All posts by torahisteaching.com

Uncategorized

Adam was not in Agriculture…

Removing the Tradition of Mythology from Our Translations in the Book of Genesis…

The Book of Genesis sets the tone for understanding all of scripture.

Answers exists in scripture that provide deeper understanding to our questions and resolve unanswered ambiguities that have existed for generations.

Understanding the Book of Genesis, the beginning of GODs sacred text, can promote biblical accuracy, restore spiritual insight and eliminate confusion as we study each and every book of scripture.

Case in Point: Adam was NOT a Farmer.

Despite the fact that this has been taught for generations, because of poor translations at our disposal, should we continue to misunderstand the original message? Is it possible that a blessing exists in the accuracy of a translation?

Is there something more important than ‘farming’ that I could learn and spiritually benefit from, that would cause me to advance spiritually in prayer, understanding, and my calling?

How much can one point of scripture make?

Let’s investigate Genesis 2:4-5

“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

REFRESHER From Previous Teachings:

At the outset of our journey together one of the most important concepts I communicated, is that Biblical Hebrew is a very meticulous language.

SECOND: The knowledge that GOD placed His Word above His Own Name is paramount in all your study of scripture. Psalm 138:2, Jeremiah 1:12, Mark 16:20, Rev 19:13.

Character is Key. Do we place our word above our own name? Can a person trust our word?

David taught us just how important it was to GOD that His people be able to trust His Word when he said… “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness (chessed) and for thy truth (emet): for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”

GOD’s Word is His Bond.

  • Studying the Word is more important than Reading the Word.
    • The study of scripture is a sacred duty of everyone who loves the LORD.
    • Each student of scripture must possess and practice patience in order to study scripture.
    • We don’t treat scripture like a fairy tale, a bible story, an ordinary book, or a common piece of literature.
    • We (servants of GOD) honor scripture with our time, our presence, our interest, our patience, our dedication.
    • By placing the study of scripture above our own time, and interest, etc., We are placing His Word above our own name, i.e., above our own self–interest.
  • GOD is careful and deliberate in the selection and use of each Word He uses to communicate with us.
  • Biblical Hebrew is a Rich and Meticulous Language. Levels of meaning exist.
  • In English, words also have levels of meaning. Each level of meaning in a word is revealed in context to the overall message or statement.
  • In Hebrew, context is consistent with and compliments the Word choice.
    • In Hebrew, Key Words in the verse have to be researched and studied.
    • Don’t take for granted that the given English translation of the word accurately conveys the original message of GOD in all cases.
  • The English meanings of words have transitioned through time. In most cases, the meanings that we apply today, have no connection to the original meaning of the word.
    • We will continue to revisit this point as often as it applies.

ADAM the Agrarian?

“… and there was not a man to till the ground.” Till is from a Hebrew word usually translated, “to work or service”.

  • Remember, GOD has more than one way to say anything. His Word choices are meticulous.
  • In the Language of GOD, there are 14+ ways to say, work or service.
  • This means, GOD is not limited in forms of expression, He can be very specific, very precise in communicating what He wants to say to us.
  • In English, it is common to lump our terms together. In the Biblical Language of Hebrew, GOD does not lump terms together.

GOD uses a specific word to express “occupational” forms of work (melakah, H4399), deeds of work (mah-a-say, H4639), providential work (4652, miph-la-ah), beam work (meh-qa-rey H4746), cunning or ingeniuos work (khe-shev, H2805), or work that produces an item or thing (mih-fal, H4659) etc, etc.

None of the above were chosen to express the type of Work GOD was looking for to take place in the earth. None of the above are connected with rain.

GOD is quite capable of producing rain in the earth. He does not need man in order to make it rain. The production of rain in the earth is a gift, a part of the creation process that man is given by GOD to participate in partnership.

Man’s partnership with GOD in the creation process, requires a form of ‘work or service’ that is expressed completely different than any of the above examples. Which leads us to two additional words we need to look at.

These two Hebrew words also appear in Genesis 2:5, teh-rem (before, H2962) and yitz-mah (grew, H6779) so that we can increase our understanding of the message.

teh-rem means, not yet, or before. yitz-mah means to sprout or spring up.

“And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

i.e., the plants and shrubs and herbs had not yet sprouted in the earth.

Scripture already told us that GOD had spoken the plants, herbs, seeds, etc. into existence (Genesis 1:11-13), but they had not yet sprouted in the earth (Gen 2:5). Let’s go back and review Genesis 1:11-13 again…

  • 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
  • 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
  • 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Gen 1:12 teaches us that herb yielding seed and the tree yielding fruit after its kind is present in the earth, and Genesis 2:5 further instructs us, that neither had sprouted, or grown up out of the ground quite yet, because… there was not a man to ’till’ the ground.

Everything is prepared, in place, but man has not yet ‘tilled’ the ground.

The command has been spoken into the earth, and the earth is awaiting the presence of man.

Now, here is the customary place where we get into our traditional mode of thinking as we were taught about scripture because we have learned that man needed to ‘cultivate’ the land.

