[fortheDeclaration]

Bump for read

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

This is a great article, thank you.

Becky

[Hank Kerchief]

I think this is not very good. No doubt there are some good ideas, but some are quite wrong. On my first pass I noticed these things:

...Often we are told to let the Bible commentator or scholar tell you, because he has education and incites that the ordinary Christians does not have?! The problem with this answer is which Bible commentator should not go to who you can trust [?] has the correct answer?...

(This guy needs an editor.)

..."Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble..." This could mean the day was one twenty hour period or it could mean any length of time of trouble.

I'm quite sure "day" never means a "twenty hour" period in the Bible, or, a "time of trouble."

Syntax. Important to arriving at the correct meaning of a word is the study of syntax. Syntax is the study of the word in is [?] grammatical setting. It deals with understanding the word's grammatical use as a verb, noun, adjective, adverb or part of speech. It also seeks to decide the tense, mood, voice, and case of a word.

Syntax is not "a study", does not "deal" with anything, and does not "seek" anything. If this writer's understanding of English syntax is so poor, how is he going to instruct others on Biblical (Greek and Hebrew) syntax.

NEVER THEORIZE TO ACCOMMODATE MAN'S VIEWS OR MODERN SCIENCE

At one time, the generally accepted interpretation of certain passages of Scripture made the world (earth) the center of the universe, with everything going around it. That interpretation had to be corrected to accomodate scientific evidence. Certainly, the interpretation of some passages may be corrected when better scientific evidence is obtained, includeing archaeological evidence.

(Note, evolution is neither science nor a theory.)

NEVER BASE A DOCTRINE ON ONE PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE

How about two passages of Scripture? There are only two passages of Scripture for the virgin birth, but we consider that a major doctrine.

I do not think I need to make a more thorough study of this. Thanks for the post, though.

Hank

[american colleen]

Because the best interpreter is God Himself, and by letting Scripture interpret Scripture we are letting God, the Author of the Bible tell us what He means by what He said.

Isn't this circular reasoning?

[RnMomof7]

3. It is obvious from reading Revelation 20, that the thousand years is literal and not figurative. There is nothing in the passage that would indicate that the period of time is figurative. Thus if we accept literally what the Bible says we are letting the Bible interpret itself. The correct interpretation of the passage is that Christ will literally reign for one thousand years on earth! The literal meaning of the words tell us what God said. There is no confusion or misunderstanding. The question the "spiritualizers" of the Bible should ask themselves is, why did God say literally that this period of time would be a thousand years? If He had some other period in mind, why did not just plainly state what He meant? Why would He say one thing and mean something else. Clearly, the truth is that God said what He meant. He said one Christ will reign one thousands years because that is what will happen.

Sometime is really means is...

Good article thanks....now if I could get you to see that elect means elect and predestined measn predestined in context we would be all set:>)

[Iowegian]

Good summation, and most (if not all) errors do come when these guidlines are NOT followed, whether my RC, NC or cultist.

[drstevej]

***Such theories, such as the Gap Theory, in no way have any value within themselves....Yet, today the Gap Theory is still being taught by a few proponents as fact, and yet it was never anything more than a man's theory or speculation. ***

Actually, the Gap Theory, does have an exegetical reference. The terms [Hebrew: tohu v'bohu] translated "without form and void" in Hebrew strongly imply a prior judgment, and would better be translated "desolate and a wasteland".

tohu...

UhoT n.m. formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness -- 1. formlessness, of primaeval earth, of land reduced to primaeval chaos (both + Uhobfw and voidness), ' T-tay:riq city of chaos (of ruined city); = nothingness, empty space; of empty, trackless waste. 2. fig. of what is empty, unreal, as idols (coll. of idolmakers), groundless arguments or considerations, moral unreality or falsehood; = a thing of nought, worthlessness; as adv. acc. I said not, yinU$:Qab UhoT seek me emptily, to no purpose.

---

w = and

bohu...

