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Such is God's way: the first are last; and the last, first (68:4) Being "first" in the eyes of God, and "first" in the eyes of man are very different things. And the same, of course, goes for being "last". Those who recognized Christ, in a sense, were able to see with "God's eyes". For they did indeed see correctly who was first, and who last (68:5) I have often wondered how it could be that a Jewish and Christian person, could have two so radically different views regarding the return of the Messiah, yet both seem to base themselves on the same evidence. Take, for example, the instance of a Jew and a Christian considering the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). The Christian generally sees hundreds of references to the Christ as having been fulfilled, while the Jewish person generally sees none. It seems that it is either all, or nothing at all. Essentially, there seems to be no reconciling the interpretation of the Jewish person who has not accepted Jesus as the Christ, with the interpretation of the Christian who has. The domain of meaning which these two individuals perceive from the scriptures does not seem to allow for an exchange of thought that would bridge the gap between them (68:6) The fact that these two seemingly contradictory views of the world could coexist - and even today, can coexist - I have always found fascinating, and at times puzzling. Having thought deeply regarding this phenomenon, I have found that there is a physical analogy, however, that we can use to demonstrate the relationship between these two viewpoints. This analogy helps us solve, to a certain extent, the puzzle. Of course, it is only an analogy and as such, has limited value. However, since it seems to be appropriate to demonstrate certain aspects of the relationship between these viewpoints, I would like to share it. The analogy is that of wakefulness and sleep
(68:7)
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