INTRODUCTORY VITAL SPARKS OF SUPERFINE JEWISH PHILOSOPHY: PRIEST ELEAZAR'S PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT JEWISH PHILOSOPHY SIGNIFICANT TO OUR SACRED PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY

  *PHILOSOPHICAL DIGEST @ ZION*

INTRODUCTORY VITAL SPARKS OF SUPERFINE JEWISH PHILOSOPHY: PRIEST ELEAZAR'S PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF ANCIENT JEWISH PHILOSOPHY SIGNIFICANT TO OUR SACRED PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY

O That All Favoured Kingdom Men & Bouncing Daughters Of ZION That Dwell On Earth Might Sing New Songs Unto The LORD! For He Has Done Marvellous Things, His Right Hand & His Holy Arm Have Gotten Him The Victory. He Has Made Known His Salvation Unto All Men, Even His Righteousness He Had Openly Shown  In The Light Of The Heathen. Even His Divine Glory, Honour, Blessings, Grace & Eternal Salvation He Did Grant To All His Kingdom Saints @ ZION Of Holy Jerusalem: Our Glorious Happy Home! 

Alleluia!! Amen. Hosanna In The Highest!

Be Thou Blessed Forever, The Most Merciful Son Of God, Lord Christ De Messiah. For Thou Hast Done Wonderful & Gracious Things Unto Thy People Who Thou Didst Come Into The World To Save & Fee From Sin & Wicked Clutches Of Satan The Devil. Thou Art Mighty In Thy Dominion & Mighty In Thy Human Nature. For Thou First Set @ Liberty All Those Whom The Prince Of Death Held In Prison Under Unbelief & Bound With The Fetters Of Their Sins & First Eventually Conduct Them To Everlasting Life By Thy Glorious Mighty Power. 

Alleluia!! Hosanna! Amen.

Glory, Glory Be To Almighty God In The Highest! Peace, Peace To Favoured, Cheerful, Bouncing, Glowing & Blowing Daughters Of ZION @ Clean Manifestation Of Heroic Virtues Of Beautiful Love, Chastity & Submission! Peace To Blessed, Sparkling, Elegant & Gallant Kingdom Heroes Of Integrity, Confidence & Goodwill! Peace To Us - Divine Heroic Athletes Of Righteousness cum Kingdom Kingdom Saints @ ZION Of Holy Jerusalem: Our Glorious Paradisal Home! 

Alleluia!! Amen. Hosanna In The Highest!

Beloved, Blessed Kingdom Comrades @ Mount ZION & My Respected, Sparkling Favourite Comrades In The Sacred Academy Of Biblical & Ministerial Scholars, Religious Educationists, Aspiring Great Theologians cum Sacred Philosophers, Blessed Servants Of Almighty God & Committed Ministerial Candidates @ ZION: Holy Greetings To U All Today, In Love!

A PHILOSOPHICAL DIET ON MORAL & RELIGIOUS WISDOM

Hear, O My Blessed Reader & Kingdom Comrade @ ZION! Make your eloquence easy to your favoured Listeners; & be not hasty to return an answer. Covet not outward beauty; for it fades & passes away, but seek after an honourable remembrance that more often lasts. Let not a silly person deceive you with his deceitful speech, lest you die the most miserable of deaths & he entangles you in the net till you are ensnared.

Dear Ideal Reader & Comrade! Be not like the almond tree: for it brings forth leaves before all the trees & edible fruit after them all; but be like the mulberry tree, which brings forth edible fruit before all the trees & its leaves after them all.

O My Favoured Reader! Be courteous enough; & soften your voice & walk in the sacred straight path & be not foolish. And raise not your voice when you are laughing, for if it were by a loud voice that a house is built, the ass would build many houses everyday; & if it were by don't of strength that the plough were driven, the plough would never be removed from under the shoulders of the camels. 

Amen. Alleluia!! Hosanna In The Highest!

Happy Welcome To Our Today's Vital & Significant, Sacred Philosophical Music @ PHILOSOPHICAL DIGEST @ ZION, Essentially Revealing A Practical Manifestation Of Heroic Virtues Of Violent Faith & Courage Of A Divine Philosopher, An Aged Man That Was More Dynamic & Virtuously Forceful Than A Tyrant's Tortures, A Revered Elder That Was So  Tenser-strung Than The Flame Of Fire & An Outstanding King Over The Passions, In The Great Divine Personality Of Priest Eleazar, The Son Of Biblical Aaron. 

Alleluia!! Hosanna! Amen.

