Toward a Better Biblical Philosophy, Part 3
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Central Claim: God's administrative pattern of dividing, uniting, and multiplying throughout scripture reveals His true Kingdom purpose: establishing a spiritually-constituted Bride through faith alone, separate from institutional religious control. McCraney argues that religious authorities—from Jewish leaders to institutional Christianity—consistently resisted God's expansive work because it threatened their power structures.
Biblical Basis: The teaching traces God's "Arithmetic of Administration" from Abraham's separation from polytheistic Mesopotamia, through Israel's covenant establishment, to Christ's formation of a new Bride (Gentiles + Jews united by faith at Pentecost). Key texts include John 16:1-3 (persecution of believers) and Luke 15 (acceptance of sinners), demonstrating that institutional religion opposes God's inclusive grace.
Yeshuan Perspective: From a fulfilled eschatology viewpoint, the Bride was already separated, tested through persecution, and rescued—fulfilling Christ's promise. True spiritual children are constituted solely by "faith and love," not bloodlines or denominations. McCraney emphasizes that Christ's victory came through unwavering allegiance to God alone, challenging all human systems seeking to control faith.
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3 March 22nd 2026
Series II Part III
Toward a better Biblical Philosophy
We left off last week talking in depth about how God divides, unites, and multiplies repeatedly in the sacred text.
We saw the value of this process and we continue to see it occurring in everyday life.
In what we might call “God’s Arithmatics of adminstration,” we can readily see how much a part of the world it still plays in the things God allows and works through in the realm of human freewill.
Relative to faith and human beings, we see the Arithmetic of Administrations in the central figure of all the monotheist religions on earth – Abraham and Sarah, who we pointed out last week represented the significance of God first separating them out from the pagan world of Mesopotamia.
Abraham lived around 3,700 years ago in a highly advanced, urbanized, and polytheistic Mesopotamia, likely in the Sumerian city of Ur or what is also called northern Harran.
The culture was centered on trade. Abraham's early life is linked to "Ur of the Chaldeans" (Ur Kasdim), traditionally identified as the Sumerian city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia near the Persian Gulf. He later moved to Harran in northern Mesopotamia.
The region was a network of cities with monumental architecture, such as the Ziggurat of Ur.
It also had a stratified society with an elite class, scribes, skilled craftsmen, merchants, and farmers.
Why didn’t God just leave Abram there and use him in that capacity? It was really the life, right?
The problem was it was a society that was deeply polytheistic and served as the primary center of worship for the moon- god Sin and Abraham's family is believed to have worshipped "other gods" before he moved to Canaan.
Mesopotamia was a hub of commercial enterprise, utilizing trade routes to exchange goods like wool and copper. This period was marked by the presence of an early Bronze Age, Sumerian, or early Babylonian, culture.
So, what does God do? He takes Abram and Sarai and leads them out – he separates them from all of that. Dividing the Light from the Dark.
And they leave the comfort of this developed way of living to essentially being desert nomads (or a man without a home or land).
After separating them, He promised them (those two) that they would have a son who would become a new great nation. We might see them as “Adam and Eve’s of faith.”
After Abram has a son of the flesh, Ishmael through Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar, whom, by the way God also blessed and made into a great nation He would bring forth Isaac, Jacob and then His twelve Sons.
Of course they multiplied, went into bondage to Egypt before God separated them through the Lawgiver Moses and united with them in a ketubah marriage contract.
That separation was not easy as Egypt had the power over the Kingdom and wanted it to stay that way – so they fought hard to stay in power.
God also promised that through them a Messiah would come and emancipate and liberate them but what that Nation didn’t realize is that this Messiah was going to separate out from that Nation another group - a Bride - before the rest of them were destroyed beginning in 70AD and culminating in utter ruin around 134AD.
This Bride represented, according to Paul, True Israel who beginning at Pentecost would be people who came to God first through repentance and faith.
These who were circumcised of the heart (instead of the flesh) by the Spirit of God were all adopted as children of God through faith on His Son instead of through circumcision and obedience to the Law.
This was too much for the religious powers of that day and so they killed the author and finisher of this new Covenant, then His apostles, and then as many of that group as possible before they were wiped out.
Some of the key reasons for their fears and hostility were
Yeshua directly challenged the Pharisees' authority and exposed their religious hypocrisy, directly threatening their power over the people.
By His claiming to be the Son of God, and to forgive sins, and calling himself the "Lord of the Sabbath" He was viewed as blasphemous and a violator of strict Jewish monotheism that they had firmly established once they came out of Babylonian captivity.
