The Meaning of Transfiguration Matthew 17

The meaning of transfiguration

The transfiguration--Supernatural change of appearance that takes place as one experiences the full flow of divine power through his being. A lifting up of the consciousness into a state that transfigures the mind causing it to shine by the illumination of the word of god.

The transfiguration of Jesus described in Matthew and Mark took place when Jesus went with three apostles up into a mountain. There the three beheld Him transfigured.

The Treatise on the Resurrection shows that the transfiguration was not a vision but a reality
This treatise is thought to have been written in the second century (The Nag Hammadi Library James Robinson). It appears to us to be true. Here is what is says about the transfiguration...

For if you remember reading in the Gospel that Elijah appeared and Moses with him, do not think the resurrection is an illusion, but it is truth! Indeed it is more fitting to say that the world is an illusion, rather than the resurrection which came into being through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (From The Treatise on the Resurrection)

So the author plainly believes as we do that the 3 apostles Peter James and John say the risen Elijah and the risen Moses.


What is represented by Jesus' taking Peter, James, and John, “up into a mountain apart by themselves?” This represents the raising of faith, wisdom, and love to spiritual consciousness, a state in which these faculties are mentally separated from the carnal mind.

What is represented by the appearance of Elijah with Moses and the conversation with Jesus? In periods of spiritual exaltation the higher faculties are quickened. Elijah represents the ability to give forth revelation or prophesy; Moses represents understanding of the divine law. Their conversation with Jesus represents the expression of these abilities in the mind of a believer.



Moses and Elijah represents the power of spiritual discernment to bring about rapid changes on the mental plane, these changes being later manifested in action.



Can the transfiguration of Jesus be explained in terms that have practical meaning for us in our life? It is known that prayer brings about a rapid outflowing of mental energy, and when faith (Peter), love (John), and discernment (James) are present, there follows a lifting up of the mind into the Christ consciousness that electrifies the new life of a believer.



Of what is the Transfiguration proof? Of the transcendent understanding of the Christ consciousness. Light represents spiritual Truth and understanding. for the fruit that the light produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth.



'Light' refers to moral reasoning in which leads to a higher experience of reality


Can true enlightenment be gained anywhere except in the Christ consciousness? True enlightenment comes only from God through the activity of His Spirit indwelling in us. True enlightenment develops in us understanding, compassion, and zeal to serve God or express what we know of the Gospel.

What do angels represent? They represent our thoughts, and they are described also as “ spirits” they represent the seat of wisdom and understanding. Man is “but little lower than the angels,” or our actual expression is a little lower than the scope of our aspiring thoughts.

The Christ body is a transfigured one. We perceive it when we ascend into a high place spiritually, into the secret place of the Most High; when we lift up our thoughts. The apostles of Jesus represent the consciousness of the spiritual man. When we lift up our mental capability, we behold spiritual reality and we see the body of Christ as it is in Truth.

When, therefore, the revelation of the multitude of the Sons of God, represented by John's similitude of the Son of man, shall be manifested, being all like to Jesus in transfiguration, the aspect of the Body will be "as the sun when he shines in its power."

Jesus is the Pleroma! The Letter of Peter to Philip The Nag Hammadi library

Jesus is the Pleroma? The Letter of Peter to Philip The Nag Hammadi library

Concerning the fullness, it is I.  I (the christ) was sent down in the body (of Jesus) for the seed that had fallen away. And I came down to their mortal model. But they did not recognize me, thinking I was a mortal. I spoke with the one who is mine, and the one who is mine listened to me just as you also who have listened to me today. And I gave him authority to enter into the inheritance of his fatherhood. And I took him the one who is mine up to my Father. They the Aeons were brought to completion filled with rest through his salvation. Since he was deficiency, he became fullness. The Letter of Peter to Philip (Nag Hammadi Codex VIII, 2)

Here in the The Letter of Peter to Philip Jesus speaks of himself as the  pleroma or the fullness "Concerning the fullness, it is I." However this is the Logos or anointing spirit the Christ speaking through Jesus.

Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that for all fullness to dwell in him;

Col 2:9 because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine nature dwells bodily.

10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

11 And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers, 12 with a view to the readjustment of the holy ones, for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, 13 until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ

2 Peter 1:4 ►

Berean Study Bible

Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.


Hebrews 3:14 ►

New American Standard Bible

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,


Your blessings shows that you are a "Partaker" now you must be a Partaker of the "FULLNESS" of Christ, the fullness of Christ = the "HARVEST" the seed is the word of God inside of you and when that seed is fully grown you become what the seed truly is, and you are ready to be harvested.


you get it?............................

