding “Darkness,” Father “separated” one from the other. In Colossians 1:16, the Holy Spirit through Paul made it clear that Son had created everything in heavenly realms [angels] and on earth [nature/humanity]; so that while Son was Lucifer’s de facto creator, Father assumed responsibility for that deed (Isaiah 54:16↔Ezekiel 21:3-4,10-11,13-15↔Isaiah 63:10).

   Yahweh Father then entrusted the implementation of His plan of redemption to His created proxy God, Yahweh Son, by endowing Son with Father‘s power to call non-existing things into being (Romans 4:17). The objective was for Son to finalize Creation from “Darkness” on First Day to Seventh Day of Rest—the reason why Jesus called himself Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), identifying himself as the implementer of the perpetual “sign” identifying Father as the ultimate Creator/Sanctifier of His people (Exodus 31:13↔Hebrews 2:11-12).³ Please note that John 1:3, Colossians 1:16 and Hebrews 1:2-3 clearly state that all things were created through Son and for Son; which establishes Jesus’ credentials as Father‘s proxy/de facto Creator but not as the Prime Mover of all things.

Son, Father’s Implementer: Failings

   However much we admire Jesus for enduring his ordeals, we must be careful not to discredit the God Who permitted them.  Father would never consent to any form of punishment were there not reasons justifying it (Numbers 14:18; Jeremiah 30:11) or purposes behind it (Matthew 26:53-54; Zechariah 13:9); otherwise the sadism inflicted on Jesus would be meaningless to us if he suffered for no reason at all.  If Jesus was to be a true example to men, and men are ‘tested’ both as atonement for past sins and to instill obedience, then Son must have done something wrong to justify his ordeal: If Son was blameless from Creation to crucifixion, his suffering cannot be correlated to men’s. The human Jesus was tempted in all things as men are but never sinned (Hebrews 4:15); therefore we must look to his pre-existence in order to find how he transgressed. For the whole thing to make sense, if men being sinners can aspire to make good, Son, “so that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18), had to be the first transgressor who made good [↔John 16:33].

   Jesus intimated he was Yahweh Son by referencing “the glory that I had with You [Father] before the world existed” (John 17:5).⁴ This is supplemented by Paul in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” These tell us that inside the embryo implanted in Mary lived the consciousness and totality of Yahweh Son, so that the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth was no new addition to mankind: He had pre-existed it but had joined its ranks in human form with all the knowledge he had amassed in his stint as Yahweh Son proxy God. Remember this when hearing pious but misinformed bromides about Mary or Joseph having played a role in Jesus’ religious education.

   Now, according to Scripture, what did Yahweh Son do that was at odds with Father‘s will? The only thing that is glaringly obvious: He sometimes did not follow through with his stated intentions (Genesis 6:7-8; 1Chronicles 21:15; Jonah 3:10); thus creating the impression to this day amongst those who cannot differentiate Father from Son, that Scripture was in error because God changed His mind though admitting He never would (Numbers 23:19↔Hebrews 6:13-18). We may assume that this was no act of rebellion on Son‘s part against Father, but that his loving nature drove him to compromise his own credibility (Jonah 4:2) as well as Father‘s (Zephaniah 1:12).

   Paul hints at Jesus’ ‘guilt’ in Hebrews 5:8: “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” Obedience in what sense, since following Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon him and a heavenly voice declared him to be “beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17)? Hebrews 4:15 makes clear that Jesus did not transgress during his earthly life; yet as stated above, he erred in his pre-existent role as Father‘s steward/representative. Consequently, he too had to be disciplined [↔Numbers 14:18; Jeremiah 30:11; Nahum 1:3]; so that Father allowed Jesus’ ordeal [↔Isaiah 53:10; John 18:11, 19:11]. Here we have the first reason, as argued above, why the blameless Jesus had to endure punishment of some kind by way of atoning for failings in his pre-existence.⁵

   Which brings us to the second argument, the objective behind Jesus’ ordeal; to wit, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God [Father]…to make the Author [Son↔Hebrews 12:2] of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10). What are we being told? That by disciplining Son, Father had a grander design: Through Son‘s example (John 13:15), followers would submit to their respective ‘disciplining’ as willingly and uncomplainingly as Jesus had done [↔Leviticus 26:43; Psalms 51:4; Isaiah 53:7; Micah 7:9; Matthew 26:39; 1Peter 2:20-23, 3:17]; and that just as Jesus learned to obey Father totally and unconditionally, so would those ‘perfected’ in suffering. Consequently, Jesus charted the roadmap every faithful after him would have to follow [↔John 15:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:12] in order to achieve a common goal: To prove himself/herself Father‘s legitimate son/daughter and worthy of sharing Jesus’ inheritance (Romans 8:17; 2Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 12:5-8).

