Monday, January 31, 2011

Loving The Written Word of GOD


GOD is spirit. Other than GOD coming down and reveal HIMself to man, there is no way for man to know GOD who is spirit because of man’s physical limitations.


Ancient Bible Scroll

The scripture was written with GOD’s inspiration for man to know GOD. GOD as HE is, rich and full, did not just write a boring literature and left it down here to shelves and dusts… a crummy source of issues for religiously screwed minds. NO! GOD has none of them. In fact, HE is an interesting, cheerful, fun-loving GOD. The first sentence of the scripture is a mind game. In fact, it tells of the whole history of man from Genesis to Revelation! The End is declared from the Beginning BUT in RIDDLES
Genesis 1:1

New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible


Tradition had it that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (Torah/Pentateuch). He was into all the mysteries of its details, including the strokes of the ancient Hebrew letters. He did not bring this mystery to his grave but instead passed it on to Joshua, the leader of all the tribes of Israel who brought the younger generation to the promise land. It was not that hard for him to keep up though, because Moses already programmed the Israel tribe according to the written word. The written word was translated, or physically set-up by tribe in governance, and by articles down to the minutest detail of the mobile tabernacle. It was spectacular to say the least!


Joshua has a lot of space to fill in the big shoes of Moses. Moses started him with this instruction:

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8 (New International Version, ©2011)

Watch this video about meditation.


Notes from Joseph Prince Sermon: 
"Meditate on GOD's Word & Receive Grace Upon Grace.

The word “meditate” here is hagah  הָגָה in Hebrew. It means to mutter under ones breath.
Cow chewing its cud

A cow makes this word clear for most. When a cow eats, it does not use-up the grass it eats just yet. The grass, now cud, goes down to its stomachs (it has 4 stomachs). Some time after the cow eats, especially when it rests, it regurgitates the cud back to the mouth. We see the cow chewing cud even when he just had empty mouth. Only then when it takes the cud out from its belly to chew it does the cow really get the best out of what it ate earlier.

Meditate means going back to the word time and time again. It’s almost as easy as worrying. The only difference is, worrying is a self-directed thought while meditation is two-way conversation involving GOD in the thought.     

This is to be the way Joshua understands the written word.

Let’s look at the original Hebrew script of Moses’ instruction to Joshua.

To better understand the word of GOD, it helps to get back to the original text. Using the New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible we read from right to left.
Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible



“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night,” Joshua 1:8 (NIV)
It's interesting to note that in the original text, Joshua was told to meditate not on the book of the law but instead on (him) a person.

Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible
“that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.”Joshua 1:8(NIV)

The Two Untranslated Letters

Here we see that in the original text, GOD indeed commanded prosperity and success. GOD wants HIS people to be successful and prosperous. 

But the original text also wrote something that our English Bible missed-out on. It was untranslated for the simple reason that it cannot be translated at all! 

The Hebrew readers even skip reading this two letters pointed by the red arrow below.  
Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
 New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible
"Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8(NIV) 



What's even amazing is that these letters are also written in the first verse of the first chapter of the written scripture. In the account of the creation.  


Genesis 1:1

 New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible
"Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8(NIV)


These two letters are Aleph and Tav read from right to left. Aleph is the first letter of the 22 Hebrew alphabet, Tav is the last letter.

Hebrew letters are not like the letters of today. One character has a lot to tell about. The Torah teachers knew this that even if the Torah is as old as Moses, it is still telling of things never known before. A letter has a number equivalent, and a picture word. See The Hebrew Alphabet.

It is interesting to note that Aleph Tav is found at the center of the first verse; Genesis 1:1. It is untranslated, and independent of the rest of the words because Genesis 1:1 still conveys the message while Aleph Tav is silent. 

Now here is the picture equivalent of the letters Aleph Tav.



An Ox and a Cross!


Zechariah 12:10 prophesied about the coming Messiah. Here again we see Aleph Tav after the word "me".

Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
  New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible
“They will look on me, the one they have pierced..." Zechariah 12:10(NIV)



Numbers 15:36 spoke of tassel symbolic of the person GOD. The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years was healed when she touched the hem of JESUS' garment (Matthew 9:20-22). The hem of Jewish men have tassles (Tallit) on their hems. Here we see Aleph Tav again in the original text written after the word "remember".  
Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
  New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible
“You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them..." Numbers 15:39(NIV)


Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
 New International Interlineal Hebrew-English Bible
“You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD,  that you may obey them" Numbers 15:39 (NIV)





It's like a verification signature or seal of the author. 

We are only scratching the surface because Aleph Tav is all over the written scripture, about 7,000 more!

More about Aleph Tav...

More than Words…

The written scripture tells a story like ordinary literature… but wait! Look closely. Meditate. 

Just when you begin to read the Bible, you get to Genesis chapter 5 and read a long boring list of Adam's family tree. Here is the list of the line of Noah from Adam.  
Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince

The meaning of the names on the right column reads: 
Man appointed mortal sorrow. The blessed GOD shall come down teaching.His death shall bring powerful rest.