We were not taught that man needed to till the land in order for it to rain. We are taught that man needed to till the ground in order to produce food.

But why would man need to produce his own food? Genesis 2:8-9 GOD planted a garden (eden) and He gave man what he needed for food.

…and there was not a man to till the ground.”

Why does man need to till/cultivate the ground?

lah’ ah-vode (to till, cultivate) et ha’ah’dah’mah (the ground)

Our translation, “to till or cultivate” is taken from the Hebrew word, avod (ah-vode, H5647).

avod appears 289 times in the torah.

Our leading definition in the Strong’s Concordance and the one we traditionally follow is a translation of; to work, to serve.

avod is also translated; to be slaves, held in bondage, to become slaves, laborers, or servants, to keep in bondage or compel.

It is not until we come to the end of our alphabetized list of potential translations, that we find the words; to worship (used 7x), or worshippers (used 6x).

Only 13 of 289 times, has it ever been translated meaning to worship, or be worshippers.

Exodus 10:26, the 3rd time la’ah-vode appears in scripture, the children of Israel are concerned that they take all necessary preparations, including the cattle, to serve the Lord. .

The 4th time we see the word la’avod in scripture, Numbers 3:7 it is when GOD tells Moses to bring the tribe of Levi before the tabernacle of the congregation ‘to do the service’ of the tabernacle.

and we have 27 more…Many Infallible Proofs – that ah’vode means worship.

This pattern continues in Numbers 3:8, 4:23, 4:24, 4:30, 4:47, 7:5, 8:11, 8:15, 8:19, 8:22, 16:9, 18:6, etc. etc. etc. (a total of 27 times conjugated la’avode).

In every case except the 1st two times we see la’avode in scripture (Gen 2:5, 3:23) we have taught and translated it in such a way, as to communicate to the world over, that ‘adam’ (man) was needed in order to till the ground, as if he was created to be a farmer of some sort.

That is not what this means…

aleph (A) veit (V) dalet (D) is the root of the Hebrew word, avodah (ahv-vode-dah, H5656) which appears 145 times in scripture. avodah means worship, service of the heart.

Our Strong’s translation says, avodah means labor, or service. This is marginally correct. It’s just not completely accurate.

Avodah is service of the heart, our labor of love toward GOD. To serve GOD with avodah is a spiritual labor of love. Service of the heart has nothing to do with manual labor. in a field. To translate these words in such a way is to make the meaning of our service and labor to GOD common. Plus, we miss the point.

Worse of all, we have taught the known world to read Genesis 2:5 to mean that man’s purpose was to work the land, plow the fields, harvest the crops. Noble secular work indeed. However, GOD had and has something more in mind for mankind.

Avodah is the ‘work’ of clinging to GOD through prayer and worship. Avodah is the hard work we do in service to GOD.

Our Work IS to Worship and to Pray…

Again, the narrow translation of both ‘avode and avodah’ misses the mark, which skews our understanding far too much from the actual truth.

Actually, if prayer was not such ‘work’, perhaps it would be far easier for us to comply. But the fact is, spiritual work is takes as much or more effort than physical work.

In fact, Genesis 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” KJV.

To dress is translated from the Hebrew Word, avodah (5647). To keep, is from the Hebrew Word shamar (8104) meaning to guard and protect.

Adam (man) was charged with the responsibility to worship, pray and protect (guard) the anointing, not cultivate a field.

Man’s First Work is to Pray

The need for prayer, praise and worship did not just mysteriously appear in the “New Testament.”

GOD established the need for prayer and worship in the beginning, as early as Genesis 2:5. But we did not see it or recognize because of our translations…

Living Bible Translation: “…or the Lord God hadn’t sent any rain; nor was there anyone to farm the soil.”

Good News Translation: “…because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land.”

The Voice: “…because the Eternal God had not sent the rains to nourish the soil or anyone to tend it.”

Common English Bible: “…before any wild plants appeared on the earth, and before any field crops grew, because the Lord God hadn’t yet sent rain on the earth and there was still no human being to farm the fertile land.”

The Amplified Bible: “…no shrub or plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground,”

The only way to compensate for a poor translation is study of the original Hebrew Wording.

Scripture was given to strengthen us spiritually.

We always talk about GOD desiring relationship, yet we teach that the first man was put here with farming in mind.

The 1st two times avode appears in scripture, we translate it as ‘cultivate/till’ and the next 25 times we translate it in context to what GOD is actually communicating about prayer and worship, the service of the heart.

If cultivating the land, was the primary objective, don’t you think that scripture would say more about our role as farmers, cultivators, tillers?

Instead, the entire work of scripture has always been and is, to build us up spiritually.

Instead, the entire work of scripture has always been and is, to build us up spiritually. Not to teach us how to “till” the literal soil.

Because of our neglectful translation, the majority of the world has the wrong concept embedded in their minds.

Rather than provide us with a spiritually mature teaching and translation, we have a prelude to a “bible story” which set us up for ‘lack of knowledge’.

Avode is not a common/secular form of work.

Our Work, Our Service is about Prayer and Worship. It was always about our spiritual work.

