The 12 Days of Christmas


Yasha
The Biblical Definition of "Salvation"


Introduction

When you talk about "salvation," you're talking about someone being "saved." You should always ask, "Saved from what?"

The word "savior" is often translated "deliverer." Again, "Delivered from what?"

The vast majority of Christians today would answer, "Saved from hell." But in the Bible, the vast majority of verses which talk about "salvation" or "being saved" are not talking about hell. In the vast majority of occurrences, the Hebrew word for "salvation" does not mean "going to heaven when you die."

The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word Yhowshuwa', which is derived from yasha', which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation." In various derivatives it can be translated "deliverance," "victory," "safety," "security," and "welfare." (The Greek equivalent also carries the idea of "health.") Let's look at a standard theological reference work for a definition of this word.

Yasha and its derivatives are used 353 times. The root meaning . . . is “make wide” or make sufficient: this root is in contrast to sarar, “narrow,” which means “be restricted” or “cause distress.” To move from distress to safety requires deliverance. [T]he majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophes. That which is wide connotes freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s own objectives. Thus salvation is not merely a momentary victory on the battlefield; it is also the safety and security necessary to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers.
Hartley, John E. (1999). 929 יָשַׁע ["yasha"], in R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pp. 414-15.

I admit that I say many controversial things. That definition is not one of them. It is thoroughly Biblical. That's a very conservative, mainstream reference work. Let's look at it in more detail.

An "agrarian" might well argue that this level of consumerism inevitably destroys marriages, fractures families, increases the power of "the State," and makes us all automatons. We'll have to postpone a discussion of this question for another day. Certainly we should not be intimidated by the "mainstream" (government, academia, media, corporations) into pursuing violent, centralized "technocratic" means to an end, rather than peaceful, decentralized "agrarian" means.

Consider first the phrase "safety and security necessary to maintain life." This is also the "safety and security necessary to maintain a prosperous and humane society." In order to go to WalMart and buy a shopping cart full of food and household accessories, there has to be a global network of businesses who create and transport millions of products by making billions of economic calculations and transactions. Millions of human beings have to get to work on time, run the trucks on schedule, choose to work instead of stealing and robbing, and work the graveyard shift so that when you get to the store, all the items you want are neatly arranged on the shelf in an order which makes it possible for you to quickly find what you need and get on with life.

Who should we trust for "safety" and "security?" What does the Bible say?

The Bible repeatedly says that if we obey God the Lawgiver by loving our neighbor through productive service, God our Judge and King will "bless" us with peace and prosperity. "Peace" means "safety" and "security." These are all components of the Biblical picture of holistic "salvation."

But there are those who want to supplant God the King by promising to give us salvation if we will vote for them. We call these people "archists." See Mark 10:42-45. An "archist" believes he has the right to impose his will on other people by force. "Archists" often claim to be the benefactors of society. They claim to bring the Biblical concept of "salvation" by their acts of coercive central planning.

Archists claim to be saviors (though they seldom use that kind of theological language). As faith in God declines, votes for archists grow. As archists grow, true salvation declines. Government is bigger today than it was 50 years ago, and we are less secure and more in debt -- precisely what God promised in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 would happen to a nation that apostatizes (forgets God and becomes "secular" [The Paradox of Deuteronomy 8).
Let's look at our scholarly definition of "yasha" once more.
Yasha and its derivatives are used 353 times. The root meaning . . . is “make wide” or make sufficient: this root is in contrast to sarar, “narrow,” which means “be restricted” or “cause distress.” To move from distress to safety requires deliverance. [T]he majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophes. That which is wide connotes freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s own objectives. Thus salvation is not merely a momentary victory on the battlefield; it is also the safety and security necessary to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers.
  • "archists" cause insufficiencies and shortages
  • "archists" restrict our liberties
  • "archists" are our enemies
  • "archists" restrict freedom
  • "archists" are the object of our fears

Summary

The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word Yhowshuwa', which is derived from yasha', which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation." In various derivatives it can be translated "deliverance," "victory," "safety," "security," and "welfare." (The Greek equivalent also carries the idea of "health.")

