THE BIBLE – THE STORY OF OUR SOUL’S JOURNEY
THROUGH THE PLANE OF DUALITY – DRAWS TO A CLOSE
Nancy B. Detweiler, M.Ed., M.Div.
As the cycle of duality draws to a close, let us use this Lenten season to ponder: did I understand the true import of my sacred text? Am I ready to make the approaching evolutionary leap to the 5th dimensional plane of love and light?
The Bible is one of the sacred texts for the 3rd dimensional plane of duality. Its writers all lived on the plane of duality and were therefore confronted with good and evil. Although inspired, they wrote from the perspective of learning to deal with duality in a manner that would allow them and us to awaken to the higher planes of life. Many pointed the way, but did we comprehend?
In the first chapters of Genesis, we find a symbolic story of the Earth’s creation. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
Into this lush paradise, humankind entered. We were gifted with freewill and given the opportunity to choose how we live our lives. “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) God was explaining that once we choose to evolve on the plane of duality, we die to the awareness of all that is within the cosmos.
Our perspective becomes extremely limited. We die to the knowledge of who we truly are as made in the image of God—child gods. We die to the understanding that we are One with God. We begin to feel separate and alone. We die to the consciousness of the Garden of Eden and instead, enter a world in which we experience good and evil. Our physical bodies become sick, decay, and die. We appear blind to a world of plenty for all and accept as normal: enemies/wars, hatred, anger, jealousy, resentment, competition, egoism, discrimination, emotional and physical pain, revenge, and blood sacrifice. And by far, the most insidious of all is the personification of Creator God as a being with less integrity than we possess.
The writers of those books, eventually accepted into the biblical canon, did not write with that intention. Instead, they wrote within the cultural milieu with which they were familiar. Their writings were often inspired for the betterment of those within their community. However, by the time the canonical books were written, tens of thousands of years had passed on the plane of duality. Spiritual blindness was well established.
As we read the biblical account, it is possible to perceive layers of meaning. The inspired message often shines through; but few take the time to comprehend it. Humankind has never been abandoned, even though we came to believe that is the case. Advanced beings have periodically incarnated on the plane of duality in order to give humankind a jump start to spiritual awakening. They have become a part of daily life on Earth and attempted to reveal Truth to us.
Let’s look at a few biblical examples.
“And Enoch found favor in the presence of God, and disappeared; for God took him away.” (Genesis 5:24) Enoch is the first biblical character to ascend from the plane of duality back into the higher dimensions, without physical death.
Melchizedek, a priest king of Salem (Jerusalem) is another example of an advanced being dwelling on the plane of duality, without experiencing a physical birth or death. “Neither his father nor his mother is recorded in the genealogies; and neither the beginning of his days nor the end of his life; but, like the Son of God, his priesthood abides forever. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave tithes and paid head tax…. But this man who is not recorded in their genealogies took tithes even from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. Beyond dispute, he who was less was blessed by him who was greater than himself.” (Hebrews 7:3-4, 6-7)
Elijah is a third example of higher beings interacting with humanity on the plane of duality. “And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and separated the two; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (2 Kings 2:11) Elijah was beamed up into a space craft. He and his fellow prophets knew ahead of time that he would be picked up.
Ezekiel provides a fourth example. “And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud, and a flaming fire and brightness was round about it, and out of the midst of it there came as it were a figure out of the midst of the fire.” (Ezekiel 1:4) The book of Ezekiel tells the story of an extraterrestrial being working with Ezekiel by giving him instructions regarding his mission and transporting him from place to place in a space ship.
The year 2012 arrives amidst much talk on the internet about humanity ascending and the fact that extraterrestrials with their space craft are present with us. The above four examples illustrate what is possible for each of us. As 2012 marks the end of the cycle of duality on Earth, we can achieve a level of spiritual maturity that will allow us to physically ascend to higher dimensions. We may also work in cooperation with our galactic family for the healing of our planet and its inhabitants. Our sacred text has prepared us to be reunited with our Star families. Have we recognized that fact?