   In this manner, just as the Holy Spirit was Father‘s spiritual ‘probe,’ Son was Father‘s mortal ‘probe,’ relaying back to Father the ins and outs of the human condition that Father could not experience first hand. We are here extrapolating from space probes, which in their search for alien intelligence contain not only information from/about their creators but relay messages back to them. While the Holy Spirit to this day reports back on men’s souls (Romans 8:26), Jesus witnessed and experienced the vicissitudes of life; so that their inputs combined inform Father‘s mind.⁶

   To summarize, we are not seeing the whole picture if we believe that Jesus’ ordeal was wholly underserved.  We must incorporate what we know about Father into the picture, acknowledging that He does not allow Satan to inflict suffering unless there is a reason to do so once culpability has been established [↔Jeremiah 30:11; Nahum 1:3].  He would not have subjected the man Jesus to his ordeal unless the indwelling Yahweh Son had to atone for something in proportion to the magnitude of his former transgression. This protocol supports our argument that Father disciplines when atonement is warranted and for a purpose ultimately beneficial to the sufferer. He is not the vindictive, arbitrary Deity His detractors claim Him to be.

Son, Father’s Implementer: Lessons Learned

   The “obedience” Jesus learned taught him to replicate Father’s ruling style post-resurrection: He was the engendered male child caught up to God, and to his throne [↔Psalms 110:1; Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55-56; Revelation 5:13, 12:5].  Just like the offspring of mortal powers that be, Jesus came into the world not only to exemplify the duties of righteous authority, but to learn the ways of the world in the school of hard knocks.  No longer for post-resurrection Jesus personal acts of emotional wavering, but the uncompromising dispensation of divine justice that brooked no special considerations or treatments no matter how committed the disciple (Acts 9:15-16; 2Corinthians 2:8-9; Galatians 6:17).  As prophesied he went on to rule over the nations with an iron hand (Psalms 2:9; Revelation 2:27, 3:19, 19:5): He had been trained in and painfully learned the realities/necessities involved in divine ruling.  The kid gloves of yore had come off.

   If Yahweh Son had on occasion acted unilaterally, Jesus the man subjugated his entire being and will to Father, so that in essence he and Father were one; or rather, he was an extension of the Father: Jesus the man no longer thought, acted or was individually distinct from Father.  Thus John 10:30, “I and the Father are one,” could colloquially be put as, ‘Father is the dynamo generating the electricity, while I am the wire His power flows through.’  Despite the canard Trinitarian dogma has successfully entrenched, dynamo and wire are not the same thing nor serve the same function.

   Next came points of doctrine which were ‘patches’ to ‘bugs’ in Old Testament faux pas.  If Yahweh Son had wavered at times , Jesus the man taught unwavering obedience to Father.  “If a man loves me, he will keep my word.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me” (John 14:23-24).  Not ‘my doctrine,’ readers: Father’s, to be obeyed without dropping the “smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke” from His Law.  Even wishing to be spared his torment, Jesus left the decision up to Father:  “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).  Like Paul said, obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8).

   What were the objectives behind Jesus’ discipline?  To teach men where he as Yahweh Son had gone wrong in terms of…

Patience…

   If on occasion he lost his patience with a “brood of vipers” [↔Matthew 12:34, a descriptor used by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7)], Jesus was no longer the score-settler of yore [↔Exodus 32:9-14].  When James and John wanted to rain fire from heaven on the Samaritans rejecting him, Jesus rebuked them (Luke 9:52-55).  To Peter:  You will forgive your brother seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22).⁷  Years later Peter would say of Jesus that when “he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the One Who judges justly” (1Peter 3:23).  And Paul followed suit:  “Think about the one who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you may not become tired and give up” (Hebrews 12:3).  Needless to say, Jesus had laid the groundwork for such forbearance:  “In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage:  I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  But what is decidedly most challenging:  “By your patient endurance you will purchase your lives” (Luke 21:19).  Simply put, ‘Do as I have done; grin and bear it.’

