#ayin: i love ego death

[lobpoints]

[fujoshiwarrior]

limbus company 1 am (edit: now 2 am) ramblings (massive spoilers abound for canto v)

these are just some quick sleep deprived thoughts, and my analysis could be better, but i feel like talking about it anyway

i saw a post in the main tag talking about why the op really disliked canto v, and i don't wanna get into an argument and i don't want to vague the op in a way that makes it seem like im attacking them because im not, i just wanna talk about why i disagree with them

i don't think canto v was perfect or the best canto but i thought it was absolutely incredible (yes i did cry during the final boss fight), and i agree that starbuck and queequeg deserved way more screentime and development than they got (i also think the adaptation of queequeg from moby dick to limbus was woefully clumsy, which might have have been remedied by more time with her, though i still love limbus!queequeg)

however, i wholeheartedly disagree on ahab as a villain. i thought she was amazing. even if she doesn't really have any shades of gray to her, i think the point is that a lot of horrible, evil, selfish people genuinely believe what they are doing and their behavior is right and justified. furthermore, she was completely and utterly steeped in delusion and obsession to the detriment of herself and every single person remotely in proximity to her.

i need to say first that i've never read moby dick unfortunately, so i can't comment too much on limbus!ahab vs book!ahab. what i do know is that just like in limbus, ahab's obsession leads to the demise of every single crew member with ishmael as the sole survivor. since i haven't read moby dick, i had to consult sparknotes for a profile of book!ahab, and it describes him as much of a victim as he is an aggressor---however, i'll touch on that in a bit.

what i want to bring attention to is that both book and limbus ahab are characterized by sheer hubris, pride, and a god/savior complex. i want to bring attention to another classical literature character who is characterized by hubris and who also spends the entire novel on a ship: victor frankenstein.

this comparison might seem like it's coming from left field, but i promise i have a point. also, while i don't think limbus!ahab was overtly inspired by victor frankenstein, considering how obsessed pm is with literature i think there is a very low chance that kjh or at least one of the writers haven't read frankenstein. see also the parallels between angela and the monster/ayin and frankenstein in lobotomy corporation and library of ruina (especially library of ruina, where there is a direct connection between angela and lucifer related imagery, who the monster is also associated with). frankenstein ends with victor, after telling his, encouraging the sailors not to give up on trying to find a new passage channel in spite of the fact they will probably die doing so---victor has not learned his lesson, and now he's luring a group of sailors to their deaths.

ahab is so full of herself and so egocentric that even when she was facing the death of her very "self" (or...ego) she did not falter in her delusions, not even at the very, very end, and was happy to continue the cycle. the point i'm trying to make here is that a character being unambiguously bad and selfish doesn't necessarily make for a bad or uncomplicated character. i will concede though that op again has a point with the lack of screentime with ahab means that she didn't have the time to prove her complexities.

this brings me to canto v's ending. in the post credits scene, we saw the ahab somehow survived the collapse of the white whale (this is just speculation, but i think it has something to do with her ego awakening---judging off the cg art, i would guess the ego fused with the pallidification from the whale or nullified it entirely...or both maybe). i was initially disappointed by this.

however, we know very little about hermann's crew. as op touched on, and as i have touched on, ahab had little screentime and not a lot of character development. her now being a member of hermann's crew gives ample opportunity for further development of her character---i think we'll see why exactly she became so obsessed with the whale and why she is the way she is (the aspect of ahab as a victim, i imagine there's a deeply personal reason why the decided the whale was the source of all evil)

this leads to me another point op mentioned: ishmael sparing ahab.

op talks about this as a bad thing. i STRONGLY disagree.

the name of the game here is obsession. ishmael's new ego for this season is even named "blind obsession". from the 4.5 event, we saw that this obsession has been tearing her apart. several people theorized after that event, and during this canto, that she was for sure going to distort. the fact that she had a distortion effect behind her battle sprite made lots of people (including me) extremely confident that she would distort and be the boss of this chapter (outis said in part 1 that lcb doesn't need all 12 sinners to operate and you only use half in battle anyway).

if ishmael had killed ahab, she would have given into her obsession and may have *actually* distorted if she did. and she would have proven ahab completely and utterly right.

ishmael stealing away the opportunity to be the one to kill the pallid whale from ahab and leaving her to rot inside the collapsing whale with that knowledge is the best possible punishment ahab could have gotten.

that's why i didn't like the fact that ahab had survived, it felt like it defeated the point of ishmael's development and the canto itself. i changed my mind because the point of ishmael's character development was letting go of her obsession and being free from ahab, and ahab doesn't need to be dead for her to do that. and her involvement with hermann's group means an opportunity for a bigger and better comeuppance since she's probably going to have a new obsession soon enough.

[dykedragonrider]

So I finished Library of Ruina. And I think that's just one of the best games ever. I don't know if I like it more than Lobotomy, but they're good for very different reasons. Either way though, it's incredibly salient commentary on cyclical violence, late stage capitalism, and the impact that humans have on each other.