“…there was no man to worship in the earth.”

“…there was no one here to serve in prayer”

The translator’s forgot GOD was talking about the rain…

for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

Adam did not just decree and declare the name of all the animals, identifying the essence of each creature by name. Adam understood the essence of his own nature and his role to partner with GOD in creation, fulfilling his call to nourish the earth through prayer.

“But if it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Choose the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But my family and I will serve the Lord.” –Joshua 24:15

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they can worship me.” –Exodus 8:1

Our work is prayer.

Although it will take some time to untangle this in the minds of the world, because we learned it wrong to begin with. But the rewards are well worth it.

My concern today is to untangle it for my students in this supplement to your teaching.

There are 13+ ways to say, ‘work’ in the Greek.

There are 17+ ways to say, ‘work’ in the Hebrew. They all do not mean, Worship”

The 1st Man (adam) understood his assignment to pray.

In like manner, prayer is our first responsibility. GOD spoke 10 utterances into the earth, created man in His image and likeness and waited for man to speak back to Him.

We are His only creation with the gift of speech and prayer is our instrument of communication with GOD.

Aren’t there some cases when avode (work/service) can be understood as just plain work or service?

NO. The type of “work/service” conveyed in the Hebrew word ‘avode’ is spiritual work. Ah-vode is prayer.

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14 and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. –Exodus 1:13-14

Rigour in Hebrew is from the word perek. Which is telling us the the Egyptians were intentionally applying pressures onto the children of Israel in an attempt to break them into pieces. A diabolical form of breaking,

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: –Exodus 1:13

The world wants you to serve them like you are supposed to serve GOD. Although we are faithful to do all as unto the LORD… we know the difference.

Adam’s first prayer was for rain…

You can make it rain through the power of your prayers too!

At first the world is dark and empty of GOD’s light, but every believer occupies their share of the world right now, which they have to improve and illuminate.

The way to brighten your share of the world is through learning from GOD’s example “and G‑d said” — speaking into the earth, fulfilling the word of GOD by studying torah and keeping His Commandments. By doing this, we each accomplish our purpose in and bring light into the world— the world becomes illuminated with the light of GOD’s Word.

The entrance of thy Word bringeth light!

  • How Can This Teaching HELP Your Understanding?
    • Through the power of prayer, adam became a partner in the creation process.
    • The Earth and all that is in it, was created to respond to prayer.
    • The earth had to loose its seed, fruit, plants and hidden riches, when adam (man) prayed and called forth rain.
  • Adam did more than name the animals and give Eve her name, Adam his true essence as a man of GOD. He understood that his first assignment was prayer.
  • Adam returned the spoken Word back to GOD.
  • You now know the first prayer of Adam.
  • You now know that initially, rain was a product of prayer and still can be a product of prayer (depending upon what you believe possible in prayer).
  • Man must assist the world in it’s survival through the power of prayer.

Worship Released the Rain…

for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

There was not a man to worship in the earth… GOD awaits our partnership. Prayer, praise and worship releases the rain over all our situations, be it droughts in marriage, relationships, our communities, etc.

Rain is the sign of blessing.

The scriptures are replete with signs of blessing when the prophets called for rain.

Oftentimes we rebuke the rain. But, rain is the sign of blessing. Why rebuke the sign of blessing?

We often don’t see it, because it’s not taught, but rain was the initial sign of partnership between GOD and main. GOD gave adam (man) power over the elements, to cause it to rain.

GOD prepared the entire earth to receive the prayers of man and to respond with a living sign… to bring forth life, to grow, sprout and flourish. Don’t we want this?

I believe that we can still pray for rain, cause the earth to sprout, to grow and to flourish. I believe that we can still speak an end to drought and famine, in everything that concerns us, our bodies, our minds, our loved ones, our enemies…

Who can you nourish in the earth through prayer?

If you learned a new thing from this post or simply enjoyed the presentation of this message, don’t forget to like, follow, share and/or comment!

I hope you pray for rain,

This teaching is dedicated to Everyone facing a famine or drought in their lives. To everyone who needs the earth to bring forth blessings, to everyone that has seed buried in the earth and needs it to come forth and bear fruit, every promise near the surface that has not yet materialized, may the LORD GOD of Heaven come for my words in prayer and send you rain… Amen.

Posts Included in This Series on Prayer:

From Modern English to Biblical Hebrew: The Transition Phase

Keep All of the information/study techniques above in mind as you study and validate the information presented in this lesson (including past teachings).

GOD’s Biblical Language utilizes specific Word choices that differentiate the terms in such a precise manner as to be in agreement with the overall context of the verse. We do not need to infer meaning, because His Word choice is dynamic and specific and clear.

When information is translated into English we automatically apply our definitions. Which of course is a natural reaction. Without a concerted effort, we can get locked into a form of comfort and familiarity, a single-mindedness in our terms, because in this case, English is our first language.

The problem is, terms do not translate well in all cases, in any language. In Biblical Hebrew, we have to cross time, distance, grammatical, lexical and cultural, historical and social barriers between modern English and Biblical languages. Always keep this in mind.