…Anger Management…

   If Yahweh Son had at times lost his temper, Jesus the man imitated Father’s patience.  Yahweh Father had “for a long time [held His] peace, I have kept still and restrained Myself” (Isaiah 42:14); overlooking the “times of ignorance” (Acts 17:30) until that day He would exact His one and only retribution against Son’s enemies (Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalms 110:1).  Hence Jesus’ insistence on not giving way to anger:  “To the person who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from the person who takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt either” (Luke 6:29).  Still despite his non-violent agenda, Jesus was profiled as a threat to national security [John 11:50, like Jeremiah before him (Jeremiah 38:4)]; arrested like a common criminal; slapped, flogged and mocked (Matthew 27:27-31; John 19:1-3). The challenge was to prevail over evil by allowing oneself to be ruthlessly trodden underfoot (Isaiah 51:23). Patiently, Jesus endured his lot.

  …Fidelity to Father’s Commission…

   If Yahweh Son’s ‘changes of mind’ indirectly led to the perception of a contradictory God and flawed Scriptures, Jesus attempted to correct where he had previously failed. The integrity of Father’s Gospel had to be preserved at all costs; could not be altered in any way, shape, or form (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Revelation 22:18-19); had to be repeated verbatim as received from generation to generation (Acts 26:22-23; 2Timothy 1:3; Titus 1:9).  Any deviation from those norms branded Satan’s minions for all to see and to avoid at all costs (Matthew 18:6-7; 1Timothy 1:4, 6:3-5; 2Timothy 2:14,23, 4:3-4; 1John 2:19).  The true Christian apostle understood his place in the scheme of things, needing no spiritual guru or religious teacher to map his/her way (1John 2:27).  He was there to repeat and reinforce what Jesus and the Scriptures taught; then step out of the way and allow each convert to freely accept or reject Father‘s word (1Corinthians 3:6)—in other words, what neo-Judeo/Christian religious leaders have never done.

…Rejecting the Ways of the World

 a) Marriage and Family

   Some of Jesus’ doctrine consist of his so-called ‘hard sayings,’ hard because they go against what men prefer and want to do.  To Jesus, family did not come first: He did; and family members who prayed together might not all necessarily be Christian-minded or worthy of salvation (Matthew 10:34-37; Luke 12:51-52, 14:26, 17:34-36, 21:16).  If men left families for Jesus, they hit the jackpot (Matthew 19:29), an understandably unpopular position—which may be a reason why Jesus brushed over the issue of marriage except when it interfered with divine priorities (Matthew 5:32).  If sex was a problem, marry [↔1Corinthians 7:9]; if men were given the boon of self-control despite carnal cravings, it was their personal choice not to marry (Matthew 19:11-12)—but never ever Father’s command.  After all, Levitical priests were allowed to marry; Peter was married when Jesus conscripted him; and Paul could have married had he chosen to (1Corinthians 7:7,32-33, 9:5↔2Timothy 2:4).  Only humans channeling demonic doctrines would forbid marriage (1Timothy 4:1-3).  And divorce was out of the question while either consort lived (Matthew 19:4-9).

b) Material Wealth

  The pursuit of material assets was pointless.  The world of antiquity had not learned that fact until too late (Luke 17:26-37), for in a world slated for destruction where nothing from mortal flesh (1Corinthians 15:50) to material assets could enter Father’s Kingdom, why the mindless striving to self-gratify and accumulate [↔Ecclesiastes 2:22-23,26)?  The rich man facing inescapable death could not take his wealth with him (Luke 12:16-21); owning the entire world could not purchase immortal life (Matthew 16:26). “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself…because riches don’t endure forever…Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” where they will be safer than in bank vaults (Proverbs 23:4, 27:24; Matthew 6:19-20).