I think the most logical place to start with is Angela, given that the Library is her EGO. However, it's impossible to talk about Angela's arc and development without discussing Roland's, given how deeply the two are tied and mirror each other. Even their music mirrors the other! To establish more similarity, both have had their lives ripped away from them by someone they perceived as uncaring. Angela was forced to suffer, so she externalized that grief at all the people she could target it at, hoping for compensation in some form. Roland had his future ripped away from him at every turn by a world that didn't care about him, and the death of Angelica caused him to externalize all his grief at the people he thinks could be responsible. Neither of them, however, were able to direct those outbursts at their original target, instead hurting the other people in their lives. Both of them are shaped by pain, Angela takes hers out on the world, Roland conceals his to take it out on Angela when the time is right, when her world is at its brightest. They both have to learn, in different ways, though, that their externalization of it will only cause the same thing to happen again and again. Getting hurt doesn't have any purpose; it just makes you hurt. There's no compensation you will receive for your pain, there's no vengeance that will fill the hole in your heart. Unfortunately, you'll live. What changes them, however, is realizing that you work past that pain, and hole in your heart, by letting others in, those who are good and trustworthy. Friends of the soul. To be human is to be loved, and understood. One of the facets of this game I find beautiful is that it's not a linear path to this for either of them, and if they haven't developed enough as people they cannot forgive and trust the other. Both must be in a place where they can heal, or at the very least, stop themselves from doing anything to hurt another in that moment. Recovery isn't simple, it's hard to be a better person especially when everything you've known is about conducting the pain you've experienced, because the world thrives off doing that. But the cycle's been broken before. The fact it's been broken is proof enough that you can do it again, no matter how hard it is. Roland and Angela are doomed, though. The world cannot abide them, but for different reasons. Angela's, however, is much more central, and Roland gets shunted either way with her, as they're now effectively two halves of the same whole, unified in their understanding of one another and sharing each other's dreams. And it's platonic! I think it could have been fine romantic, but I think given both of their pasts it's much stronger platonically. They are literally removed from the world that hurt them, as it casts them out, but in being removed from it, they're also able to dream outside of it. Angela seeks to create a more just world, following in the footsteps of Ayin. Being able to look past something and see the corrupt roots it took nourishment from, and wanting to excise that, rather than the person that is a symptom of it. Roland wants to write his book about the city, sharing his knowledge of someone who has lived in such a place, and in my eyes, passing the baton to the future with this knowledge; that the little things humans have done to care for one another and the connections we make. Redemption is a complex thing, based on actions, rather than intentions, but they've taken the first steps. And that's a really good note for the game to end on, because well, the seed of light is planted in the both of them now.

On the note of redemption, I want to take a moment to mention Ayin's apology to Angela in the light. Ayin is... Complex, morally, to say the least. Swaddled in good intentions, and with a good grasp on a positive outcome, just with means incomprehensible and immeasurable in the suffering caused. He brought his friends down with him to his prison, and made them complicit in his atrocity. He wanted to be better than every other Wing in the world. but he's done all the same shit. The difference though, is that he was willing to end it, show remorse, and break that cycle. The sin cannot be forgiven, but it can break the cycle, so he took it upon himself to do it, those hundreds of good deeds. And the cycle was broken. Great atrocity was done, but it was broken. Forgiveness is the wrong thing, redemption is as well, I think, he wanted it, maybe he got it, but what he wanted has been twisted by Carmen, truthfully, so I think it's kind of a moot point. But what is the right thing, I think, is understanding, that which he gives Angela. "I'm sorry. And good job." In this, he acknowledges her feelings. Her pain. He can't compensate her for the pain he put her through, but what he can do is acknowledge it, like she does for what she's done to Roland, though inadvertently. He sees her, for the first time, not as a machine, but of what she has been denied of at this point, what she wanted; human. This is also a good time to bring up Carmen, too, as she too is in the Light, hell, she's *the* light. She's who makes people Distort or manifest their EGO, she once again is the source of this, and Angela and her at this point could not be more different. In some ways, Roland's selfishness in wanting Angela back stops her from making the change to prevent Distortions, and the risk for selfishness they pose, as Distorting is easier than manifesting the EGO. Angela cannot be the constructive voice to balance out Carmen to help people be able to fight back, but again, to go back to the ending, Angela's targeting the City now, as an institution. If she can't work against Carmen in the light to stop her, then changing material conditions to create a world less based on pain will help. It further reinforces Angela's humanity to show how far she's drifted from Carmen, and I think it's especially poignant given that Angela was born of Carmen's pain, her still living body stripped and exploited. They're both victims, both of them want the world to change, both of them can understand the other, but they disagree on a fundamental level. So they both must be true to their ideals.

That tangent aside, I think it's important to note how important Angela's humanity is at the end, because she asserts it. Her humanity is presumed, and I think as players, it's been long established, even when she *was* purely machine, as being human is a sense of who claims you. And Angela, by the institutions that rule this city, is dehumanized. All the things we've seen as atrocities they can accept, but are tragic. If Angela didn't give it up, and became a human, they could tolerate her. But because she was not born as one, she is not allowed those privileges. Despite what she's demonstrated, how she's grown, matured, and changed, how she has done things that even the Head says only a human can do, she is denied it. If anything, the Head hates her *more* because of how human she is, and I think that only adds to the importance of Ayin acknowledging her humanity, it shows that even the most awful person we've seen, even moreso than Argalia in some ways, still acknowledges her. Everything else is acceptable. The distortions, while tragic, are OK. It would have happened. Capital can subsume that. But Angela's something they have deemed unacceptable, and she only survives by the strength of those who trust in her and support her. I think it's a really good metaphor, even if it is painfully real, especially in the current age.

And I guess I need to talk about that next, this game's interactions with capital and the City, and in some ways the socioeconomic context of South Korea. The Wings of the City are analogous to chaebols, institutions that centralize the entire economy, and they're deeply corrupt. Each Wing has a Singularity that grants them power, all of them we're aware of rely on human suffering to function, and the City runs on these. Prescripts only add to this, the City having a will of its own, which often propagates pain in one way or another and keeps itself in motion. The entire system is rotten, based on pain, and exploitation. The class divide is palpable in many ways, those in the Backstreets, or slums, aren't even allowed into the Nests, where the richer people in Wings reside, and are often systemically denied ways to lift themselves up. Violence against them is viewed as less important than violence against those in the Nest. The game is deeply critical of these in its portrayals. Angela's new to this world, and while she can make sense of it she also acknowledges the ways it's twisted and broken. Power is everything, you either get a good job or die alone, I think the only thing missing is a strong commentary about gender norms, but gender is a thing never really confronted in game. There's of course, now some legitimate hypocrisy that came from PM (based on my understanding of the facts) in how their criticism of Korean socioeconomic reality, and generally, capital, is less impactful given some of their behavior, but I don't think that detracts from the messages. In some ways, even, part of me is cynical enough to say that this proves a point; that corporations, no matter how much their art challenges the establishment, they are also subservient to it and the interests of the powerful. Of course they'd be corrupted by it, they've demonstrated that fighting against capital directly only gets you eliminated or subsumed. However, I think there's something also worth acknowledging here. That being the idea that challenging capital and its interests, and to some degree, revolutionary behavior, can be done through the improvement of the self, those material circumstances, and your relationships with other humans. There's a place for self improvement and the construction of your community, and its reinforcement, theory, and ideals, and also the hard world of praxis, and fighting against that which you cannot accept. I think in a world where a common sentiment among leftists in the anglosphere is that a revolution is not happening, and we're just going to have to do what we can on a different scale to change the world, this is a thoughtful ideal to communicate, that our relationships with our community, the changes we make to improve it, our capacity for kindness for others and breaking the cycle of violence within ourselves is a good place to start to make those changes on the world. Obviously, there's still a need for other change, but the sentiment that the community and the individual are important for that change is a very useful one.

