First Nations Version

by Terry M. Wildman

  28In all these things, Creator is working to bring good to the ones who love him, the ones he chose according to his ancient purpose. 29For he knew long ago what kind of people he would choose. He decided ahead of time to make them to be like his firstborn Son who is the Elder of the sacred family. 30The Great Spirit chose them, invited them, set them right with him, and gave them a life that shines with beauty and honor.

  31What more can be said? If Creator stands with us, who can stand against us? 32If the Great Spirit did not hold back his own Son, but instead gave him up for us all, will he then hold back on anything else? Along with his Son, he will give us all there is to give. 33No one can accuse Creator’s chosen ones of being guilty, for the Great Spirit himself has decided in their favor. 34Who could speak against them when it is Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One who speaks for them? Yes, the one who died and was raised now sits at Creator’s right hand and represents them in his prayers.

  35What could come between us and the power of this kind of love? Could times of sorrow and suffering do it? How about not having enough food to eat or clothes to wear? What about danger from weapons and warfare? 36It is written in our Sacred Teachings, “Because of you we face death every day. We are counted only as sheep to be violently killed.” 37But as we walk the path of the one who loved us, then, like him, we are greater and more powerful than all who come against us.

  38One thing I know for sure. Nothing can separate us from Creator’s love. Not death or life. Not spirit-messengers or dark spirit-rulers. 39Nothing from the spirit-world above or on the earth below. Nothing today or in the days to come. Not one thing in all creation can separate us from his great love, a love that is ours in the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), our Honored Chief!

  SMALL MAN LAMENTS OVER HIS PEOPLE

  1From my heart I speak truth in the Chosen One. I am not speaking with a forked tongue. My spirit is in harmony with the Holy Spirit when 2I tell you of the great sorrow that burns like a never-ending fire in my heart. 3If it would help my Tribal Family members to find the truth that would set them free and make them whole, I would be willing to be cursed, cut off from the Chosen One!

  4They are members of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) and my flesh-and-blood relatives. They were chosen by the Great Spirit and taken into his family. They were given honor, sacred treaties and promises, laws to live by, and a sacred lodge in which to perform ceremonies.

  5They are related to our honored ancestors Father of Many Nations (Abraham), He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), and Heel Grabber (Jacob), who are the human ancestors of Creator Sets Free (Jesus)—the Chosen One. He is the Great Spirit who is above all, over all, and blessed to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!

  CREATOR’S PROMISE HAS NOT FAILED

  6Even if my human relatives have turned away, this does not mean the promise25 of the Great Spirit has fallen to the ground. For not all who are from the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) are the true Tribal Members. 7Just because they are descendants of Father of Many Nations (Abraham) does not make them the children of promise. For the Sacred Teachings say, “It is the descendants of He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) who will carry on your name.”26

  8This means it is not the children physically descended from Father of Many Nations (Abraham) who are counted as children of the Great Spirit, but only the ones who are born because of Creator’s promise.

  He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) was born because of a promise the Great Spirit made to Father of Many Nations (Abraham). 9For the promise said, “Next year at this time I will return and your wife Noble Woman (Sarah) will have a son.”27

  10-12There is more to this story. She Holds Together (Rebecca), the wife of our ancestor He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), gave birth to twins. But before they were born, the Great Spirit said to her, “The elder son will serve the younger.”28 The reason Creator chose one son over the other had nothing to do with what they had done, good or bad, but only to show that the Knower of Hearts chooses according to his own purpose. 13That is why the Sacred Teachings say, “My love caused me to choose Heel Grabber (Jacob) over Hairy Man (Esau).”

  CREATOR WILL DO WHAT IS RIGHT

  14Do not get the wrong idea. We are not saying that the Great Spirit chooses unfairly. 15We are saying the same thing that Creator said to Drawn from the Water (Moses), “If I want to show kindness to someone, that is what I will do. I will have pity on anyone I choose.”29

  16The choice does not depend on the desire of one’s heart or the strength of ones legs, but on the pity and kindness of the Great Spirit.

  17The Sacred Teachings make this clear when the Great Spirit said to Great House (Pharaoh), “I raised you up, so that when I defeated you, my power and reputation would be known to all the earth.”30

  18So the Great Spirit does whatever he desires. He gives hard hearts to some and takes pity on others. 19But, some might ask, “If Creator is the one who decides these things, then what choice do we have, for who can stand against what he wants?”

  SMALL MAN ANSWERS

  20How can anyone talk back to the Great Spirit? We are weak human beings with small minds who do not understand his ways. Does a clay pot say to its maker, “Why did you give me this shape?” 21Does not the one who forms the clay give it its purpose? From one lump of clay he can make one pot for ceremonial use and the other for everyday use.