The Lord Jesus has now been exalted to Heaven, and shares God’s nature. This verse refers to how Jesus is now, after His resurrection, and not how He was during His mortal life on earth


“All the fullness”

The Greek word for "fullness" is pleroma - the same word is also found in Col. 1:19, regarding how all God’s “fullness” dwelt in Jesus. Although the Lord Jesus had human nature, He never sinned; and thus was full of the God’s personality and character. To know Jesus was to know God- for He was and is God’s Son, and indeed the perfect replica of Him in human form.


The fullness which is Christ’s- and His “fullness” is God’s fullness- is shared with us: “Of His fullness have all we received” (Jn. 1:16). In this sense the church, as the body of Christ, is “the fullness of Him that fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23; 4:13). Through knowing Christ, the believers are therefore “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). So the fact that Jesus had “all the fullness of God” doesn’t make Him "God" Himself in person; because we will not become God Himself in person because we are filled with God’s fullness; any more than a son is his father. In the same way as Christ’s body after His resurrection was filled with the Spirit and nature of God- so will ours be (1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:20,21).

Fulness - "pleroma" - MA full measure11. (10) For NThe Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his G1 ory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father), Full of grace and truth.11 (Jn. 1:14) When Moses asked God to show him His Glory, God said He would make all His goodness pass before Moses and He would proclaim His Name. (Ex. 33:18,19) "And the LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." (Ex. 34:6) Jesus is filled with these divine attributes. He is "an eradiated brightness of His (God's) glory and an exact representation of his very being". (Heb. 1:3 Rhm) Therefore Jesus could say, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father". (Jn. 14:9)

The implication here, seems to be that those who listen to the word of Christ and are his own will also obtain the joy and fullness of the divine. Like Christ they will become fullness

Joh 1:16 For we all received from out of his fullness, even grace upon grace.

Eph 1:22 He also subjected all things under his feet, and made him head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills up all things in all..

Eph 3:19 and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge, that YOU may be filled with all the fullness of the Deity.

Eph 4:13 until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ

Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that for all fullness to dwell in him;

Col 2:9 because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine nature dwells bodily.

The fullness belongs to the Deity he has shared it with Jesus and us

Since Jesus is dwelling within us it is reasonable to assume that the fullness is to be found within us as well. This will take place in two stages the first is to manifest Jesus' character which we call the Christ consciousness. and the second stage takes place in the summer which we call the other aeon or the age to come

Eph 3:19 and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge, that YOU may be filled with all the fullness of the Deity.

We like Jesus are to be filled with God fullness

2Peter 1:4 Through these things he has freely given us the precious and very grand promises, that through these YOU may become sharers in divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world through lust.

we will share God's divine nature

2Th 2:14 He called you to this through the good news we declare, so that you may acquire the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We shall share Jesus' glory

John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will[a] believe in Me through their word;

21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

We are to be made perfect in one Christ in us and the Father in Christ

in the Age to come we shall be one with God by sharing his divine nature and being filled with his fullness

It is not "One God in three Gods," and "Three Gods in One;" but one Deity in a countless multitude revealed in the memorial name, and give an account of in the mystery of godliness

One in many and many in One, One Deity who is all in all

The Deity is Androgynous! Genesis 1:27

God is Androgynous! Genesis 1-27

The Deity is Androgynous! Genesis 1:27

Thus the logos of the Father goes forth into the All, being the fruit of his heart and expression of his will. It supports the All. It chooses and also takes the form of the All, purifying it, and causing it to return to the Father and to the Mother, Jesus of the utmost sweetness. The Gospel of Truth

God is Androgynous!

But what Does Androgynous Mean?

Being both male and female;
Having both masculine and feminine characteristics.
Having an ambiguous sexual identity.
Neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine in appearance.-

In other posts I have shown that the holy spirit is a Feminine Aspect of God. Spirit in Hebrew is a feminine noun; but in Greek, neuter. The Holy Spirit is often associated with women’s functions: the birthing process (Jn. 3:5; cf. Jn. 1:13, 1 Jn. 4:7b, 5:1, 4, 18), consoling, comforting, an prophitc groaning in travail of childbirth, emotional warmth, and inspiration.

In this post I will show that God is Androgynous

Consider this: it is only when BOTH man and woman are created in Genesis 1 that God is fully portrayed:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” – Genesis 1:27

In fact, the first time we see God declaring something to be “not good” is when Adam finds himself alone in the Garden:

“Then Yahweh Elohim said, “It is not good that a man should be alone: I will make him a helper fit for him.” – Genesis 2:18

Why did God need to create BOTH genders before mankind fully displayed the image of God? One reason is that this is an allegory of Christ and the church especially when man and woman come together as “one flesh” we see the mystical body of Christ (Genesis 2:24).

