The

Teminine

Principle of

Salvation

GEM THOUGHTS: to a degree (this is not to say that pregnant women do not take on another kind of beauty andradiance, for they certainly do).

"Love must be the principle of action. Love is the underlying principle of God'sgovernment in heaven and earth, and it must be the foundation of the Christian'scharacter. This alone can make and keep him steadfast. This alone can enable him towithstand trial and temptation.

"And love will be revealed in sacrifice. The plan ofredemption was laid in sacrifice,--a sacrifice so broad and deep and high that it is immeasurable. Christ gave all for us, andthose who receive Christ will be ready to sacrifice all for the sake of their Redeemer. Thethought of His honor and glory will come before anything else." CS 197

It was in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus began to most fuIIy display thefeminine aspect of the waning moon when He received the cup which would eventuaIIytake Him into the hands of His enemies where the glory of His person and ministry wouldbe abused, then to the cross, and finally to the grave where He would be totaIIyhidden fromview as is the moon at the end of its monthly cycle. Even He had to die to self in order toreceive the cup which would bring salvation to the world, just as a woman receives from herhusband in order to bring the glory of new life to the world.

STUDY AIM: "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, 0 my Father, ifit be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I wiII, but as thou wilt. ...

"He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, 0 my Father, if this cup maynot pass away from me, except I drink it, thy wiII be done ....

"And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the samewords." Matthew 26:39,42,44.

To show that the principle of love has both masculine and feminine qualities, and thatthe feminine ones, though of equal importance to our salvation, are usuaIIy the ones leastappreciated and the least put into practice.

Males beget, Females bare"... we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of

death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death foreveryman.

"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringingmany sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."Hebrews 2:9, 10.

Males give forth, Females receive

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE SIGNS IN THE HEAVEN

In Bible symbolism (Genesis 37:9 & 10)

The sun represents the masculine principle, The sun gives forth light,

The moon represents thefeminine principle. The moon reflects light

The light of the sun is always shining somewhere. Jesus said,

The light of the moon is hidden from view everywhere at times.

Christ, the SUD (masculine) of righteousness (Malachi 4:2) became as the moon(feminine) when He aIIowed Himself to be crucified and buried (hidden from everyone'sview).

"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide indarkness. I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me acommandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that hiscommandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father saidunto me, so I speak." John 12:46,49,50.

THE FEMININE PRINCIPLE OF SALVATIONIN CHILD BEARING

Jesus chose to become as the moon (feminine) and reflect the words of the Father,rather than speak His own words.

When a women chooses to become pregnant by receiving seed from her husband, shedoes so with the knowledge that she wiII no longer be the same - that she wiIl go throughchanges in her body which can never be reversed. This is an act of self-sacrifice on her part,for she must go through it in order to bring forth more life into this world and to herhusband. She knows that she will go through the great pain of child-birth, and may even diein the process.

This feminine principle of resting from self, of the hiding of self, is epitomized in thecreation of the Sabbath wherein God rested from all the work that He had done. We areadmonished to enter into that same rest - that same feminine principle. The Jews say thatthe Sabbath is God's bride.

When a woman is at her most attractive, she may be likened to a fuII moon - radiantin her glory. As she goes through the complications of pregnancy that attractiveness wanes

"Ifthou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day;and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, notdoing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the highplaces of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth ofthe

2 3

LORD hath spoken it." Isaiah 58:13,14.

Thus God asks us to be selfless on His holy day that He may impart His blessing to us.A very beautiful woman has to be humble in regards to her attractiveness in order todedicate herself to one man and their children. That is, though she may be able to have anyand many men who are drawn to her attractiveness, she must die to any suchhigbmindedness in order to be a true blessing in the earth. Though pride and ambition maytempt us to seek for fame and fortune by undertaking unceasing activity (like that of thesun), God asks us to be as the moon (feminine) at times (on His holy days) that He may fillus with blessings which we may then develop into fruits of righteousness.

Even the sun is tempered by the feminine principle in its power as it goes through itsdaily cycle. It starts out gently warming in the morning, as it takes over from the work ofthe moon and star light. Then, rather than continuing the full blaze of its midday shiningwhich could burn up the face of the earth, it wanes through the afternoon, until the moonand stars take over declaring the Lord's glory in the heavens.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Dayunto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge." Psalms 19: I, 2.

