Faithful Writers

Today we begin our study of Genesis Chapter One. Click here for the Complete Jewish Bible translation. Click here for the King James version. So have you ever heard this argument? “How could God have created the universe in just six days ?” “The Hebrews claim that by counting the generations we find the earth to be approximately six thousand years old.” “How the heck do you reconcile that with… …all of our scientific data that says the universe is billions of years old… …to be more precise, around fifteen billion?” What gives? My answer: READ THE TEXT PROPERLY HOMIE!!! When we take a close look at what is said in the opening words of Genesis, the matter seems to resolve itself and we don’t have to engage in ridiculous scientific and theological debates. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. -Genesis 1:1 If you read carefully, you’ll see the creation of the heavens and the earth is not necessarily said to have occurred on the first day. Rather, it says it occurred at a period of time called “the beginning." The first day of the creation story may NOT be referring to “the beginning." The first day could have been AFTER “the beginning ." If we read the opening words of Genesis literally, what happened on the first day was the creation of light and its separation from darkness. The wording (in both the Hebrew and English) leaves open the distinct possibility that the heavens and earth were created sometime before the first day. “The beginning” could have been a 10-minute period or it could have been 10 billion years. Who knows?! CONCLUSION: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and then after that , from the first day, He began shaping and organizing His creation, the details of which we will get into in the next post. © Richoka

A quick way to remember the geographical landscape of the 49 chapters of Genesis is as follows: The first 11 chapters are set in Babylonia. The last 12 chapters are set in Egypt. Everything in between occurs in the geographical terrain between the two countries, namely the broad stretch of Syria-Palestine. Now why is knowing this so important? The answer is simple. Because, culture, language, and location go hand-in-hand. Unless you are an ancient Middle Easterner who has suddenly been transported to the 21st century via a time machine… You are NOT going to have a hope in heaven of understanding the Bible the way it was meant to be understood unless you grasp the culture of the ancient Middle East. Period. I’m currently living in Tokyo, Japan and have been here for over 10 years now. Even though I’m half-Japanese (my mom’s French), in the beginning, I struggled to get along with the Japanese. My brusque American ways were always butting heads with everybody. I was too direct and outspoken. I was too impatient. I didn’t understand why it was so important to always have to use honorific Japanese with a coworker just because he had been working at the same company longer than me. My frustrations didn’t decrease until I reached a level of cultural understanding sophisticated enough to perceive the whys behind the whats. Once I achieved that level of understanding, I then had the power to work within and around the culture to my advantage. Before that, I was just an angry and irritated man surrounded by people who I thought were weirdos. The same positive paradigm shift will occur in your struggles to understand the Bible once you unlock its underlying cultural mindset. It will cease to be inscrutable. It will cease to be ancient and irrelevant. Never forget this. If you had a choice between being taught the Bible by a seminary professor with a string of degrees after his name or an ancient Middle Easterner who a time machine had magically transported into your neighborhood, go with the Middle Easterner. He’ll be a much better teacher. Even if he is just a fisherman. © Richoka