c) The Grind of Daily Living

   While men fret over food and shelter, Jesus prioritized the search for redemption:  “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear because it is the unbelievers who are eager for all those things. Surely your heavenly Father knows that you need all of them!  But first be concerned about God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and all of these things will be provided for you as well” (Matthew 6:31-33).  In other words, on the strength of one’s faith go out on a limb for Father; what better way for anyone to prove he/she truly believed in His existence?⁸  Which did not mean one could expect Lamborghinis, yachts, Club Med vacations, sprawling mansions, or expensive wardrobes.  “So then, if we have food and clothes that should be enough for us.  For those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction” (1Timothy 6:8-9).  If Elijah had been fed by ravens in the absence of places to eat (1Kings 17:2-6), no righteous should worry about going hungry: Father would provide (Psalms 37:25).

Son, Father’s Implementer: Following His Lead

   There were Scriptural precedents for such requirements and Jesus had implemented them all.  He had left Father in Heaven to become one—mystical—flesh with his Bride, the Church/Heavenly Jerusalem (Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 21:2,9-10): Psalms 45:10-11 had laid the groundwork for this preferential standard.  As Yahweh Son, he had remained faithful to his two adulterous wives:  Israel [Judaism] and Judah, his “tribe” and symbolic stand-in for Christendom (Jeremiah 3:6-14,20; Hebrews 7:14).  Except for Mary and James, Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5; Galatians 1:19); and he had not valued kinfolk over converts: His spiritual family were those who heard and obeyed Father’s word (Matthew 12:46-50)—which made sense in the context that souls, not blood, stood to inherit Father’s Kingdom. Jesus’ ministry undermined family unity:  He would be a cause for division amongst relatives, spelling out the consequences for those who would prioritize familial bonds over him (Matthew 10:34-39).

   Jesus did not have permanent lodgings (Matthew 8:20) nor went home every night for a meal and shower.  A handful of women took care of his needs (Luke 8:1-3); he ate at the homes of prospective converts (Luke 7:36, 19:1-10).  We know he fasted on occasion (Matthew 17:1; Luke 4:2); but is not portrayed as a die-hard ascetic, partaking of food and wine with all sorts of people and in all manner of settings—as befitting the representative of an all-inclusive Father (Acts 10:34-25↔Galatians 3:28↔Ephesians 1:3-10) Who reviled ‘holier-than-thou’ attitudes (Isaiah 65:5; Luke 7:34).  If food was not available, heads of grain plucked from fields would have to do (Matthew 12:1); more so that the Apostles should learn to be up to whatever befell them (Philippians 4:12). The money Jesus was entrusted with went to the poor, not to pay himself a salary or to defray ministerial expenses.  Jesus had not gone out on a limb for Father:  He had literally jumped off a cliff for Him.

   We will never truly appreciate the extent of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  Psalms and the Synoptic Gospels tell us much of Jesus’ internal and external ordeals; but subjected to the needs of the flesh as all men are, most of his life must have been a veritable hell of personal self-denials, physical inconveniences, frustrations, opposition, disloyalties, ingratitude, ridicule, and worst of all, the ‘going it alone’ character of his ministry.  Only he knew who he was; only he knew his role as Messiah; only he knew the vital role he played in the scheme of things, the price he would pay for it and the torment it entailed to bring Father‘s plan to fruition.

   But for love of us, for the collective bounties to be realized from his sacrifice, he embraced it all gladly (Hebrews 12:2), a duty to his family of faith; the greatest expression of friendship and responsibility towards creatures in every sense the work of his hands as Creator and subjects as everlasting King of Kings (Isaiah 53:3-12; John 1:3, 15:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 19:16).

¹ Which identifies Jesus as the Yahweh Son visible to [unlike Father↔John 1:18; 1John 4:12; Hebrews 11:27; 1Timothy 1:17] and speaking with [unlike Father↔John 5:37] Abraham at Mamre (Genesis 18:25).

² In order to differentiate Yahweh Father from the Yahweh Son who does change his mind (Genesis 6:7-8; 1Chronicles 21:15; Jonah 3:10).

