Ya’acov saw Elohim (God) face to face…

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Pete Rambo

And, the kicker is that He was in the form of a man…  The Hebrew could not be clearer.  In Hebrew, from Genesis 32:24, 30:

(32:25) ויותר יעקב לבדו ויאבק אישׁ עמו עד עלות השׁחר׃

(32:31) ויקרא יעקב שׁם המקום פניאל כי־ראיתי אלהים פנים אל־פנים ותנצל נפשׁי׃

The Schottenstein Chumash translates these verses as follows:

v24    Left alone > was Jacob > by himself > and a man wrestled > with him > until > the rise > of the dawn.

v.30    So Jacob called > the name > of the place > Peniel >> For > I have seen > the Divine (Elohim) > face- > to- > face, > yet saved > was my life.  (Parenthesis mine)

The only thing I really wish right now is that I had an electronic version of the Schottenstein to search and find how many (or, how few) times they translate אלהים (Elohim) as ‘Divine’ instead of the usual rendering of ‘God.’  I do notice that at least within this story they are consistent in translating v.28 as having ‘struggled with the Divine…’

Bottom line: For those who say God can not take the form of a man, nor can He be seen, this short passage is the death knell.  The Hebrew is crystal clear if simply read in the p’shat.

 

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The Book of Hebrews Challenge: Are You Ready For It?

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Hey guys!!  Here’s a chance to chime in on a discussion that is sure to be good…  Come over to the OMJ Blogspot for the Hebrews Challenge!  (Don’t be shy.  Chime in!)

 

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…the faith once delivered…

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Pete Rambo

I can’t help myself.  Even though it is not really nice, once in a while I enjoy throwing a Blind Leading the Blindbarb into the melee of ivory tower discussion among a bunch of Reformed Presbyterian pastors.  I do love those guys and still have a few friends of that ‘persuasion,’ but as a recovering conservative Presbyterian minister, they don’t care so much for me…

I keep an eye on Lane Kiester’s blog, Green Baggins, because from time to time there is something of interest, and because we have been a target of theirs in the past.  Well, a couple days ago he put up an interesting post asking ‘Is Theology a Science?‘ wherein he was exploring some of Berkhof’s thoughts on comparing physical science and theology.

Immediately, seeing a comparison Lane wouldn’t want made, I began to laugh and typed (comment #3),

Interestingly, both scientific and theological results can be skewed by the paradigm with which the student approaches. To wit, evolutionists ignoring evidence contrary to their paradigm.

The obvious barb: Theologians ignoring Scripture contrary to their paradigm.

Well, that wasn’t lost on Lane as he replied in #6, Continue reading →

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Awesome Testimony!! Enjoy and share!

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Pete Rambo
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“Now the Lord appeared to [Abraham]…”

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Over the course of the last 18 months or so, a topic I have explored from multiple angles is the visible presence of Yehovah in the Tanakh and the connections to the Messiah.  We’ve looked at ‘the Angel of the Lord,’ ‘the Memra,’ and the ‘Metatron.’abraham_and_the_angels

Recently, I was challenged on whether or not God can be seen.  And, while I agree that there are verses indicating His altogether set apartness, there also is the clear statement of Scripture, over and over, that God does indeed reveal Himself to His creation in a form that man can relate to.  Consider Genesis 18 in this week’s Parsha.  The text begins,

18 Adonai appeared to Avraham by the oaks of Mamre as he sat at the entrance to the tent during the heat of the day.

No explanation.  No apologetics.  No tap-dancing.  The text is starkly clear: Yehovah appeared to Avraham!!

But this isn’t the first time.  Just go look at Genesis 17:1!  No explanation there, either, but it is possible in the context of 17 to spiritualize the event as if it were a vision until one gets to verse 22.  The CJB says,

22 With that, God finished speaking with Avraham and went up from him.

The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash is a little more accurate when it translates,

And He finished speaking with him and God ascended from upon Abraham.

Still, no such explanation in Genesis 18.  Rather, we find that clearly, one of the three men is Yehovah!!  Read, Continue reading →

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‘seeing God…’

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Pete Rambo

RabbominA couple of weeks ago I received the following response via email to a post I made on the blog.  Because the individual has chosen not to reply to my answer, and because the material is important enough to share, I am redacting the pseudonym (he/she did not use a real name) and posting it with some thoughts/comments.

Initial notes: The author’s religious affiliation, per my ‘contact us’ form, is ‘Jewish.’  The comment was in response to this post.

Comment: Out of respect to you and your blog, I did not want to publicly reply to your post with the following.

