Q&A 13 - SALT & SAVOR

Q - The Bible speaks of salt losing its savor. What kind of judgment does this cause?

A - Luke 14:34-35 says: "34) Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35) It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." We have explained in our Stars, Seasons, & Signs of our online book named ether Nuggets that the "dunghill" refers to Gehenna during the Millennial realm, the "land" refers to the heavenly Millennial Kingdom, and being "cast out" means being cast out into Gehenna. Thus it is that this passage relates to the Millennial Kingdom. The consequences of Gehenna would be a consuming fire which destroys body and soul (as spelled out in the writing noted above), and Outer Darkness would be a very unpleasant area where the offender is given a brief chance to reverse his attitude and come into alignment with the will of God. Those who are sent to Outer Darkness and fail to repent will be subjected to Gehenna. Whereas Gehenna is the consuming fire during the Millennial Kingdom (and is primarily for the purification of the rebellious Believer from this Present Holy Spirit Kingdom), the consuming fire of the Lake of Fire accomplishes much the same thing during the Father's Kingdom for those of the Millennial Kingdom Era who must be purified at it's conclusion. God's well devised patterns simply keep repeating themselves until all is accomplished and total purification is achieved.

In a sister passage, Mark 9:49-50 states: "49) For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 50) Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." It is interesting that these two verses conclude Mark's passage about Gehenna. However, it makes a double statement as to who will be salted with fire. First it says EVERY ONE shall be slated with fire, then it states that EVERY SACRIFICE shall be salted with salt. This salt is presumably the salt of fire just mentioned. There is a big difference between the fire for the sacrifice, and the fire for the one who is not a sacrifice. As we have mentioned in our writings, the one who strives to be a living sacrifice for God is salted only with the refining fire to achieve purification. Please note that the trait specified to verify submission to this refining fire is that of living peacefully with one another. The one who desires harmony with those around him is appropriating the salt of the refining fire in his life, but the one who seeks strife might well want to examine his stand. The one who lives in rebellion (choosing not to respond to the refining fire option) may be salted with a consuming fire to consume the rebellion and the mindset and attitude which foster it. The consuming fire flames are of a much different nature. The refining fire leaves the life in the seed, while the consuming fire may well strip the life from the seed.

We find a sister parable in Matthew 5:13 which reads: "13) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of man." This passage may relate to the Father's Kingdom. In this Kingdom, there is no more refining fire. WHEREWITH SHALL IT BE SALTED? The seed retained no salt but is merely dead due to the consuming fire, and must be cast out now. It will be trodden under foot of men (productive seed) throughout eternity. The picture of eternity painted in Revelation 22 says in verse 11: "11) He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." In the patterning of the Temple, there are various courts and areas set aside for certain groups. There is an outer court, an inner court, and the Holy of Holies. There is even a Leper's Chamber. It could be that the heavenly Temple of the Father's Kingdom may provide just such designations for these four types various groupings of verse 11, and the Leper's Chamber a place where the "whited sepulchers" of our previous Q&A are to be cast - a type of Leper's Chamber. How sad it would be delegated to such a fate!

The gospel of John then relates to the Eternal Kingdom above the Divide. We don't have a salt parable here, but we do see the seed coming into play. John 12 tells us that those who have hated their life here will find life there, and those who have never died to self here will "abide alone" there. This will be the seed that will never live again, and they will remain isolated throughout eternity.

In God's patterning, a scenario can repeat itself over and again as we progress from one Kingdom era to the next. Augustine equated the four gospels to the four faces of the Cherubim. He put Mark with the face of the man, Luke with the ox, Matthew with the lion, and John with the eagle. I would concur with this alignment, and further suggest that they relate to the four Kingdom Ages. Yeshua was a man during this Present Kingdom age of the Holy Spirit, which Mark tells us about. Yeshua will then be priest in the Millennial Kingdom, signified by ox (animal of sacrifice). Luke tells of this Kingdom. Matthew portrays the lion, or regal stance of Yeshua as He rules with the Father in the Father's Kingdom. Then John tells of Yeshua as God and relates to His stance in the Kingdom above the Divide, the eagle (or phoenix) being reborn on the other side of the Divide.

Though there is overlap between the gospel writings, and they can hint of other Kingdom eras within their text, the differences between the parables point with a great deal of consistency to the Kingdom era traits as mentioned above. So, when sister parables have slightly different wording, it may be because the pattern is basically the same with some minor shifting as we progress from one dispensational Kingdom to another. It is not because there is a conflict in Scripture, it is because the patterns can reflect slight changes in emphasis and manifestation from one Kingdom era to the next. The differences in the wording of these three passages regarding the salt may indeed point to the three Kingdom eras beneath the Divide.

To provide a synopsis relating to the salt, it looks as though the Luke passage relates to the Son's Millennial Realm, denoting all three places: the land (Millennial heavenly abode), the dunghill (Gehenna), and the location where people are cast out into (Outer Darkness). The Mark passage seems to refer to this Present Kingdom of the Holy Spirit. It does not mention a "casting out", but the salt parable is at the conclusion of the verses which warn of a Gehenna to come, as if to awaken the Believer to the consequences that lie ahead if they lose their savor. The Matthew passage implies the Father's Kingdom. The one who has lost his savor will then just be strewn on the ground to be trampled upon. The seed has no further potential or value. It is dead and dormant, and cannot or will not be resalted (brought back to life). This Kingdom age will bring all of creation to a conclusive state of life or death, sealing the seed of each entity birthed into creation to take them back into Eternity above the Divide.

In this trilogy of parables, salt is equated with life, and this life is secured by "abiding in the will and way of God". Even Believers can be grafted into a right standing with God, then fall away from it into a state of rebellion that requires judgment that can only be administered by the consuming fire of Gehenna. Their rebellion is spitting in the face of the One who died to redeem them from this fate, so they will be condemned to endure it, with the eternal consequence of the life of their body and soul being stripped from their seed.