What does the government promise? We have a Department of Health, a Welfare Department, a Department of Homeland Security -- all components of the Biblical concept of "salvation." "The Government" (a.k.a. "civil government") is always a substitute for God. God is our Governor (Isaiah 33:22), and He brings salvation.

"Safety" and "security" are blessings from God, not government. We enjoy "safety" and "security" when our nation is Christian and observes "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," that is, the Bible. Nobody enjoys "safety" and "security" when the government becomes a tyranny which bans the Bible and people behave like pagans.

  • The Bible promises that as Christianity pervades a society, even pagans will start acting like Christians.
  • Then we will all enjoy "salvation."
  •  Jesus is "the savior of all men, especially those who believe." 1 Timothy 4:10


The Secular Messianic State will always allege that your exercise of religion is "political," because politics is a substitute for true religion:

James 1:27 says

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this:
to visit orphans and widows in their trouble,
and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

This verse, according to some churches, says true religion is "social action," and the "church" must not be involved in "social action."

Politicians are happy to put up a façade of social action, because they do so with other people's money. But social action which is not an extension of the reign of the Messiah, through His Body, is not real social action.

Conclusion

It is the task of "the Church" (The Body of Christ) to "build." We build the Body of Christ into the Lord's House. We build the earth into the Lord's Temple. We tear down the city of man and build the City of God. And when the New Jerusalem is complete, Christ the Master-Builder will get all the praise and credit.

The Empires of the world will say this interferes with their agenda. It violates "the separation of church and State."

The Empires are correct.


This online celebration is sponsored by a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization called "Vine & Fig Tree." Our offices were destroyed by a tornado a couple of years ago. We're requesting a $12 "cover charge" for this party. Your donation is tax-deductible. No donation is required to participate in the "The 12 Days of Christmas." If we get 100 people to donate $12, we'll be able to pay our bills this month.
  

Or mail your check to

"Vine & Fig Tree"
P.O. Box 179
Powersite, MO 65731


The Program
12 Days Bringing to Mind
The Most Significant Event in Human History

Each day you'll receive an audio for your morning commute to work, and another audio for your commute back home. The morning audio will look at Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy, and in the evening we'll show how that vision began to be fulfilled at Christmas two millennia ago.

Day 1 - Jesus is the culmination of thousands of years of meticulous genealogical records preserved by "the Chosen People," Israel.
Matthew 1:1-17 - son of David
Luke 3:23-38 - The Last Adam
 The Scriptures are God-breathed.
  
Day 2 - The Word became flesh
John 1:1-18 - The Incarnation
Luke 1:1-4 - Eyewitnesses of the Messiah recorded their testimony. Co-Founder of the Harvard Law School says their testimony would prove the resurrection in any court of law in America, at one time a Christian nation.
Jesus is "Immanuel" - God with us 
  
Day 3 - Jesus will be given "the throne of his father David."
Luke 1:5-25 - John the Baptist prepares the way for the Messiah, as prophesied of Elijah.
Luke 1:26-38 - The Angel Gabriel announces the conception of the Messiah: "And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:33)
Luke 1:39-45 - the unborn John the Baptist leaps for joy when he encounters the unborn Messiah. Planned Parenthood attempts to sell them both for body parts. (That last part is "not in the earliest manuscripts.")
 
Day 4 - Luke 1:46-56 - "The Magnificat"
Mary sings a song of praise composed of Old Testament quotations, saying that the real meaning of Christmas is good news for the poor and lowly, and bad news for the rich and powerful:
    50 And His mercy is on them that fear Him
    from generation to generation.
   
51 He hath shewed strength with His arm;
    He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
    52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
    and exalted them of low degree.
    53 He hath filled the hungry with good things;
    and the rich he hath sent empty away.
  
Day 5 - Luke 1:67-80 - Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, prophecies the birth of Jesus the anti-king.
71 That we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us;
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
  
Day 6 - Matthew 1:18-25 - the Incarnation is explained to Joseph
"Jesus" means "salvation"
"Immanuel" means "God with us"
  
Day 7 - Luke 2:1-7
The Prophet Micah predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Jesus' parents lived in Nazereth. Therefore God predestined Caesar to issue a decree (probably relating to taxes) that would bring Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem before Jesus was born. Evil empires serve God's purposes.
 