Elijah taught us the lesson of sharing when we think we have nothing to share. Sharing reaps abundance. We also see in Elijah the power to channel divine healing energy … to restore physical plane life. (I Kings 17:10-24)
While living on the plane of duality, we have lived with the consciousness of lack, the requirement to work hard because we are taught there is not enough to go around and we may be the ones who are deprived. Our present society is torn apart by the varying theories that separate the hardworking from the supposed lazy, the need to share from the propensity to deprive those who do not meet our standards.
Have we heard Elijah? Have we integrated Jesus’ teaching: “Do not worry for your life, what you will eat and what you will drink, nor for your body, what you will wear…. Who is among you who by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? … Your Father in heaven knows that all of these things are also necessary for you. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all those things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:25, 27, 32-33)
We have drawn much comfort from the Psalms, but have we been aware of the frequency with which enemies is mentioned? Thy preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” (Psalm 23:4) We assume that having enemies—domestic or foreign—is the norm.
We have created a God who hates, who takes revenge, who punishes for eternity. In turn, we assume we have the right or obligation to hate, take revenge, to punish for life. Have we been aware of the subliminal messages within the Bible that are the result of its writers living on the plane of duality? “The proud shall not stand in thy sight; thou hatest all workers of iniquity…. Condemn thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their wickedness, for they have provoked thee.” (Psalm 5:5,10) “Let all my enemies be ashamed and defeated; let them turn back and be destroyed suddenly.” (Psalm 6:10) When we read such passages, we unconsciously register a God who hates some of creation, who grows angry, who takes revenge. If hate, anger, and revenge characterize God, then our own response to these emotions is much more nonchalant.
We have grown accustomed to portraying God as Warrior. We pray for our side to win. “And Joshua conquered all these kings and their countries at one time; because the Lord God of Israel was with him and it was he who fought for Israel.” (Joshua 10:43) “Joshua made war a long time with all those kings…. For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts so that they would come against Israel in battle, in order that they might be utterly destroyed and might receive no mercy, but be exterminated, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” (Joshua 11:18,20)
We blame God for all the things we cannot explain. The biblical book of Job is an excellent example. “God can do anything God wants to do” is a common statement that few of us attempt to deny. Like Job, we grit our teeth and try to remain faithful: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) We ponder the question “Why do good people suffer?” But we most often fail to reconcile our religious beliefs with our inner intuitive knowing. Job knew he was not being punished because he had broken a religious law. The Book of Job depicts his—and our own—personal journey of reconciliation with our inner intuitive knowing. Job is Every Individual. Have we recognized our inner knowing and sought our own Truth? Or, have we given our power over to the religious authorities? We cannot give our power away and develop as the child gods that we are.
Do we question the biblical portrayals of God as a punishing God, a capricious God, a Warrior God? Do we ask “How can a God of Absolute Love behave in this way?” Do we truly believe God is Love or do we attempt to believe it while repressing those annoying questions that keep poking their heads into our conscious awareness, insisting upon being answered? How often I have heard ministers and Sunday School teachers say, “Don’t ask questions or you will lose your faith.”
Recognizing and loving God is not an act of repression.
Have we diligently sought to know Truth? For example, Job is one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. It is actually the story of humanity’s journey into enlightenment or ascension. But, in order to know that, we must delve into the deeper layers of its message and that requires a knowledge of metaphysics.[i]
There are biblical scholars who have interpreted the Bible metaphysically.[ii] The deeper messages resonant strongly with Universal Truth: God Is Love; we live in a cosmos filled with loving beings ready to assist us in navigating our way out of the plane of duality.
The major reason we blame God for all that we cannot explain is because the Church has denied us the opportunity to learn about reincarnation as the means of Soul progression. The Christian arrangement of the books within the Old Testament has as its concluding sentences: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to their children and the heart of the children to their fathers before I come and smite the earth to ruin.” (Malachi 4:5-6) The Old Testament ends with the promise that Elijah will reincarnate.
