Faithful Writers

I think we all tend to relegate certain portions of the Scripture to the “NOT IMPORTANT” box in our brains. Maybe it’s the chapters containing the loooooong genealogies. Or all of the details concerning the construction of the wilderness tabernacle. Or how about the countless purity laws outlined for us in Leviticus? The modern church is guilty of this. They have adopted a “NOT IMPORTANT” attitude towards the Torah. They have disregarded this section of the Bible as old and irrelevant. And if it contains any relevance whatsoever, they would argue that it only applies to the Jewish people. I think it’s important to remind ourselves that the only Bible Yeshua and His apostles had to work with was the Tanakh ( the Old Testament ). For them, there were no other Scriptures. It’s also important to remind ourselves that every Word in our Bibles is there for a reason. Some parts may seem unimportant, and we may sometimes have difficulty understanding the relevance of what we’re reading. However, through prayer and earnest seeking, HASHEM will reveal to us certain patterns and powerful truths embedded in the Scriptures. The last verses of Genesis chapter 22 are a good illustration of this. For some reason, we are given the names of the 12 sons of Abraham’s brother Nahor. I say “ for some reason ” because we are never going to see these sons anywhere throughout the rest of Scripture. So why did God see fit to include this information? I can’t say for sure. But I do see a pattern. Ishmael had 12 sons. Jacob had 12 sons who would become the nation of Israel. So, Nahor also had 12 sons. In the Bible, the number 12 symbolizes God’s authority and a perfect governmental foundation. Yeshua chose 12 apostles to bear witness and spread the gospel to the entire world. And let’s not forget that in the coming kingdom, the 12 tribes of Israel will be restored. © 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 23. For the King James Version, click here . For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here . As is so characteristic of the Bible, in a matter-of-fact fashion, we are told that Abraham’s beloved wife Sarah passed away at the ripe age of 127 years old. After mourning Sarah, Abraham enters a tense burial-site negotiation with Ephron and the local people known as the Hittites. Whether these folks are Hittites who migrated into Canaan or just a loose Hebrew title for non-Semitic Canaanites is not clear. This chapter offers a glimpse into the era’s culture and mindset while marking the transition from Abraham to Isaac. This negotiation is worth examining because it is the first record of the death and burial of a Hebrew. Let’s take a look at verse 4. “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The words “ stranger and sojourner ” are legal terms that mean “resident alien." Abraham is announcing his vulnerable legal status. This sharply contrasts with God’s promise to give him the very land he stood on. In fact, at this stage, it would still be another 5–6 centuries before this promise would come to fruition. Abraham’s use of the words “ give me ” is also intentionally ambiguous. He is avoiding direct usage of the term “ sell ” yet is requesting a “ possession of a burying place." The Hebrew word for possession is “ auzah ” and it clearly means a permanent legal possession. It was a standard custom that foreigners could not buy land. For the people at that time, land was everything. There was hardly anything more horrible than for a family to lose their land, especially to an outsider. There were still situations when this did occur. Given the high tension around a foreigner buying land, Abraham had to choose his words and approach with great care. It was crucial to publicly demonstrate that the land was acquired in a way all parties deemed valid. If Abraham had just accepted the land for free as a gift from the people, not only would it have been a big insult, but ownership of the land would have been challenged in later generations. The same thing could also happen if the land was purchased at too cheap a price. Notice also that it says the negotiations took place at the “ gate of the city ." If you recall what I taught from an earlier lesson, the gate area of a city also served as the town square where many judicial proceedings took place. So this tense negotiation unfolded publicly before the entire town. © 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

In response to Abraham’s request that a piece of property be “ given ” to him, the residents of the area respond with what seems to be a courtly gesture of extravagant generosity. “Hear us, my Lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.” Behind the surface of all this bowing and scraping there are a couple of things you should be aware of. First, the use of the term “ mighty prince ” is nothing more than an exaggeration, a buttering up of Abraham in preparation to ante up the price of the property as high as possible. Second, notice also in the statement, a calculated avoidance of any reference to a “holding” or a permanent transfer of property. Let’s take a look at Ephron’s response in verses 10 and 11: “Pray my lord, hear me. The field I grant you and the cave that is in it. I grant it to you in full view of my kinfolk. I grant it to you. Bury your dead.” This triple repetitive announcement from Ephron is a maneuver to elicit an offer from Abraham. Ephron is well aware of Abraham’s real intentions to wish to buy the land and thus acquire inalienable rights to it. So Abraham responds, and after much ping pong balling back and forth, it is finally agreed that Abraham will pay 400 shekels of silver for the land. The price was quite high. If one was to make a comparison with prices of other property purchases in the Bible, this sum is practically equivalent to a king’s ransom. However, Abraham agrees to pay the requested amount and he knows that it is to his advantage. By paying the full price, he is effectively removing any potential legal challenges that could arise and cause trouble to his descendants concerning ownership of this particular piece of property in the future. It should also be noted that Abraham’s only objective was just to purchase the cave at the far end of the field. However, Ephron also threw the unrequested field into the bargain. This seeming generosity was nothing but a ploy to be able to demand a high price from Abraham. © 2026 Richoka . Want more content like this? Explore more articles in the Genesis  series.

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

Hebron is significant as the burial place of Sarah and all three patriarchs. On top of that, when David became king of Judah, he made Hebron Israel’s first capital. No doubt, he chose Hebron for its deep reverence as the burial site of Israel’s founders. “Hebron ” is spelled chevron in Hebrew. It means a “ community ” or “ alliance ." Next to Jerusalem, this is the most important city in the Bible. However, the name of this city does not occur in any of the prophets or in the New Testament. But it is found about forty times in the Old Testament. For obvious reasons, it was Abraham’s favorite home. Abraham pitched his tent under the now-famous Oaks of Mamre here. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah here. It was from this place that the patriarch departed for Egypt by way of Beersheba. This city was taken by Joshua and given to Caleb. It became a Levitical city and a city of refuge. As King of Judah, Hebron was David’s royal residence, and he was anointed as king over all Israel there. So, what’s Hebron’s situation today? Unfortunately, this area is primarily occupied by Israel’s arch enemy, the Palestinians. Currently, Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank with a population of around 170,000 people. The area has been divided into two parts: H1 and H2. The H1 area, home to around 140,000 Palestinians, is under the control of the Palestinian authorities. The H2 area, now inhabited by around 30,000 Palestinians and approximately 500 Israeli settlers, is under Israeli military control. © 2025 Richoka . Want more content like this? Explore more articles in the Genesis  series.