I was a pretty messed-up kid when I was a child. My parents were constantly getting on my case!!! It was always one thing after another. My room was dirty. The heavy metal music I listened to was too loud. My school grades were bad. And I was constantly getting into fights with my younger stepbrother and sister. Can anybody relate? No matter how hard I tried to be good and walk a straight path, uncontrollable forces inside me would start spiraling out of control, causing me to act out. It got so bad that one night I just took off, vowing never to come back. I didn’t get far. If I remember correctly, I think I spent the night inside a Volkswagen parked in the outdoor lot of a used car dealership. I returned home the next day because I didn’t have any money, and I had to get something to eat before I could run away again. I was young, stupid, and full of rebellion. But eventually I calmed down. Eventually, I realized that the constant parental intervention was for my own good. My father loved me and wanted the best for me. ( Dad, if you’re reading this, I love you man! ) Coming from a divorced family, my childhood was far from perfect, but I lacked for nothing and still blew it. Now think about the first two human beings, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. Their Father was the perfect God Almighty. They were placed in a perfect environment. And they still blew it. I want to show you something interesting. In Genesis, there are profound similarities between the way God interacts with mankind and the child-rearing process that every parent inevitably goes through with their children. Let me explain. First, in Judaism, the book of Genesis is traditionally divided into four parts: primeval history and the stories of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. So, following this four-part division, let me show you exactly what I mean as we see how God interacts with His creation. PRIMEVAL HISTORY The creation of the world up until the birth of Abraham (The first 11 chapters of Genesis) Just as a child’s early years are filled with all kinds of hog-wild stubbornness and rebellion, human wickedness peaked beyond belief during this period of biblical history. God’s parental interventions are at their most intense in this section. Things got so bad that God later decided to destroy the whole world by flood, save for Noah and his family. THE STORY OF ABRAHAM Whereas God’s relationship to human beings in primeval history is marked by judgment, destruction, and exile, things take a turn for the better in the figure of Abraham. God finds favor with Abraham and promises to bless him. Although Abraham has his moments of ugliness, in the final chapter of his life, he transforms into the ideal religious person, one who is obedient and faithful to God’s commands. THE STORY OF JACOB Jacob, who is the son of Abraham’s son Isaac, is best known for pulling a fast one on his older brother Esau to acquire Esau’s firstborn inheritance rights for himself. This section is filled to the brim with all kinds of scheming and deception, and the human dimension plays center stage much more than in the Abrahamic narrative. God speaks less frequently and intervenes less dramatically. Jacob sums it up well when he exclaims, “ Surely the Lord is present in this place and I did not know it . ” 28:16 THE STORY OF JOSEPH (One of the sons of Jacob) God hardly speaks at all in this final section of Genesis. He communicates through dreams and gifts Joseph with His wisdom to administer effectively, resulting in the survival of many people, including his own brothers, who, seething with resentment, once plotted Joseph’s death. So there you have it. We can see throughout the book of Genesis that God’s interventions are at their most intense during the early stages of mankind’s history and gradually take a backseat as His creation matures. However, as we walk through the Bible, we will see his parental anger flare up again and again. This is not surprising given that we human beings have a real tendency to act like a bunch of baboons. Anybody who has ever seen an episode of Jerry Springer will know exactly what I’m talking about. © Richoka

So, where does the word “Genesis” come from? Before I can answer that question, you have to be aware of the following three facts: The Bible originally had NO titles or chapter divisions. A lot of people seem to forget this. The current division of your Bible , regardless of the translation, has absolutely ZERO basis in any kind of ancient textual tradition. They are an early Christian invention. And then they were later adopted by the Jews. The reason? Because the medieval rabbis decided to use these chapter divisions as technical references in their “Who the heck is Jesus?” debates with Christian clergy (especially in Spain) . Next, the Bible was originally written in Hebrew (the language of the people of Israel) . The Hebrew title for “Genesis” is “Beresheet” (pronounced “bear a sheet”) . “Beresheet” simply means “I n the beginning… ”. That’s right. The very first verse in our Bibles, where it says “ In the beginning… ” is a direct translation from the Hebrew “Beresheet." The Hebrews decided to just use the first word for the title of the books of the Bible instead of concocting some thematic name. Why? I don’t know, man. Maybe they just wanted to save time. They are a very smart and efficient people. Finally, Greek was the very first foreign language the Bible was translated into. The Greek translation of the original Hebrew Scriptures is called the Septuagint. And here is something a lot of people don’t know. Jesus Himself quoted from the Septuagint!!! This translation was done in the third century B.C. by Jewish scribes who were experts in Hebrew and Greek. This translation was very popular among Jews a full two centuries before Jesus arrived because many Jews in those days did NOT understand Hebrew. So the next time you’re on a game show and that Pee-wee Herman-ish nerdy host with the 10-inch-thick glasses asks you the million-dollar question, “Where does the word ‘Genesis’ come from?” Put a big smile on your face and answer, “The word ‘Genesis’ comes from the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Bible from its original Hebrew.” Then collect your million dollars and go home with an even bigger smile on your face. © Richoka