John the Baptist came as a voice in the wilderness, a light unto Israel preparing the wayof the Lord. As his work was only to be of a limited duration, when Christ appeared on thescene he said,

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30.

While he understood the hiding (humbling) of self, John also understood how thefeminine principle of receiving is active in the plan of salvation. When asked about thecircumstance of Jesus also baptizing people, and that they were going to Him instead ofhimself,

"John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him fromheaven." John 3:27.

Thus he acknowledged that he, like the moon (like a female) could only shine forth asit was given to him to reflect the light of another. That is, a woman can't really claim thather children are solely her own. She has to acknowledge that it is from the act of another(her husband) that she may shine for through her children. Likewise, the husband also standsin a similar feminine position, a position of humility, in that he has to acknowledge that theglory he receives through his children is only so because of great thing that his wife was ableto do with the little he gave her.

Jesus, "the Sun of righteousness," further demonstrated the value of the feminineprinciple when He said,

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if'I go notaway, the Comforter [the Holy Ghost] wiII not come unto you; but if! depart, I will sendhim unto you." John 16:7

He, "the Sun of righteousness," had to "go away" in order that the precious Comforter

4

. ,

may come to the people. This going away was for the good of others, for He could havestayed on earth and continued His personal work. But that would not have fulfiIIed the realneed of the people - that is, the infiIIing of the Holy Spirit. It is written that after Hisresurrection Jesus appeared only to His disciples (Acts 1:2, 3), while those who wereresurrected with Him were seen of many (Acts 13:30,31). He could have showed Himselfopenly to those who had crucified Him. Thus even in this He was showing a hiding of selfby refraining from coming face to face with His persecutors and causing them greatembarrassment and fear.

Even the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, is come to demonstrate the feminine principle

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for heshall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he willshew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shewit unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take ofmine, and shall shew it unto you."

The Holy Ghost, who is Herselffeminine (though this is not fully seen in the Englishtranslations from the Greek), spoke not of Herself, but spoke the words of Jesus, who,likewise, spoke not of Himself, but spoke the words of the Father.

Thus we see how we, male and female, alike, may fulfill the apostle Paul's desire forthe Church-

"For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to onehusband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Corinthians I 1:2.

"Only like can appreciate like. Unless you accept in your own life the principle of self-sacrificing love, which is the principle of His character, you cannot know God. "Maranantha, p. 88.

To "accept in your own life the principle of self-sacrificing love" means to accept thefeminine principle along with the masculine, for God created both to declare His glory, ashe has the sun and the moon.

Those who choose the exalt to masculine principle above the feminine, or to itsexclusion, cannot but suffer loss thereby for they put themselves in a attitude where they willnot be able to receive from the word of God which begets -

"Of His own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind offirstfruits of his creatures." James 1:18

Here is where we get into the practical application of these things. For the past fewdecades there has been much talk about men "getting in touch with their feminine side."What this means is that men need to become more "sensitive," less macho -less aggressiveand dominating. But being aggressive and dominating is not limited to men - women canbe just as macho should they choose to do so. Women can be just as "insensitive" as men.The only difference is how they do it.

5

The world has long seen the results of the exaltation of the masculine principle - theprinciple that is at the heart of sun worship. Lucifer is the one who doesn't exhibit any of thetrue feminine characteristics, and whose character is worshiped under the guise of the sunworship. That is, under said garb, wherein the principle of the moon (the principle ofhumbly reflecting the light of a greater one - the principle ofthe hiding of one's self) has noplace, Lucifer's (whose name means "shining one") character is exalted. As sun worship hadbecome well nigh universal, so the macho, ever shining, ever burning, character became thedominant principle of that world which is often spoken of as "a man's world." In that worldeven salvation has come to be thought of as requiring only the masculine aspects of theGospel. Thus we see the many churches in that world (the "man's world") which aredominated by men and exclusive to most anything having to do with women.

God's word. Many of those today who have God's people in bondage through their Pharaoh-like dominance need to take these things to heart before they themselves are so hardened thatit will be impossible for them to accept the remedy.