Female images for God (drawn from women’s biological activity)

a mother who does not forget the child she nurses (Isa. 49:14-15)

a mother who comforts her children (Isa. 66:12-13) Isaiah 66:12-13

a mother who births and protects Israel (Isa. 46:3-4).

In Isaiah 46:3 God says, "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, you who have been borne by Me from birth and have been carried from My womb."

a mother who gave birth to the Israelites (Dt. 32:18)

You have forgotten the Rock who fathered you, and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.

God has feminine attributes as well as masculine.

God has manifested himself to be both Father and Mother so that we might be more aware of God’s constant presence and willingness to assist us

Later in Isaiah, God says to His people: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isaiah 49:15).

"God did not satisfy himself with proposing the example of a father, but in order to express his very strong affection, he chose to liken himself to a mother, and calls His people not merely children, but the fruit of the womb,

Likewise, when we think of God’s love for those who are reconciled to him in Jesus, we not only think of a strong, protective and wise father, but we can also take comfort in his tender, nurturing, kindness and care seen most beautifully in a mother’s love for her child. What a dynamic God we worship

The Nature of Sin The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

The Nature of Sin  

or

The Nature of Adultery 

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

A Study on The Nature of Sin from The Gospel of Mary Magdalene :  

An opening reading from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene Chapter 4

(Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript, containing chapters 1 - 3, are lost. The extant text starts on page 7...)

. . . Will matter then be destroyed or not?

22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.
23) For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone.
24) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?
26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.
27) That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root.
28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.
29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.
30) Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.
31) That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are discouraged be encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature.
32) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

expositor of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene 

22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.

Matter (hyle) and nature (physis) are two different Greek words

all natures all formations all creatures designates the totality of all that exists and has been created 

the message is that all this will pass away 

the word Root here denotes origin 

All nature will dissolve into its own Root that is a resolution into dust. 

The word root is used three times in the text. 3 times  in verses 22, 23 and 27 

Sin is described as the nature of adultery

25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?

the sin of the world about which Peter asks is defined by Jesus as the essence of fornication or the nature of adultery and death 

sin literally means to “miss the mark” (amatrion) like an archer shooting a bow and arrow missing the target. Sin, in it's most comprehensive definition is "to miss the mark" - whether morally (transgression) or physically. Mankind was initially created with the intention of sharing in God's glory, both physically and morally. Mankind has "missed the mark" both physically and morally. Due to the events in Eden, we are created (in the womb) in that fallen state, and thus born in sin.

.26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.

"There is no sin" that is there is no such thing as the transgression of the law

While insisting that no sin exists as such, the Savior goes on to clarify that people do produce sin when they wrongly follow the desires of their natural sinful nature instead of nurturing their spiritual selves

For the Gospel of Mary, therefore, sin is not a matter of right and wrong acts; rather it has to do with the body, the body of sin or the flesh which produces sin which brings forth death

"but it is you who make sin" the disciples themselves produce or make sin by acting in accordance with the nature of adultery

The unilluminated thinking of the flesh gives birth to the "works of the flesh; which are, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,

The "the nature of adultery" is allegorical of those over whom sin reigns, thus shown in their obeying it in the lusts thereof. They are styled "the servants of sin" (Rom. 6:12,17,19); or, "the weeds" (Matt. 13:25,38).

Christ, in rebuking the Jews of his day, accused them of spiritual fornication: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (John 8:44). The Jews saw the point of the Lord's rebuke and denied that they were "born of fornication" (v. 41); but, in fact, their attitude demonstrated that they were.

Sin is that physical principle of the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. Inasmuch as this physical principle pervades every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styled 'sinful flesh'. that is, 'flesh full of sin'... Sin, I say, is an equivalent expression for human nature'

The flesh produces sin which brings forth death

27) For this reason, the Good came among you, pursuing (the good) which belongs to every nature. It will set it within its root.

The Good is the name that the Gospel of Mary Magdalene uses for God. When we are cut off from the Good, death and disease and other material things arise due to the false beliefs caused by the “sin of adultery”.

Here the root of perishable mater is contrasted with the proper root of a person's true spiritual nature which the good will establish

The closing words of Jesus's reply show that the starting point of Peter's question are his preceding reflections on mater nature and origin these conceptions are picked up in the word root (The Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction)

28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.
29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.

28) This is why you get sick and die: because [you love] what deceives [you]. [Anyone who] thinks should consider (these matters)!

