This is the selected Psalm to be sung or read aloud in catholic-churches [universal Christian churches] on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This will next be Sunday, May 24, 2020. I printed out the Lectionary page versions of the readings for this next-to-last Sunday of the Easter season and after analyzing the Acts reading (Acts 1:6-14) I was not getting the connection to the Ascension theme from any of the other readings. Often, there is a clear thread that connects all the readings, which is what ALL sermons or homilies should be addressing [not just one of the readings; because if one is too lazy to address more than one, then one needs to make reservations for the next life on earth, which might be called hell]. If you only attend church for the wafers and wine [realizing none of that is happening during this End of the World period we are in, due to a pandemic], not going to have your heart burn to know God and His Son PERSONALLY, then you don’t want to know anything that is truly worth knowing. I looked up the Interlinear version of Psalm 68 and the theme jumped out at me. I had to focus my eyes a little, but once it was in focus it was clear. It goes back to a realization I had just last week. That realization is based on the mistranslation in the psalms of elohim.
I have long known that elohim is “gods” [plural] in Hebrew and not the singular God we worship, which is stated as “Yahweh” [YHWH]. However, just last week the inner voice led me to see how Apostles and Saints are elohim, because they are the union of a body-soul combination [a mortal entity] with God’s Holy Spirit [an immortal entity], being reborn as “gods.” More specifically, Apostles and Saints are reborn Sons of God, the elohim that are all Jesus Christ.
The heavenly host – the arms of God.
In the fourteen verses chosen from Psalm 68 to be sung [skipping over verses 11 to 32], there are fifteen references to “elohim,” one to “yah” [short for Yahweh] and one to “el” [as “the god of Israel”]. All of that is in fourteen verses sung aloud. When each and every one of the mistranslations of “God” are erased and “elohim” sang instead, then the reading from Acts has perfectly set up Psalm 68, by ending with the following: “Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.” Those names and general identifications are stating those who would become Jesus Christ returning to earth in the flesh, the union of body and soul with the Divine. They are the elohim of Christianity, and they ALL express the divine duality of the Gemini twins (Castor and Pollux). When this is seen, then Psalm 68 is ‘Transfigured” like this: 1 Let Jesus Christ reborn arise, and let his enemies be scattered; * let those who hate him flee before him. 2 Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; * as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of Saints. 3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before those reborn as Jesus Christ; * let them also be merry and joyful. 4 Sing Saints, sing praises in his Name; exalt him who rides upon the clouds; * YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him! 5 Father of orphans, defender of widows, * Apostles in his holy habitation! 6 Apostles give the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; * but the rebels shall live in dry places. 7 Saints, when you went forth before your people, * when you marched through the wilderness, 8 The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain, at the presence of Saints, the Apostles of Sinai, * at the presence of those reborn as Jesus Christ, the Saints of Israel. 9 You sent a gracious rain, Apostles, upon your inheritance; * you refreshed the land when it was weary. 10 Your people found their home in it; * in your goodness, Saints, you have made provision for the poor. 33 Sing Christians, O kingdoms of the earth; * sing praises to the Lord. 34 He rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; * he sends forth his voice, his mighty voice. 35 Ascribe power to the Son of God; * his majesty is over Israel; his strength is in the clouds. 36 How wonderful are Saints in his holy places! * the Apostles of Israel giving strength and power to his people!
Blessed be those reborn as Jesus Christ! In a couple of places the translations of the transliterated Hebrew words “bā·‘ă·rā·ḇō·wṯ” [“בָּ֭עֲרָבוֹת”] and “baš·šə·ḥā·qîm” [“בַּשְּׁחָקִֽים”] state “heavens” or “skies,” but the translations shown by Bible Hub are “on the clouds” and “in the clouds.” The italics are then pointing out those changes, as the Acts reading tells of Jesus ascending via a cloud.
Interestingly, the root word that leads to the translation “extol him who rides upon the clouds by Yahweh” [the literal Bible Hub translation], “arabah” has a defined translation as “a steppe or desert plain.” When this is then translated as “upon the clouds,” one can get an idea how being “hid from the eyes of them” has little to do with actual clouds up in the sky, but the heat that rises from the earth and makes things difficult to see. Additionally, the root word translated as “in the skies” is “shachaq,” which can also mean “dust,” as the wind sweeps dust from the earth and makes visibility impossible.
This is the meaning of Christ the King, which (as Jesus said), “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Jesus Christ is the Spiritual king of God’s chosen people. His realm not of this world is over the elohim. As a selection during the Easter season, when the symbolism is for disciples to commit themselves fully to service to God – become His wives, bound by the wedding band of the Holy Spirit – as elohim in the name of Jesus Christ, this song of praise needs little explanation, beyond the changes I have made. It should naturally be a song felt in one’s heart. It should be a song that will be sung in heaven, long after one’s flesh has returned to the dust. Amen