I hate unnecessary complexity. My preaching and teaching philosophy is to keep things super duper simple. It doesn’t matter whether I’m teaching the Bible or another subject. I can tell you from hard-earned experience that whenever I’ve failed in the classroom or in front of the pulpit, the primary reason was because I tried to cram too many facts and complicated ideas into one lesson or sermon. Most people are pretty stressed out and can only absorb so much in one sitting. Everybody’s busy raising their kids and worrying about their careers. When they come to church or the synagogue, the last thing on their minds is “the incarnate deity of Christ” or “Arminianism versus Calvinism”. I’ve heard plenty of droning sermons in my time and I’ll be honest with you, once the pastor starts rambling, I begin fantasizing about the four pieces of juicy Kentucky Fried Chicken I’m gonna have for lunch. So remember, fellow Bible preachers and teachers (and students), when you get out there in front of your audience, focus on ONE point and flesh it out via an illustration or an entertaining story. This will enable you to demonstrate the practical relevance of what you’re teaching and how it can be specifically applied. Once you achieve this, your audience will be in the palm of your hand. This is exactly why I plan to have every blog post on this site focus on one singular but important and powerful theme that can potentially be fleshed out into a dynamic Bible study lesson or sermon. So with that in mind, I’d like to share one powerful way you can communicate to your audience what the book of Genesis is all about, an overarching theme if you will, that captures the heart and soul of the whole book of Genesis. After reading through a couple of commentaries, it finally dawned on me. THE BOOK OF GENESIS IS THE ULTIMATE ROCKY STORY!!! That’s right!!! The underlying theme of Genesis is about the overcoming of all odds to achieve ultimate victory through faith in God. Think about it. God chooses one childless and elderly couple way beyond their ability to bear children. And God says to the husband Abraham that not only is he going to have a child but He is going to make him into a great nation, bless him abundantly and grant his descendants the Land of Canaan. Given Abraham’s current circumstances at the time, the promise seems impossible. Actually, it is more than impossible, it borders on the absurd. Both Abraham and his wife are waaaaaaaaay past the child-bearing age and they’re nomad wanderers with no country they can call their own. However, after going through obstacle after obstacle, at the end the of the book of Genesis, lo and behold the beginning of what will become the 12 tribes of Israel is firmly in place. Furthermore, we have evidence of this miracle in the existence of the nation of Israel today. A nation that was resurrected from the dead in 1948. © Richo ka

In my last post , I explored the origins behind the word light or OWR (אור ) in Hebrew and went into how this word embodies not only the physical properties of brightness but also has strong spiritual overtones associated with joy and G-d’s glory. 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. Have you ever committed a great sin and then woke up the next morning feeling very depressed as if a dark cloud had descended upon you? If so, then you have some idea of the spiritual sense of this word. In the book of Exodus, when G-d was casting plagues on the land of Egypt, this is the exact same word used in the following verses: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.” Exodus 10:21–22 or “I form the light, and create darkness : I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” - Isaiah 45:7 By the way, CHOSHEK does not translate into the neutral opposite of daytime. That Hebrew word is LAYIL which simply means night or nighttime and is devoid of any spiritual significance. It should also be noted that CHOSHEK is naturally what occurs when G-d’s OWR or light is absent. Metaphorically speaking, think of a glass filled with water. Although you can fill a glass with water, you can’t fill it with emptiness so to speak can you? Emptiness is just what results when the water is gone. Hence, if we’re not filled with G-d’s OWR, the resulting outcome is a depressing dark emptiness of gloom and doom with no hope. Therefore, let us put our hope in the Messiah Yeshua who sacrificed Himself to save us from eternal CHOSHEK, so that we may forever be surrounded by Hashem’s eternal OWR. Amen. © Richoka

One of my favorite Bible stories is when Moses divided up the Red Sea. Why? Because it’s a perfect example of how God rescues us from trouble right in the nick of time…not one second too soon or too late. Coincidentally, this act of Moses “ dividing” the waters brings me to my next point which is that…. 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 God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the water; let it divide the water from the water.”-GENESIS 1:7 “God made the two great lights — the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night — and the stars. God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.”-Genesis 1:16–19 What’s interesting is that the direction the world is moving towards today seems to be opposed to this foundational God principle. For example, we have the Interfaith Movement that is trying to harmonize Islam with the Bible and those faiths with the Oriental mystical religions. What’s even scarier is that this religious syncretism is being promoted by many of the top Christian and Jewish leaders. It seems like our world is hell-bent on erasing the natural distinctions clearly defined in our Bibles. Lest anyone get the idea that this Interfaith movement is a good thing, be reminded that from Genesis to Revelation, the Lord is continually portrayed as a God who is dividing , electing and separating . So let me make this very clear. God has chosen one nation, one people group to be His chosen treasure and has SEPARATED them unto Himself. Likewise, we are also commanded many times in Scripture to SEPARATE ourselves from the evil and dark things of this world. This principle is firmly against the idea that whether one worships Krishna, Brahma, Buddha, or Allah, we’re all essentially speaking of the same God, just from different cultural and language perspectives. Although we will be constantly confronted with pressure to conform and compromise, the Scripture exhorts us to NOT be of this world even though we are in the world. Peace with the world is NOT peace with God. CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT “Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers. For how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness?” -2 Corinthians 6:14 © Richoka