PRIEST ELEAZAR'S PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION AS A HEROIC ATHLETE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Beloved Kingdom Brethren @ ZION! Previously, we happily delved into an introductory, exciting, Sparkling & edifying PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY pertaining to PRIEST ELEAZAR'S Manifestation of sacred & noble conduct as he preferred death to unlawful eating of unclean meats, quite contrary to his religious Faith & exemplary sanctity of his Holy Order of Priesthood.

As we earlier noted, a certain pagan tyrant, King Antiochus, following his abrupt discovery of Jewish antagonistic approach towards his war with Ptolemy of ancient Egypt, this masterful enemy of the Jews sought an unholy opportunity to defy the Glorious Sacred Faith of the Jews, ordering as he did for torture & massacre of the Jews, if any of them should venture to defy his tyrannical order of forceful eating of unclean meats, pork for that matter! God forbid!

Let us advance to observe the courageous, faithful & noble Priest Eleazar as he boldly, squarely & fearlessly confronted the outrageous dilemma in all Divine Integrity, Confidence & Goodwill towards the noble Faith of his own Jewish Brethren & in sanctity & obedience to the Blessed Divine Law.

Having defiantly responded to the tyrant's unholy advice & forceful urge to defy his Blessed & Noble Faith & to consider eating the unclean meat in a seeming religious mockery, Priest Eleazar finally concluded in these words: "I will not belie thee, O Divine LAW that has been my teacher; I will not desert thee, O beloved SELF-CONTROL, nor will I deny ye, O revered PRIESTHOOD & KNOWLEDGE of the LAW". "Neither shall you sully the pure mouth of my old age & my lifelong constancy  to the Law. Clean shall my Fathers receive me, unafraid of your torments even to the death! For you may indeed be tyrant over righteous men, but you shall not lord it over my resolution in the matter of Righteousness, either by your words or through your deeds".

But when replied thus eloquently to the exhortation of the tyrant, the guards around him dragged him roughly to the torturing place. And, first they unclothed the old man, who was adorned with the beauty of Holiness. Then binding his arms on either side they scourged him, a herald standing & shouting out over against him, "Obey the orders  of the king"! But the great-souled & noble man, an Eleazar in very truth, was no more moved in his mind than if he were being tormented in a dream; yes, the old man keeping his eyes steadfastly raised to Heaven suffered his flesh to be torn by the scourges till he was bathed in blood & his sides became a mass of wounds; & even when he fell to the ground because his body could no longer support the pain he still kept his reason erect & inflexible. With his foot then one of the cruel guards as he fell kicked him savagely in the side  to make him get up. But he endured the anguish & despised the compulsion; & bore up under the torments; & like a brave athlete taking punishment, the old man outwore his tormentors themselves. Hereupon, partly in admiration of his courage, some of the courtiers of the tyrant king went up to him & said: Why, O Eleazar, do you madly destroy yourself in this misery? We will bring to you of the seethed meats, but do you feign only to partake of the swine's flesh; & so save yourself.

Nevertheless, Priest Eleazar, as if their counsel did add to his torments, cried loudly: No! May we sons of Abraham never have so evil a thought as with faint heart to counterfeit a part unseemly to us. Contrary to Reason, indeed, were it for us, after living unto the Truth till old age & guarding in lawful guise the repute off so living, now to change & become in our own person a pattern to the young of impiety, to the end that we should encourage them to eat unclean meat. Shame were it if we should live on a little longer, during that little being mocked of all men for cowardice; & whilst despised by the tyrant as unmanly should fail to defend the Divine Law unto the death. Therefore, O Sons of Abraham, do you die nobly for Righteousness' sake; but as you, O minions of the tyrant, why pause you in your works? So they, seeing him thus triumphant over the tortures & unmoved even by the pity of his executioners,dragged him to the fire. There, they cast him on it, burning him with cruelly cunning devices; & they poured broth of evil odour into his nostrils. But when the fire already reached to his bones  & he was about to give up the ghost, he lifted up his eyes to God & said: You, O God, know that though I might save myself, I am dying by fiery torments for your Law. Be merciful unto your people & let our punishment be a satisfaction on their behalf. Make my blood their purification & my soul to ransom their souls. And with these words the holy man nobly yielded up his Spirit under the torture & for the sake of the Law held out by his  Reason even against the torments unto death.

Beyond question, then the INSPIRED REASON IS MASTER OVER THE PASSION; for if his Passions or sufferings had prevailed  over the Reason, we should have credited them with this evidence of their superior power. But now  this Reason having conquered his Passions, we properly attribute to it the power of commanding them. And it is right that we should admit that the mastery lies with Reason in cases @ least where it conquers pains that come from outside ourselves; for it might be ridiculous to deny it. Hence, a proof not only the superiority of REASON to Pains but its superiority to Pleasures also. In neither case, did it surrender to them.