The religious leaders also worried that Yeshua’s popularity and claims to kingship would trigger an insurrection against Roman occupation, leading to the destruction of the Temple and the Jewish nation.
And it didn’t help that Yeshua disregarded traditional interpretations of the Mosaic Law (like healing on the Sabbath) and this also threatened the core of Jewish religious practice and again, their Kingdom, authority, power and rule.
Paradoxically, it seems that most Jewish leaders did not believe Yeshua fulfilled their desires for a political militant earthly King who would restore material Israel by emancipating them from Roman rule but the irony is the scripture said they also killed him for envy.
Putting Him, the Apostles and then believers to death (like Stephen) was their way of putting an end to His influence so they could have the Kingdom they desired and not the Kingdom God wanted.
To make matter worse, God would then add to or multiply that initial Jewish Bride by doing something utterly unheard of in that former economy – He included a people they once denegrated - gentiles.
This addition created more resistance even among the first believers as Paul makes clear but this too, was part of Gods Administrative Arithmetic.
But again, the established powers that be were on the warpath against these Christians and before long not only the Jews turned on them, but the Gnostics and ultimately the Roman Empire itself.
But as promised, Christ came back and rescued her, separating her from the material world, and taking her to the house (or New Jerusalem above) where He and His Bride would unite forevermore in bringing forth more children into this Kingdom above.
We also noted that from the Yeshuan perspective this divine couple, (as the Bride had to get to “the full measure of Christ” could not be unequally yoked with another) has multiplied and grown (for the past 2000 years) in bringing forth true spiritual children that have no connection to bloodlines, genealogies or any denominational ties.
All of God’s children over the past 2000 years were His individually, by faith and love – the only two commandments Christ left the world.
Ignoring the realities of scripture, and seeking to control and govern believers according to the Apostolic Church model established by Christ and His Apostles, well meaning and not so well meaning men immediately tried to organize and codify the faith under a Catholic banner (with Catholic meaning universal or all inclusive) banner.
Initially and on paper, this “all-inclusive banner) was a sound approach but it did not take long for the all inclusiveness to become all exclusive, as men assigned rites, rituals, and false human priesthood to overseeing the Kingdom.
Before long individuals had to serve the church, had to receive its rites, and this Empire became something very different that what Christ established with His Bride a 1000 years earlier.
The Eastern world of Catholicism saw a need to divide and after 1000 years the great Schism of 1054 introduced divisions of Man in the world of religion.
Some 500 years later, another major division of man would occur with the Protestant Reformation and then some three hundred years later Restorationists groups would come in with their notions and grab for power.
What is often overlooked is that what Made Christ victorious in bringing ultimate glory to His Father was His in and through His undeterred allegiance to God alone (something the collective Nation never had for Him) meaning, no idolatry in Christ, no allegiance to the things of Man.
Interestingly, we too can see that what qualified the Bride to be His and to be taken by Him was her (collective by the way) decision to follow Him alone and to do His commandments and that of His special witness apostles. Because of her allegiance she was tried in the fires of persecution by the religious power of men in that day.
Now I want to ask a super important question – who or what sought to destroy her?
(beat)
While the answer is easy the answer is so telling – because it was those in power over the former collective? Meaning those who came out from Abraham directly and materially.
And looking back over time we see that it was (listen) the religious leaders who refused to accept anything that challenged their established power, their 12 tribes, their laws, or their control over what was established.
Do you see this?
So, remember their origins?
Mesopotamia.
And it was God who called the Father of them, and the Father of Islam and the Father of Christian faith OUT from that former world?
But once they got the power base in hand, they did not want ANY other developments to change anything – even if it was the will of God – even if it was His own Son – they said, “no, we have the truth and we will not accommodate any new thing. We will not add to our people, right?
So first they kill the Messiah leading the way, then they kill off all but one of his Apostles (as He promised them) and then they killed faithful members of the Bride to the point Christ had to return to save her or there would be no Bride left.
Remember what Christ told the apostles before leaving them? He said in John 16 starting at verse 1 where we read Him say,
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
They had cut their teeth on God and the scripture and followed Him through the Law but Yeshua said,
“the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.”
Did these leaders look pious? Oh yeah. Did they appear to be Godly? They did. But they wanted to have their empire and their control and refused to embrace what God wanted – almost from day one.
This is the way of Man.
In chapter 15 of Luke we have the most fascinating series of stories unfold as Yeshua is speaking to the people and we read,
Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
This was unheard of – a Jew speaking and teaching and giving attention to publicans and sinners. This was not allowed in the Kingdom of Man in that day (verse 2)
2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
Translated we can hear some people today saying similar things when Christians associate with those who are certainly not welcome in the ranks of the faithful, right?