 "This is why you get sick and die" those physical effects produced by sin which Paul calls ‘sin that dwelleth in me,’

People's own fleshly bodies deceive them and lead them to a fatal love of perishable material nature which is the source of the passions as well as physical suffering and death. True knowledge can never be based upon unreliable senses

Sickness and death indicate an attachment to what is perishable; such attachment disturbs the whole body. This attachment arises because matter brings forth wrong thinking and ignorance, which give rise to the passions of fear, grief, desire, and bodily pleasures that lead the soul to align itself toward fleeting material concerns. Because passions are rooted in ignorance, they are contrary to the true nature of things instituted by God. The Savior teaches the disciples instead to align themselves (“become rooted”) toward the true nature (image) of the Good, which is divine and eternal. True contentment of heart comes from transforming to the true Images of nature that come from God (Romans 12:2)

30) Matter gave birth to a passion which has no Image because it derives from what is contrary to nature.

For the Gospel of Mary, the sinfulness of the human condition, the estrangement from God  is caused by matter giving birth to passion

Next the psychic aeon. It is a small one, which is mixed with bodies, by begetting in the souls (and) defiling (them). For the first defilement of the creation found strength. And it begot every work: many works of wrath, anger, envy, malice, hatred, slander, contempt and war, lying and evil counsels, sorrows and pleasures, that they decree according to their desires. (The Concept of Our Great Power, The Nag Hammadi Library)

The Nature of Adultery or the begetting in the souls which defiles them should not be understood literally as natural human offspring's rather it is sin conceiving in the brain flesh  

Jas 3:15  This wisdom is not one, from above, coming down, but is earthly, born of the soul, demoniacal! (Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible)

Philo of Alexandria: Now the female offspring of the soul are wickedness and passion,

Psalm 7:14, ESV: Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. 

(40) Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted outside of the father, but being unsound, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed."

To say that passion has no image means that it is not part of the Father' planting or not a true reflection of the good

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

Ps 5:4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.

Ps 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Because the passions are tied to suffering and deception and because no evil or falsehood belongs to the Good no divine image of passion can really exist because it lacks a heavenly origin. Everything which is true and good is an image of the true

Spiritual Sacrifices 1 Peter 2-5

 Back in the day, lambs were used as a sin offering, to atone for man’s sins. Only unblemished lambs were chosen as the offering. To them, offering a prize lamb was a sacrifice, because it was valued; and just might have been worth its weight in gold to the tribe. This was part of man’s transformation from the flesh into spirit, because once he learned “the animal” needed to be sacrificed, he would come to understand that he would have to sacrifice himself, specifically his animal-side – his selfish egotistical, clever, greedy, take-care-of-me-and-mine self. Once he could do this, man would operate as spirit in this world – be in it, but not of it [A Passer-by man; Gospel of Thomas, 42  Jesus says:You must be as passers-by].

Jesus demonstrated this transformation; and once this lesson was taught, man no longer needed to perform animal sacrifice as a sin offering. This was the only part of God’s LAW that changed [The , or NEW covenant (agreement), not new law].

The fact that the animal sacrifices which were put to death, were but types, and "could never take

away sin " for the animals had never sinned (Heb. 10:11). However the nature of the animals is as full of this physical evil principle called SIN as the nature of man; although it cannot be called sin with the same expressiveness; because it does not possess them as the result of their own transgression; the name, however, does not alter the nature of the thing.

The force of these words is seen in that, so far as true believers are concerned, they are not to offer to God something outside themselves. On the contrary, they are to offer themselves to Yahweh

as men and women who are living proof of the Truth at work in themselves, transforming them to "conform to the image of His Son" (ch. 8:29).

Animals were to be brought to the altar alive. "We have an altar", said Paul (Heb. 13:10), "who is Christ". God's saints are "dead unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord... as those that are alive from the dead" (Rom. 6:11, 13).

This type of sacrifice— apparent under the ritual system of the Law of Moses only in type, and therefore hidden from all except those who sought the spirit of the Law — is a spiritual sacrifice, resulting from the enlightenment of the mind to the divine will; the conviction gained therefrom providing the motivation to strive to perform "the acceptable and perfect will of God

sacrifice a refining process that is constantly going on in the consciousness.

The Animal sacrifices on the altar represent the transformation of the conscious to the next higher plane of action. This is a process of reformation that pertains to those who put on the new man.

The altar represents the place in consciousness where we are willing to give up the lower to the higher, the personal to the impersonal, the animal to the spiritual.

We must purify our mind and heart by the Spirit in order to begin the regenerative work. When this blessed realisation of the regeneration comes to consciousness the voices of men are heard by the Lord and their prayers ascend "even unto heaven."

When we have faith in God we are willing to give up all our material pleasures this is a point that is also symbolised by the sacrifices so often referred to in the history of the Children of Israel.

