To The People Of The Tribes Of Wrestles With Creator Hebrews

Inside the cedar box was a golden pot filled with the mysterious bread,23 the walking stick of Light Bearer (Aaron) that blossomed, and the stone tablets of the peace treaty. ⁵Above the cedar box were the bright-shining winged ones whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat. But we cannot speak at length about these things at this time.

⁶When all these things had been made ready in a good way, the holy men would go into the outer room of the sacred lodge tent over and over again to perform the sacred ceremonies. ⁷But only the chief holy man could enter into the second room, the Most Holy Place, and then only once a year. He must also take blood from a sacrificed animal in with him to offer first for himself and then for the wrongs the people did not mean to do.

⁸By all these things the Holy Spirit is showing us that the way into the Most Holy Place in the spirit-world above was not yet open as long as the first sacred lodge tent in this world was still standing. ⁹This has spiritual meaning for the time we live in. It shows us that the gifts and offerings made in the sacred lodge tent that now stands cannot truly set free the heart and mind of the one who brings the offerings. ¹⁰These things are only concerned with food and drink and different kinds of ceremonial washings—rules about outward things. They were needed until it was time for a new way to be revealed.

¹¹But now the Chosen One has appeared as the chief holy man of the good things that have now come. He entered into the true and greater sacred tent lodge, the one not made with human hands, meaning not of this creation. He entered into the Most Holy Place once for all time and for all people. ¹²He did not go in with the blood of goats and calves but with his own lifeblood. In doing so, he paid the highest price to set us free and make us whole for all time.

¹³If the blood of goats and young bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean can purify our bodies, ¹⁴then how much more will the lifeblood of the Chosen One accomplish? Through the eternal Spirit he offered his life to the Great Spirit to purify our hearts and minds from the meaningless things we have done to try to please the Great Spirit. Now we can serve the living Creator with the life that comes from him!

¹⁵This is why it must be the Chosen One who makes a new peace treaty between human beings and the Great Spirit. His death was the price he paid to release people from their failure to walk true to the first peace treaty. This new peace treaty was needed so that those who answer his call will share in all the promised blessings that will never fade away.

^16-17This kind of peace treaty24 does not begin while the one who made it remains alive. It begins after the death of the one who made it. ¹⁸This is why even the first peace treaty required blood to be shed. ¹⁹Drawn from the Water (Moses) told the people all that our tribal law required them to do. Then he used red wool and a hyssop25 branch to sprinkle the book of the law and the people with water and the blood of bulls and goats.

²⁰He said to our people, “This is the blood of the peace treaty the Great Spirit has made with you. You must do all that it says.”26

²¹In the same way, he sprinkled the sacred lodge tent and all the ceremonial objects with blood. ²²So then, according to our tribal law, almost all things need to be washed clean with blood, and unless lifeblood has been poured out in death there is no being set free from broken ways. ²³If the earthly copies of what is in the spirit-world above needed purification in this way, then better offerings are needed to purify the things in the spirit-world above.

²⁴For the Chosen One did not go into a Holy Place made with human hands—an earthly copy of the true Holy Place. He went into the spirit-world above, where he now represents us before the Great Spirit. ²⁵He did not go in to offer himself again and again like the chief holy man who every year goes into the earthly Holy Place with lifeblood that is not his own. ²⁶For then, from the time when the world was formed, he would have had to suffer over and over again. But now, at the fullness of the ages, he appeared to bring an end to broken ways by performing the once-for-all-time ceremony when he offered himself.

²⁷Human beings die once, and then they must stand before the one who decides what they have done right and what they have done wrong. ²⁸So the Chosen One also died once when he took on himself the bad hearts and broken ways of many people. He will appear a second time, not to die for broken ways but to set free and make whole all who keep their eyes wide open as they wait for him.

¹Our tribal law is only a dim shadow of the good things to come, not the things themselves. The ceremonial sacrifices and offerings required by our law are repeated over and over again year after year. These ceremonies cannot fully set free and make whole those who draw near to the Great Spirit. ²If they could, would they not have stopped offering them? For once the ceremonies had been performed, the people would be purified in their hearts and minds, and no longer feel the guilt of their broken ways.

³But these yearly ceremonies keep reminding the people that their bad hearts and broken ways have not been fully purified. ⁴For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away bad hearts and broken ways.

⁵So then, when the Chosen One came into this world, he said, “O Great Spirit, sacrifice and offering is not what you want, but you have given me a human body to bring an end to these sacrifices once and for all. ⁶Burnt animal sacrifices and other offerings for broken ways do not make your heart glad.” ⁷Then the Chosen One said, “In the Sacred Book, it has been written about me. ‘Behold! I have come to do what you want done, O Great Spirit.’”

