Faithful Writers

Since we are talking about the one true God of Israel, why is the plural form of God being used, instead of the singular form, which is EL? The answer is that the IM ending in Hebrew also has another usage. Adding IM to the end of a word can also indicate greatness.

I consider it quite rude and controlling to do so. Plus. Scripture also makes this a mute argument.

My answer: If you knew the original Hebrew, you wouldn’t have that problem. In verses 3 and 4, the Hebrew word for “light” is OWR.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: a lot of what we were told about Jesus isn’t from Jesus. It’s our denominational image.

Today I would like to explore its opposite, the word CHOSEK. The dictionary defines this word as darkness or obscurity and as with owr also has strong spiritual significance but in a very negative sense.

God achieves His purposes through division and separation. This is a fundamental God principle and can be seen in the very first Chapter of Genesis. “God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.”-GENESIS 1:4

Your first reaction to a prayer request and your action says a lot about you and your relationship with God. 

The important point that I want you to get from all of this is to keep in mind that there is an underlying spiritual reality and message behind not only physical objects in Scripture but also, many of the events depicted in Scripture that are not evident when first read but become clearer through prayer and as God gives us a deeper understanding.

The problem with this explanation is that it still does not explain how the market days happened to cluster around every “seventh” day, instead of every fifteenth day or nineteenth day or something else.

The same people who can quote Psalm 23 without a moments hesitation with a faithful adoration in lip service only are willingly choosing to ignore other Scriptures.

In some mysterious way, this number has left an indelible impression on the world and mankind. Our planet has seven continents and seven seas. The rainbow only has seven colors. The entire musical scale consists of only 7 notes. In popular culture, we have Snow White and the 7 Dwarves, The 7 Samurai, and James Bond 007.

In the Genesis account, most people assume the first human created was a male. However, the Scripture isn’t so crystal clear on this point. Let’s take a good look at the text.

The word Adam is also the root word for the color “red” and for the word “soil” or “earth." This makes perfect sense since the Scriptures tell us that God created a human (remember not a “man” but a “human”) from the dust of the ground.

But imagine watching a historical piece or a detective movie from the halfway point. Contextually speaking, you would be completely lost. This is the exact problem one encounters when reading the Bible starting from the New Testament.

In more than a hundred languages of the world, the word for “Sabbath” as meaning a day of rest is actually “Sabbath” and refers to Saturday. For example: Arabic=Sabot, Armenian=Shabat, Spanish=Sabado, Italian=Sabato, etcetera.

I wanted to write Psalms 23 in a way so that when people read it, they see the beauty and meaning behind every translated word chosen for this prayer. And when they pray it next, it is not the mindless chant that it has become in churches. 

The middle of the week of 30 A.D. was a Wednesday Passover. Jesus was to be “cut off” in the middle of the week! He was to be cut off in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, in the middle of God’s 7000 year week and in the middle of the simple seven day week.

Of course God doesn’t have to rest. But He knew we would need one Holy Temple in time where we would need to get away from it all. That is why he rested on the seventh day and separated this day from all other days.

This is fascinating because it tells us that the Sabbath is NOT the result of or a response to sin. Hence, it is part of God’s original plan for all mankind.

They could have bowed down and worshipped that golden statue and saved themselves that day, but they didn’t. They chose God because they were faithful, steadfast and didn’t give a crap what others were doing around them.

This is an issue that the Apostle Paul spent a lifetime trying to break down. How can it be sinful for a Jewish believer to desecrate the Sabbath but not for a Gentile believer? This is nothing less than the creation of two totally different flocks!

You don’t ask why does God allow suffering because you’re curious. You ask it because something inside you is crumbling with anguish. This isn’t really a question born from curiosity. It’s more like a scream we turned into words.

I grew up with the impression that doubt was something to repent of. Like it was mold on your spiritual fruit. But when I look at scripture with fresh eyes, the ones God seemed to draw nearest were often full of questions.

Now an interesting thing you need to know is that there were two groups of people in the synagogue right from the start. There were the “men of Israel” and the “God fearers." The term “God-fearers” is widely regarded by scholars as a special designation for Gentiles who didn’t convert to become Jews but loved the Jewish scriptures and loved the teachings of Judaism.