OK…look…I know where you are trying to lead this, but your reasoning is severely flawed and here is why.  You are trying to imply that God put himself into a meat container.  God has no form.  God never, ever, ever, ever takes the form of his creation, never has, never will(This includes becoming a man)!   Deuteronomy 4:15-19;  Numbers 23:19  Maybe you should switch angles and look at what you are implying from a purely “Jewish” perspective.  Look at the golden calf incident and substitute the golden calf with the demi-god idol you are suggesting for one to worship.  Oh wait, BUT HE’S NOT A DEMI-GOD IDOL, HE IS GOD!!  Nope, sorry, the Israelites themselves, who were actually there at Mt Sinai and saw the Shekinah said the exact same thing about the golden calf. You know what God thought of that.  Hmm, maybe you should consider Continue reading →

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“Hallowed be Thy Name..”

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Its been a few days ago that my wife and I set out on our several time a week afternoon walk.  Almost as soon as we set out, she asked, “We pray ‘Hallowed be Thy Name..’ and yet we walk past all of these houses owned by Cocktail-628x420professing Christians decorated for Halloween.  What does ‘hallow’ mean?”

A good discussion ensued.

Merriam-Webster’s says,

Definition of HALLOW

transitive verb
1:  to make holy or set apart for holy use
2:  to respect greatly :  venerate

Even nominal believers in the Messiah will rattle off the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ and say, ‘hallowed be Your name.’   Or, ‘sanctified, set apart, holy’ is Your name.

How then is it so challenging a connection to recognize that ‘Halloween’ is about ‘setting apart’ a day, or evening, for everything that is contrary to the Word of God?  My wife, nor I, get it.

Churches try to skirt the issue by having ‘harvest fests,’ but it only takes half a brain to recognize that it is lipstick on the pig.  Nothing more than justified syncretism.  That didn’t work out so well for the peeps in Exodus 32!

Deuteronomy 12:29-32 is starkly clear.  The Almighty is not just a little offended at this justification of and participation in paganism.  He HATES it.

Either, hallow His name, or don’t hallow His name, but this lukewarm cocktail of mixing the sacred and the profane is dangerous stuff!

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‘evan’ / אבן, Another picture…

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Last evening as Jonathan and I sat around unwinding, he had a few thoughts from his morning Torah study he wanted to share.  As we were looking at verses in Deuteronomy 4, I suddenly had a brainstorm.  First, the verses,

12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice. 10 commandments.4213 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten [a]Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it.

We noted several things…  The covenant is to be performed.  I.e., maintaining it is an action, not a belief.  (Faith without works is dead…)  The covenant is not just the Ten Words, as Christendom often teaches, but rather included much more than that.  Just refer to Exodus 20-23.  And, the covenant was to be performed not just before crossing the Jordan, but afterward as well.  (I’ll write on some of this later in terms of the symbolism and Christendom’s understanding of ‘crossing Jordan.’)  But something else stood out!

You may recall a very interesting and important post about eban, or אבן as a picture of Messiah.  After that, I wrote a follow-up post with more references to ‘stone,’ but always in connection with ‘uncut’ stone.  Of course, Messiah is/was not to have human works  added to Him. Continue reading →

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Tales from the Bus. Mercy.

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Jackson*, a fourth grade student on my bus, has been a bit of a handful lately.  More than a few times in recent weeks I have had to talk to his school principal for various infractions on the bus, from wrestling and punching to using inappropriate language, etc.  He is fairly new to the school having moved into the area about eight weeks ago.

school busToday was a banner day…  As one student exited the bus, he related that Jackson had punched him in the gut.  Another relayed that Jackson had used the ‘s’ word.  I had enough and stopped the bus.

After calling Jackson to the front seat, I moved everyone else back a couple of rows to create a buffer zone and effectively isolate him.  He fell right to sleep.

I drove on, dropping students and pondering what to do.  I really wanted to drop the hammer on him, but my bus is brand spanking new and no camera has been installed yet.  It would be his word against his accusers.  He is my last stop each afternoon so I had time to think.

As I rolled away from my next to last stop a still small Voice said, ‘Encourage him.’

‘What?’ Continue reading →

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‘Is the Torah only for the Jews?’ (Book Recommendation)

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Lately, I have been so busy studying and training for a new position at work.  In my very limited spare time I have been reading and thoroughly enjoying a terrific primer that every person coming into an Hebraic understanding of Scripture should read.  Even better, this dynamite short book is freely available online!!  And, I highly recommend it.

Is the Torah Only for Jews?  by Tim Hegg, Messianic Jew

Tim Hegg, a fantastic scholar who meticulously details his sources and carefully explains his conclusions, does a wonderful job of walking the reader through the Scriptural and historical background for the ‘One Law’ controversy as we see it today.  He elucidates not just a number of Hebrew words and terms, but explains how and why the definitions of those words changed.  I.e., how ‘ger’ (alien) came to wrongly be translated and understood by Judaism as ‘convert’ or ‘proselyte.’

