“Breaking this might take a while…”
Date: 12/24/21 12:35pm—1/6/22 AMs
Author: Kiwi
Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 KJV
There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
The idea of the threefold cord is pretty straightforward; two is considerably better than one, and three is even better than the duet. This is generally, of course, but where it does apply, it applies heavily! To give you an idea of just how good two already was to begin with, what better way for me to show you than by employing the concept of the threefold cord…!
Takes Two to Tango; Cord #1 (twofold cord example 1/3)…
Deuteronomy 32:30-31 NIV
How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up?
31 For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.
Here we have the breath of God (“All scripture is God-breathed…”, 2 Tim 3:16) admitting that the idea of one man putting one thousand men to flight is indeed outside of the realm of natural sensibility— two putting ten thousand to flight? Even more so. Obviously this is an exploit achievable only through the power of the Almighty God. Or, as He’s named in the context, the Rock.
Takes Two to Tango; Cord #2 (twofold cord example 2/3)…
Deuteronomy 19:15 NIV
One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
There are individuals spending significant portions of their lifetimes behind bars for lack of adherence to this law. Another example of two bringing to fruition a reality that (at the time) wasn’t —and, even today, should not be— a possibility with only the one.
Takes Two to Tango; Cord #3+ (twofold cord example 3/3)…!
Matthew 18:18-20 NKJV
“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
How appropriate that this final example turns out to be a double whammy; a twofold cord in itself. I didn’t plan for that but in the spirit of pairing, I’ll even allow this 3rd of the twofold cord examples to DOUBLE as the 1st of the threefold cord examples (threefold cord example 1/3); How’s THAT for wisdom!
(“…the secrets of wisdom are double to that which is!” Job 11:6)
Where one or even two have a job to do but may be underqualified for actually getting that job done, are they left to their own (limited) devices? No! They still have hope. In fact, even beyond that— not only do they have hope, but by them outsourcing the labor to the LORD, the task gets done better than any mortal men could’ve hoped to achieve! What a sweet deal: heaven & earth kiss, and God the Father & God the Son lend their power to any two or three men humble enough to swallow their pride and ask for help.
Threefold Cord; Cord #2 (threefold cord example 2/3)…
Proverbs 24:3-4 KJV+
Through 1) wisdom is an house builded; and by 2) understanding it is established: And by 3) knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
This process doesn’t apply only for building houses, it’s true of anything that gets built. Anything to be built will be built by employing a measure of wisdom, established by utilizing some extent of understanding, and filled —hopefully by quality occupants— by exercising a degree of knowledge. The more wisdom, understanding, and knowledge that gets channeled into the effort, the more built-to-last the result will be.
Threefold Cord; Cord #3 (threefold cord example 3/3)…
While I didn’t plan how the 3rd twofold cord example panned out, I did specifically choose to highlight and explain the wisdom that goes into designing anything —or anyONE— that’ll stand the test of time, BEFORE following it up with this final example…
Lastly, but certainly not least, we have YHWH Himself. 1) God, the Father; 2) God, the Son; 3) God, the Holy Spirit. Same Person, three different functions. The thrice holy LORD of hosts (Isa 6:1-7). Notice even His holiness is a threefold cord— His holiness has its own holiness to speak of.
And this “self-made” Creator —a) built, b) established, & c) filled in and of Himselves™️— decided, in His unparalleled wisdom, to make us (man— spirit/soul/body) in His own tripartite image, after His likeness. Why? For us to *replenish, subdue, and have dominion over the earth, and everything in it. Exciting stuff.
Note* an interesting topic for another time
A Much-Needed RECAP...
So there you have it. This is the purpose & POWER of the threefold cord. In summary, use wisdom to apply these biblical truths literally or metaphorically as the issues of your life call for it…SOLO:
- Makes for bitter hardship, and will continually deprive himself of the satisfaction that comes with eating from the work of his hands and the overall joys of life, due to his endless laboral efforts, because his overall gain will never correspond with his ceaseless labor;
- The juice is never worth the squeeze, and what little he DOES manage to gain by his lonesome, he’s liable to lose to an assailant since ONE cannot discourage or defend against scenarios that a DUO is more equipped to handle;
- If ever ONE should fall, he’ll have no other to depend on for help in getting back on his feet and up to speed
DUO:
- Labor, and the wages thereof, go a much longer way for a PAIR than for a LONER;
- TWO heads are better than ONE, both offensively and defensively; a common two-step strategy to overcoming your opposition is to 1) DIVIDE, before 2) CONQUERing. But an individual is indivisible thus remains perpetually in the “conquerable” state, whereas a DUO passively watches each other’s back and is alert of the before & behind;
- A further emphasis on the passive benefits of banding together won’t go to waste here; there’s a measure of overall wellbeing that’s attributed specifically to companionship which is so powerful that the lack thereof is statistically observed to send man to an early grave. Genesis 2:18 shows the Triune God stating that “It is not good that the man should be alone”— a truth that seems to be getting echoed in contexts varied beyond the intimate confines of the bedrooms of the Adam-&-Eves of today. Introverts be damned…
TRIO:
- All the merits of the DUO without any drawbacks
- The added benefit of not being quickly or easily broken, weakened, or undone
- Jesus is in the middle of any DUO or TRIO of born-again believers; and if ONE can chase a thousand and TWO can put ten thousand to flight under the old covenant of Law… then can you imagine what THREE men/women of God —touching & agreeing— have the capacity to command the LORD’s hand to do, under the new covenant of Grace? It’s not hard to see why, between feminism, racism, & politics, etc, Satan puts in the work to keep man so divided— just three of us united are a Triple Threat to any evil.
From recently adding an egg and a slice of toast to my usual pathetic meal of instant ramen noodles (in order to boost sustenance and nutrition), to exercising at least 3 of my body parts in a cycle (instead of just 1), I’ve begun applying threefold-cord logic to various areas of my life; and I’m looking for even more places to make use of it. I govern much of my thinking by it now and, in recent months, I’ve seen improvements to the quality of my life overall. So due to how easily implementable the idea is in general, I would strongly recommend it to anyone— as a way to make more of whatever it is you may already be doing.
<3,
Kiwi