³ Which is the reason why worshipping on Sunday, the first day of the week (Luke 24:1: John 20:1), does not cut it; let alone the fact that it violates the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) memorializing Creator and Creation. Jesus himself observed the Sabbath; taught others keep the Commandments (Luke 18:20); and implicit in his exhortation to follow his example (John 13:15) was the necessity of observing the seventh-day Sabbath. James added another caveat: The person who broke one of the Commandments broke them all (James 2:10)—meaning that person, by his/her choice, became alienated from Father (Proverbs 28:9↔John 9:31).

⁴ A second time was in Thomas’ recognition of Jesus as his God (John 20:28); which suggests that with proof of his resurrection, Thomas came to believe claims Jesus had made about himself to the Apostles which are not recorded in the Synoptic Gospels: That he was Israel’s proxy God. The Old Testament did in a variety of ways: Genesis 48:15-16↔Exodus 3:2-6 (proxy Angel God); Isaiah 33:22 [↔John 5:22 (Judge); Ezekiel 37:24↔Revelation 19:16 (King)]; Isaiah 43:1, 44:6 [↔John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2-3; Revelation 5:9 (Creator/ Redeemer); Isaiah 54:5 [↔Matthew 9:15↔Ephesians 5:22,30-32; Revelation 21:2,9 (bridegroom/husband)].

⁵ Please note that Jonah 4:2 quotes Exodus 34:6, which creates the impression that “God” is Father, whereas Exodus 34:5 makes it clear that the cloud-riding Yahweh Son [↔Luke 21:27; Revelation 1:7] verbally relayed to Moses what Yahweh Father had told Son to say.

This is standard Scripturese (sic). Son has always been the intermediary between Father and men (1Timothy 2:5); so that in his role as “Verb” (John 1:1; Revelation 19:3), he acts as Father‘s voice [which no man has ever heard↔John 5:37) and implements [verb implies action] Father‘s will. In Genesis 22:1-18, this synergy is depicted thus: Father decides to test Abraham’s faith [v. 22:1] but He cannot have been the God who told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Later on, Son enters the picture as the Angel of Yahweh who stays Abraham’s hand [v. 11-12]; but who in verse 12 tells Abraham that by proving to fear not him but Father, Father will reward Abraham. Finally in verse 15, the Angel of Yahweh quotes verbatim [the speaking “Verb”] what he has heard from Father: The very same promise Paul attributed not to Son [who serves a higher God even as Interim proxy God↔Matthew 28:18; Revelation 3:12], but to the Most High God Who swore an oath in His name because there was no one higher than Him (Hebrews 6:13-14).

Also please note that in Exodus 34:5 Yahweh [Son] is exalting not himself but another Yahweh: Father.

⁶ This talk about space probes only serves to illustrate how Father has integrated human concepts in His plan of redemption; to wit, covenants [i.e., contracts] with terms and stipulations agreed upon (Deuteronomy 29:14-15; John 14:23); trial by jury of their peers (Daniel 7:9; Matthew 19:28), down to the vetting of jurors (Revelation 20:4); marriage as shadow to the substance of Jesus’ relationship with his Church (Ephesians 5:22-31); wedding feasts (Isaiah 25:6; Luke 12:37; Revelation 19:9); and even loyalty to country (Hebrews 11:10,13-16).

⁷ Coincidentally [or on purpose?], a meaningful number: 70 x 7 = 490. As per Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel’s (Ezekiel 4:6) conversion factor of days = years, the time span between the order to restore Jerusalem and the death of the Messiah; to wit, [69 weeks = 483 days/years] + [1 week = 7 days/years], for a total of 490 days/years, at the tail end of which Jesus’ crucifixion would render Mosaic animal sacrifices meaningless (Daniel 9:24-27). The middle of the last “week” marked Jesus’ crucifixion (Daniel 9:27).

   Please note that numbers 430, 40 and 7 are intimately related to other real-time agendas concerning the deliverance of Father‘s nation [Exodus12:40↔Israel’s servitude in Egypt; Leviticus 25:8-9↔the year of Jubilee; 2Samuel 5:4-5↔David’s age when his 40-year reign began, same age as when Jesus started ‘battling’ for his Kingdom (Luke 3:23)]; Acts 1:3 [↔40 days Jesus appeared to the Apostles before ascending to Heaven].

⁸ Paul’s argument in Hebrews 11:6.