Which I guess is a good time to talk about the community, in this case, the Sephirot. I think they're really good for depicting the idea that the community is strong when the individual cannot be, as well as philosophical (and of course, theological, given their Kabbalistic origins) stepping stones in the development of Roland and Angela. To use shorthand, they've finished their character arcs. That's not to say they're static, but the Sephirot have had their development back in Lobotomy to become much more developed people. I do wish they had more time in this game, as I enjoyed a lot of them in Lobotomy, but we do at least get more interactions between them and they're not as much main characters so I get it, I just *do* like them. Malkuth manages history, and she's dealing with the fact that people in the City, and her life, are capable of great atrocity. She's trying to document that, but the problem exists in the reality that no one wants to remember anything outside themselves. People are trapped, and cannot learn from history, because the City propagates itself and erases/incorporates those who try to change it, so what's even the point of remembering it. But it's the past that builds the future, pretending otherwise or ignoring it means you only rebuild the past. And you must not despair, you must carve this idea on your heart, and face it. Maintain the will to stand up straight in a world that wants to break you down. Yesod manages technological sciences, and is aware of the dangers it poses, especially in the City. The entire ethos is that the ends justify the means, and that is uniquely terrifying when the means always involve pain. He acknowledges this about the library, and is rightfully scared by it, and wants Angela to understand that what they're doing here is comparable to other things in the city, and it can't be justified away. We have to be thoughtful about things in an ever changing world, and we can't ever just follow what's been set out. Maintain discretion, be rational, and think about "musts" and if they're actually as such. Hod manages literature, the stories of the people. For the Sephirot who involved herself in the lives of others to their detriment, placing her in a space that uses her newfound capability to understand other humans as well as she does is a really nice thing for her to slot into. The fact is, the city sucks to live in for everyone. You join groups, and the groups hurt people. Where you live is always boiled in violence, and you either give up your autonomy and ignore it, or give up your safety and acknowledge it. Everyone wants something better for themselves, to not have to deal with this world that's breaking them. You can't be broken against the wheel, you still have to have the hope to be a better person at the end of it all. Netzach manages art, and he muses on the nature of humans to make it, at the cost of humans. It's, especially in this world, a monument to pain. That's not something that really feels like it should be exalted, but it's what people are experiencing so it's made anyway. Killing yourself in the pursuit of a dream, beauty, doesn't actually create or leave behind that beauty, or dream. It just propagates misery. You've gotta fight to stay alive, you've got to want it, even if you're scared, even if it hurts, even if you've accepted self destruction. You've got to hold onto the idea that there's always something more to do, some new story to tell, a reason to keep making things as humans do. It's scary, being alive, but facing that without fear and living is what gives beauty to our condition.

Tiphereth manages natural science, and she in some ways iterates on Netzach's philosophy. Sure, you're alive, but so what. The world is unfair, it beats you down, nothing could be more cruel than it, and understanding that's a hard endeavor, usually tinted by loss. So, we try and understand it. We look at the world, and what's unjust about it, and we make sense of it so we can change it, to keep dreaming. One day, we will overcome this. One day, you'll wake up, and will be able to face yourself and the world. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel, there's *got* to be something waiting for us because that's how humans work. We're driven by desire, and the chase of knowledge, justice, hope, gives life meaning. You just have to know what lights shine for you, and make the choice to chase them, every day of your life. It'll hurt like hell to be well, it's hard to do it again after losing your way. But as long as you're alive, things can change. Life has a meaning, and you must expect to find it. Gebura manages language, and notably, is one of the two Librarians with much stronger ties to the outside world than others. Her floor doesn't touch on language overmuch, but I think she demonstrates that differences with her behavior instead. As she mentions, the Backstreets dwellers speak simply, and that's reflected in her. Gebura is the most brash, honest, and straightforward librarian. She rarely speaks symbolically, and that also lets her uniquely connect with people, because of how she speaks and carries herself. She's the first one to get a fragment of the truth out of Roland, for example. Another element is that her actions speak for her rather often, given her past as the Red Mist. She was famous for her selflessness, and always tried to look out for people weaker than her. It's not the strong who survive, it's the survivors who are strong, so making sure people survive is how you create people who can live in this broken world. Kali was a legend who died in the service of protecting others, she's a very emotional person, to both her strength and detriment, and she's always going to carry that with her. Even if she's failed before, even if it's gotten harder, she still understands incredibly well that violence is a tool. And she wields that tool with courage, in the service of others. Chesed manages social sciences, and has a huge heart. He's as playful as he is determined to hope for a better life for others, and he loathes violence. More accurately, needless death, but the sentiment is identical. Chesed doesn't want people to be hurt or killed. People are all important little pieces, and we all blend together to make our symphonies. He values knowing *why*, for the hope to change things through understanding to make a better world. There's always something we can do with the people in our lives to make a difference, after all. Even if it's small, we owe it to them to do it. That's what being friends is about, after all. If the world wants to pit you against each other, then band together to be strong together. You'll have each other, and can fight the current of the oppressive reality together. Sitting on your hands only makes things worse, you've gotta be able to look and process your reality to change it. And people can help with that. Build a crowd of your friends, and become stronger together. Those who are faithful and trustworthy are what give us the strength to put our bodies on the wheel.