UhoB n.[m.] emptiness, alw. c. UhoT q.v.; Uhobfw$ UhoT of primaeval earth; of earth under judgment of ' y ; Uhob$ y"n:b):w Uhot-waq the line of wasteness and the stones of emptiness, i.e. plummets, employed, not as usual for building, but for destroying walls; v. sub }b) 6.

---

This terminology is the basis of the question whether there was some event between 1:1 and 1:2 that transformed the original creation of God into a scene of judgment.

The Gap Theory is simply a theory, but it is an attempt to explain the actual language of the text of Genesis 1:2.

[themorgoth]

The author of the original article obviously has not got a clue about evolution, cosmology, astronomy - indeed all of modern science. I suggest he visits www.talkorigins.org and then stop spreading lies in the name of his deity.

[Jeremiah Jr]

Lev

The Torah is seen as the heart of creation. The first letter of the Torah is the Beit of Bereshit. "In the beginning." The Last letter of the Torah is the Lamed of Yisrael "Israel." Together, these two letters also spell out Lev, meaning heart.
In Hebrew, the number 32 is written Lamed Bet. This spells Lev, the Hebrew word for heart. It is in the heart that the action of the Mind is manifest in the body. As soon as the influence of the mind ceases, the heart ceases to function, this being the definition of death...

Earlier we said that the 32 paths represent the heart, since the Hebrew word for heart, Lev actually spells out the number 32. The heart, however, is normally associated with Understanding, while these paths are said to pertain to Wisdom. But the paths merely channel Wisdom, while the substance of the paths themselves is Understanding.

Engraved

The text states that the Creator used these 32 paths to "engrave" so as to create His universe.

The Hebrew word here is Chakak. This usually has the connotation of removing material, as in the verse, "Engrave yourself a dwelling in a rock" (Isaiah 22:16). Derived from this root are the words Chok and Chukah, meaning "rule" and "decree," since rules and laws serve to remove some of the individual's freedom of action. Thus, the word Chakak is closely related to Ma-chak, meaning "to erase," as well as to the root La-kach, meaning to "remove" or "take."

The word Chakak is very closely related to the concept of writing. The main difference between engraving (chakak) and writing is that when one writes, one adds material such as ink to the writing surface, while when one engraves, one removes material. When the Bible uses the word Chakak to designate writing, it is referring to such systems as cuneiform, where the text was written by removing wedges of clay from a tablet.

To understand why the author uses the term "engraved" here, we must understand the idea of creation. Before a universe could be created, empty space had to exist in which it could be made. But initially, only God existed, and all existence was filled with the Divine Essence, the Light of the Infinite (Or Ain Sof). It was out of this undifferentiated Essence that a Vacated Space had to be engraved. The process, known to the Kabbalist as the Tzimtzum (Constriction), is clearly described in the Zohar.

In the beginning of the King's authority The Lamp of Darkness Engraved a hollow in the Supernal Luminescence

The hollow engraved in the Supernal Luminescence was the Vacated Space, in which all creation subsequently occurred.

The undifferentiated Light of the Infinite which existed before the Constriction is on the level of Wisdom, which is pure undelineated Mind. The power of constriction is that of Understanding, this being what the Zohar calls the "Lamp of Darkness." It is negative light, or negative existence, which can engrave a hollow in the Divine Essence.

This Constriction or hollowing of the Divine Essence did not occur in physical space but rather, in conceptual space. It is "hollow" insofar as it contains the possibility for information, but not actual information. As such, it is the "Chaos and Void" (Tohu and Bohu) mentioned in the account of creation where the Scripture states, "the earth was chaos and void: (Genesis 1:2). Chaos is a state where information can exist, but where it does not exist.

The order was therefore first "engraving," and then "creation."

The Sefer Yetzirah therefore states that the Creator "engraved, and created His universe."

Got lulav?

Messianic Torah Portions for the first day of Sukkot.

Lev. 22:26-23:44
Num. 29:12-16
Zechariah 14:1-21
Revelation 7:1-10

Revelation 7

1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

"We will do, and we will understand"
Exodus 24:7