Day 8 - Luke 2:8-14
An army of angels announces the birth of the Messiah to lowly shepherds, saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
      And on earth peace to those with whom He is pleased!”
  
Day 9 - Luke 2:22-24
The most important family on earth could not afford the top-level offering required by the law of Moses. They took advantage of a provision for low-income families.
  
Day 10
Luke 2:25-35 - Simeon had been told he would not die before he saw the Lord's Messiah. He says Jesus is "The One."
Luke 2:36-38 - Anna the Prophetess is another well-known Godly person who acknowledges that Jesus is the Child promised by the prophets. (Christianity offered a view of women which was quite unlike that of the Empire that occupied Israel at the time.)
  
Day 11 - Wise men worship Jesus
Matthew 2:1-8 - "Wise men from the East" (Babylon, perhaps) knew of Micah's prophecy that the King of the Jews would be born in Bethlehem.
Matthew 2:9-12 - The kings from the east present the Messiah with "gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Extraordinarily expensive gifts.
  
Day 12 - Matthew 2:13-18 - Massacre of the Innocents
When Herod got word of the birth of a rival king, he behaved in a perfectly logical way (for someone who wants to protect his power):  he massacred all male babies the age of Jesus. Herod recognized that Jesus was a threat to Herod's power.

Each day along the way, we will compare these historical accounts of Christmas with Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy predicting:

Our Goal for the Planet:

The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas:

And this is the sign unto you:
Ye shall find a Babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes,
and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And peace on earth
among men with whom He is well pleased.
Luke 2:8-15

Peace on Earth Begins with You.

Our Goal for You:

To be one in whom God is well pleased:

His lord said unto him, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' Matthew 25:21


The Vine & Fig Tree Worldview

The phrase "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the Old Testament Prophet Micah, the fourth chapter. You can find out more about the Vine & Fig Tree Worldview on our home page:

http://VineandFigTree.Christmas

During the next 12 days, you'll see the "real meaning" of Christmas in the Bible like you've never seen them before.

Many Christians today believe Jesus came to get us a ticket to heaven when we die. In the meantime, Satan rules the planet. Their story of the Bible goes like this:

  • God created planet earth;
  • God put man on earth to be a good steward, and transform the Garden of Eden into the City of God;
  • Satan tempted man;
  • Man rebelled against God, choosing to be his own god instead;
  • Satan now controls the world;
  • Jesus came to pay the penalty for this rebellion;
  • Things are going to get worse and worse;
  • Since Satan and man are not playing God's game by God's rules, God is soon going to take his cosmic football and go home.

In other words, Satan wins.

Pretty dismal story, isn't it?

Sure, God sent His Son, who died on the cross, so that some of the players can be forgiven for their rebellion and go home with God, but God's original purposes for man and the creation were thwarted by Satan, the ultimate victor.

Click here to listen to the "Vine & Fig Tree" worldview

Some of George Washington's favorite passages of the Bible were those that spoke of every man dwelling safely "under his own vine and fig tree." Other Founding Fathers also referred to this "Vine & Fig Tree" ideal.

(George Washington would recommend that you enroll in The 12 Days of Christmas program. He read the Bible for an hour each morning, and another hour in the evening.)

George Washington was motivated by the Vine & Fig Tree vision revealed in the Bible. Washington's Diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. They are introduced with these words:

No theme appears more frequently in the writings of Washington than his love for his land. The diaries are a monument to that concern. In his letters he referred often, as an expression of this devotion and its resulting contentment, to an Old Testament passage. After the Revolution, when he had returned to Mount Vernon, he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette on Feb. 1, 1784:

"At length my Dear Marquis I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, & under the shadow of my own Vine & my own Fig-tree."

This phrase occurs at least 11 times in Washington's letters.

"And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree" (2 Kings 18:31).

Peter Lillback, author of a 1,000-page study of Washington's life and thought, has found more than 40 references to the “Vine and Fig Tree” vision in Washington's Papers.

"Vine & Fig Tree" is the original "American Dream."

The phrase occurs a number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means
• peace,
• wholeness,
• health,
• welfare, and
• private property free from pirates and princes.
When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation," they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife.