⁸First, the Chosen One said that “the Great Spirit does not want sacrifices and offerings, nor is he pleased with them,” even though they are required by our tribal law. ⁹Then he said, “Behold, I have come to do what you, the Great Spirit, wants done.” This means that he has taken away the first peace treaty with its law of sacrifices and offerings to put in its place the second. ¹⁰The Chosen One did what Creator wanted when he made us holy by offering his body once for all time.

¹¹Under our tribal law holy men keep performing the same ceremonies day after day and making the same sacrifices over and over again. Those sacrifices can never take away bad hearts and broken ways.

¹²But the Chosen One, after performing the once-for-all-time ceremony to heal our broken ways, sat down at Creator’s right hand—the place of greatest honor. ¹³He now rules from there and waits until all his enemies have been defeated and humbled.27 ¹⁴For by this one offering he has for all time completely set free the ones he is making holy.

¹⁵The Holy Spirit tells us the same truth. First, he says, ¹⁶“‘This is the peace treaty I will make with them in the coming days,’ says the Great Spirit Chief. ‘I will carve my laws on their hearts and plant them into their minds.’”28

¹⁷Then he says, “And their broken ways and wrongdoings I will remember no more.”29

¹⁸Now when broken ways and wrongdoings have been forgiven like this, there is no longer any need for further offerings.

¹⁹So then, my sacred family members, since Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has offered his own lifeblood in this way, this gives us the courage to walk boldly into the Most Holy Place. ²⁰He has made a new and living way for us to pass through the blanket—that is, his human body—to go into the Most Holy Place.

²¹Since we have such a great chief holy man, who is headman of Creator’s family lodge, ²²let us draw near with honest hearts, trusting fully in what the Chosen One has done. For our hearts have been washed clean from guilt and shame and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us get a firm and steady hold on this hope we say is ours, for the one who made the promise to us can be fully trusted.

²⁴We should think about how to stir each other up toward love and doing good. ²⁵To do this, we must never give up on gathering together, as some have. Instead, we should encourage each other, and all the more as you see the day of his appearing coming near.

²⁶For if we keep stubbornly walking in broken ways after the truth has been made clear to us, then no further sacrifice can be made for our broken ways. ²⁷All that remains is to wait for the fiery judgment that will burn up all who are hostile to Creator’s right ways.

²⁸Under the law given by Drawn from the Water (Moses), anyone who set aside that law was put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much worse punishment do you think is deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of the Great Spirit, who treats the lifeblood of the peace treaty that makes us holy as having no value, and treats with disrespect the Spirit who gives us the gift of his great kindness?

³⁰For we know Creator has said, “Punishment for wrongs belongs to me. I will make sure that wrongs are made right again.”30 And the Sacred Teachings have also said, “The Great Spirit Chief will decide for all his people who has done right and who has done wrong.”31 ³¹It is a fearful thing to come before the living Creator to give an answer for the wrongs we have done.

³²Remember those early days when you first started walking in the light of the good story. You kept walking the road even when the way forward was a struggle filled with pain and suffering. ³³At times the path was hard to walk, as you faced open shame and insults. At other times you walked side by side with those who were being mistreated. ³⁴You shared in the pain of those who were in prison. When your own possessions were stolen, you accepted it with glad hearts, knowing that you have been given better possessions that will never fade away.

³⁵So keep your hearts from falling to the ground. Hold your heads high. For a great honor awaits you at the end of the trail. ³⁶All you need is to keep walking with firm steps, doing what Creator wants. He will make sure you receive all that he has promised.

³⁷For the Sacred Teachings tell us, “It will not be long until the Coming One arrives. He will be here soon! ³⁸Until then the ones who are in good standing with Creator will walk the road of life by trusting in him. But he will not be pleased with any who turn back.”32

³⁹We are not the ones who turn back and lose their way, but we are the ones whose whole beings are kept safe and made whole by trusting in him.

¹Trusting Creator is the solid ground our hope rests on. It means we can be sure of the things we do not yet see. ²For it was this kind of trusting that brought honor to our tribal ancestors. ³By trusting, we understand that the Great Spirit, by his voice, created all that we can see. By trusting we understand that the things we see were brought into being by that which we cannot see.