Binah manages philosophy, and is the other librarian with strong ties to the outside world. She's always talking in parallel with other people, but is doing as such to prove a point. The world is cruel, but you can't turn away from that. You must acknowledge the world and observe it to understand it. And you've gotta free yourself from your biases to actually understand it. If you just look for what you want to see, then you can miss the forest for the trees, or see things where they aren't because you want them to be real. Binah was once Garion, an Arbiter, effectively a supercop. I think the analogy speaks for itself there, but she's also interesting because that part of her is long behind her. In her discussions about the world, she also speaks of herself and her wants, as someone who's dealing with the sins of her past, especially given she is in no small part responsible for how things turned out. To put your past behind is to bear the sins of it, and decide to move on. You won't do it the first time, it may take a hundred, or a thousand, but you'll break it eventually. And when you do it, you'll have to do it over and over again. But you did it once. You can do it again. This works on another level again, because Lobotomy Binah is a deeply damaged person. She feels little, save for when she's hurting other people. But in Ruina, it feels like she's moved on from those remnants of being Garion. Like all the librarians, she wasn't who she was at the start of this, but she also has carried the most with her; she's just also had a lot of time to sort herself out, and while she's still imperfect, she's trying with other people now. She's tried to reconcile her past. She's looked at all the horrors of herself and the world, and has started to move beyond them. Hokma manages religion, and is one of the two people responsible for the birth of Angela. Angela is conflicted on him most of all, given that past. To call their relationship filial in any way I think is a misattribution, it's more like he's her least favorite teacher. He's wise, knowledgeable, and thoughtful but they've got a lot of friction between them. He tried to do well by her, but it wasn't enough, and he has at this point accepted that given their past. Unsurprisingly, the thing that defines Hokma is belief in something, or rather, someone. Ayin was the man that gave his life meaning, and he believed in him and his cause, even to his own end. He was shackled to him, but he was freed from that weight when he realized his answer, that building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same. You aren't stuck to it, but you must acknowledge it to move on, and its influences on you, good and bad, are what you choose to pass on. I think the most important element to him comes in his end discussion with Angela, on the idea of pity, sympathy, and love. They're similar forces that foster human connection, but I think another element is that a lot of faith exalts those who we pity; we give them love to raise them up because we find them pitiable. Through that sympathy, and a repulsive emotion known as pity, we come to understand and love one another.

And finally, we tie back to Roland, who manages general works. The thing I most want to center in this discussion about him is the simple phrase of "that's that, and this is this" because it's such an infuriating philosophy for him to follow. We see it bite him in the ass so much, because it's a cope. Angelica makes it clear to him that it's a cope, and he's just relying on it to the point it's become something deeply maladaptive. And once again, it's Angela that breaks him out of this, because through their journeys together, she realizes and proposes to him the counter: That's this, and this is that. It's her gesture to break him out of things wholly, the same way Ayin's words did to her. In terms of broader strokes, human connection is the most important thing on the road to being better people, and I think something that is demonstrated very well through Ruina is the way that it's more important to make a wrong choice and learn from it through people around you than it is to make no choice at all. While this game builds much more on the elements introduced in Lobotomy about the City, I think Lobotomy is a much stronger criticism of capital? This does it, but I think it doesn't do as good in marrying its gameplay and themes to sell the violence of capital, it mostly just depicts the horrors and leaves it there. This works, it's just not as impactful, and I think is a product of this being much less horror oriented. All in all, I chalk this one up to another game I wish I was much more capable of speaking about. There's so much good here, and it's one of the best games about revenge I've played, the next closest being the original Xenoblade. It's incredibly rich, and there's a lot more I have to say, I've just been typing for four hours and didn't want to make an even bigger wall of text.

[uniquezombiedestiny]

🔊 angela lobotomy corporation?

Just like clockwork, brass and copper, turning, spinning, always running Tick tock tick tock, gears shift, can't talk, repair damage, oxidation Gold inferno, blazing fire, thousands screaming, thousands dying Sanity is withering, their consciousness is fading away Ever marching, ever turning, soldiers fighting, endless cycle With their fates now sealed in copper, just like clockwork, perfect timing --- But when the engine's cold And the battle has calmed and ended Embers will fly away And I'll see all that's died...

Just like clockwork, pendulum stops, hours, minutes, angels of death Glowing furnace, anvil, hammer, cide is born within the forge Molten core and twisting metals, all created for one purpose Faulty scraps left to the sidelines, never given room to glisten (Just like clockwork, divine rework)

---

i havent like. taken the time to actually see a character in this song before but this actually fits angela really well?? i think the first part of lyrics i put is lobcorp angela

"gold inferno, blazing fire" could be like her eyes since theyre orange and thats preeeetty close to gold. also theres fire to make up for it anyway

also specifically "gears shift, cant talk, repair damage" and "tick tock tick tock" + "with their fates now sealed in copper, just like clockwork" bc timeloop/time in general. shes just stuck to follow the script and stuff (fates sealed in copper)

2nd lyrics part is creation of the library then ruina angela

"but when the engine's cold" could be like angela becoming desensitized to everything or her being trusted kinda?? like shes just not seen as a danger with the engine referring to well. dangerousness (idk much about the later like story stuff so idk how trusted she is from days like 40-50 but i assume shes trusted by people/the sephirot/etc).

"embers will fly away" could be like the glowing pages in ruina :P

"cide is born within the forge" could both refer to the downfall of l corp and all the killing in ruina, or a like. metaphorical killing. like killing love or something (like the desensitization to everything through the timeloop thing, killing a part of herself [hey that fits the 2nd definition. nice])

"pendulum stops, hours, minutes, angels of death" 'pendulum stops' for the timeloop thing ending, 'hours, minutes' for angelas slowed perception of time, 'angels of death' bc iirc angela is called the librarian of death/pale librarian. also angel for angela and burrowing heaven AND being an attempt at making carmen kinda. its sorta like death and becoming an angel ig??