Yahweh is the Head Angel in the Old Testament Exodus 23:20,21

Yahweh is the head angel in the Old Testament 

or Yahweh is the archangel Michael

Epiphanius Against Basilides, Basilides 2:3 He says that this creation was produced later by the angels of our heaven and the power in it. One of these angels he calls God and distinguishes him by saying that he alone is the God of the Jews—though he made him one of the number of the angels whose names he coined for us as though he were composing a mime.8 By him the man was fashioned.9

https://web.archive.org/web/20170916133936/http://www.masseiana.org/panarion_bk1.htm#31.

Yahweh is the head angel in the O.T....right? Christ has assumed the position higher than the angels.

Exodus 23:20,21 20 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.

There is an angel who is called Yahweh Exodus 23:20,21

This angel is the chief angel or archangel Michael whose name means who is like the Divine One (God) EL or power

Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Yahweh is said to have appeared to Abraham as he sat in the door of his tent. (Gen. 18:1) When he first saw the visitor, though, he did not see the Lord but “three men” or Elohim, of whom one was the chief. Read all of Genesis 18 to 19:29 and you will see that the Everlasting Deity talks and acts by or through these Elohim, but chiefly through one of them called the Lord God or Yahweh Elohim. (Elpis Israel)

God appears to Jacob in Genesis 35:9 and says in the second verse: “I am God Almighty.” In the thirteenth verse we see God went up from the place where He talked with Jacob. At the time, he was at Bethel where the Elohim were previously revealed to him. On that occasion he dreamed he saw a ladder reaching from Earth to heaven with “the Lord standing above it, and the Elohim of God ascending and descending.” These messengers or angels were the Elohim or “ministering Spirits sent forth to assist those who will inherit salvation.” (Heb. 1:14) On another occasion (Gen 32:24-30) Jacob is said to have encountered the “Invisible God” when he wrestled with one of the Elohim. (Elpis Israel)

Gen 32:30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God (the Elohim) faces to faces, and my soul is preserved."

Ho 12:3  He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Ho 

12:4  Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us;

Gen 35:1 ¶  And God  (Elohim )<0430> said unto Jacob , Arise , go up to Bethel , and dwell  there: and make there an altar  unto God (EL) <0410>, that appeared  unto thee when thou fleddest from the face  of Esau  thy brother .

Gen 35:1 Then the Elohim said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to the One True El, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."
2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.
3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to the One True El, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."

Hence, the Elohim speak in the first person as personifications of the Invisible and Incorruptible Substance or Spirit who is the real author of all they say and do.

In Exod. 24:10, Moses tells us -- that he and seventy-three others "saw the God of Israel." We should err, however, if we supposed that he meant they saw the Deity, the Uncreated Spirit, "no man can see Him and live." He says they saw "the Elohim of Israel" the depositories and the embodiments of the Eternal Spirit, who shone out in glory in the presence of the Elders. The appearance under the feet of the Elohim, whose feet were also the feet of the Spirit, and, therefore, styled "His feet, was, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven for clearness." The whole was a Spirit-manifestation.

The order was that "Moses alone shall come near YAHWEH," with his attendant. The reader will perceive the distinction here between the Elohim and YAHWEH. The nobles of the children of Israel came nigh to the Elohim, and saw them; and did not see Him. Even Moses, who did come near to the glory of Yahweh did not see His face; for said he, "there shall no man see me, and live; thou shalt see my back parts, Moses, but my face shall not be seen" (Exod. 33:20). Paul testified the same thing in 1 Tim. 6: 16, saying: "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see..." The Hebrew nation saw the symbol of YAHWEH'S presence on the mountain top "The glory of Yahweh like devouring fire," but neither they, Moses, nor their nobles, saw the face of the Eternal Substance himself.

The glory of Yahweh was manifested to Moses through the medium of the One from whom he received the Law (see Exod.. 33:18-23; 34:4-8; 24:12-18). This was the work of an angel as Paul and Stephen reveal (Gal. 3:19; Acts 7:53). Moses saw in him "the similitude of Yahweh" (Num. 12-8). Yahweh's Name was named upon him (Exod. 23:20-23) so that he exercised greater authority than the other Elohim as Christ will exercise greater authority than his glorified brethren

The distinction between Yahweh and Elohim is revealed in the incident recorded in Exodus 24. Moses was told that he, alone, "shall come near Yahweh" (v.2), but the elders of Israel were not permitted to do so. Yet, v.11 states: "The nobles saw God (Elohim) and did eat and drink." Neither Moses nor the nobles saw the great eternal and invisible spirit the Father. The former saw His glory revealed through an angel of Yahweh (probably the one referred to as bearing the Name according to Exodus 23:20), so that it is stated, "the similitude of Yahweh he beheld" (Num. 12:8). On the other hand, the nobles of Israel "saw God," or Elohim of lower status (though of the same physical constitution) as the one who appeared unto Moses, as recorded in the earlier verse.

