Faithful Writers

"And you shall enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and wives of your sons with you. And from all that lives, from all flesh, two of each thing you shall bring to the ark to keep alive with you, male and female they shall be. ” The total number of humans who entered the ark were 8 people, 4 men and their wives. Out of the entire world population, only eight humans were elected to be saved. In Biblical numerology, the number 8 stands for redemption and will remain so throughout the entirety of Scripture. Another point is that both humans and animals are represented by one male and one female . This is the pattern that God has set down and all other forms of intimate bonding whether homosexual or polygamous are outside of God’s ideal will for mankind. God’s ideal is that marriage is to be between one man and one woman. © Richoka

“When Avram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, who had been born in his house, 318 of them , and went in pursuit as far as Dan. “-Genesis 14:14 It is interesting to note that the strategy that Abram employed in the rescue mission to reacquire Lot was a surprise attack at night. This is the same strategy Israel used against the Egyptians in the 6-day war that resulted in the taking back of Jerusalem. Next, for those of you who can read Hebrew, take a look at the following word: אליעזר It is the name of Abraham’s servant Eliezer. For those of you who have studied basic Hebrew, you know that each Hebrew letter has a corresponding numerical value. Let’s calculate the numerical value of Eliezer’s name as follows: Eliezer’s letters add up to exactly 318! One Jewish commentary has said that Abraham’s victory over the kings was NOT due to the assistance of 318 men but of one single helper. Furthermore, a literal translation of the name Eliezer means “ God is my help ." So a more spiritual or mystical reading of this text ( and the Scriptures do contain multiple levels of interpretation ) would reveal that ultimately Abraham’s helper was God. He defeated the kings with faith rather than force! Man, this is INSPIRING!!! © Richoka

Today, we begin Genesis Chapter 7. For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here . For the King James version, click here “Of every clean animal you are to take seven couples, and of the animals that are not clean , one couple.”-Genesis 7–2 Notice that even at this early stage in the Scriptures… Way before the existence of the people of Israel… And way before God ever gave the Torah to Moses… A distinction is being made between clean and unclean animals. In Hebrew, clean is “ TABOR ” and unclean is “ TAMEI ." I can tell you quite honestly from my experience that most Christians do NOT have a proper understanding of the difference between “clean” and “unclean” animals. However, there seems to be no end to the interesting ( and frankly quite entertaining ) theories that gentile scholars will come up with. For example, one Christian scholar has said that “clean animals” are those animals suitable for domestication and fellowship with man. What is ironic about this situation is that any Jewish child ( assuming he or she had undergone a proper Jewish education ) right off the bat would be able to point out the difference between “clean” and “unclean." The difference is as follows: “Clean animals” are those that are ritually pure… …and… … ”unclean animals” are NOT ritually pure. And that’s it homies. In simple terms, only clean animals can be used in the sacrifices to God and ONLY clean food can be eaten. However, at this stage in human history, God had not yet permitted man to eat meat. Per God’s command, food at this stage was only green plants. Notice also that only the unclean animals are to be brought in single pairs. However, 7 pairs of clean animals are to be brought in (14 animals for each one of the clean species) . Why were 7 pairs of clean animals needed? Well, think about it. Clean animals are needed for the sacrificial offerings. So if you only have one pair of a certain clean species and sacrifice one of the animals from that pair, that would be the extinction of that particular species. God would never have been able to establish His sacrificial system if that happened. © Richoka

“And the Lord said to Noah ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household for it is you I have seen righteous before Me in this generation’”.-Genesis 7:1 Based on the above verse we just read, what was so special about Noah that he was allowed to receive this exclusive invitation from God? The Scriptures say Noah was “righteous." However, the Scriptures also say that God regretted having made humankind of which Noah was a member. So why did God pronounce Noah righteous and then sentenced the rest of mankind to destruction? Let’s take a look at what the ancient rabbis had to say on this topic. The following is a quote from an ancient Hebrew commentary called Mishna Rabbah. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord . He delivereth him that is innocent (i naki), yea, thou shalt be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands. R. Hanina1 said: Noah possessed less than an ounce (unkia) 2 [of merit]. If so, why was he delivered? Only ‘Through the cleanness of Thy hands’. This agrees with what R. Abba b. Kahana said: For it repenteth Me that I have made them and Noah. But Noah was left only because he found grace; hence, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord .” What an amazing opinion being expressed here! According to the ancient Rabbis, God did not just regret that he had made all mankind with the exception of Noah. God regretted having made all men INCLUDING Noah . Look at the above quote carefully. It clearly states that “ Noah had less than an ounce of merit ” and “It repenteth Me that I have made them and Noah.” “Noah was blameless only in his age, but in other ages he would not have been considered righteous.” -Rabbi Jochanan So why did God single out Noah as righteous? What did the ancient rabbis conclude? Noah received unmerited grace, pure and simple. This rabbinic excerpt flies completely in the face of all those Christian scholars who incorrectly claim that the biggest difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that man had to work to gain righteousness with the Lord in the Old Testament and that in the New Testament salvation was a free gift. This is horribly bad scholarship that has led to the false teaching that one must choose either Law or Grace. You would be amazed at how many Christian churches promote this false teaching. It is usually summed up like this: “You’ve got two choices. You can attempt to follow the Law and earn your way into heaven OR you can choose to accept Yeshua as your Savior and through His shed blood be guaranteed a place in heaven.” I’ve got news for you folks and listen carefully so there is no misunderstanding. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER does God set that choice before us anywhere in the entire Bible. Got it? This is man-made theology stemming from anti-Semitic attitudes. The simple truth of the matter is that the ancient Hebrews did NOT believe they could work their way into heaven. They completely understood that righteousness and salvation had to be a free gift from God. Sure, a good portion of ancient Hebrew commentaries seem to focus on a strict adherence to God’s teaching but it is not because they were trying to earn or even maintain their salvation. It was out of gratefulness for being chosen. Salvation in the Bible is by faith through grace from beginning to end! I’m done. © Richoka