So, what does Yeshua do? It’s pretty fascinating. He tells them a story and says, without any preface by Luke, verse 3
3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
Notice that Yeshua speaks first of a man with animals – sheep and one of them of its own will and volition goes off and gets lost.
What does the man do? He does what every man would do – he would leave the 99 and go after the lost one, right?
In that day of religiosity, the mindset was if a member of the Nation left the flock through wandering, good riddance – he was never one of us truly, right?
And then He describes the heart of the man saying,
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
This is why I eat with publicans and sinners we does not say with Luke’s words - but this is the implication. And the interesting thing is Luke does not give us any added response from either the audience or the religious critics present. All we get is silence. And so, Yeshua immediately says at verse 8:
8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
He first tells a story of a man overseeing animals that have their own will and then he tells a story using a woman who from neglect or oversight over ten inanimate objects loses one then goes to work diligently - lighting a candle and sweeping the house – until she finds it.
(mention the tarnishing of silver idea here and the need to act quickly or the job gets that much tougher)
And then he says,
9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
(Isn’t He a master teacher? The man with reference to the sheep describes finding a sheep which was lost but the woman rejoices for finding a piece of silver which she admits to losing) And then the point? (verse 10) Yeshua says,
10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
But again, the narrative gives us silence. Nothing from the audience nor the critics.
And it almost seems like Yeshua, having given them two examples that might understand decides to then hit them with a teaching that most people can relate to – and so He says beginning at verse 11,
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
I want you to remember this line – “a certain man had two sons.” Contextually we know that Yeshua was speaking of two types of Jews in that day – the faithful and the reprobate, the lost, the sinner, right?
That is context. But the unifying principle is not limited to those of the Nation is it?
Didn’t Abraham have two sons (actually, he had more) and aren’t all of them Abrahams? Just like the Nation of Israel and the Muslims are two sons of the one man called out by God as a man of faith?
Did not God also love Ishmael and make him a great Nation even though He used Isaac to bring about the Messiah?
And don’t we see each group even today still rejecting the other and refusing to unite but instead killing one another?
Weren’t the early Jewish members of the Bride reticent to accept God’s addition when the Gentiles were invited in to join them?
And don’t we see the resistance to unity and acceptance and love today especially from those who are seen as most devout?
Didn’t Yeshua say in His life, “Other Sheep I have which are not of this fold them I must also bring that they may be one fold and one people?”
And haven’t we seen numerous other examples from those with the most power doing all they can to keep others away? Especially in the name of God Himself?
So, a man had two sons and Yeshua says,
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself,
(Note that the lost sheep wandered off and needed to be rescued and the coin was lost by neglect and had to be sought but when it came to this self-willed human we don’t have the father forcing him into submission but the father gave him what he requested and let him discover for himself the error of his ways)
And when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
And Yeshua in the parable has the prodigal son speak his own plan of action out first and has him say,
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Is this not the response of a loving parent when one of their children come to their senses – rejoicing, compassion and acceptance?
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Isn’t this the plight, the standing of all human creations before God – that none of us are worthy to be called his Child?
And doesn’t this heart say EVERYTHING about a person?
Now listen to how Yeshua describes the Fathers response to his lost son saying, I am not worthy to be called they Son,” as we read,
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Does this not describe the heart of God represented in the father? Did the Father say anything about the choices of the lost son? Did he not run to him, kiss him, put Him in the best robe and put a ring on his hand and throw a party?
What does this say about the heart of God for any and all who come to Him in this way?
Are we so limited in our need for certitude that we refuse to accept that whoever comes to God with such a heart will be loved and accepted by Him?
But the parable doesn’t end here does it? Because there is another brother involved. Let’s read.
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in:
Herein lies the difficulty in the world – the forgiving, the reuniting, the rejoicing is denied while refusing to allow others in thrives.
I wonder if this will be the case in the Kingdom above – that some will not go in by choice because of others who are allowed in?
We get angry. We cannot accept additions of the filthy in the name of God because we think this is His heart. Perhaps it’s because we are like the Jews in Yeshua’s day –
We see ourselves as right and the best and the offspring of the righteous line and cannot fathom that our God loves all of His creations. All. So much so He gave Himself for the sins of all.
Perhaps we think our power is threatened. Perhaps we are envious. Perhaps we see others as unclean, undeserving, or living in ways we deem too sinful to be a brother or sister. And so can accept the dividing so long as we are on the sheep side and not the goat, but the uniting, the adding to? No, not possible.
In the parable of the Prodigal, when the angry son would not join in, we read,
. . . therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
I want to bring this all in as we wrap our time up this morning. What I am about to say may be a tipping point for some of you in studying with us.