Our challenge today and every day is to overcome these obstacles when applying ourselves to the study of scripture.

Cover Photo by: Pavel barysevich, Unsplash.com

  • Cultivated Soil, photo by: Zbysiu Rodak, Unsplash.com
  • Garden of trees photo by: Madison Nickel, Unsplash.com
  • Cherry Blossom tree photo by: Hunt Han, Unsplash.com

Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.

NEW Disclosure Added: I am of the belief that any and all teachings on scripture, especially those on prayer should receive prayer before passing them along to others. For this reason, I encourage everyone who reviews these teachings to saturate each one in prayer before sharing, distributing or reproducing them in any fashion.

Anything that we hope to learn and accomplish through the Word of GOD must be born out of a spirit of prayer. Prayer is the root of all our spiritual training. Study without prayer is futile. Without prayer, we learn nothing and we accomplish nothing.

May GOD always send you a confirming word.

GOD Bless You,

Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.

ALTAR OF INCENSE

MAN IS A SPEAKING SPIRIT

3 Comments

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7

Man is a Speaking Spirit

Gen 2:7 reads, “and man became a living soul.” There is an interpretation that is more precise… A more accurate interpretation. The verse actually says, “and man became a speaking spirit.”

ha’adam l’nef’fish kai’yah – adam (120) nephesh (5315) chai-yah (2416); The present English translation is not wrong, it’s incomplete and lacks the essence of the message.

ha’adam = the man, l’nephesh = to a soul, a being (6x) kai-yah = living, alive

“The man became a living being” is literally accurate.

Then Why am I presenting an alternate translation?

Because scripture is meant to be understood by us. It is written for us. Scripture is not just some bible story, meant to entertain or amuse. Scripture contains vital information, written for the purpose of supporting our spiritual life and purpose.

Literal interpretations are the beginning of knowledge. What else could GOD have packed into this verse, desiring us to understand?

The Power of Speech Was Not Given to Man for His Own Amusement.

Adam; Mankind/Human Beings became speaking spirits. Every living being, is created, with the purpose and potential of speaking in the spirit to the Spirit of GOD.

Let me repeat that…. Speaking in the spirit, to the Spirit of GOD

Literal interpretations never bring this fact to the forefront. They remain flat and incomprehensible to our spirit. As a consequence, we generally read, teach and hear the bible as a lovely fairy tale, rather than as a sacred text, given for the purpose of conveying spiritual matters.

Our logical, rational mind can easily hold a conversation with the literal. However, our spirit man needs to engage the Spirit of GOD in every message presented in the text of scripture.

The first language of mankind, was intended to be the language of the spirit. Whatever our individual native languages are, they are secondary to the spiritual language of GOD.

The Breath of GOD was breathed into Adam. An impartation of the Spirit of GOD. By this means, adam is created a speaking spirit, in the image and likeness of the Speaking Spirit of GOD.

Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit.” In order for this to happen, our spirit needs to be able to speak!

Watch Closely:

Above, I presented Gen 2:7, with the 2 Key-Words in Hebrew that I want you to keep an eye on. We are going to compare them to the same words in Gen 1:24.

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” 1 Cor 15:45

Contrast and Compare Genesis 2:7 and Gen 1:24

Information you will never see until you look at the Interlinear…

Gen 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Let’s take a look into the Strong’s Concordance:

  • Gen 2:7 ha’adam l’nephesh chai’yah
  • adam (120) nephesh / soul (5315) chai-yah / living (2416);
  • In the case of man, we translate the words ‘nephesh chaiyah‘ as ‘living soul’.

Gen 1:24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

  • Gen 1:24 ha’ air-retz (776) nephesh (5315) chai-yah (2416);
  • In the case of the animals, we translate the words nephesh chaiyah as ‘living creature’.

As you can see, two of the exact same words are used in both verses. In Gen 1:24, nephesh chaiyah is translated, ‘living creature’. In Gen 2:7, nephesh chaiyah is translated ‘living soul’.

The question we want to ask ourselves now is, Why are the English translations so dissimilar, when the Hebrew words are exactly the same?

That’s a good question and your instincts are right. They can both be translated either as living soul or living creature.

What is the distinguishing factor between them?

First, you need to know that it was through the insight of the Onkelos, that we arrive at the understanding of the alternate interpretation of the verse, “and man became a speaking spirit”.

Adam was created with words. Adam came to life as GOD spoke the words…”and man became a living soul.” GOD created man, with such reasoning skills and understanding of words, that he responded with life, as GOD spoke to him.

Man’s soul responded to the Speech of GOD.

GOD’s speech initiated our spiritual life. Man, like every other creature and created thing in the earth became, from the spoken Word of GOD. But man, is the only part of the creative work that responded in words.

Rabbi Kleinman and I agree. “Man connects to GOD through speech”. The act of speech is expressed through prayer, torah study, praise and worship. Torah study, rises above them all, as the highest form of praise by virtue of study, care and the preservation of GOD’s Word within our spirit.