You can’t pit one language against another and expect it to work. I keep seeing this argument pop up, and I find it both obnoxious and very ignorant. The argument is that Mary wasn’t actually a virgin, and this “discredits” the Bible. This all comes down to two verses getting pitted against one another. Isaiah vs Matthew — Let’s look at both verses in question. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,” Isaiah 7:14 (Hebrew) “But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 1:25 (Greek) Isaiah, apparently, your word choice didn’t make some people happy. “But Matthew quotes Isaiah.” I guess I should start with the obvious. Matthew did not quote Isaiah, we can see that just from scripture alone. The reason I need to point this out is that is the very first thing I see that is latched onto in this argument and used as its foundation. The problem with this “foundation” According to those who hold this belief (that Mary was not a virgin), this supposed quoting by Matthew of Isaiah discredits Matthew, and therefore “discredits” the Bible. All because Isaiah didn’t use what some consider to be the “correct” word ( virgin ) some 700 years before Jesus’s birth, and was written in Hebrew to boot. If you're wondering what word I’m talking about, Isaiah used the word “ almah” (hā·‘al·māh ), and we definitely will be circling back to that word at the end in detail. There’s more to that word than meets the eye, and I’ll show you what these debaters don’t want you to see. Things conveniently disappear. Within this argument, I always see key verses conveniently go poof and disappear when just these two verses are pitted against each other in the “virgin” argument. What verses would those be? “to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” Luke 1:27 Translation Breakdown. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” Luke 1:34 Translation Breakdown. Those are some pretty strong and confident words there. Unless you're going to tell me the young woman God chose to be Jesus’s mother was secretly a liar, and God didn’t see that? This argument may appear to be strong until you look at everything else, then it loses all creditably. When you want to hold onto a single word so hard and try to use it to “discredit” the Bible, you need to look at all of the Scriptures as well as have the decorum to learn what the word meant back then and to that culture. Chapters, verses, and page numbers are amazing, and we definitely need them at times. But the Bible originally did not have that for a reason. I know I’m going a wee bit off-script here, but hear me out. 1227 and 1382. Those are the dates when chapters and verses were introduced. Before that, the Bible was read and understood as a whole. It’s absolutely fine to pick a verse and use it. I just did. 👆 But you can’t use that one single verse and attempt to build an entire argument without knowing the rest of the Bible. That’s just plain cherry-picking to “prove” your belief. Every word, verse, story, etc., is connected in the Bible, and that’s why it’s so challenging; we have to look at all the other chapters, verses, and words to help us understand fully. I went way off script there, sorry about that, but it is true. We can’t take one verse or, in this case, one word and build an entire argument from it simply because we want to “discredit” the Bible. And for reference, no, I am not a Catholic on some crusade to save Mary’s reputation. I’m here to correct and provide details to consider before believing this argument. Below is more detail on the word “ almah.” Remember, the Hebrew language is nothing like ours, we simply cannot apply our root language to theirs and expect a healthy outcome. Virgin | Young Woman | Maiden So the reason there is a fit over this word is because in Hebrew, this is the word used in reference to a young woman of martial age, verses directly being a word that is defined as “virgin.” “The Greek equivalent often associated with “almah” is παρθένος (parthenos), which explicitly means “virgin.” This is notably used in the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 7:14 and in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 1:23.” The term “almah” refers to a young woman of marriageable age, often implying virginity, though not explicitly stating it. In the context of ancient Hebrew culture, an “almah” would typically be a young, unmarried woman who is presumed to be a virgin, though the term itself does not exclusively mean ‘virgin.’” This next section is why it’s very important to understand the culture when translating a difficult language. “Cultural and Historical Background: In ancient Israelite society, the status of a young woman was closely tied to her family and community. The term “almah” reflects a stage in a woman’s life before marriage, where she is seen as pure and eligible for marriage. The cultural expectation was that an “almah” would be a virgin, as premarital chastity was highly valued.” Isaiah was a Hebrew, he used the word that was associated and known to mean virginity. Matthew is in Greek. A completely different language, and the word choice used was not wrong, nor does it disprove anything. A doctor does not look at a rash and diagnose anything until they ask questions. We should be doing this, too, especially when exploring topics that want to discredit the Bible. © Jane Isley First published in Never Stop Writing Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