Approximately 400 years, called the Intertestamental Period, pass between the Old Testament and the New Testament. During this time, the culture of Palestine changed dramatically. By the time of Jesus, Palestine has become cosmopolitan with major trade routes running through it. The shipping and fishing industries were flourishing. Numerous cultural and philosophical influences were present. Many were highly educated. Jesus’ maternal uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, was known as one of the most wealthy men in the world. He owned a shipping business and the tin mines in what is now England. Jesus frequently traveled with his uncle, who became the legal guardian of the family after Joseph returned to spiritual realms. Have we considered the fact that the story of Jesus and the New Testament took place within an actual historical setting that can be researched? Or have we simply believed the simplistic narrative that the Church has propagated?
Each of the four gospels endeavor to tell the story of Jesus. All were written decades after the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry.[iii] For modern Christians, the translations and interpretation of these gospels have been influenced by the writings of the Church Fathers during the first eight centuries of the Church. Numerous creeds were composed in an effort to codify the doctrines of the Christian religion.[iv] As a result, the gospels have been read within the mindset of the Christian doctrines. The passages that would be considered heretical teachings by the Church are simply ignored.
The Gospel of John is believed by many biblical scholars to best depict the actual teachings of Jesus. This gospel reveals a Jesus who came to show the Way back to the Father. In other words, Jesus came to show humanity how to evolve spiritually to the point of leaving the plane of duality and ascending to higher dimensions.
The concept of a sacrificial lamb or a blood sacrifice has been acceptable to many living on the plane of duality. It goes along with the God humanity has created—a vengeful God demanding atonement for the mistakes we have made while living on the plane of duality. This in no way depicts the true God of Absolute Love. On the higher dimensions, all is love and light and peace. A God of Love beholds the immaculate conception of all of humanity—made in the image of God.
Jesus incarnated as a Wayshower … he came to show us the Way out of the darkness of the plane of duality. We lost our way and needed an example to follow.
Because we are accustomed to reading the Bible in accordance with the tenets of Christianity, we do not have the eyes to see what Jesus really taught. This is especially true when it relates to the I AM sayings. Jesus taught: “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” (John 14:10) “I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak…. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.” (John 12:49-50)[v]
Jesus channeled the Father who dwells within each of us. Therefore, when Jesus speaks the I AM sayings, he is channeling the Father. I AM the light of the world means the Father within each of us is the Light of the World. I AM the bread of life means the Father within each of us is the bread of life. During this Lenten Period, read the Gospel of John from the perspective of Jesus speaking the words of the Father.
Jesus repeatedly shifted the attention from himself to the Father. “The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19)
“My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.” (John 7:16-18) “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.” (John 12:44)
Jesus never placed himself above humanity … he came as Elder Brother, Teacher, and Wayshower. He wanted us to follow his example. He taught the people “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray, then, in this way: Our Father in heaven….” (Matthew 6:8-9)
Jesus’ expects his disciples to do more than they think they can and grows impatient with them for not doing so. “When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?’” (Mark 6:35-37)
“Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak… I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so. He answered them, ‘You faithless generation, how much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’” (Mark 9:17-19)
“The one who believes in me (Jesus speaks the words of “our” Father) will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)
“The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me? The Jews answered, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.’ Jesus answered, ‘Is it not written in your law, I said, you are gods?’” (John 10: 31-34) Jesus is telling the men who plan to stone him that they are gods.
Jesus tells his disciples a parable about a vine: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Vineyards are a familiar scene in Palestine. Everyone knows that the branches are outshoots of the vine—made of the same substance. In fact, it is the branches that bear the fruit.
Have we understood who we truly are? Have we allowed our elder brother, Jesus, to teach us to do the works that I do?[vi] Or, have we simply followed Christian doctrine and worshipped him as a being we cannot become?
Four hundred years later, Jesus verifies Malachi’s prophecy. Following his transfiguration, during which he talked with Elijah and Moses, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? He replied, ‘Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased…. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:1-16)[vii] The acceptance of reincarnation while living on the plane of duality allows us to understand ourselves and others on a much deeper level. Earth has been our schoolhouse; it is here that we have been given opportunity after opportunity to live our lives in accordance with the Universal Laws of Love and Peace, to practice the Law of Attraction, and to awaken to our true identities as child gods—made in the image of God.