On Day 18 in Praying with Fire by Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, he adds that “One who does not pray, then, is effectively muzzling his “speaking soul”, [a.k.a., his speaking spirit].

Man and creatures alike, became living souls. But man, as the crowning achievement of GOD, became even more. Man was given the ability to transcend his animalistic instinct and nature, to become a speaking spirit in the image and likeness of GOD. If he or she so desires.

The Breath of GOD… an impartation that imbued man’s spirit with the power to speak.

Man’s spirit was created to speak.

But the choice is still ours. We can deny our spiritual life. We can choose to disconnect from the spirit and allow our soul to slip away and descend to it’s lowest possible depth, even to the level of the beast. Which some chose to do with their lives.

How Do You Care For YOUR Spirit?

Man can cultivate his spirit with prayer, torah study, praise and worship. Man can activate every gift of the spirit and thrive, and arise into the character and nature of GOD…. into the full measure and stature of Christ Jesus. If we choose to do so.

So the new question becomes, what are we prepared to do with this spirit?

Prayer only knows,

Amen.

Reference: PRAYER JOURNAL PAGES

Reference: The Language of Prayer

Definitions and Terminology:

Who is Onkelos?

Targum Onkelos (or Onqelos), תרגום אונקלוס‬, is the official eastern (Babylonian) targum (Aramaic translation) to the Torah. However, its early origins may have been western, in Israel. Its authorship is attributed to Onkelos, a famous convert to Judaism in Tannaic times (c. 35–120 CE). (Excerpt from Wikipedia). The Targum is the spoken version or translations of the Jewish Scriptures, a.k.a., the Tanakh.

Onkelos is said to have been the nephew of the Roman Emperor Titus or Hadrian. (Through a sister of Hadrian’s). (Of course, there’s always a historical dispute). Nevertheless, the story goes that, “the Emperor asked Onkelos to go out and find something that wasn’t worth much today but that would be invaluable in the future. Onkelos found Judaism.”

1 Corinthians 12:9-16

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

God Bless You,

This teaching is dedicated to Yvette “My ‘Secret Weapon’ in Prayer”… Someone I can trust to be automatically in sync with me in prayer in the spirit, one heart, one mind,, instant in prayer, in and out of season! “No Briefings Required!” You are a GOD Send from the Most High!

Posts Included in This Series on Prayer:

CLICK THIS LINK: for the Next Post in this Series: Man is a Speaking Spirit Part 2

Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.

NEW Disclosure Added: I am of the belief that any and all teachings on scripture, especially those on prayer should receive prayer before passing them along to others. For this reason, I encourage everyone who reviews these teachings to saturate each one in prayer before sharing, distributing or reproducing them in any fashion.

Anything that we hope to learn and accomplish through the Word of GOD must be born out of a spirit of prayer. Prayer is the root of all our spiritual training. Study without prayer is futile. Without prayer, we learn nothing and we accomplish nothing.

May GOD always send you a confirming word.

GOD Bless You,

Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.

Bible Study, Judeo-Christian Teachings, The Journey Back

WHY DO THE PRAYERLESS PROSPER?

“Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.”  –Psalm 63:4

No matter how dedicated you are in prayer there are times when this nagging guestion reasserts itself. Who has not asked this question of GOD?

The Prophets Asked.

Even the best of us has inquired of GOD, as King David did. His son, King Solomon asked the questions also. Habukkuk, Jeremiah, Job, Malachi… throughout time, the single most question of GOD visits every soul, “Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?“

Will there ever be an answer that satisfies the soul?

Let’s take a look in one of my favorite books; Day 16 in Praying with Fire with Rabbi Heshy Kleinman.

The Rabbi begins, “If prayer is the “key” that opens Hashem’s storehouse of blessing, one might wonder why there are people who acquire wealth and success without ever having to use the key? How does one account for those who have no relationship with Hashem, yet have everything money can buy?”

An echo of the question asked by Prophets, Priest and Kings for generations. It is right that Kings (You), continue to ask this question of GOD?

Can you recall a time in creation when GOD declared over anyone, at anytime, that they shall never want for anything? Someone or something that shall be filled all the days of their life?

Who would GOD desire to satisfy more than His Own Children?

MORE IMPORTANTLY….

Why does GOD grant health and wealth to a person that does not even pray? Prayer is given to man by GOD as a means to partner with GOD and engage in the plans He has for all of mankind.

Prayer connects our lives to GOD. Prayer allows us to exist within GOD and to align ourselves with His purpose.

Yet, we still ask, “Why do I need to live such a glorious life of prayer, when the wicked reject GOD entirely, let alone live a life of prayer?

Good Question.

“And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” — Genesis 3:14

The serpent shall be filled with dust, all the days of his life. As the Rabbi says, “dust does not appear to be a ‘tasty diet’, but it is plentiful and always accessible.

GOD ensures the serpent will never have a need to call on Him or be in His presence.

And GOD said… the snake, will never go hungry or have any lack. Some may argue, that the snake appears to be more ‘blessed’ than man. But as the Rabbi explains, this was in fact, the serpents ultimate curse.

In regards to man, GOD takes steps to ensure the complete opposite. God let’s man know that he will have to battle for his bread, daily.