A criticism often leveled at the US military is all of the civilian casualties who end up getting caught in the crossfire during a wartime operation. Left-wing critics and the foreign media just love to point out the military’s failings in this area and seem to take much delight in showing footage of the dead bodies of women and children who were accidentally killed. While I can understand how disturbing and upsetting this can be, at least the military wasn’t deliberately targeting innocent bystanders. Compare this with those extremists who committed 9/11 and other terrorists who deliberately target civilians. I’ll never forget the TV footage I saw of our enemies in the Middle East dancing and cheering in celebration of the fact that American’s twin towers had been toppled. Weren’t they aware of how much innocent life had perished? People of all ages, races, religions, and backgrounds were murdered by people who were given the freedom to enjoy life in the United States… But instead, used that freedom to obtain pilot licenses and plot one of the vilest crimes ever committed in the history of mankind. One principle we can glean from the story of Noah’s Ark is that God does not and will not destroy the wicked with the innocent. While God does not guarantee we will be saved from the wickedness of evil men who would inflict violence on us… We are assured that when God Himself shoots off His fiery bullets of destructive judgment toward the wicked, there will be no casualties. The Scriptures tell us that once Noah and his family were safely tucked away inside the ark, God waited for seven days and then an amazing thing occurred. God Himself physically closed the door to the ark effectively separating Noah and His family from the rest of mankind. Those that entered went in, male and female, from every kind of living being, as God had ordered him; and Adonai shut him inside . -Genesis 7:16 This is a pattern that will repeat itself in the near future when Yeshua returns to collect His own… Afterward, God will rain down unstoppable judgment on the world. Another important point you need to know. It is important to not confuse God’s judgment of the world with the tribulation. The tribulation is evil men hurting innocent believers. God’s judgement comes afterwards. These are two separate events. © Richoka

The king of S’dom said to Avram, “Give me the people, and keep the goods for yourself. ” But Avram answered the king of S’dom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to Adonai, El ‘Elyon, maker of heaven and earth,“I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’” -Genesis 14:21–23 Following Abram’s victory, the king of Sodom comes out and proposes to Abram that he hand over the people he saved in exchange for all the loot. Abram refuses. There is a direct parallel between this story and Satan tempting Yeshua in the wilderness. Notice in both cases that the authority over the loot in King Sodom’s case and the world’s wealth in Satan’s case was never contested. Notice also in both cases that both King Sodom and the devil really don’t care about the world’s wealth. They both wanted to purchase people’s souls with worldly wealth. If Yeshua had given in to Satan’s temptation, he would not have redeemed humanity… And thus all the people of the world would have fallen into Satan’s hands. Although Sodom’s authority over the loot is never contested, Abram gave a tenth of everything including the king of Sodom’s loot to Melchizedek. So we can see that Melchizedek had even greater authority than the king of Sodom. This perfectly fits the pattern that although Satan is the god of this world, his power is still limited and under the control of El Elyon. Abram's response, “ I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours,” is something we should all take to heart as believers. The lesson to be learned here is that wealth in and of itself is not bad; it’s where it comes from that makes all the difference. CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT “Once more, the Adversary took him up to the summit of a very high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, and said to him, “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” “Away with you, Satan!” Yeshua told him, “For the Tanakh says, ‘Worship Adonai your God, and serve only Him.’” © Richoka