When describing Himself as the" chief corner stone" Jesus said,

"What is this then that is written, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same isbecome the head of the corner?' Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken[humbled - become receptive of the words of salvation as a female is of her husband]; buton whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Luke 20: 17, 18.

Likewise, we also see that it is the outshining of one or more of the leaders that is giventhe first place in their services, rather than the workings of the Holy Spirit throughwhomever God may choose to impart said blessing. Even among inspired speakers there isthe danger of failing to practice the moon-like hiding of self, as Paul writes-

Before God called Abram out ofUr of the Chaldees almost the whole world was underthe influence of sun worship - that is, the worship of the masculine principle to theexclusion of the feminine. That which was to become the guiding influence in Israel- theHoly Spirit, the holy Shekinah (both of which terms are feminine in Hebrew) - was notgiven the place nor the respect which God had intended for Her to have. Even Israel failedto give Her that place of prominence, as we read,

"How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hatha doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be doneunto edifying.

"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, andthat by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in thechurch; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

"Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If aDYthing be revealedto another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one,that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject tothe prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of thesaints." 1 Corinthians 14:26-33.

"I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD,according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward thehouse of Israel, which He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies, and accordingto the multitude of His lovingkindnesses, For He said, Surely they are My people, childrenthat will not lie: so He was their Saviour.

"In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: inHis love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the daysof old.

"But they rebelled, and vexed [grieved] His holy Spirit [feminine]: therefore He wasturned to be their enemy, and He fought against them." Isaiah 63:7-10.

Yet in many congregations the speaker would consider it a great insult if the Lord wasto inspire someone to speak up, and would not care to "hold his peace" (hide his self) whilethe Lord worked through the servants of His choice.

In one prophecy which depicts the church in the latter days, God reveals His hatred forthe principle that underlies sun worship - the principle of self exaltation.

What we are looking at here is the feminine principle of salvation. That is, that part ofthe plan of salvation which brings us redemption from the curse of the law. When the Lordwas delivering the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, He brought many plagues uponthat land and people to bring their minds, and particularly that of their leader, Pharaoh, toa position of humility so that he would let the Lord's people go. Of that occasion we read,

"And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the doorof the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twentymen, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; andthey worshipped the sun toward the east." Eze 8: 16.

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart,and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: ...

And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORDGod of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my peoplego, that they may serve me." Exodus 10:1,3.

In that chapter of Ezekiel several of the abominations which are committed against theLord are brought to light prior to the slaughter of Ezekiel chapter 9. The last, and greatestabomination is in verse 16 quoted above. It is said that they "worshipped the sun ... " -meaning that they worshipped self and the masculine principle, void of, or to thediminishing of the feminine principle.

The word translated "hardened" means to be heavy, be dull, be insensible- insensitive.It is a masculine word in Hebrew, though its connotation is not always negative, as it is inthis instance. The word "humble," though, isfeminine. The hardening of Pharaoh's heart wasthe result of the choices he had been making in rejecting the word of the Lord that wascoming to him though God servants. Pharaoh refuse to be humble (feminine), and receive

The number of men there (25) is significant because it is the number of the leadingpriests (the high priest and the heads of the 24 yearly courses - 1 Chronicles 24) - thoserepresentative of the whole body of the priesthood. They being the chosen guardians ofthetrue forms of worship makes their transgression of the greatest of insults to God. Even moreso due to the fact that they were doing such in the very court of the sanctuary - "at the doorof the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar."

6 7

In the Bible, the church of God is depicted by a feminine motherly symbol,

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and themoon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with childcried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered." Rev. 12: 1-2.

By these symbols we can see that God's true people are depicted as being feminine innature (a woman receptive of God's input), while God's enemies, those that must bedestroyed, are depicted as being masculine in nature (worshipping the sun - the shining forthofselt).

To God's true followers, Paul wrote,

"For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to onehusband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Corinthians. 11:2.