In English, whenever we want to pluralize a word, we simply add “s” to it. A “cat” becomes “cats." A “book” becomes “books," etc.. Along the same lines, whenever you want to pluralize a Hebrew noun, “-im” is added. For example, the Hebrew word for “student” is TALMID. “Students” would be TALMIDIM. Now let’s take a look at Genesis Chapter One, Verse One. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The word for God in Hebrew being used here is ELOHIM. 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. This usage is called the “ Plural of Majesty ." The plural form of the word Elohim is being used to refer to the one and only God in all his greatness and glory. But keep in mind that ELOHIM is NOT the God of the Bible’s actual name. God’s actual name will be revealed later to a man named Moses. Finally, you should also be aware that Elohim can also mean gods with a small “g” when referring to the idols of the pagan nations Israel was surrounded by. It all depends on the context. © Richoka

I’m sure everybody here can relate to the power of a brand name or symbol. For example, what does the Statue of Liberty mean to you? Depending on who you are, it could be a powerful symbol representing hope and freedom. Or, if you are an Islamic extremist, it could represent the most evil empire in the history of mankind, “The Great Satan” as our enemies like to put it. I know I’m stating the obvious but it is not the symbol in and of itself that provokes a strong reaction. It is the underlying reality or idea it points to that incites a strong reaction. This brings me to the next fundamental God principle I want to introduce. I have decided to term it the “As-in-Heaven-So-on-Earth Principle." The idea is that in the Scriptures and the New Testament, physical objects are often but a shadow of something spiritual. This idea is expressed through God’s OWR (light) . Because God’s light is both spiritual and physical. Another example is the physical Garden of Eden, which is a model of heaven. Here is an interesting question. Later on in the Scriptures, do you know what physical object will be modeled after the Garden of Eden? The answer is the Tabernacle. 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. In our daily lives, we have a tendency to place too much focus on external circumstances and physical appearances when we shouldn’t. “The BIBLE gives me a deep, comforting sense that ‘things seen are temporal, and things unseen are eternal’”.-Helen Keller CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT “ For the Torah has in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the actual manifestation of the originals. Therefore, it can never, by means of the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, bring to the goal those who approach the Holy Place to offer them.”- Hebrews 10:1 “Yeshua replied to him, “Have I been with you so long without your knowing me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father ; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” -John 14:9 © Richoka

Whether we would like to admit it or not, in terms of having a global impact, no other book even comes close to the Bible. Volumes have been written on the influence the Bible has had on the world. And when I say the world, I mean the whole world , NOT just Western civilization. If there be any scorners or doubters, chew on this objective fact. As of this writing, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, since 1815, the Bible has sold approximately 2.5 billion copies and has been translated into more than 2,200 languages or dialects. Now I’m not saying that this is evidence of divine intervention pushing book sales anymore than God is behind the success of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” being the most viewed Youtube video on the planet. However, what I am saying is that it is sure proof of the tremendous far-reaching impact the Bible has had on practically every sphere of human activity. I would argue that minus the Bible. …the birth of modern science would NOT have occurred. …the story of Europe, the United States, Canada and other nations would be totally different. And we would NOT have a 7-day week. Since we are in Chapter One of Genesis, it is this one point in particular that I would like to focus on. A 24-hour day is the duration of one rotation of the earth on its axis. A year is the duration of one orbital revolution of the earth around the sun. A month is the approximate interval between new moons. The seasons are marked by the equinoxes and solstices. However. There is NO astronomical basis for a 7-day week whatsoever! So how did the 7-day week originate? Secular scholars have tried to attribute the origin of the 7-day week to all kinds of reasons. One common scholarly objection is that since the Sumerians and Babylonians used a 7-day week before the Hebrews, it could not have found its origin in God’s commandment from the Bible. Another common objection is to attribute the origin of the week to the use of “market days?" However, they also have to point out that the interval between market days was different in different nations, though rarely varying more than a day or so above or below seven days. 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. Besides, there were various ancient nations whose weeks were quite unrelated to any marketing customs. Why can’t any of these scholars ever consider the obvious explanation? The seven-day week was established by God Himself, at the beginning. © Richoka