Today, we begin Genesis Chapter 15. For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here . For the King James version, click here . One reason the Bible is such a reassuring book is that both the good and bad sides of its characters, those whom we now call the heroes of our faith, are depicted in such an honest fashion. All of their warts and weaknesses are put on display for the whole world to see. And of course, the father of our faith, Abraham, is no exception. Right from the get-go of Chapter 15, we are shown his doubting and worrying side. And this bout of fret and fear is coming right after his soaring victory over the four kings that kidnapped his nephew Lot. God tells Abram: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great.” So what did Abram have to fear? The fast and simple answer is a reprisal from the four kings whose butts he had just whipped. On top of that, he was now living in one of the most wicked nations on the planet, surrounded by enemies. (Basically, the same situation Israel finds itself in today.) He didn’t have a strong hold on the region of land God had promised to him, and despite his growing clan, it was mostly due to offspring from his female slaves. Out of his numbing worry, Abram begs God to let a member of his household be his heir. However, for every worry that Abram brings to the table, God matches it with a promise of much greater and even staggering proportions. He reiterates the promises he first gave to Abram, telling him “This one will not be your heir, but he who issues from your loins will be your heir. Look up to the heavens and count the stars, if you can count them, so shall be your seed.” Now, why is God offering Abram a reward? God is promising to bless Abram for rejecting the offer of great wealth that King Sodom had promised him. I imagine at this point given his perceived bleak circumstances, Abram was rethinking what he had done. He could have been instantly wealthy and was most likely struggling with feelings of regret. Isn’t this so like all of us? Feeling a prompting from the Holy Spirit, we put a generous amount of money into the offering plate and then wondered later if we did the right thing. Or we set out on the path of ministry and then begin to doubt our calling when we realize that it is not all fun and games and that it is God’s intention through our service to Him to sever us from the worldly things and values that we have clung on to for dear life. When it becomes clear that the commitment to serve Him may cost us all of our money and we may even have to sever relationships with family members, even the best of us will second guess our walk with the Lord. I have seen many forsake their walk with the Lord simply because the temptations of the world were just too great to resist. They were more concerned with maintaining their status in society than following God, no matter what. However, Yeshua told the rich Jewish man to sell everything he had and follow him. He also said that he who does not hate his father and mother could not be his disciple. Both the Tanach and the Brit HADASHAH are clear. A 100% commitment to God will inevitably result in a complete severing of the world, the devil, and all of its values. I once heard a Rabbi say that for those who have 100% faith, “you are NOT ALLOWED to save money for tomorrow”. Quite a departure from the ridiculous stereotype that Jews are money hoarders don’t you think? The simple truth is that the Jewish people donate more money to charity than any other ethnic group. This is a fact! Okay, enough of the sermonizing. I’m done. © Richoka

Today we begin our study of Genesis Chapter 8. For the complete Jewish Bible, click here . For the King James version, click here . “God remembered Noah, every living thing and all the livestock with him in the ark; so God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to go down.” -Genesis 8:1 The statement that “God remembered Noah” marks the turning point of the whole flood narrative. This phrase appears several times in the Scriptures and normally symbolizes the triumph of mercy over judgment. For example, -God remembered Abraham and then saved his Nephew Lot from death in Sodom. -God remembered both Sarah and Rachel and rescued them from their infertility. And the most important thing that God remembers is the eternal covenants He has made with Israel. Notice also that God did not just remember Noah but his remembrance also extended to the creatures in the ark. Never forget that although man has been created above the animals, God still loves all of His creation. It pained God greatly that He had to kill an animal to provide coverings for Adam and Eve and it pained Him that a huge portion of his creation had to die in the flood. It will grieve Him even more when many millions of His beloved creation will have to be killed daily to atone for man’s sins under the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law. It is important to remember ( pun intended ) that the many concepts and principles that we think are unique to the New Testament have their origin in the “Old” Testament. Ideas such as “living water” , “the grace of God." and of course “the coming of the Messiah” are first introduced in the “Old” Testament. In the story of Noah and his ark, we are also introduced to a principle that I bet most Christians thought originated in the New Testament. I am talking about water baptism. Yup! That’s right. The flood represents the water baptism of salvation that Noah and his family went through. © Richoka

A reminder that when studying the Bible, it is vital to disassociate ourselves from our modern-day ways of thinking and cultural prejudices to be able to view things through the prism of ancient Hebrew culture. When this is properly done, formerly difficult-to-understand Bible stories and verses suddenly become clear. In this post, I would like to explain how important having a son was in the ancient Middle East. This may be difficult for those living in our day and age to understand. Our society has now reached the point where many married couples choose to never have any children, and homosexual marriage is becoming more and more accepted. There is also increasing cynicism being directed at the institution of marriage itself. The reasoning is that it is just a financial arrangement that has nothing to do with love and only benefits the woman. And given the over 50% divorce rate, many people are asking themselves “ Why even bother? ” This general sentiment was well expressed by the Israeli-American rock star Gene Simmons in his book titled Sex, Money, Kiss when he stated, “ Dumb men will always get married ." However, back in the days of the Bible, things were a lot different. Having a son to be an heir was of utmost importance. It was not just a matter of passing on an inheritance; the belief system at that time held that a man’s life essence lived on through human reproduction. So if a man died without having a son, that meant not only the end of his family line but also an end to his human essence in some mysterious and undefined way. Interestingly, in the Old Testament days, people didn’t hold to the idea of dying and going to either heaven or hell. It was believed that having a son was the only way a man could ensure his existence after passing away. Accordingly, it was a woman’s sole duty to provide her husband with a son. In Bible times, a woman who was unable to bear children for her husband was considered cursed by God and held in great shame. © Richoka