But to God's wayward children, those in need of overcoming the principle of sunworship in their own experience, those who are in need of opening up that they may receivethe Word oflife, the True Witness declares:

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith theAmen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works,that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou artlukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, IwiII spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest,I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thouart wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of megold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest beclothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes witheyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealoustherefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, andopen the door, I wiII come in to him, and wiII sup with him, and he with me. To him thatovercometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am setdown with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saithunto the churches." Rev. 3:14-22

The problem of today among those who have joined the church in the time of judgment(Laodicea - meaning "a people speaking judgement") is that they are not exhibiting thefeminine principle. They say that they are rich and increased with goods, and need no more- they are not open to receive from the Lord, their Husband. They are counseled to buy fromthe Lord, to hear God's voice, to open the door that Christ may enter their home and bringthem a meal to dine on with them. Instead ofthat, though, they want to continue to remainlukewarm, not caring about their undone condition; to remain without that which the Lordis offering for sale; to close their ears against the Lord's messages; and to eat their own foodin their own houses alone, leaving the Lord outside knocking.

The description of Laodicea and its "abominations" perfectly reflects that whichEzekiel saw in Chapter 8, where the inner court of the Lord's house contained 25 men allworshipping the sun (the lone masculine principle) with their backs to the sanctuary werethe Lord's sanctifying sacrifice was to take place. But those who choose to do such cannotalso be depicted by true femininity - as the woman of Rev. 12 or as a chaste virgin. In order

8

to be "as a chaste virgin" one must embody the feminine principle, the principle ofreceivingof heaven and of allowing God into our hearts and minds, to fulfill His good pleasure withinus.

The principle of heaven is that of receiving and passing along. The testimony againstLaodicea is that she won't receive, won't open the door, won't hear, and won't buy. TheFather gives His commandments to the Son, and the Son to the Holy Ghost. who passesthem along to the heavenly angels, who, in turn, pass them along to those on earth who haveears to hear, and who, in turn, pass along the good words from the Father to a world lyingin darkness.

What does God do with the Laodiceans who are acting as sun worshippers? He offersthem "the branch."

"Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, 0 son of man? Is it a light thing to thehouse of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they havefilled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, 10, they put thebranch to their nose." Eze. 8:17

However, when they don't accept the fmal remedy ("the branch" - the last thing theLord can offer them), indeed putting it "to their nose," they are left to bear the consequencesas depicted in Ezekiel chapter 9.

This same number of men (25) is again brought to Ezekiel's view in chapter I I, wherewe read-

"Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD'Shouse, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men;among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son ofBenaiah, princes ofthe people." (verse I)

In chapter 8 this number of men (25) were themselves engaged in an abominable formof worship in the court of the temple with their backs to the Lord's temple. In this chapterthey are seen at "the east gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward [towards thesun]: and ... at the door 0 f the gate." So we see that those men are standing in the entranceto the Lord's house which faces Babylon, which is to the east of Jerusalem. Thus those whowould be leaving Babylon and coming to worship the Lord in truth and righteousness wouldhave to pass by these leading men who were standing by the "door" of this "east gate."

But is says of those 25 men,

"these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: Whichsay, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh." (verses2-3)

Thus we see that not only were those 25 men previously engaging in the forbiddenpractice of sun worship (exalting the masculine principle) among themselves, but now theyare subjecting the whole of the city to their beclouded thinking, as the Lord reveals to them

9

"Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, 0 son of man."And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the

LORD; Thus have ye said, 0 house of Israel: for I know the things that come into yourmind, every one of them. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled thestreets thereofwith the slain. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye havelaid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron." (verses 4-7, first part)

But the Lord teIIs them that such is not to continue -

"...but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. Ye have feared the sword; and I willbring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD. And I wiII bring you out of the midst th ereof,and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. Ye shallfall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am theLORD.

"This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof;but I will judge you in the border ofIsrael: And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for yehave not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after themanners of the heathen that are round about you." (verses 7, last part - 12)

Thus, in unequivocal terms the Lord expresses His supreme loathing towards ''themanners of the heathen that are round about" (which were predominately sun worshippers),and to those among the leaders of His people who follow after the same abominations. Whatis notable about those 25 men is that 1hey are of the "rule or ruin" mindset - they areprepared to allow total ruin to come upon the nation rather than admit their errors and repentthereof Therein is seen the results of engaging in the principles of sun worship - theprinciples of the exaltation of self - of the failing to hide self, of being spiritually macho.