Vine & Fig Tree  is also a phrase from the prophet Micah, the idea of everyone owning property and enjoying the fruits of their labor without fear of theft or political oppression, of sitting peacefully under your "Vine & Fig Tree."

Hundreds of years before Christ, the prophet Daniel spoke of the first Christmas, the birth of the Messiah in the days of the Roman Empire. That barbaric, debauched empire was destroyed, and the Kingdom of Christ began growing like a mustard tree, like leaven, like a field (Matthew 13). The Emperor Justinian began Christianizing the Eastern Roman Empire, and in the West kings like Alfred and Ethelbert made the 10 Commandments the basis of new legal systems. The "Common Law" began, with a Christian foundation, and eventually found its way into the Constitution of the United States, "a Christian nation." From 12 dejected disciples, Christianity has spread across the world, and billions of people claim to be Christian. Though there have been ups and downs, the progress of Christianity has been undeniable -- at least to those who have been taught the facts of history.

Most Americans in the 21st century have not.

If you enroll in this Home Study Program, you will learn the story of the "Vine & Fig Tree." You will learn that the Bible says the purpose of the first Christmas was that "the knowledge of the Lord should cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14). This has been going on for 2,000 years now. This is a wonderful story that isn't being told.

And the story is really just beginning.


You're invited to celebrate
 the Twelve Days of Christmas.

No matter what time of year it may be.


Download

The Birth of Christ transformed the world.

The next 12 days can transform your life.


What is the "real meaning" of Christmas? Don't wait until "the holiday season" to find out. You'll be much too distracted. Start now.

  • The traditional song "The 12 Days of Christmas" represents the giving of opulent and impractical gifts.
  • This 12 Days of Christmas website represents a new worldview which transforms you into a peacemaker and a "good and faithful servant."

Join our online party and accomplish the following over the next 12 days:

  • read the historical accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ
  • discover "the real meaning of Christmas" by comparing the Gospel accounts of Christmas with a neglected Old Testament prophecy (Micah 4:1-7).

The "real meaning of Christmas" is:

  • Peace on Earth (Luke 2:14).
  • Everyone dwelling securely under his own Vine & Fig Tree (Micah 4:1-7).
  • Jesus is the Christ ("Christ" means "messiah," or "anointed King").

What we've already witnessed:

  • The prophet Daniel predicted that during the Roman Empire, a rock would crush the empire and turn into a mountain and fill the whole earth. Jesus is the Rock. He has been reigning for 2,000 years, ever since He rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father. His Kingdom is the Mountain, it's filling the earth, and the planet is being progressively Christianized.
    Before He rose from the dead, He had 12 dejected and confused disciples. Today over two billion people claim to be followers of Christ.
    The empire that executed Jesus soon collapsed under its own depravity. Christians began Christianizing the world. Early kings like Ethelbert made the Ten Commandments the foundation of the "common law" legal system in Europe. At one time the United States Supreme Court declared that America was "a Christian nation." "Western civilization" is Christian civilization. There have been ups and downs, but the progress cannot be denied. The Mountain is filling the earth.

Controversy:

  • Christ's Kingdom advances peacefully through works of service, not the sword. A non-military, "pacifist" Messiah was not the kind of Messiah expected by most Jews 2,000 years ago. (Nor by many Christians today.)

There are two groups that oppose this concept of Christmas:

  • "Premils"
  • "Pinkos"

"Premils" are "pre-millennialists" who believe the "millennium" (described by Micah 4 and other passages) cannot take place until after a Second Coming of Christ, when Jesus returns and sets up a strong, military, "police-state"-style centralized government, with armed believers dispatched from a throne in Jerusalem to put down unbelievers. "Premils" believe Christmas only secured for believers a ticket to heaven when they die, or a ticket on "the Rapture" if they live that long. Not global transformation.

"Pinkos" are those who believe that Jesus is not King enough to bring about the "millennium"; we need strong centralized government for that. Pinkos call us "anarchists."

During the next 12 days, we'll find out why the Premils and the Pinkos are both wrong, and why you and I can and should work to bring "Peace on Earth" so that everyone can dwell prosperously and securely under their own Vine & Fig Tree.

For more about the "Vine & Fig Tree" vision, see our home page.