⁴Because he trusted Creator, His Breath Goes Up (Abel) offered a ceremonial gift that was more acceptable to the Great Spirit than the offering of Spear Maker (Cain).33 Because he trusted, Creator was pleased with his gift, which gave him the reputation of being in good standing. So because he trusted, his voice still speaks to us today, even though he died long ago.

⁵Because he trusted the Great Spirit, Walks with Creator (Enoch) did not die. No one could find him because Creator took him.34 Before he was taken, he had the reputation of one who makes Creator’s heart glad. ⁶For no one can make Creator’s heart glad without trusting him. So then, those who draw near to the Great Spirit must believe that he is and that he honors all who truly seek him.

⁷Because he trusted the One Above Us All, One Who Rests (Noah) took to heart the warning given to him by the Great Spirit and made a great wooden canoe for the safety of his family. By trusting he showed the world how terrible their ways had become. By trusting he took his place among those who, by trusting, share in the blessing of good standing with Creator.

⁸Because he trusted the Great Mystery, Father of Many Nations (Abraham) left his homeland to go to another land that was promised to him and his descendants. He followed the voice of the Great Spirit even though he was going to a land he had never been before. ⁹By trusting in this way, he lived in the Land of Promise as a stranger in a strange land. Father of Many Nations (Abraham) settled his family in tents, along with his sons, He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) and Heel Grabber (Jacob), who would share with him in the same promise. ¹⁰There he waited, for he was looking for a village that would remain—one built on solid ground. A village whose maker and builder is the Great Spirit.

¹¹Because he trusted the Maker of Life, Father of Many Nations (Abraham) was able to father a child, even though his wife Noble Woman (Sarah) was barren and they were both too old. For they were sure the Great Spirit could be trusted to keep the promise he made to them. ¹²So from this one man, his body as good as dead, many descendants were born, as many as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

¹³Every one of these people died still trusting in Creator. Even though they did not receive all that had been promised, they took the promises to heart and welcomed them from afar. They said of themselves, “We are strangers and wanderers on the land.” ¹⁴People who say things like this make it clear that they are looking for a land of their own. ¹⁵If they had been longing for the land from which they had come, they could have returned. ¹⁶But they are longing for a better land—one from the spirit-world above. That is why Creator is not ashamed to be called their Great Spirit and has prepared for them a village to live in.

^17-18Because he trusted the Giver of Breath, Father of Many Nations (Abraham), when he was tested by the Great Spirit, offered up He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) as a ceremonial sacrifice. For Creator had promised him, “It is through He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) that your descendants will be born.” But there he was, ready to offer up his only son! ¹⁹For he was sure that Creator had the power to raise him up, even from the dead. So in a spiritual way of thinking, he did receive He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) back from the dead.

²⁰Because he trusted the Most Holy One, He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), when he spoke the family blessing over Heel Grabber (Jacob) and his brother Hairy Man (Esau), told them about things to come.

²¹Because he trusted the Great Spirit, Heel Grabber (Jacob), at the end of his days, blessed each of the sons of Creator Gives More (Joseph) as he leaned on his walking stick and humbled himself before Creator.

²²Because he trusted the One Above Us All, Creator Gives More (Joseph), at the end of his days, spoke of the time when the children of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) would go out from Black Land (Egypt), and he gave instructions about where to bury his bones.

²³Because his parents trusted the Great Mystery, they hid Drawn from the Water (Moses) for three moons. They saw Creator’s beauty in the child and did not fear the instructions of the ruler of Black Land (Egypt).

²⁴Because he trusted the Maker of Life, Drawn from the Water (Moses), as a full-grown man, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Great House (Pharaoh), the ruler of Black Land (Egypt). ²⁵He chose to suffer with Creator’s people, rather than finding joy in the passing pleasures of the broken ways of Black Land (Egypt). ²⁶He knew that the honor he would receive by suffering with the Chosen One was greater than all the treasures of Black Land (Egypt), because he kept his eyes on the honor that was to be his. ²⁷By trusting he left Black Land (Egypt) without fear of its ruler. He kept walking forward, keeping his eyes on the one who cannot be seen.

²⁸Because he trusted the Giver of Breath, Drawn from the Water (Moses) participated in the first Passover while he was still in Black Land (Egypt) when the blood of a lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts. This is how the firstborn sons of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) were not killed by the spirit-messenger of death.35 ²⁹By trusting Creator, the people walked through the Red Sea as if they were on dry land. But when the soldiers of Black Land (Egypt) tried to cross, they were swallowed up by the sea.36

³⁰Because the people trusted the Great Spirit, they walked around Moon Village (Jericho) for seven days, and the walls fell to the ground. ³¹Boastful Woman (Rahab), who lived in Moon Village (Jericho), made her living by trading her body for possessions. But because she trusted and welcomed the spies with peace, she did not die with the ones who refused to obey Creator.