John 1:18 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him

Verse 18: No man hath seen the Creator at any time. "God" meaning "elohim" refers to angels. See Exod# 33. 11, 20. The showing of YHWH to Moses was the showing of a highly placed angel, typifying that the people would see the manifestation of God in Jesus.

Jesus of Nazareth. His whole life, all his teachings, and especially his death and resurrection and ascension to heaven, all "declared" his heavenly Father.

Azazel the scapegoat Leviticus 16

Azazel the scapegoat Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16:7 “And he must take the two goats and make them stand before Jehovah at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron must draw lots over the two goats, the one lot for Jehovah and the other lot for Azazel. 

The word “Azazel” occurs four times in the Bible, in regulations pertaining to Atonement Day.—Lev 16:8, 10, 26.

"And the other lot for the scapegoat"

— The word "scapegoat" is altogether wrong. The Hebrew word is azazel it is derived from 2 hebrew words « "goat" from a root denoting strength, and the other hebrew word meaning "to go away, to disappear". The word therefore signifies The Goat of Departure, or The Goat of Removal. It represented one that has the strength to bear away the "sins" to be figuratively placed upon it.

Shall be presented alive before Yahweh"

— The two goats are prophetic of Christ's work. Both in life and in death he glorified the Father (John 17:4-5). This goat was preserved alive, and presented to Yahweh to foreshadow the resurrection of the Lord after he had successfully completed his function as a sin offering. Hence Paul wrote: "Jesus our Lord . . . was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Rorn. 4:25). The type foreshadowed the provision of a living advocate on behalf of Yahweh's people, as is provided in (he Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection of the Lord witnessed to the effectiveness of the atonement accomplished by his sacrifice (Rom. 1:1-4).

As Paul explained, by Jesus’ offering of his own life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, he accomplished far more than had been achieved by “the blood of bulls and of goats.” (Heb 10:4, 11, 12) He thus served as “the scapegoat,” being the ‘carrier of our sicknesses,’ the one “pierced for our transgression.” (Isa 53:4, 5; Mt 8:17; 1Pe 2:24) He ‘carried away’ the sins of all who exercise faith in the value of his sacrifice. He demonstrated the provision of God to take sinfulness into complete oblivion. In these ways the goat “for Azazel” pictures the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

Sending The Goat of Departure (Azazel--removed, separated, sent away) out into the wilderness demonstrates the Renouncing of error, the putting away sin, or releasing from the consciousness all belief in and thought of sin and evil.

The two goats of Leviticus 16 signify the twofold operation in consciousness that attends the putting away of sin. Sacrificing one goat as a sin offering to Jehovah signifies the process of uplifting and refining the energies that lie back of all action and have been used to do evil. These energies are good and must be refined and elevated to spiritual expression in the consciousness and organism of man, that he may become perfect even as the Father is perfect. (See Matt. 5: 48.)

Sending The Goat of Departure (Azazel--removed, separated, sent away) out into the wilderness indicates denial of error, putting away sin, or releasing from the consciousness all belief in and thought of sin and evil, and all condemnation for sin.

"As far as the east is from the west,So far hath he removed our transgressions from us" (Psa. 103:12).

"For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more" (Jer. 31:34).

The two goats symbolizes resistance and opposition. It is a phase of personality. We resist Spirit on one hand, and we resist our fellows on the other. These two instances of resistance symbolize the two goats of Leviticus 16:5-22. They are both to be denied. Resistance to the Lord is to be killed out entirely and resistance to our fellows is to be sent into the wilderness--denied a place in consciousness.

This also illustrates the difference between sins toward God and sins toward man. There must be a complete and full union of the Father and child; every thought of obstruction and resistance must be done away with. It is very important that we make complete at-one-ment with the Father.

Resistance toward evil is not to be wholly destroyed, but consciousness of the nothingness of the thoughts of evil is to be dumped into the wilderness of sense. This is the scapegoat that carries away all the iniquities of the Children of Israel and loses them in the outer void.

Our relations to our fellow men are so complex that we are excused in a measure if we fall short in observing the law of nonresistance in its entirety. Yet in superconsciousness we can rise with Jesus Christ and "resist not him that is evil"; we must do it before we can become like Him and see Him even a He is (I John 3:2).