^ "(just like clockwork, divine rework)" about the whole angel thing, this fits in too

"faulty scraps left to the sidelines, never given room to glisten" ayin just. hated her and ignored her and all that stuff. also timeloop, also angelas revenge on ayin ('left to the sidelines, never given room to glisten' with glisten referring to the revenge or like. maaaybe doing something impactful? idk)

---

didnt mean for this to be this long lmao but woo yeah analysis :thumbsup: i dont wanna go get the emoji. also little --- things for formatting/separation/etc etc.

oh and one last thing some of the lyrics give me dakota vibes bc my brain simply has a dakota sleeper agent ig. her wearing the pink ego + anything she says about wars/battles/etc ever never left my head ("this war never ends... always starts over and over again" HIIIIIIIII)

[socialjusticevampire]

Chapters: 3/?

Fandom: Lobotomy Corporation, Library of Ruina

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Chesed & Tiphereth A (Lobotomy Corporation), Angela & Chesed (Lobotomy Corporation), Chesed & Netzach (Lobotomy Corporation), Chesed & Yesod (Lobotomy Corporation)

Characters: Chesed (Lobotomy Corporation), Gebura (Lobotomy Corporation), Tiphereth A (Lobotomy Corporation), Assistant Librarians (Library of Ruina), Ayin (Lobotomy Corporation), Benjamin (Lobotomy Corporation), Angela (Lobotomy Corporation), Netzach (Lobotomy Corporation), Yesod (Lobotomy Corporation)

Additional Tags: Character Study, Unreliable Narrator, Psychological Trauma, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Dehumanization, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Solitary Confinement, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Past Psychiatric Abuse

Summary:

“Chesed, how are you even alive?” And as he asks the question that’s lingered over them this entire time, all Chesed can do is smile and answer, “What makes you think that I still am~?” A study in the deconstruction and reconstruction of the human ego, and the lingering consequences thereof.

~~~~

I realize that I did not post my updates here oops so uhhhhh, new chapters dropped. Chesed is having a lovely time in these don't worry about it!

[dfroza]

this world will not always be.

but there is a True and pure Kingdom coming that will endure forever. and this is our hope of rebirth that we’ve been given from our Creator that is illuminated in the Son.

Today’s reading from the Scriptures is chapter #2 from the book of Hebrews:

That is why we ought to pay even closer attention to the voice that has been speaking so that we will never drift away from it. For if the words of instruction and inspiration brought by heaven’s messengers were valid, and if we live in a universe where sin and disobedience receive their just rewards, then how will we escape destruction if we ignore this great salvation? We heard it first from our Lord Jesus, then from those who passed on His teaching. God also testifies to this truth by signs and wonders and miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit lighting on those He chooses.

Now clearly God didn’t set up the heavenly messengers to bring the final word or to rule over the world that is coming. I have read something somewhere:

I can’t help but wonder why You care about mortals

or choose to love the son of man.

Though he was born below the heavenly messengers,

You honored the son of man like royalty,

crowning him with glory and honor,

Raising him above all earthly things,

placing everything under his feet.

When God placed everything under the son of man, He didn’t leave out anything. Maybe we don’t see all that happening yet; but what we do see is Jesus, born a little lower than the heavenly messengers, who is now crowned with glory and honor because He willingly suffered and died. And He did that so that through God’s grace, He might taste death on behalf of everyone.

It only makes sense that God, by whom and for whom everything exists, would choose to bring many of us to His side by using suffering to perfect Jesus, the founder of our faith, the pioneer of our salvation. As I will show you, it’s important that the One who brings us to God and those who are brought to God become one, since we are all from one Father. This is why Jesus was not ashamed to call us His family, saying, in the words of the psalmist,

I will speak Your Name to My brothers and sisters

when I praise You in the midst of the community.

And in the words of Isaiah,

I will wait for the Eternal One.

And again,

Look, here I am with the children God has given Me.

Since we, the children, are all creatures of flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood, so that by dying He could destroy the one who held power over death—the devil—and destroy the fear of death that has always held people captive.

So notice—His concern here is not for the welfare of the heavenly messengers, but for the children of Abraham. He had to become as human as His sisters and brothers so that when the time came, He could become a merciful and faithful high priest of God, called to reconcile a sinful people. Since He has also been tested by suffering, He can help us when we are tested.

The Book of Hebrews, Chapter 2 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 8th chapter of First Chronicles that documents the Family Tree of Benjamin, son of Jacob (Israel)

The Family of Benjamin (Continued)

Benjamin’s firstborn son was Bela, followed by Ashbel, Aharah, Nohah, and Rapha—five in all. Bela’s sons were Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

These are the families of Ehud that lived in Geba and were exiled to Manahath: Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, who led them to exile and had Uzza and Ahihud.

In the land of Moab, Shaharaim had children after he divorced his wives Hushim and Baara. From his new wife Hodesh he had Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sakia, and Mirmah—sons who became heads of families. From his earlier wife Hushim he had Abitub and Elpaal. Elpaal’s sons were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with all their villages.

Beriah and Shema were family chiefs who lived at Aijalon. They drove out the citizens of Gath. Their brothers were Shashak and Jeremoth. The sons of Beriah were Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, Michael, Ishpah, and Joha. The sons of Elpaal were Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab. The sons of Shimei were Jakim, Zicri, Zabdi, Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath. The sons of Shashak were Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, Abdon, Zicri, Hanan, Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, Iphdeiah, and Penuel. The sons of Jeroham were Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zicri. These were the chiefs of the families as listed in their family tree. They lived in Jerusalem.

Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon. His wife’s name was Maacah. Abdon was his firstborn son, followed by Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zeker, and Mikloth. Mikloth had Shimeah. They lived in the neighborhood of their extended families in Jerusalem.

Ner had Kish, Kish had Saul, and Saul had Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal. Jonathan had Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal had Micah. Micah’s sons were Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz. Ahaz had Jehoaddah and Jehoaddah had Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri had Moza and Moza had Binea. Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son. Azel had six sons named Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. His brother Eshek’s sons were Ulam his firstborn, followed by Jeush and Eliphelet. Ulam’s sons were warriors well known as archers. They had lots of sons and grandsons—at least 150. These were all in Benjamin’s family tree.

The Book of 1st Chronicles, Chapter 8 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, january 7 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible, along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

A set of posts by John Parsons that illuminates our Hebraic roots in faith & hope:

The name for ancient Egypt in Hebrew is “mitzrayim” (מִצְרַיִם) a word that can be translated as “straits” or “narrow places” (i.e., -מ, "from," and צַר, "narrow"), suggesting that “Egypt” represents a place of constriction, tribulation, oppression, slavery, and despair. The Hebrew word for salvation, on the other hand, is “yeshuah” (יְשׁוּעָה), a word that means deliverance from restriction, that is, freedom and peace. As it is written: "From my distress (מִן־הַמֵּצַר), i.e., from "my Egypt," I cried out to the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me in a wide open place" (Psalm 118:5).

But why, it may be asked, did God tell Jacob: “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt” (Gen. 46:3)? Why did God allow this excursion into “heavy darkness” that Abraham clearly foresaw (Gen. 15:12-13)? What is there about Egypt that prepares us to take hold of our promised inheritance? Joseph become a prince of Egypt; however, he was still a captive to Pharaoh, and later, after Joseph died, a “new Pharaoh arose” that did not acknowledge his contribution to Egyptian history (Exod. 1:8). All that remained of Joseph were his bones – a chest of bones that were carried out by Moses (and later buried by Joshua in Shechem). These “bare bones” of Joseph represented the essence of his faith, as he foresaw the time when God would rescue the family from Egypt and raise him up in the land of promise (Gen. 50:24-26; Heb. 11:22).

A general principle of spiritual life is that we must descend in order to ascend, or the "the way up is the way down" (John 12:24). As Yeshua said, "Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:44). Becoming nothing (i.e., ayin) in this world is the condition for seeing something in the world to come. Unless a seed falls to the ground it abides alone (John 12:24). But we become “nothing” by trusting in the promise of God, not by trying to do it ourselves... This is not another venture of the ego. Life in the Spirit means trusting that God will do within you what you cannot do for yourself... We can only take hold of what God has done for us by "letting go" of our own devices (Phil. 2:13). When we let go and trust, we will be transformed, carried by the “Torah of the Spirit of life” (i.e., תּוֹרַת רוּחַ הַחַיִּים, Rom. 8:2), The way is not trying but trusting; not struggling but resting; not clinging to life, but letting go...

God's way of deliverance is entirely different than man's way. Man tries to enlist carnal power in the battle against sin (i.e., religion, politics, etc.), but God's way is to remove the flesh from the equation. The goal is not to make us stronger and stronger, but rather weaker and weaker, until the ego is crucified and only the sufficiency of the Messiah remains. Then we can truly say, "I have been crucified with Messiah. It is no longer I who live, but the Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). The word "Hebrew" (עִבְרִי) means one who has "crossed over" (עָבַר) to the other side, as our father Abraham did when he left the world of Mesopotamia (Gen. 14:13). Likewise it is on the other side of the cross that we experience the very power that created the universe "out of nothing" (i.e., yesh me'ayin: יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן) and that raised Yeshua the Messiah from the dead. [Hebrew for Christians]