³²If I had more time, I would tell you about He Tears Down (Gideon), Lightning Flashing Across the Sky (Barak), Strength of the Sun (Samson), and He Breaks Out (Jephthah). I would also tell the stories of Chief Much Loved One (David), of Creator Hears Him (Samuel), and the prophets. ³³Because men such as these trusted the Great Spirit, they won the victory over nations, made wrongs right again, took hold of promises, and closed the mouths of mountain lions. ³⁴They defeated the power of fire and escaped the long knives of their enemies. The weak were made strong and became great warriors who drove their enemies away. ³⁵Women received their loved ones back from the dead.

Others were tortured, refusing to be set free, knowing they would be honored when the dead are raised. ³⁶Some were insulted and mocked, whipped with leather straps, or chained and thrown into prison. ³⁷Some were killed with rocks. Others were cut in two. Others faced temptation. And some were cut down by long knives. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, hunted down, mistreated, and in need of many things. ³⁸They roamed aimlessly through deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground. The world is not worthy of people like this.

³⁹Even though these faithful ones have been honored for showing what it means to trust Creator, they did not receive all that was promised. ⁴⁰But the Great Spirit has provided something better for us who live in these last days. So now those who came before us can finally see Creator’s promise come to its full meaning and purpose. For without us they would not be complete in the Chosen One.

¹We are surrounded by a great cloud of truth tellers who have shown us what it means to trust the Great Spirit. So let us lay to the side everything that weighs us down and the broken ways that so easily wrap around our legs to trip us. And let us run as if we are in a long-distance race, setting a steady pace and heading toward the goal.

²This means we must keep our eyes on Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the trailblazer of our spiritual ways,37 the one who was first to reach the end of the trail. The joy that lay before him gave him the strength to suffer on the cross and willingly bear its shame. He now sits at Creator’s right hand in the place of greatest honor.

³If you will keep your thoughts on how much hostility Creator Sets Free (Jesus) endured from those with bad hearts and broken ways, it will keep you from growing weary and your hearts from falling to the ground. ⁴For in your struggle against bad hearts and broken ways you have not yet had to face your own blood being shed.

⁵Have you forgotten the wise counsel in our Sacred Teachings that speaks to you as mature sons and daughters? “Do not treat lightly the wise counsel of the Great Spirit Chief or let your heart fall to the ground when he shows you where you have gone wrong. ⁶For he brings correction to the ones he loves and disciplines every child he takes into his family.”38 ⁷So accept difficult times as the loving discipline of a parent, for Creator is treating you as one of his children. Are not all children disciplined by their fathers? ⁸But if you never receive the discipline that all take part in, it means you are not truly his children and not part of the family.

⁹When our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them for it. So how much more should we accept and respect Creator’s discipline, for he is our spiritual Father and the one who gives us the life of beauty and harmony! ¹⁰For a short time, our earthly fathers disciplined us as they saw best, but the Great Spirit disciplines us for our own good, so we can be holy like him.

¹¹Now, all discipline at the time seems to create more sorrow than joy. But for those who have learned its worth, it grows into a life of peace and doing what is right. ¹²So lift up your arms that hang down and begin using your weak knees. ¹³Make the path you walk straight, so that those with weak knees may not stumble from the path but instead be healed.

¹⁴Live in a sacred way by walking the road of peace with all people, for those who fail to walk in this way will not see our Honored Chief. ¹⁵See to it that no one among you misses out on the gift of Creator’s great kindness and that no bitter root springs up among you, making trouble and poisoning many hearts. ¹⁶See that no one becomes an impure or unspiritual person like Hairy Man (Esau), who for a single meal traded away his family birthright. ¹⁷For you know that later on, he wanted it back. But even though he begged his father with many tears, it was too late to undo what he had done.

¹⁸For you have not come, as your ancestors did, to something that can be touched—a mountain blazing with fire and smoke, with clouds of darkness and gloom, and a windstorm.

This happened long ago when Drawn from the Water (Moses) was given the tribal law on Mountain of Small Trees (Sinai).39

¹⁹There the eagle bone whistle40 was sounded. A voice spoke out from the mountain, but the people begged the voice to stop and not speak to them again. ²⁰For the instruction, “Even if an animal touches the mountain, it must be put to death with stones,”41 was too much for them to bear. ²¹The vision set before their eyes was so fearful that Drawn from the Water (Moses) cried out, “I am trembling with fear!”