Christ pre-existed but Jesus didn't John 1:1-4

Christ pre-existed but Jesus didn't John 1:1-4

In contrast to orthodox Christians, Valentinians did not believe that Christ was joined to Jesus at his birth. Instead, they insisted that Christ became joined to Jesus only at the beginning of his ministry i.e. at his baptism. The dove which descends upon Jesus at the baptism was understtod as Christ descending on Jesus and joining with him (Irenaeus Against Heresies 1:7:2, 1:15:3, 3:16:1, 3:10:3, Excerpts of Theodotus 61:6,26:1 Hippolytus Refutation 6:35:3). Christ is "the Name which came down upon Jesus in the dove and redeemed him" (Excerpts of Theodotus 22:6 cf. Gospel of Philip 70:34-36).Jesus was anointed with the Spirit of God at his baptism in the Jordan.

In the beginning was the LOGOS - (the outward manifestation of the inward thought)

the LOGOS WAS with God. (Yahweh and His Divine Plan could not be separated)
the LOGOS was God - (God and the Logos are one).

Christ, the Word, who “in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth,” therefore pre-existed before the birth of “the body prepared” of the substance of Mary, and which lay dead in the tomb. That body named Jesus, had no existence until developed by the Christ-Power. Federally, indeed, it pre-existed in the loins of Abraham and in Adam, as Levi was in Abraham, and we in Adam, before birth; but not otherwise. (On the Nature of Christ February 22nd, 1867 by Eusebia J. Lasius)

The pre-existent Christ, or Deity, was not the less Deity because he veiled himself in flesh, in our “sinful flesh,” or “sin’s flesh,” and styled himself JESUS, or he who shall be Saviour. (Dr. Thomas letter to Robert Robert July 17th, 1869)

In reference to those words of Jesus, saying,—“The bread I give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6.) For the bread of the Deity is He, who descending out of the heaven, and giveth life to the world.’ This was as much as to say, that the manna was representative of a life-imparting agent from heaven: even the Logos speaking by Jesus. ‘In him’—the Logos, ‘was Life,’ says John ‘and the Life, was the light of men.’ It was this Logos who said, ‘I am the Way and the Truth; the Resurrection and the Life’: ‘I am the Bread of Life,’ or the manna: ‘I came down from heaven’: this is the bread which descendeth from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die’ . . . ‘If any man eat of this bread he shall live in the age: and the bread that I (the Logos) will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (Eureka -- Vol 1 -- Chap 2 -- Sec 3: 8. The Hidden Manna)

Jesus was not literally the Word. He was the word "made flesh". (John:14). Jesus is the complete manifestation of the logos - "in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Deity bodily." (Col. 2:9). It was the "logos" which was in the beginning with God, not Jesus. When the "word was made flesh" (John 1:14) then, and then only, Jesus became the "Word".
Jesus is called the Word (Rev. 19:13 cf. 1 John 1:1; Luke 1:2) since his doctrine and words came from his Father (John 7:16; 17:14). He was the logos lived out in speech and action, not merely written on scrolls. (wrested scriptures)

Jesus Christ in the day of his weakness, had two sides—the one, DEITY; the other, MAN—the Eternal Christ-Power or the anointing spirit veiled in, and manifested through the flesh created from the ground; which flesh had Willfully transgressed the Divine Law, the penalty of which sent it back into the dust from whence it came. This is Jesus Christ the true Deity, whom to know is life eternal. (Dr. Thomas letter to Robert Robert July 17th, 1869)

This flesh which inhabited Paradise, like all the beasts. Was “very good” of its sort, is described as “sin” and “sin’s flesh,” because it sinned or transgressed the Eden law. Our flesh is the same as Adam’s before he sinned, only the worse for wear: for Paul says that we sinned in him, and he was sinless before he sinned; and we were as much in his loins when he was sinless, as in the act of sinning. His flesh undefiled by sin is constitutionally the same as the flesh of his posterity defiled legally thereby. The Christ-Deity veiled himself in the Adamic nature defiled by sin, in order that he might condemn sin in the flesh and to condemn sin to death in the nature which, although created “very good,” had legally defiled itself by transgression of the Eden law. This purpose would have been defeated if he had veiled himself in a clean nature. (Dr. Thomas letter to Robert Robert July 17th, 1869)

To say that the Man, Jesus, was corporeally clean, or pure, holy, spotless, and undefiled, is in effect to say that he was not “made of a woman;” for Scripture teaches, that nothing born of woman can possibly be clean: but it is testified that he was “born of a woman;” he must therefore necessarily have been born corporeally unclean. Hence, it is written of him in Psalm 51:5, “I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” He therefore prays, “Purge me with sop and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” This prayer has been answered, and he has been “Washed thoroughly from his (corporeal) iniquity, and cleansed from his sin;” so that now he has a clean nature, which is spirit and divine—“the Lord the Spirit”—once dead as to flesh, but now alive as Spirit for evermore.—(Rev. 1:18.) (Dr. Thomas letter to Robert Robert July 17th, 1869)

I believe that Christ pre-existed but Jesus didn't. It may sound complicated but it isn't really.