Again it is pointing to a person and this time it tells of His death that will bring about powerful rest.

A Little of Hebrew Alphabet
Hebrew alphabet is rich in meaning. Each letter has its own character. Each stroke has significance that writing a Sefer Torah demands meticulous and skillful hand. There are over 4,000 laws specifically for writing a Sefer Torah alone. Violating one of this law voids the whole work. 

Hebrew words are also read in their number representations called gematria.
Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
These are the first five (5) letters in Hebrew Alphabet. Reading from the right to left; Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, Dalet, Hei. A letter corresponds to a picture word. Aleph is Ox, Bet is house or tent (Bethlehem means house of bread), Gimmel is a Camel etc...  



Each letter also stands for a number. Much like how the Romans used some of their letters to represent numbers (I=1, V=5, X=10, L=50, C=100, M=1,000), all Hebrew letters have numeric values. 

The table is read from right to left. The first nine letters increases by 1, the next nine increase by 10, and the last four letters are by 100. Now why is this important? Because the numbers also speak to us. Read more about gemetria...










Word Wonder

Hei spells wonder! ה

In the Talmud, Menachot 29b teaches that this letter Hei is God's sacred breath - as in Tehilim/Psalms 33:6:

בִּדְבַר יְהוָה, שָׁמַיִם נַעֲשׂוּ; וּבְרוּחַ פִּיו, כָּל-צְבָאָם. 
"By the utterance of Adonai the heavens were made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." Psalms 33:6


Back to Joshua 1:8 we see more. In Hebrew, the word meditate is Hagah with two ה hei(s).

Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
Hagah is spelled Hei, Gimmel, Hei. 

Gimmelגּ: The 3rd letter in Hebrew Alphabet. It has a picture word of a camel. Camel is a common vehicle of transport in ancient days.
Heiה: The fifth letter in Hebrew Alphabet. Number 5 is the number of grace.

To sum up, the word Hagah/meditate is a picture of grace bringing grace. The very thing that is needed to  meditate. Nobody loves to read the bible, if all be honest about it. It’s only by the grace of God that gets you and me an appetite to read the bible, and by that very grace we read the bible! When we do read, it brings us to much more grace. This is truly grace. To be grace, it's all God's kindness, and none coming from us. 

Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
Abraham's name was originally Abram. God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. But before that, God breathed ה hei (grace) into him, blessing him in a covenant. From then on, Abram has grace ה(hei) in his name. See Genesis 17:3-8 God's covenant with Abraham


Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
Sarah received the same treat from God. She received ה grace and enjoyed the blessings from God. But while Hei was added to Abram's name, Hei was exchanged in Sarai. Reading from right to left, י Yod is the last letter of her name.י Yod is the tenth letter in Hebrew alphabet. It stands for a closed hand. It symbolizes action and personal possession. Action, in essence, manipulation. Manipulation comes from the latin word manus that means hand. For the most part, Sarai worked her way to get the promised son for herself. She went off-hooked offering her servant-maid to her husband making her more miserable with Ishmael's birth. Personal possession, me and mine, she wanted what was already promised. God wanted to bless her. To do this, God removed the work of her hands. The number ten (10), representation of everything she tried to do with her hands was replaced with number five(5) the ה/grace. No more condemnation from the past. "Past" pertaining to the sins that was wrought in violation of the number ten (10)י Yod/hands, or the standards of the law/ten (10) commandments). י/hands is completely erased, and she was left with just pure ה/grace.  

The Name of GOD

There are several Hebrew names of God like Elohim (authority God), Adonai (master) and El Shaddai (Almighty God). All these names are but His titles. He has only one personal name; Yahweh (proper noun). 
Yahweh is also called Tetragrammaton or 4-letter word in Hebrew. It spells יYod, הHei, וּVav and הHei.  

Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
Yahweh is the most sacred, highly regarded name of God for the Hebrews. יהוּה is never spoken, only written. Only the High Priest can speak this name in almost a whisper and only on a very special day of the year, the Yom Kippur. Since 70AD, after the 2nd Jewish temple was destroyed by the Roman soldiers, the ceremonial rituals of this celebration ceased to be performed. After almost 2,000 years of silence, scholars can only speculate wether there is someone who could actually pronounce the original Tetragrammaton perfectly since it is all consonants and no vowel. We read Yahweh easily because vowels had been inserted from the original YHWH just so that we can be better heard and understood.      



Snapshot from the video "Meditate on God's Word and Receive Grace Upon Grace" by Joseph Prince
“They will look on me, Aleph Tav the one they have pierced..." Zechariah 12:10(NIV)



The end is declared from the beginning BUT in RIDDLES. 
This riddle was solved! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1:1 (NIV)

JESUS is the WORD, the answer to the riddle, the answer to all the puzzles of the heart and mind. His person, His being, in man, completes.












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Michelle Tabor (TopNicher) 
email: TopNicher@yahoo.com
Posted by TopNicher at 5:22 AM 4 comments
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