An example ofthis "rule or ruin" mentality is seen in the actions of king Saul after Godhad removed him from being king because he would not humble himself to the Lord's will,and had instead anointed David to be king in his place.

"As Saul, furthermore, defied God by refusing to abdicate the throne, and by seekingthe life of His anointed, king David, so now at the sounding of the trumpet today, we findthe General Conference refusing to let God take the reins in His Own hands (Testimoniesto Ministers, p. 300), their attempting to usurp His throne by determining that they are torule the denomination until the end of this world, and their availing themselves of everychance to cast us [Davidian reformers] out of their midst, in order to safeguard their controlof it. Those who are doing this are they whom the prophet Ezekiel prophetically heardsaying: "This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh." Ezek. 11:3. They are now doingeverything possible to exalt and to perpetuate themselves in power, and to be rid of thosewho have in the name of the Lord "published peace," and brought to them the "goodtidings" that "the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off." Nah. 1:15.But "this city shall not," says the Lord, "be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in themidst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel." Ezek. 11: I I ." Mount Sion At"The Eleventh Hour, "Tract 8 p. 53, 54. [brackets added]

By the foregoing we see that the Lord is to put an end to the practice and principles ofsun worship among His people as illuminated herein. That is, he is to "spue" those whocontinue in these things out of His "mouth." (Revelation 3: 16)

10

Why does God hate sun worship? Imagine if there were two suns in the heavens in sucha position as to constantly enlighten the earth, rather than a sun and a moon. We'd all beburned to a crisp in no time. The delicate beauties and glorious wonders that God createdduring the week of creation would all be destroyed.

Being as the sun as Jesus showed in His going away that the Holy Spirit may come isa godly principle. But Lucifer aspired to what he thought was a better principle - that beingthat he would be as a sun which would not yield his glory to any other, not even hisCreators. This led him to think and speak according to his own thoughts, and not accordingto that which is "given him from heaven" (John. 3:27). Rather than to receive and pass alongthe light of heaven, he desired to generate his own light to shine upon others. Of him andthose who chose to follow in his ways of attempting to be an unyielding sun in the heavensin place of the divinely ordained yielding sun, it is written:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was amurderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. " John.8:44.

God knows how to be like the life providing, life sustaining sun, rising gently in themorning, shining strongly for a short time in the midday, cooling in the afternoon anddeparting for a season every night. Of man's and of Satan's attempt at being their own sun,we are reminded of the many writers who likened the atomic bomb to the sun ('Dark Sun,""Brighter Than a Thousand Suns," "The Day the Sun Rose Twice," to name a few booktitles). The atom bomb explodes in a huge solar-like fireball destroying all in proximity toit through the uncontrolled fury of its light and heat. It also spreads a poisonous cloud offallout bringing disease and a curse upon those in its wake. God's sunlight is the greatest ofblessings. Man's atomic sunlight is the greatest of curses. God's light (His thoughts,commandments, and judgments) is as far superior to Satan's and man's light (lies,presumptions, commandments, and traditions of men) as the wisdom that blesses the worldthrough the sun in the heavens is superior to the folly that curses the world through atomicexplosions.

It is written -

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form ofGod, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, andtook upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being foundin fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the deathof the cross." Philippians 2:3-8.

The general culture today, and the culture that permeates even the religious world,operates under the idea epitomized by the oft invoked phrase - "be a man about it" -suggesting that masculinity is the strong, smart, good and morally right way to be. However,the invitation of heaven is to behold the feminine principle of salvation, and to "be a womanabout it." (Revelation I 2) As one well known woman put it, "Behold the handmaid of theLord; be it unto me according to thy word." Luke 1:38.

So let it be. Amen and Amen.

11

The Branch

ByDoug Mitchell and Steve Penners

Living Waters Branch

Doug MitcheIlP. O. Box 1004

King~and,Texas 78639

email: info@the-branch.org

http://www .the-branch.org/studyl 08.html

Printed in the United States of America

Page 1Page 2Page 3Titles. ,

Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7TitlesLiving Waters Branch The Branch