  22So then, what if Creator, who has the right to show his great anger and power against pots of clay he is angry with, which are ready to be broken into pieces, has instead shown them great patience? 23Does not the Great Spirit also have the right, from the treasures of his beauty, to pour out his kindness and mercy on pots of clay he has already chosen from the Outside Nations? 24He did this so everyone can see how honorable he is. He still chose us, whether we are Tribal Members or from the Outside Nations.

  THE SACRED FAMILY IS FROM MANY NATIONS

  25For the prophet He Helps Us (Hosea) has said, “To Nations who are not mine I will give the name ‘You Are My People.’ To Nations who have not known my love I will give the name ‘You Are Loved!’”31

  26He Helps Us (Hosea) also said, “In the same place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘The family32 of the living Creator.’”33

  27But the prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) cries out to the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), “Even though the number of the children of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) are as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, only a small number will return to be made whole and set free. 28For very soon the word of Creator will be fully carried out on the land.”34

  29And just as Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) has foretold, “If the Chief of Spirit Warriors had not left some of our descendants alive, we would have become like the people of Village of Bad Spirits (Sodom) and Village of Deep Fear (Gomorrah).”

  Long ago, in the time of Father of Many Nations (Abraham), Village of Bad Spirits (Sodom) and Village of Deep Fear (Gomorrah) were destroyed, and none of the people survived.

  THE PATH TO GOOD STANDING

  30What can we say about this? We are saying that the Outside Nations found good standing in the eyes of the Great Spirit even though they did not follow our tribal law. Instead, they trusted in what Creator has done. 31We are also saying that our own Tribal People, who worked so hard to earn this good standing by following the law, have failed.

  32Why did they fail? It was because they were depending on what they could do, by keeping the law, instead of trusting in what the Great Spirit would do for them. They tripped over the great stumbling stone,35 33just as it is written in our Sacred Teachings, “Be aware! For in Strong Mountain (Zion) I have set a lodgepole that many will trip over, a large chief pole that will make them stumble—and the hearts of all who trust in him will never fall to the ground.”36

  SMALL MAN’S LONGING FOR HIS PEOPLE

  1Hear me, my sacred family! I want you to know that when I send my voice to the Great Spirit
my heart beats with a great longing to see my own Tribal People set free and made whole. 2I speak the truth when I say that their dedication to the Great Spirit burns like a wildfire! But this fire has been set ablaze with no understanding. 3Since they did not understand Creator’s path to good standing, they tried to make their own way. But in doing so, they did not walk Creator’s path and never found good standing in his eyes. 4The law finds its true meaning and purpose in the Chosen One, for good standing with the Great Spirit comes from trusting in what he has done.

  THE PATH TO GOOD STANDING

  5Here is what the lawgiver Drawn from the Water (Moses) has written down about finding good standing by following the law: “The man who seeks good standing through the law must find it by keeping the law all the days of his life.”37

  6But here is what is written down for the ones who trust in Creator for their good standing: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into the spirit-world above?’38”—to bring the Chosen One down—7“or ‘Who will go down into the deep dark pit of the world below?’39”—to raise the Chosen One up from the dead.

  8But if it does not say that, what does it say to us? It says, “The word is not far away from you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.”40 It is not far away in the spirit-world above or buried in the earth below.

  So then, this is the message of trusting that we speak: 9if you will lift up your voice and make it known that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the Honored Chief over all the earth, and trust in your heart that the Great Spirit has raised him from the dead, you will be set free and made whole. 10For trusting comes from the heart and leads to good standing. Then the mouth says what the heart believes, which takes us down the path of being set free and made whole.

  11The Sacred Teachings tell us, “All who trust in him will never be dishonored or put to shame.”41 12So it matters not whether one is a Tribal Member42 or from an Outside Nation,43 for the same one we call Chief is the Great Spirit of all people. He pours out his treasures on all who call out to him. 13For “anyone who calls out to our Great Spirit Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) will be set free and made whole.”44

  GOOD STORY BRINGERS

  14But how can anyone trust in or call out to one they have never heard of? And how can they hear if no one has told them? And how will his message reach their ears if no one is sent? 15Just as it is written down in the Sacred Teachings, “How beautiful are the feet of the good story bringers, who tell about the good things Creator has done for us through the Chosen One!”45

  THE GOOD STORY AND THE TRIBAL PEOPLE

  16But not everyone who heard this good story has trusted in its message. For the prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) has said, “Great Spirit, who has trusted in our message?”46 17So you can see that hearing and trusting must walk together and follow the path given to us by Creator’s Chosen One.