²²But you, my much-loved relatives, have not come to a mountain like this. Instead, you have come to Strong Mountain (Zion) and to the Village of Peace (Jerusalem) from the spirit-world above, the village of our Creator who is the Maker of Life. This is where many thousands of the spirit-messengers have gathered to celebrate a great festival!

²³This is also a gathering of the great sacred family, who are the firstborn whose names have been written down in the book of life kept in the spirit-world above. You have come to the Great Spirit, the one who decides for everyone who has done right and who has done wrong, and to the ones in good standing whose spirits have been made whole. ²⁴Yes, you have come to Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the peacemaker of the new peace treaty between the Great Spirit and human beings. You have come to the blood that has been sprinkled, which says better things than the blood of His Breath Goes Up (Abel).

²⁵Make sure you do not turn away from the voice of the one who now speaks! For if the ones who turned away from him who warned them on earth did not escape, how will we escape if we turn away the one who speaks from the spirit-world above? ²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but he has now promised once more to shake both the earth and the spirit-world above.42 ²⁷When he says “once more,” this means he is removing those things that can be shaken, things that are of this creation, so that which cannot be shaken will remain.

²⁸So then, since we are welcoming a good road that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks to the Great Spirit and serve him in a good way, with much honor and respect. ²⁹For our Creator is an all-consuming fire.

¹Keep loving each other as brothers and sisters of the sacred family. ²Do not forget to be kind and welcoming to strangers, for in this way some have welcomed spirit-messengers without knowing it. ³Keep the ones who are in prison in your thoughts as if you were there with them, and those who are mistreated as if you in your own body shared their suffering.

⁴Marriage is honorable, and the marriage bed is pure, but Creator will decide the guilt of all who are sexually impure and unfaithful in marriage. ⁵Keep yourselves free from the love of possessions and be at peace with what you have. For the Great Spirit himself has said, “I will never leave you or give up on you.”43 ⁶Because of this we can boldly say, “The Great Spirit Chief is the one who stands with me. Why would I fear what human beings can do?”44

⁷Never forget the ones who blazed the trail before you, the ones who were first to tell you the message of Creator’s good story. Think deeply about the manner in which they lived and died, and follow in their way of trusting.

⁸Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One remains the same yesterday, today, and to the time beyond the end of all days.

⁹Do not let all kinds of strange teachings take you down a wrong path. For our hearts are made strong by the gift of Creator’s great kindness, not from following rules about what foods to eat. These kinds of rules have not helped those who have followed after them.

¹⁰The ones who still serve in the tent lodge on earth have no right to share in45 our ceremonial altar. ¹¹For each year the chief holy man takes the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as an offering for the people’s broken ways. The bodies of those animals are then burned outside the camp. ¹²Creator Sets Free (Jesus) offered his own lifeblood to make the people holy and suffered outside the village gate. ¹³So then, let us join him outside the camp, sharing in the same kind of disrespect and shame that he suffered. ¹⁴For we are not seeking an earthly village that will fade away. We are seeking the village that is coming down from the spirit-world above, one that will remain.46

¹⁵So then, through Creator Sets Free (Jesus), let us keep giving thanks as a sacrificial offering to the Great Spirit. This is the fruit of our lips, giving honor to him and all that his name represents. ¹⁶And do not forget to do good and share with those who are in need, for these are also sacrificial gifts that make Creator’s heart glad.

¹⁷Follow the guidance of your spiritual leaders and give way to their instructions. For they must give an answer for the guidance they provide. So let them do so with glad hearts and not with sorrow, for that would not be a good thing for you.

¹⁸Keep sending up prayers for us, for deep inside we are sure that we are walking in a good and honorable way. ¹⁹I ask you this with all my heart, so that I may soon return to you.

²⁰The Great Spirit of Peace is the one who raised up from the dead our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the Great Shepherd of the sheep. It is through his lifeblood that we now have a peace treaty that will last beyond the end of all days. ²¹May the Great Provider give you everything you need to do what he wants done. He is working, through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, to do in us the things that make his heart glad. He is to be given all honor to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!

²²So now, my relatives, I counsel you to take to heart this short message. I have written it to lift you up and give you strength. ²³I want you to know that our spiritual brother He Gives Honor (Timothy) has been set free from prison. If he comes soon, we will travel together to see you. ²⁴Greet all your spiritual leaders and all of Creator’s holy ones. I send you greetings from those in Land of Young Bulls (Italy).

²⁵May the gift of Creator’s great kindness be with you all.

Aho! May it be so!