Hegg demonstrates clearly from Scripture what it means to be a covenant member and how the Torah applied to the ‘ger.’  Ultimately, his conclusion is the same as ours on this blog, though he gets there more succinctly and with better supporting research: The Torah is equally the possession of ALL covenant members!!!

This book, free to download is a MUST to have for reference on your computer, and ‘should have’ as a printed hardcopy that you can mark up and pass around!  While not exhaustive, it is a very solid primer that is a solid brief case that is not easily surmounted by either the ‘lawless’ or by ‘bilateralists.’

Enjoy!

Side note: I had to hunt for a link to the book, lost my original, but found it in this synagogue’s ‘articles’ page.  In glancing through their articles, I have to say, I like what I see initially…  May be a good resource!

 

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Thoughts from B’reisheet

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Today began the new year’s cycle of Torah portions.  Our family attended a small fellowship in Columbia and enjoyed participating in a fun discussion/midrash that took a jaunt through Genesis 1:1-6:8, this week’s portion.  We also participated in their ongoing study in both Romans and Joel.  Certainly, a blessed way to spend several hours on a Shabbat!

Following are a couple thoughts from this week and our discussion:

– ‘God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it….’

“Central to rejecting Creation is the rejection of the seventh day Sabbath.”

I don’t remember who said it, or if that is the exact quote, but that is what I heard as our discussion concerning the creation week touched on evolution Continue reading →

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The Rivers of Eden

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Wow! This is excellent… Very interesting connections with all parts of Scripture! Enjoy!!

K. Gallagher's avatarGRACE in TORAH

tree-of-life-river-of-life-05-08Why does Torah portion Bereshit seem to interrupt the natural flow of the creation narrative to interject the telling of the rivers of Eden? Does this break in the story seem strange to you? In her commentary on Bereshit in The Creation Gospel Workbook 5 Volume 1, Dr. Hollisa Alewine expounds on the odd placement (or is it?) of the details of the one river that divides into four in Genesis chapter two. Dr. Alewine’s commentary on Bereshit delves deeply into the rivers of Eden (about 50 pages worth!).  Obviously, this is a much more comprehensive treatment than I will offer here. If you have the time, I urge you to study the Creation Gospelmodel and her commentary on Bereshit. I hope to give you a summary of these fascinating rivers and a taste of Dr. Alewine’s work along with thoughts of my own.

Gen…

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A Holy Convocation

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Passing this along as I love Rosemarie’s blog. While her focus is gardening, and she is GOOD, she often places the Light of Messiah and His ways before her readers… Her missive today is a Scripture followed by a short blessing. Please pay her a visit!

Rosemarie Thompson's avatarSanctuary Gardener

Holy Convocation pic

“Seven days you shall over an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and you shall do no servile work therein….Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.” (Leviticus 23: 36, 39)

On this final day of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), may you have a special day of communion with the Lord, and may His presence fill you to overflowing today and in the year to come.

Shalom,

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Fencing the Commandments

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Pete Rambo

One of the unfair charges often leveled against Rabbinic Judaism is that they added to the Word of God by ‘fencing the commandments.’  And, while the charge may be true, it is fence commandmentsgenerally leveled as if no one else is guilty of the same and the Jews have therefore committed some dastardly crime.

While reading a paper written by Messianic Jewish friend and midrash partner, Jonathan Krause, a section really caught my eye.  He wrote,

When did sin occur on earth?  Many scholars will say that it happened when Adam ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  However, in Deut. 4:2 G-D tells us not to add or take away from his word(s).  Since words were added to what G-D said, it created a door to sin.  But, Adam had the roots of sin in his heart when he added to the words of G-D.  Perhaps he did not trust G-D in that he had to instruct Eve further by telling her she was not only not to eat of the fruit, but not to touch it.

I looked up from the paper and said, “Adam fenced the commandment!”  Continue reading →

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Jesus on ‘Works’ and ‘Eternal Life’

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Pete Rambo

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Full context here.)

What must I DO to inherit eternal life?judge

DO.

This verse begins a recounting of a conversation in the life of Messiah.  A conversation wherein Yeshua (Jesus) says what much of Christendom doesn’t want to hear.  Let’s pay attention to the Rabbi.

Rabbi Yeshua replies,

“What is written in the Torah? How does it read to you?”

Recall what He said in Matthew 5:17-19…

Given the opportunity to say, ‘All ya gotta do is believe…’ and Yeshua does not.  Rather, He points to the Torah!  The lawyer replies, quoting Torah commands that sum up the whole of the Law,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

Without hesitation, Yeshua answers, Continue reading →

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