  18But our Tribal People have not heard this message, have they? Yes, they have! The book of Sacred Songs tells us, “The voice of the stars in the night sky has spoken to all the land. Their message has traveled the four directions to the furthest places on earth.”47

  19But the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) did not know that this message was also for the Outside Nations, did they? Yes, they did! For Drawn from the Water (Moses) was the first to say to them, “I will make you jealous by a nation that has no standing in my eyes,” says the Great Spirit. “I will make you angry by a nation that does not understand my ways.”48 20And Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah), speaking with bold words, also said, “A people who were not looking for me found me. I made myself known to a people who never asked for me.”49

  21But here is what he has to say about the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), “From the rising of the sun to its setting,” says the Great Spirit, “I have reached my hands out with love to people who are stubborn and fail to represent me in a good way.”50

  CHOSEN AND BLESSED

  1If you think that I am saying the Great Spirit has turned away from his own people in the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), you are mistaken. I am proof that he did not. I myself am a Tribal Member, a descendant of Father of Many Nations (Abraham), from the tribe of Son of My Right Hand (Benjamin). 2Creator has not turned away from ones he knew ahead of time would be his people. Do you remember the story of Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah) as it is told in the Sacred Teachings, when he was complaining to the Great Spirit about the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)?

  3He said, “O Great Spirit, your people have put to death your prophets and have torn down your sacred altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me!”51

  4How does Creator answer him? “I have seven thousand men who have not bowed down to serve Dark Ruler (Baal).”52

  5It is the same for the time we live in. There are some from among our Tribal People who have been chosen not by working to keep our tribal law, but through the gift of his great kindness. 6Now if they are chosen by the gift of Creator’s great kindness, then this choosing cannot come from working hard to keep the law, but only by his great kindness. Otherwise it would not truly be a gift.

  ONLY A FEW HAVE FOUND THE PATH

  7This means that only a chosen few have found what all the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) were looking for. The rest have hearts that have become as hard as stone.

  8It is written in the Sacred Scrolls, “Creator has given them over to a spirit that makes them slow to understand. To this very day, they have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear.”53

  9Chief Much Loved One (David), speaking of our tribes, also says, “Let their traditional food laws54 become a trap to catch them by surprise, so they will stumble and have their own ways fall back on their heads. 10Let the darkness blind their eyes, and let their backs be always bent under the weight of their broken ways.”55

  THE WAY BACK

  11Have our Tribal People then stumbled with no way to get back up again? I tell you they have not! Creator knew ahead of time that they would fail, and he knew their failure would open the way for the people of all Nations to be set free and made whole. One reason the Great Spirit did this was to make the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) jealous by giving the people from the Outside Nations equal standing in his eyes. 12But if the failure and loss of our Tribal Members brings such great blessings to the nations of this world, how much greater these blessings will be when they fully become the people he created them to be!

  A MESSAGE TO THE OUTSIDE NATIONS

  13I am now speaking to you who are the people from the Outside Nations. I consider it an honor that I have been sent to you as a message bearer. 14I make sure that my flesh-and-blood Tribal Members know how much I honor you, in the hope that it will make some of them jealous, so that they can also trust in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to be set free and made whole.

  15So think about it this way. If the turning away of our Tribal Members from the Great Spirit means that he then turned toward the rest of the world, to bring them back to himself, then what will it mean when our Tribal Members turn back to welcome him? It can only mean that they have come back to life from the dead!

  16If the piece of ceremonial bread that is offered first to the Great Spirit is sacred, then the whole loaf is also sacred. If the root of a tree is holy, then its branches are also holy.

  DO NOT THINK YOU ARE BETTER

  17Some of the branches of this olive tree were broken off, and you Outside Nations have been grafted in from a wild olive tree. This means you now share in the health-giving sap that comes from the roots. 18So do not think that you are better than those broken-off branches. For you are also a branch supported by what the root supplies.

  19But someone might say, “Those branches were broken off so I could be grafted in.”

  20What you say is true. But they were broken off because they did not believe, and you stand only by your faith. So do not get big-headed, but show deep respect. 21For if Creator did not have pity on the original branches, why sh
ould he have pity on you?

  CREATOR IS KIND BUT MUST BE STRICT

  22So you can see how kind and how strict the Great Spirit can be. He was strict toward the ones who walked away but is kind toward you, as long as you keep walking in his kindness. If not, you also will be cut off. 23And if the ones who walked away turn around and begin trusting again, then Creator has the power to graft them back in because of his great kindness. 24It is not a natural thing for wild branches to be grafted into an olive tree that is grown in a garden. It is much easier for the natural branches to be grafted back into the same olive tree they were cut from.

  ANOTHER MYSTERY REVEALED

  25My sacred family members, to keep you from being wise in your own eyes, I want you to know about a great mystery Creator has shown to me. A hardening of hearts has come upon a part of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) until the Outside Nations have fully entered in. 26And this is the way all of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) will be set free and made whole.

  As the Sacred Teachings tell us, “The one who Sets Us Free will come from Strong Mountain (Zion). He is the one who will turn Heel Grabber (Jacob) from his worthless ways, back to the ways of the Great Spirit. 27This is the peace treaty56 I will make with them when I take away their bad hearts and broken ways.”57