A metaphysical interpretation of the New Testament reveals that the major events in Jesus’ life were actually physical plane demonstrations of our own initiatory process toward ascension. These five events are: birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, and ascension. You may read my article entitled “Ascension” on my website at: http://www.pathwaytoascension.com/ascension.html
It is important to understand that a metaphysical interpretation of the Bible deals with layers of meaning beneath the literal translation of the Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek and/or Latin words. Metaphysics means beyond the physical. A knowledge of metaphysics is required. It is also helpful to know the history of the Church, simply because so much has been covered up. Just as reincarnation was declared heretical in the 6th century, so was astrology in the 15th century. Yet, both are foundations on which the Bible is built.
In the words of Rabbi Joel C. Dobin in his book, TO RULE BOTH DAY & NIGHT: Astrology in the Bible, Midrash, & Talmud: “Astrology helps man to understand God’s will and to put himself in balance with Divine and universal forces, thus enriching his life and experience.” “Astrology revealed to me His order and His beauty, and His place for me in the Divine balance that links God, man, and universe into One Balanced Process which never ends in this life or on other planes of awareness of life.”
Below are photos of ruins of the floor of the synagogue of Hamath Tiberias. This synagogue was in use during the 6th through the 8th centuries. The mosaic floor depicts the Astrological Zodiac and thus, its importance in the religious life of ancient Judaism. [viii]
Photos by Nancy Detweiler
2012 marks the end of the cycle of duality upon Earth. There is so much we have failed to learn about the Bible—information that adds immensely to its richness and depth. As we ascend to the higher dimensions, we receive full consciousness and possess ready access to all knowledge. No longer will we be fooled into thinking we are less than who we truly are—child gods made in the image of God.
Our sacred text for the cycle of duality closes as it announces: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
See, the home of God is
Among mortals,
He will dwell with them as their God;
They will be his peoples,
And God himself be with
Them;
He will wipe every tear from
Their eyes,
Death will be no more;
Mourning and crying and pain
Will be no more,
For the first things have passed away.”
Revelations 21:1-4
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The Endnotes offer additional information and articles on the subjects mentioned in this article.
May your Lenten Period be one of much spiritual growth and newfound knowledge!
[ii] Charles Fillmore’s METAPHYSICAL BIBLE DICTIONARY is most helpful in interpreting the Bible metaphysically. Geoffrey Hodson’s THE HIDDEN WISDOM in the Holy Bible supplies additional information. Corinne Heline interpreted the entire Bible metaphysically in her series NEW AGE BIBLE INTERPRETATION.
[iii] The Gospel of Matthew was written around 90 C.E. (A.D.) by an unknown Jewish Christian of the 2nd generation. The Gospel of Mark is attributed by early church tradition to Mark, a companion of Peter in Rome, during the persecutions of Nero around 64 C.E. (A.D.). Tradition attributes the writer of the Gospel of Luke to be Luke, a companion of Paul in Rome around 80-90 C.E. (A.D.) It must be remembered that all the Gospels were written anonymously. It is tradition and scholarship that has attempted to discern the author, place, and time. Although still considered one of the Gospels, the Gospel of John is significantly different from the synoptic gospels. Mystery surrounds the Gospel of John both as to the time period in which it was written and to the author. The Beloved Disciple is never identified as John, the son of Zebedee. “The identity of the author of the Fourth Gospel remains a mystery, perhaps deliberately concealed.” (Above information was taken from: Harper’s Bible Commentary) A thoroughly researched article by Ramon K. Jusino, entitled “Mary Magdalene: Author of the Fourth Gospel? may be found at: http://www.pathwaytoascension.com/magdala4.html You may also read what the Ancient Texts have to say about Mary Magdalene at: http://www.pathwaytoascension.com/magdala.html#mary
[iv] CREEDS OF THE CHURCH: A Reader in Christian Doctrine From the Bible to the Present, Edited by John H. Leith.
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