Thus, the Reason of our revered father, Eleazar like a fine steersman steering the ship  of sanctity on the sea of the Passions, though buffeted by the threats of the tyrant & swept by the swelling waves of the tortures, never shifted for one moment the helm of sanctity until he sailed into the haven of Victory over death. No city besieged with many & cunning engines ever defended itself so well as did that holy man when his sacred soul was attacked with scourge & rack & flame; & he moved them who were laying siege to his soul, through his Reason that was the shield of sanctity. For our heroic father, Priest Eleazar, setting his mind firm as a beetling sea-cliff, broke the mad onset of the surges of Passions.

     O Priest worthy of your Priesthood

       You did not defile your holy teeth

       Nor did you befoul with unclean meat          

       Your belly that had room only

       For piety & purity.

       O Confessor of the Law &

       Publisher of the Divine Life!

Certainly, such should those be whose office is to serve the LORD & defend the Faith with their own blood & honourable sweat in the face if Sufferings to the Death.

                                                            You, O our heroic father, did fortify

    The fidelity of the Holy Law

    Through your steadfastness unto glory;

    And having spoken in honour of holiness;

    You did not belie your speech,

    And did confirm the words

    Of Divine Philosophy by your deeds.

    O aged man that was tenser-strung

    Than the flame of fire!

    You great king over the Passions, Eleazar!

Even as the father, Aaron, armed with the censer, ran through the massed congregation against the fiery Angel & overcame him, so the son of Aaron. Eleazar, being consumed by the melting heat of the fire, remained unshakable in his Reason. And, yet most wonderful of all, he, being an old man with the sinews of his  body unstrung & his muscles relaxed & his nerves weakened, grew a young man again in the spirit of his Reason & with Isaac-like  Reason turned the hydra-headed torture to impotence.

  O Blessed Age, O Reverend Grey head,

    O Life Faithful To The Law &

    Perfected By The Seal Of Death!

Assuredly then, if an old man despised the torments unto death for Righteousness' sake, it must be admitted that the Inspired Reason is able to guide the Passions. Some, nevertheless, may perhaps answer that not all men are Masters of the Passions because not all men have their Reason enlightened. But as many as with their whole heart make Righteousness their first thought, these alone are able to master the weakness of the flesh, believing that unto God  they die  not as our Patriarchs - Abraham & Issac & Jacob - died not, but that they live unto God.  

That, O Dear Favoured Reader & Comrade @ ZION, Is The Ultra-violent  Faith & Ardent Zeal & Love Of Religion Of The Famous Grey Head Elder Of The Noble Faith - Real Model Keeper Of Integrity, A Man Of Faith & Goodwill! Truly, Great Men Are Great Indeed!

Consider,  O Blessed Ideal Reader: If the ancient adherents of Judaism under the Mosaic Law could so manifest such wonderful Love for The Divine Law & total Obedience to God's Law, why O Reader, should we, as Christians & Zionists not prove even better & stronger that God is good & faithful & our Christian & Zionist Faith noble, firm & great?

But how many adherents of Holy Christianity & Revival Judaism of nowadays are so faithful, spiritually strong & ready to sacrifice their lives even unto death, just for the prevailing of the Blessed Truth of the Faith of Blessed Lord Christ De Messiah in their own lives? O God of Mercy save the faithless generation! 
Hosanna! Amen.

Even so should we earnestly desire to die godly for the sake of The Divine Lord, Christ De Messiah, our God & Saviour of mankind. For so we can ever begin to be His disciples. Nor  should anything move us, whether visible or invisible that we may attain to Lord Christ De Messiah. Let fire & the Cross; let the companies of wild beasts; let breaking of bones  & tearing of body members; let the shattering in pieces of the whole body & all the wicked torments of the Devil come upon us: only let us enjoy Lord Christ De Messiah. All the ends of the World & the kingdoms of it will profit us nothing.

I would rather die for Lord Jesus Christ De Messiah Yahshua than rule to the utmost ends of the earth. Him alone I seek Who died for us; Him I desire; Him alone I seek Who died for us. At best, this is the sole gain that is laid up for me! 
Alleluia!! Amen. Hosanna In The Highest!

Beloved Blessed Kingdom Brethren & Favoured Associates Of God's Heavenly Kingdom @ Spiritual Mount ZION Of Holy Jerusalem - Our Glorious Happy Home:

   SHALOM TO U ALL TODAY, IN LOVE!