1.6.21 • Facebook

The exodus from Egypt (יציאת מצרים) is perhaps the most fundamental event of Jewish history; it is "the" miracle of the Torah. In addition to being commemorated every year during Passover (Exod. 12:24-27; Num. 9:2-3; Deut. 16:1), it is explicitly mentioned in the first of the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:2), and it is recalled every Sabbath (Deut. 5:12-15). The festivals of Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) likewise derive from it (the former recalling the giving of the Torah at Sinai and the latter recalling God's care as the Exodus generation journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land), as does the Season of Teshuvah (repentance) that culminates in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Indeed, nearly every commandment of the Torah (including the laws of the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system) may be traced back to the story of the Exodus, and in some ways, the entire Bible is an extended interpretation of its significance. Most important of all, the Exodus both prefigures and exemplifies the work of redemption given through the sacrificial life of Yeshua the Messiah, the true King of the Jews and the blessed Lamb of God.

The deeper meaning of exile concerns blindness of the divine presence. The worst kind of exile is not to know that you are lost, away from home, in need of redemption... That is why Egypt (i.e., Mitzraim) is called metzar yam - a “narrow straight.” Egypt represents bondage and death in this world, and the exodus represents salvation and freedom. God splits the sea and we cross over from death to life. Since Torah represents awareness of God's truth, Israel was led into a place of difficulty to learn and receive revelation (Gen. 46:1-7). Out of the depths of darkness God's voice would call his people forth. Likewise we understand our "blessed fault," the trouble that moves us to cry out for God’s miracle in Yeshua... Indeed the New Testament states that Yeshua "appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus (τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτου) which he would accomplish at Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31). [Hebrew for Christians]

https://hebrew4christians.com/

1.6.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

January 7, 2021

A Help in Sorrow

“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10)

Christians have received great joy and hope for the future, but make no mistake, there are troubles in this life. Christ promised that even if we “weep and lament...your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). The third verse of “Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners” expresses this well.

Jesus! what a Help in sorrow!

While the billows o’er me roll,

Even when my heart is breaking,

He, my Comfort, helps my soul.

Our text shows that even when Israel was about to be captured and exiled, Isaiah still anticipated their return and ultimate victory. “Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away” (Isaiah 51:11).

In this life He has not left us without comfort, for Christ promised His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Even when death and separation are imminent, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

And in the next life, the “forever” life, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4). JDM

[executare]

Same. The romance doesn’t seem that interesting. I was hoping Carvel and Eve would have a good romance, but that doesn’t sound like it will happen. I pretty much just like the characters and the plot.

I love Vampire Library dearly for its innovative ideas on vampire species and introducing a new godly Dracula figure with Ayin while simultaneously not leaning on many of the usual conventions of vampire fiction (for example, the fact that humans are the primary antagonists getting in Carvel’s way) but my oh my, the romance is...boring. Very boring. More boring than I’d expect from a series as novel and interesting as this. I am fed up with the dead lover trope enough as it is, because I am fed up with male protagonists’ only motivations being a dead woman (I make exceptions for my boy Leon Belmont purely because Sara’s death served a massive purpose TO THE ENTIRETY of the Castlevania franchise in that she chose to die and become the Vampire Killer, the single most powerful weapon the Belmonts could hope to wield in their quest to conquer the night. Her sacrifice at least had huge consequences besides making the protagonist sad enough to propel the plot. Plus Leon’s motivations were based around Mathias as much as they were Sara; she was not the only contributing factor.)

I suppose you can argue that I can’t rag on VL to the extremes for having the Dead Female Love interest too hard when the reincarnation angle is present and his relationship with Mano is so hilariously entertaining and genuinely heartfelt, but my grievances exist no less because the underlying principle is the exact same. A woman dying to propel the main character’s man pain plot into the stratosphere. I just think Carvel could have been a complete and compelling entity without the shoehorned romance that serves basically 0 purpose at all when you consider that Carvel literally becomes possessed by his horrible alter ego and MASSACRES VILLAGES every few hundred years, y’know? I feel like his stakes were plenty high without Eve’s death being the signature driving force behind the whole story. It doesn’t even add anything to Mano’s character if you ask me. If you deducted all of that from the story, it’d still come to the same conclusion. Ayin comes back, he has to be destroyed, the library was built for the purpose of hunting him down, everything is the same just without the added melodrama that isn’t even really that interesting anyway. Mano is such a charming and likeable character all by himself and so dissonant from Eve that he might as well not have any connection to her at all. I suppose erasing the Eve subplot would also erase Carvel’s weird impulse to make him his contractor and to protect him, but that kind of doesn’t make sense to me even in the canon of the story since Mano can actively reject Carvel’s attempts to use their telepathic bond to locate Mano if he wants to, so...you tell me. Also Carvel did not even believe Mano was her reincarnation at the start of the story SO THATS ALREADY INVALIDATED.

I don’t even hate reincarnation stories. I usually tend to like them when done well! But I feel the romance element just detracts more than it adds in this context, I really do, especially when the romance is so boring and surface level, and not to mention completely obfuscated from the audience for drama purposes for about 80 chapters of the whole god damn story. We never get to care about Eve and Carvel’s relationship. It’s rendered completely trivial despite being the most pivotal driving force in Carvel’s story, as most shoe-horned in romances always are. Seriously, put your creativity hat on guys, we need better motivations for our male protagonists than Woman Dead, especially if your character has OTHER VERY PRESSING MOTIVATIONS BESIDES WOMAN DEAD ALREADY EXISTING IN THE STORY AHSDFJK

[lobpoints]

[dfroza]

A heart of humility holds the most beauty

because it is illuminated with eternal Light

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 17th chapter of the book of John that contains a prayer:

This is what Jesus prayed as he looked up into heaven,

“Father, the time has come.

Unveil the glorious splendor of your Son

so that I will magnify your glory!

You have already given me authority

over all people so that I may give

the gift of eternal life to all those that you have given to me.

Eternal life means to know and experience you

as the only true God,

and to know and experience Jesus Christ,

as the Son whom you have sent.

I have glorified you on the earth

by faithfully doing everything you’ve told me to do.

So my Father, restore me back to the glory

that we shared together when we were face-to-face

before the universe was created.”

“Father, I have manifested who you really are

and I have revealed you to the men and women

that you gave to me.

They were yours, and you gave them to me,

and they have fastened your Word firmly to their hearts.

And now at last they know that everything I have is a gift from you,

And the very words you gave to me to speak

I have passed on to them.

They have received your words

and carry them in their hearts.

They are convinced that I have come from your presence,

and they have fully believed that you sent me to represent you.

So with deep love, I pray for my disciples.

I’m not asking on behalf of the unbelieving world,

but for those who belong to you,

those you have given me.

For all who belong to me now belong to you.

And all who belong to you now belong to me as well,

and my glory is revealed through their surrendered lives.

“Holy Father, I am about to leave this world

to return and be with you,

but my disciples will remain here.

Holy Father, each one that you have given me,

keep them in your name so that they will be united

as one, even as we are one.

While I was with these that you have given me,

I was guarding them and keeping them in your name.

Not one of them is lost,

except the one that was destined to be lost,

so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

“But now I am returning to you so Father,

I pray that they will experience

and enter into my joyous delight in you

so that it is fulfilled in them and overflows.

I have given them your message

and that is why the unbelieving world hates them.

For their allegiance is no longer to this world

because I am not of this world.