It's about God Manifestation - ultimately the angels the "focalisations of the Spirit", Jesus Christ and the Saints are all manifestations of God (which is why Jesus says "does it not say in your law Ye are gods?").

The exhortation is that we need to behave like that now, while we are in the flesh, because once the flesh is removed we will only be as much Spirit as has been developed in us.

The Christ descended on Jesus at his Baptism Matthew 3-16

In contrast to orthodox Christians, Valentinians did not believe that Christ was joined to Jesus at his birth. Instead, they insisted that Christ became joined to Jesus only at the beginning of his ministry i.e. at his baptism. The dove which descends upon Jesus at the baptism was understtod as Christ descending on Jesus and joining with him (Irenaeus Against Heresies 1:7:2, 1:15:3, 3:16:1, 3:10:3, Excerpts of Theodotus 61:6,26:1 Hippolytus Refutation 6:35:3). Christ is "the Name which came down upon Jesus in the dove and redeemed him" (Excerpts of Theodotus 22:6 cf. Gospel of Philip 70:34-36).Jesus was anointed with the Spirit of God at his baptism in the Jordan.

And he died at the .departure of the Spirit which had descended upon him in the Jordan, not that it became separate but was withdrawn in order that death might also operate on him, since how did the body die when life was present in him? (Theodotus 61:6)

Proof:

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38). (Christadelphian Instructor 1891)

The dove represented the anointing spirit of God. This spirit entered the body of Jesus Christ and remained in him until Jesus was crucified. 

So we read...

Matthew 3:16 Having been baptized, Jesus immediately rose up from the water and look! The heavens were opened up and he saw the spirit of God descending as if a dove coming upon him.

God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him," John 3:34

Again, in his gospel narrative (John 1:14), he says: —" The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth," from which it is evident that Christ was a divine manifestation—an embodiment of Deity in flesh—Emmanuel, God with us. " God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him," says the same apostle (John 3:34). (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

The spirit descended upon him in bodily shape at his baptism in the Jordan, and took possession of him. This was the anointing which constituted him Christ (or the anointed), and which gave him the superhuman powers of which he showed himself possessed. (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

This is clear from the words of Peter, in his address to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius —(Acts 10:38)—" God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed." (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

This statement alone is sufficient to disprove the popular view of Jesus been co-equal and co-eternal. If he were "very God" in his character and nature as Son, why was it necessary he should be "anointed" with spirit and power? (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

Jesus did no miracles before his anointing. He had no power of himself. This is his own declaration: "I can of mine own sell do nothing" (John 5:30). "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10). At his death Jesus was left to the utter helplessness of his own humanity, he felt the severe mental and physical pain of his suffering that hour and cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

Before his anointing, he was simply the " body prepared " for the divine manifestation that was to take place through him. The preparation of this body commenced with the Spirit's action on Mary, and concluded when Jesus, being thirty years of age, stood approved in the perfection of a sinless and mature character. (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

After the Spirit's descent upon him, he was the full manifestation of God in the flesh. The Father, by the Spirit, tabernacled in Christ among men. "God was in Christ," says Paul, " Reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

When raised from the dead and glorified, he was exalted to "all power in heaven and earth"; his human nature was swallowed up in the divine; the flesh changed to spirit. Hence, as he now exists, " In him dwelleth all the fullness of the God-head bodily " (Col. 2:9). He is now the corporealisation of life-spirit as it exists in the Deity. (Christendom Astray Chapter 6)

The effluent spirit (out-flowing spirit) forsook Jesus when he exclaimed upon the cross, "My AIL (EL), my AIL (EL), why hast Thou forsaken me?" The effluent power by which he had taught and worked was withdrawn from him for some time before he died. The Spirit no longer rested upon the Cherub, yet that Cherub continued to live as other men. In process of time he expired.(Phanerosis)

Dr Thomas in Phanerosis is saying that the out-flowing anointing spirit was taken away from Jesus when he cried out upon the cross, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" 

The out-flowing power by which he had taught and worked was withdrawn from him for some time before he died. The Spirit no longer rested upon Jesus, yet Jesus continued to live as other men. In process of time he expired. 

By Cherub Dr Thomas understands this as a vehicle for the spirit to ride

not that the spirit became separate from him but was withdrawn in order that death might also operate on him, since how did the body die when life was present in it?  (Theodotus 61:6)

 

Jesus did not become the Christ until His baptism. Jesus, up until his baptism, was simply the body that God had prepared for the Christ to indwell. The Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan, and took possession of Him. This was the anointing which constituted him as the Christ, and which gave Him the superhuman powers which He demonstrated during His ministry.