"Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22
This statement to follow might really going to go over the heads of some who see it. Especially those who think they have some kinda clue about what is happening in the world around you. Human reasoning and inside knowledge about behind the scenes moves and countermoves of the bad guys in government, media, education, etc., may be helpful, or interesting, distracting, or frightening, depending on your relationship with God, but they're really not much help long term. Information is good, but if it isn't actionable, what good is it?
Here is why the upcoming statement is really difficult to comprehend the fullness of it:
God is a God of 70x7. That applies to everything He knows, does, sees, understands, etc. This goes beyond just forgiving your brother, as Jesus explained to Peter. Think of it more like my family elders taught. Jesus expanded on their insight, "Every word of the Bible has 70 facets of understanding.1"
Jesus' answer to Peter is the STARTING place of understanding the ways of God. It BEGINS with forgiveness.
The facets of revelation continue well beyond forgiveness facet number one.
Think of God like a master chess player. His strategy BEGINS at 70x7 steps ahead of you, and even further ahead of his "enemy" on the other side of the table that is trying to beat Him at His master chess strategy game. The Word of God not only knows the position, movement, composition, past, present and future of every possible move on the board, but he knows all of that and controls all that beyond the microscopic level component of each atom in the pieces, the board they sit on, and the universe it exists in. Nothing is unknown. Everything is held together by the power of His Voice, even down to a single word His Voice speaks, which itself begins with all breath out of his mouth --the sound of which our ears can't even hear. Even that unhearable and imperceptible breath before a sound contains enough of His authority to dissolve reality. If Abba were to stand up from His Throne in Heaven would respond by retreating as fast as it could from the very sound of His first move toward standing. The power of dynamite doesn't come close to describing Him. Both the heavens and earth would melt faster than instantaneously at the first motion He would make toward rising up.
Now that you have the foundation, Here is the statement I promised some would have trouble understanding:
"You do not live in the world you think you do."
Even the Bible we have is no more than the basic instruction pamphlet with all we need to understand facet ONE. It is absolutely all we need in this life, but as the old preacher said, "It is the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. B.I.B.L.E"
Although simplistic, that old saying is basically true.
Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what is in the VOLUMES of books in the heavenly libraries, and what is in those vast libraries in heavenly isn't even all that is in the mind of God. The Spirit of God teaches us additional facets we don't easily see on the written page as we go through life and grow in relationship with the Godhead. Human reasoning can figure out some facets through intellect and discipline of mind. Those are all only, "scratching the surface" as the anecdote correctly describes.
Question:
So, how do we respond to the statement, "You do not live in the world you think you do"?
Answer:
Respond, "Thank you, Abba! I am ready for you to show me more!"
[Footnote: This is part of the highly commended teaching I give to upper level Master's and Doctoral quantum physics students to help them connect what they're learning about quanta interactions and movements to the Bible, specifically, Hebrews 1]
- https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Seventy_Faces/seventy_faces.html