This may serve as the time where some of you will also walk because what God is doing is just too much and you will divide or separate yourself from what we propose.
This might be your hearing the dancing and music and your refusing to come in too – its understandable, it has happened over the course of Christian history when God calls for unity.
Do you realize that the Empire of Christianity has been around longer than the Nation of Israel had been when Christ came into the world and faced the powers that be in His day?
Can you see that what Christianity has become is facing the exact same thing as the powers that be have refused, through tradition, by power, and money to sit with sinners, or to receive the great unwashed into their company?
Like the Nation of Israel and their leaders in Yeshua’s day, we too have decided to stand on the edicts of our laws and traditions instead of allowing ourselves to accept what God has accomplished for all?
And we have allowed those in power over the material model to actually impose division and warfare on the world in the very name of Christ when Christ came to save all?
See, if the eschatological model explained in the scripture is right, and if Christ has literally reconciled the world to God, and if God is all in all, and if all of humanity has been individually taken back to a Spiritual garden of Eden where each of us choose faith or knowledge, the idea of Christian imperialism on earth, is a lie and the conditions of our age are not one bit different than the conditions Christ faced in His – there is a religious power-base striving to retain control and domination and exclusivity where God has clearly made a call for faith, unity and love.
This empire has their false eschatological model in place and is looking and waiting for a King to come and do their bidding and not the revealed will of the Father.
In their minds they are responsible for ushering in their version of the real Messiah so He can save them and destroy the rest and the driving power behind them is the same driving power behind what killed the Messiah, the Apostles and most of the Bride nearly 2000 years ago.
Where the Nation of Israel upon John the Baptist’s arrival cried, “we have Abraham as our father,” Christians today cry, “we have the mortal Messiah as our King,” and in the same vein, refuse to allow anyone else in.
We maintain that because eschatology has been solved, and that God is now all in all, and the veil of the temple was rent top to bottom, and that Christ has taken His seat on the throne as the God-man-king, that God is now calling to all people of faith (irrespective of denomination or doctrine) to unite in agape love.
Operating from an antiquated view of scripture, the powers that be, still beholden to the Nation of Israel’s tacit authority, approach the world through what can only be seen as Christian imperialism, Christian Nationalism and Christian Dominionism - believing that they have a mandate to "prepare" the world for Christ's return.
Some of the most prominent groups and networks associated with this belief include,
the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) a movement characterized by a belief in modern-day apostles and prophets who advocate for "spiritual warfare" to gain dominion over seven key areas of society – this is called the Seven Mountain Mandate and it includes dominion over government, religion, family, business, education, arts/entertainment, and media. Leaders, such as Dutch Sheets and Lance Wallnau, argue that by restructuring society and politics to fit an ultraconservative biblical worldview, they are setting the stage for Christ to return and rule.
Then there is the Coalition on Revival (AKA COR) this group was instrumental in bringing together evangelicals across denominations to unify them under the goal of "rebuilding civilization on the principles of the Bible".
They bridged different end-times beliefs by focusing on the active, political "reconstruction" of society, again, striving to make our King’s Kingdom of this world.
There is the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) a highly patriarchal and conservative "Christian nationalist group" with a specific vision for American society, often linked with hard-right political agendas, including influencing public figures and policy.
There is CUFI - Christians United for Israel (CUFI) founded by John Hagee.
This organization is associated with evangelical "dispensationalism," which views the expansion of Israel as a critical prophecy to be supported to hasten the end times and the Second Coming.
And now there are Patriot Churches, which are various independent associations that blends nationalism with religious dogma, acting as a "last-ditch effort" to turn the government into a "Christian nation".
As Yeshuans, and as people who have separated from the power-base of Christianity even in name, we see all of this as a product from the Spirit of Man and propose something far different, something much more biblical and in harmony with the finished victorious work of Christ.
Don’t get me wrong – Yeshuan’s follow only the Spirit of the God-Man-King, which is love for all – Dominionists included – but there is a marked division happening in the world again, and we suggest that it is manifestly an act of God separating the Dark from the Light – but this time it’s entirely spiritual and has nothing at all to do with material rules, laws, denominations or expressions or Man.
So even though the material Messiah laid a new foundation under a new heaven and new earth through His life, death, resurrection, ascension and return for those in that day, men have been allowed by God (because this world is in our domain) to grip and control the name Jesus and concluded that God’s plan was exclusivity rather than inclusivity.
And what rolled forth in this world blossomed out like the sands of the sea under the name Jesus Christ.
We will address, even deconstruct this grab for power using and excluding others in His name and cause and suggest that God has an alternative for people of faith – next week.