He appointed twelve.

He appointed twelve.

 

Mark 3:13-19 『And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordered twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into a house.』

The meaning of twelve can be found in Hebrew letters. They are ten (yod: י) and two (ved: בּ). Yod means hand, and Bede means the house (temple) of God. 『And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordained (Epoiesen ἐποίησεν) twelve』mountain means the heavenly temple in a spiritual sense. “him whom he would” refers to the person whom Jesus unilaterally selects. The word ordained (epoiesen) appears in Genesis 1:1 in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek.

ְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ

ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν

The Hebrew word bara ( בָּרָ֣א ) means to create, and in the process of translating it into Greek for the Septuagint, ἐποίησεν (epoeisen) was used. Thus, Jesus ordained (epoiesen) the twelve disciples to indicate that God had made something with his own hands in his temple. The “something” is the disciples. God predestined Christ, so that in due time He was born in the flesh into the world. The reason was to represent the Garden of Eden hidden from the world. The Garden of Eden hidden from the world is none other than the kingdom of God in the heart.

Because of an angel who sinned in the kingdom of God, God created humans made of the material world and dust and put their spirits into them, and humans became trapped in the world. However, Jesus came to give them freedom from the net of sin. This means that when Jesus dies on the cross and is resurrected, the twelve disciples will unite with the resurrected Christ and take charge of the work. So the disciples become spiritually recreated beings.

Looking at the disciples, they are divided into three categories. The first group consists of three (3) people: James, Peter, and John. Jesus often took them to special places. The second group is eight (8): Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon of Canana. And the remaining one (1) is Judas Iscariot.

Three (3) means fulfillment of the covenant. The fulfillment of the covenant is the establishment of a new temple in the heart through death on the cross and resurrection. James symbolizes the Jacob of the Old Testament, who fought with God and was given the name Israel, but the tendon in one of his legs was cut and he became limp. So Jacob dies and is reborn as Israel. Therefore, James was the first to be martyred after Jesus ascended to heaven and after Pentecost. John described the kingdom of God (resurrection) in the heart through the Book of Revelation. John was a figure symbolizing resurrection. James (death on the cross) and John (resurrection) were given the name Son of Thunder. The Son of Thunder symbolizes the presence of God.

And Peter received “the name Peter, which means rock” from Jesus. The rock represents the church and represents the saints who have formed a temple in their hearts. So these three names symbolize the fulfillment of the covenant of death on the cross and resurrection.

The second category, eight (8), contains the meaning of Genesis 2:1. 『the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.』 Looking at the Hebrew Bible, [Waikulu (were finished) Hashamayim (heaven) Wohaaretz (earth) Wokal (all the host of them) chabam (army)]

(וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכָל־צְבָאָֽם) Chabam (the basic form is Chaba) is the military. It should have been translated as “heaven and earth and all armies are fulfilled.”

The heavenly army refers to the angels in the kingdom of God, and the earthly army refers to the angels (humans) who sinned on this earth. So, this means that the arrangement was completed on the 7th day of creation. So God rested. Eight (8) means re-creation. When the child was born, he had it circumcised on the eighth day. The heavenly army symbolizes three people (James, Peter, and John), and the earthly army symbolizes Judas Iscariot.

The name Judah means Hebrew. Hebrew finds its origins in Ivri. Ibri means one who crossed the river. It is a name given to Abraham in the sense that he left Ur of the Chaldees, crossed the Jordan River, and entered “Canaan.” However, the spiritual meaning is that the spirits who sinned in the kingdom of God were sent to this land to migrate. That is why the armies of the world are sinners. Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus.

It contains the meaning that after the armies of heaven and the armies of earth are reorganized through the eight disciples, a new creation is created through the disciples (eight people) of Jesus. Of course, all twelve disciples will carry out God's will with this mission.

『And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:』 (Mark 3:14). There are three missions. First, he allows his disciples to be with him. This means that Jesus dies on the cross, is resurrected, and returns to enter the hearts of his disciples. So he always stays with his disciples. Christ helps his disciples as a Comforter.

Second, the power to preach and cast out demons was given to the disciples. On the surface, by showing the miracle of casting out demons, the capacity for evangelism will also be strengthened. However, spiritually casting out demons means that all people are possessed by demons. However, when a sinner hears the gospel and repents, God gives the sinner the grace to free him from the net of the law. This is the gospel and the main content of evangelism. So, Jesus gave his disciples the power to forgive their sins. Only by receiving forgiveness of sins can one escape from the net of the law. By escaping from the net of the law, sinners who were managed by ghosts (angels in charge of evil acts) are released.