Come to the River

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icxn said:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:2)

Imo, waters in this context – overwhelm being the keyword – represent the knowledge of sensory things that we have collected through our senses with rivers being the objects of sense perception. These have the potential to harm (overwhelm) us when not captivated in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). If you think about it, every temptation (fire) that the enemy ignites in us, is based on the misuse of some sensory object (ex. the temptations of Christ). If God is with us, as He was with Jacob, then neither the thoughts of the temptation as if fire will burn us (force us to consent to sin), nor the flame of desire will consume us (become a passion). A similar theme can also be seen in Psalm 124.

In contrast, the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God, that is to say the knowledge of divine things and the gifts of grace that Christ bestows on us are pure and good for the cleansing of soul and body (Hebrews 10:22). This water nurtures the mustard seed of faith, it gives growth to the fig tree of righteousness and matures the grapes of the tree of holiness from which the intoxicating wine of theology is produced.

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nice imo, i would like to see a treatment of our woman (emotions) in that, but really i am more interested in your pov @ the below, why are the rivers treated differently? The quote is taken from the beginning of the 3rd section, 2nd para

The masculine noun נהר (nahar) means river or stream (Genesis 2:10, Numbers 24:6, Isaiah 48:18). This word is applied to rivers like the Euphrates and the rivers of Eden, but curiously, never to the Jordan, or the Nile. This last river is called יאר (ye'or), which is probably a loan-word, although it comes close to אור ('or), which is the Hebrew word for light." Relativity Theory and ancient Hebrew: the liquidity of light

bbyrd009 said:

nice imo, i would like to see a treatment of our woman (emotions) in that, but really i am more interested in your pov @ the below, why are the rivers treated differently? The quote is taken from the beginning of the 3rd section, 2nd para

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The Septuagint makes no distinction between those rivers, referring to them as ποταμοί (plural). As for their symbolic significance, the four rivers of Eden can represent the four cardinal virtues that flow out of a single source, Christ the Wisdom of God. These virtues water the garden of the heart, the noetic (intelligible) Eden. It is also possible to associate these with the four gospels, the four Evangelists, the four creatures of Ezekiel’s vision, the four elements* that make up the world and probably other ‘manifestations’ since the created world is coded after such and other divine principles**. The river Nile, since it waters Egypt, the symbol of the bodily passion of gluttony, it stands for the pleasure that comes from eating and drinking. As such, it relates to the original sin of Adam and Eve. Jordan of course is a symbol of repentance, the remedy for sin. These last two ‘rivers’ have a temporal existence. They (sin and repentance) came into being in time and they will cease to be in the age to come. The virtues on the other hand, being properties of the divine nature, are eternal.

So perhaps – a wild guess, I know - the grammatical variation reflects this eternal/temporal distinction?

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* Or states/divisions of matter: solids, liquids, gases and energy.
** The article in the link calls these all-encompassing pattern-repeating qualities by which the universe works.

icxn said:

So perhaps – a wild guess, I know - the grammatical variation reflects this eternal/temporal distinction?

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boy, i dunno, i guess i was hoping you might give me a fish! Ha! For some reason that explanation is not very satisfying, but at the same time unavoidable i guess. I'll have to reread and reconsider there i guess; doubt i'll come up with a much better perspective though tbh
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bbyrd009 said:

The amazing name Parat: meaning and etymology

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Which makes perfect sense, since the river Euphrates represents the virtue of justice. The work of justice and the source of all spiritual fruits (פרה) is to discern or divide (פרר II) what is good from what is bad and it perfectly relates to the sacrificial bull (פר III), Christ who justifies us.