I am not asking that you remove them from the world,

but I ask that you guard their hearts from evil,

For they no longer belong to this world any more than I do.

“Your Word is truth! So make them holy by the truth.

I have commissioned them to represent me

just as you commissioned me to represent you.

And now I dedicate myself to them as a holy sacrifice

so that they will live as fully dedicated to God

and be made holy by your truth.”

“And I ask not only for these disciples,

but also for all those who will one day

believe in me through their message.

I pray for them all to be joined together as one

even as you and I, Father, are joined together as one.

I pray for them to become one with us

so that the world will recognize that you sent me.

For the very glory you have given to me I have given them

so that they will be joined together as one

and experience the same unity that we enjoy.

You live fully in me and now I live fully in them

so that they will experience perfect unity,

and the world will be convinced that you have sent me,

for they will see that you love each one of them

with the same passionate love that you have for me.

“Father, I ask that you allow everyone that you have given to me

to be with me where I am!

Then they will see my full glory—

the very splendor you have placed upon me

because you have loved me even before the beginning of time.

“You are my righteous Father,

but the unbelieving world has never known you

in the perfect way that I know you!

And all those who believe in me

also know that you have sent me!

I have revealed to them who you are

and I will continue to make you even more real to them,

so that they may experience the same endless love

that you have for me,

for your love will now live in them, even as I live in them!”

The Book of John, Chapter 17 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 7th chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes:

Teacher: A good name is worth more than the finest perfume,

and the day you die is better than the day you were born.

In the same way, it is better to go to a funeral

than a celebration.

Why? because death is the end of life’s journey,

and the living should always take that to heart.

Sorrow beats foolish laughter;

embracing sadness somehow gladdens our hearts.

A wise heart is well acquainted with grief,

but a foolish heart seeks only pleasure’s company.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise

than a song written by fools,

For the laughter of fools is like

the hiss and crackle of burning thorns beneath a pot.

This, too, is fleeting.

Oppression can turn the wise into fools,

and a bribe can damage the noblest heart.

Having the last word is better than having the first,

and patience will benefit you more than pride.

Do not be quick to anger,

for anger sits comfortably in the lap of fools.

Do not ask, “Where have all the good times gone?”

Wisdom knows better than to ask such a thing.

It is good to have wisdom along with an inheritance;

they give a clear advantage to those who see the sun.

For together wisdom and money are alike in this:

both offer protection from life’s misfortunes,

But the real advantage of knowledge is this:

wisdom alone preserves the lives of those who have it.

Think for a moment about the work of God.

Can anyone make straight what God has made crooked?

Teacher: When times are good,

enjoy them and be happy.

When times are bad,

think about this:

God makes both good and bad times,

so that no one really knows what is coming next.

In the fleeting time I have lived on this earth, I have seen just about everything: the good dying in their goodness and the wicked living to a ripe old age. So my advice? Do not act overly righteous, and do not think yourself wiser than others. Why go and ruin yourself? But do not be too wicked or foolish either. Why die before it’s your time? Grasp both sides of things and keep the two in balance; for anyone who fears God won’t give in to the extremes.

Wisdom is more powerful to a wise person than 10 rulers in a city.

There is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and never sins.

Don’t take to heart all that people say;

eventually you may hear your servant curse you.

And face it, your heart has overheard how often you’ve cursed others.

I have tested all of these sayings against wisdom. I promised myself, “I will become wise,” but wisdom kept its distance. True wisdom remains elusive; its profound mysteries are remote. Who can discover it?

So I turned and dedicated my heart to knowing more, to digging deeper, to searching harder for wisdom and the reasons things are as they are. I applied myself to understanding the connection between wickedness and folly, between folly and madness. Along this journey, I discovered something more bitter than death—a seductive woman. Her heart is a trap and net. Her hands shackle your wrists. Those who seek to please God will escape her clutches, but sinners will be caught in her trap. Look at this! After investigating the matter thoroughly to find out why things are as they are, I realize that although I kept on searching, I have not found what I am looking for. Only one man in a thousand have I found, but I could not find a single woman among all of these who knows this. Here is what I have figured out: God made humanity for good, but we humans go out and scheme our way into trouble.

The Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Wednesday, may 26 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about the beautiful simplicity of coming to “believe...”

As followers of Yeshua, we must be "theocratic" in our focus, as our Lord himself was. He taught us to pray: "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). The kingdom of God (מלכות האלהים) rules in the hearts of Messiah's true followers, and those who espouse anarchy (ἀνομία) adhere to the devil's doctrine ("do what thou wilt"). God's curse is on all those who seek to eat from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil," that is, those who define good and evil in their own terms, disregarding the revelation of Torah, and who desire to do only what they think is right "in their own eyes." In the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess the truth about Reality, friends... That day is coming soon.

In order to say, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done" we must let go of our own agenda; our ego must be deposed from its petty little kingdom... Likewise, we can't say, "Come, Lord Jesus" by putting our fear first, or by otherwise demanding that our life should center on our own personal "advent." No, you must consciously choose to live in exile to this world (Gal. 6:14). How can we ever expect the LORD to live out His life through us if we do not genuinely offer our lives to Him? And yet this is exactly the problem of the ego...

A principle of spiritual life is that we descend in order to ascend, or the "the way up is the way down." As Yeshua said, "Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:44). Becoming nothing (i.e., ayin) in this world is the condition for seeing something in the world to come. But we become nothing by trusting in the miracle, not by trying to efface ourselves... This is not another venture of the ego. Life in the Spirit means trusting that God will do within you what you cannot do for yourself... We can only take hold of what God has done for us by "letting go" of our own devices (Phil. 2:13). When we really let go and trust, we will become nothing (i.e., klume: כְּלוּם), carried by the Torah of the Spirit of life. The way is not trying but trusting; not struggling but resting; not of clinging to life, but of letting go...

This is another example of the difficulty of honestly trusting God for the miracle, of genuinely receiving the miracle... Some people scorn the idea of "easy believism," though of course there is nothing at all "easy" about exercising true faith in the LORD and living the truth in our lives. We need the miracle; we need grace from heaven to impart real passion for us to walk according to God's heart. Amen. [Hebrew for Christians]

5.26.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

May 26, 2021

Jesus Is the Savior

“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10)

For centuries, the message of the gospel was presented in drama through the sacrificial system instituted through Moses. Obviously, Moses did not invent the concept of an innocent blood sacrifice. God Himself performed the initial “atonement” when He made coverings for Adam and Eve with the skins of animals that the Creator Himself killed and prepared for them (Genesis 3:21).

Abel brought the “more excellent sacrifice,” but Cain tried “another gospel” and was rejected (Genesis 4:3-5). After the Flood, “Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). Abraham and Jacob offered animal sacrifices to the Lord in recognition of their subservience to Him and in obedience to the instructions they were given (Genesis 12:7; 46:1).

When Moses received the law from the hand of God on Mount Sinai, the entire system of sacrifices was centered around a male “lamb without blemish” (Leviticus 1:10; 23:12). This was the Passover Lamb that became the symbol of God’s deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 12:21) and was directly applied to the Lord Jesus as “our passover” who was “sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Of all the names given to the Lord Jesus, it is the Lamb title that stands out so strongly when referencing the sacrifice He made. John the Baptist called out, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and it is the “Lamb that was slain” who is worthy to “receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). HMM III