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” —Genesis 3:19

Mankind, will require both bread and manna. The need for bread alone will cause us to cry out to GOD, to search for GOD, even blame GOD. At this point, we are not aware of our need for manna from heaven.

Survival, is foremost on our agenda at this moment in the garden. The battle for bread will consume our thoughts.

Our daily need for bread, has the capacity alone to cause us to “forge a bond with Hashem, by coming before Him in prayer.”

On the contrary, the serpent will never have a need for GOD. All his needs have been provided for.

No need for GOD. No need for prayer. All your material needs satisfied. The serpent’s disrespect for GOD, from the beginning has barred him from the Kingdom ever since.

When man finds himself in this condition, he has no spiritual appetite, no longing for GOD, no need to seek GOD’s face. They can easily and wrongfully assume that they hold a superior position, and their tongues begin to walk through the earth in pride.

Every benefit of prayer and relationship with GOD are lost on the satiated man. GOD is Life, and this man has no need of a life in GOD, or closeness with Hashem.

Yet, by satisfying all his needs, GOD has placed this man at a distance. Not out of His reach, but out of His sight. GOD has set them far from Him –Psalm 73:27

“His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.” – Psalm 10:5

Not only, is he out of GOD’s sight, GOD has placed him outside of His courts and His judgments. GOD’s throne is reserved for those who have need of him.

At first glance, the man who prides himself on being self sufficient, independent, morally superior and self satisfied, might self assess their situation as a blessing.

Happy with him or herself, unaware that all their reason to seek GOD has been withheld.

Famine or hunger won’t be the cause of his/her search for GOD. Without adversity of any kind, they may be relegated to live a life void of the presence of GOD.

Prayer could have been their source for their greatest blessing.

When tempted to feel as if the grass is greener on the other side, remember that GOD has chosen to fill you with His Word, and not dust.

You shake the dust from your feet. You will not be consumed. The Word of GOD in you has set you above and not beneath. Your enemies shall consume dust that perishes. You consume the bread of Heaven.

Allowing our needs to draw us closer to GOD, works together for our good. The wealthy and healthy have virtually no reminders of GOD in the earth. They must look deeper, press in harder and longer to find what is already in front of them.

The bible openly reveals that there are times, when prophets, priest and kings have lamented the seeming prosperity of the wicked, but each in his or her turn recognized they possessed the superior position.

Prayerlessness has no prosperity in GOD.

God Bless You,

Amen.

Take a quick look at the interlinear for Gen 3:14 and 3:19. The word for dust (aphar) is the same. Man is formed from the dust of the ground, the aphar. The same dust that the snake is destined to consume, all the days of his life.

NOTE: We will cover this in more detail in the future, just know for now, the dust (the aphar) of Genesis 3, is the substance of the cosmos, created from the finest particles of the universe. –Man is made from stardust. (See addl info below)

Stardust retains a record of it’s origins.

King James Version Sources Cited:

For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. – Psalm 73:3

  • 4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
  • 5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
  • 6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
  • 7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
  • 8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
  • 9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

Sources Cited Above:

The Testimony of Prophets:

“And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” -Malachi 3:15

“Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” -Jeremiah 12:1

“The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly”. –Job 12:6

Habakkuk also asked God, “Why do You remain silent when the wicked devours one more righteous than he?” —Habakkuk 1:13

King David also lamented, “Behold, such are the wicked; they are always at ease and they increase their riches. Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence because all day long I have been plagued and I am chastised every morning” –Psalms 73:12-14

The Testimony of The Kings:

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” –Psalm 37:7

“When you see the oppression of the poor, and the perversion of justice and righteousness in the state, do not wonder about (God’s) will…” –Proverbs 5:7

“And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.”

Special Notation:

  • Again, per our custom, man does not agree on how much cosmic dust falls to the earth daily. Estimates vary widely. The point to focus on now is that, this is a completely different product than today’s ‘household’ dust, which is a product of dirt, skin, animal dander, waste, mites and other pollutants.
  • Man (You), were not made of this type of dust. Adam, was formed from the finest particles of the universe. Sin had not entered the earth, nor the product of sin, which is death. Therefore, dead skin, waste, dead mites, pollutants, etc were not present in the earth and man was not created from this lower substance.
  • Cosmic dust continues to fall to the earth everyday. This has been constant since the world began.
  • Consider the way in which we gaze into the stars in wonder. Our amazement with the cosmos, is deeply connected to the cosmic ‘stuff’ from which we are made. We instinctively know, we were created from the same substance that exists in the heavens.
  • When Adam was formed from the adamah (ground), GOD was forming Him from the finest particles of the heavens. Our connection to the creation of Adam is in our bones. We can almost feel that we were created from the substance of heaven.
  • We are the stuff of miracles.

Cover Photo by: Eric Nopanen, Unsplash.com

  • Prayer in the Pew: photo by Samuel Martins, Unsplash.com

  • Teachings related to this series on Prayer:
  • Benefits of Prayer:
    • Increases your sensitivity in the spirit realm and to the spirit of GOD.

Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.

Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.

Bible Study, Judeo-Christian Teachings, The Journey Back, What is Torah

26 Benefits and Blessings of Unceasing Prayer…

When We Get Serious About Prayer, Prayer Will Do Serious Things For Us…

” … if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” -2 Chronicles 7:14

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” – Matthew 5:44

“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” -Matthew 6:5

torah, obedience and prayer are How We Love on GOD.

Nothing can stop prayer from connecting You to GOD. –Nothing other than you…

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8:38-39

  • The Powers of Prayer are Accessible ALWAYS to the humble.
    • The prideful, arrogant, vain, entitled, angry, etc. need not apply.
    • Humility places you at the head of the line.
    • The humble have the heart and the favor of GOD.
  • Prayer is for the First Responders of Faith.
    • Prayer is our weapon of choice, never a last resort.
    • Prayer enhances all of our other natural strengths…
      • reason, intelligence, logic,
  • Prayer Makes You Mindful of the Presence of GOD.
    • You train/discipline yourself through prayer to stay mindful of the presence of GOD.
  • Daily Expectation of GOD.
    • You discipline yourself to remain in a state of anticipation, to see GOD move.
  • You will check your own spirit before you pray.
    • You will not pray in the flesh.
    • You will search your own heart and try your own reigns… first
      • Prayer strengthens your spirit to reject judgment of others.
  • You will not enter into prayer with secular activities or a secular mindset.
    • You place a premium on separating the sacred from the profane.
  • Your torah studies elevate and strengthen your prayers.
    • You notice a tangible difference in your prayers.
  • You take GOD off of a clock.
    • Your prayers become more focused on the future, eternity vs. temporal.
    • You lose track of time in prayer, to the point of your own amazement.
    • You come to realize how GOD compensates you in time, for all time spent with Him.
    • You expect to wait on GOD, rather than GOD wait on you.
    • You pray to the GOD that was, is and will be…
    • Your prayers become timeless…
    • You begin to understand that prayer can fold time.
    • You confidently place your prayers in time.
    • You pray the, “All Ready Been Done” kind of prayers.
  • Your thoughts will become prayers.
    • Your thoughts more easily and readily line up with the thoughts of GOD.
  • Your conversations will become prayers.
    • Your conversations end with yea and amen.
  • Your dreams become prayers.
    • You begin to awake from sleep with prayerful thoughts.
    • Your dreams become more prophetic.
  • Your decisions are a product of prayer.
    • You become more aware of how you are making decisions…
      • Mindful of GOD and prayerful, or not.
      • A Prayer Lifestyle prevents you from fighting banned battles.
  • You refuse to put up any unwanted barriers between yourself and GOD.
    • Your prayers focused on removing barriers between you and Heaven.
  • You guard your tongue because you won’t risk contaminating your own prayers.
    • You prefer to be silent than to risk speaking evil or spreading vain imaginations.
    • You refuse to waste valuable time pulling down your own vain imaginations/evil speech before you can regain your position of prayer.
    • Your speech/confessions are in agreement with GOD’s Word.
      • Quick to repent.
  • You guard your thoughts, so that you don’t risk losing the anointing power in prayer.
    • Discipline through prayer to control emotions, imaginations, vanities…
    • Superimpose GOD’s Word over and above your thoughts.
      • Will not hesitate to repent.
  • You know before you pray for anything, who you need to pray with.
    • You know who you are yoked with in prayer and who you are not.
  • You know that agreement in prayer is EVERYTHING.
    • Agreement is a powerful weapon.
  • Your vision will become linked to your prayers.
    • You look for the presence of GOD in your interactions and encounters.
    • I call it seeing through the lens of David… when people throw rocks or insults, instead of responding with anger you ask “What is GOD trying to tell me?”
    • Seeking revelation beyond any immediate / temporary provocation.

You give your prayers an assignment.

  • Your prayers become more strategic.
  • Your prayers have targets and you handle the Word like a marksman.
  • You pray for people and incidents that you see as you move throughout your day.
    • From car accidents, to sprained ankles, to mean faces, to harsh words…etc
  • You pray for your enemies as easily and as passionately, as you pray for your loved ones.
    • You will pray for your enemies, as if they are loved ones.
  • You will not complain about making ‘another’ consecration.
    • Your response to making another consecration will not be, “I already did one.”
    • The days of saying, “It’s not that serious”, are over.
  • You long for the closeness prayer brings you with the Spirit.
    • Your One on One time with GOD in Prayer, becomes the most treasured and priceless part of your day.
    • You will not compromise your prayer time.
    • You will make compromises with any other part of your daily schedule.
  • Prayer Brings Forth Light…
    • Effectual Prayer exposes darkness, deceit and deception.
    • Effectual Prayer binds temptation.
    • Effectual Prayer binds pride.
    • Effectual Prayer prevents the temptation to gossip.
    • Prayer binds the evil inclination and wicked speech (loshon hara).
  • Prayer becomes a Garment of protection for the humble.
    • Prayers gives our spirit power to subdue our flesh.
    • Prayer strengthens and nourishes your spirit.
    • Constant and fervent prayer eliminates doubt.
  • Prayer is Partnership with GOD.
    • Prayer keeps us from losing sight of GOD.
    • Prayer keeps us from moving ahead of GOD.
    • Prayer is our methodology that allows us to participate in the plans of GOD.
    • Prayer is how we agree with and engage with, the will of GOD.
    • Prayer gives us the ability to sync up our spirit with the Spirit of GOD.
    • Prayer gives position and power to the humble.
    • Prayer is for the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
      • How is that? Because it takes the humble to pray.

“Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” –Matthew 18:4

Everything that lives and moves and has its being is of GOD. EVERYTHING created in the earth, above the earth, beneath the earth must respond to GOD.

“Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” – Jeremiah 23:23-24

There is no place that your prayers can’t reach to get to GOD!

There is no force on the earth, in the earth, above the earth, or beneath the earth that has the power to control Your prayers—Except You!

Prayer is gifted to the simple….

This teaching is Dedicated to those simple enough to pray unceasingly…

Cover Photo by: Annie Spratt, Unsplash.com

  • Archery photo: 3 archers lined up for shot, by Alex Guillaume, Unsplash.com
  • Face of Young Child: photo by Wadi Lissa, Unsplash.com
  • Timepiece: photo by Sonja Langford, Unsplash.com
  • Prayer on knees: photo by Ben White, Unsplash.com

Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.

Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.

The Journey Back

AMAN, Finding The Lost Cities of Gold

HAD I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)
“He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven”
(Public Domain)

The LORD has given His Dream for us. He held nothing back.

66 Books of Testimony, all for Your Benefit and Blessing.

Every inch packed with wisdom, knowledge, instruction, and the Good Counsel of GOD. Just for You.

With the Letters of GOD, the Holy Language of GOD, and the Giving of the Torah, no good things has been withheld from us.

May we each tread softly, because GOD has laid all the riches of His Kingdom, His Holy Word, His Letters, His Torah, All His dreams for us, at our feet.

Photo: Andres Haro. Unsplash.com

The next move is ours!

Another Layer of Understanding- Another Level!

In the Undiscovered Adam…Part 2, I directed your attention to the letters of the word ‘adam‘. This time, I want to direct your attention to the base of the word adam. Notice the squaring of the letters aleph (A) and mem (M).

The dalet (D) in the center, in this font type has a slight cut at the bottom edge, However, in most block style fonts in Hebrew, the dalet (D), is more of a flat, squared off bottom. Why does that matter?

Because today, I want you to see similarity in the words adam and aman. A similarity that only appears in the shape of the letters themselves. With a story that can only be told through the letters themselves.

Photo: Paul Evans Unsplash.com

Standing between GOD (aleph) and the Masses (mem), is the dalet (symbolizing the door, and meaning ‘poor’) represents having nothing of its own, but a door. The door can be accessed to open up to new possibilities or remain closed. The choice is ours.

  • A “Webster’s Dictionary” Kind of Faith…

Adam (A-D-M) has a Gematria of 45. On a basic level, 45 can represent maintaining, preserving, protecting things that matter to you most.

The Gematria of Aman, (A-M-N), is 95. The difference between them is 50, which is the exact value of the letter nun (N).

50 is symbolic of Jubilee and Firstfruits in Hebrew, i.e., the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot, which we just celebrated.

In the letter nun, we see jubilee, a celebration of A New Level of Awareness. The fiftieth level, is one of transcendence, that can only be given by GOD. 

No wonder then, to say AMEN, is to bear witness to a new level of awareness, an acknowledgement of understanding.

God’s definition of belief and man’s definition of belief are diametrically opposed to each other.

God identifies spiritual belief with trust and confidence in Him. Trust in GOD, (aman) is our lost city of Gold.

Man defines and aligns “religious belief” with doctrine, ideas, principles…

Man speaks of belief as ‘knowing that something is true’, but aman (trust, to be firm in, secure) is more than that. More than just ‘knowing’. In the survey’s that I attached for your review, most people said they ‘knew‘ GOD exists, they just don’t find GOD relevant.

They know of Him, they just don’t trust Him.

A Closer Look is Required: A list of additional uses of ‘aman’ in scripture.

In Isaiah 22:23, aman is translated ‘firm‘. What allows the tent to become secure is the tent peg being driven firmly into the ground, i.e. “unmoveable, unshakeable...”

Judges 11:20, “but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass”

1 Sam 2:35 , “and I will raise me up a faithful [trustworthy] priest, that will do according to that which is in mine heart, and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he will walk before my anointed forever.

2 Chron 20:20, “…Believe [trust] in the LORD thy GOD, so shall you be established. Believe his prophets, so shall you prosper.”

As long as our ideas of ‘belief’ are connected with ‘doctrines‘ we are going to completely miss the Spirit of GOD. God is above doctrine, ideals and the principles of man, etc…

Defining the terms that express our faith…

Who is the most qualified to define the terms of faith? The unbeliever or the believer?

While others are speaking of ‘belief‘ in GOD, we must speak of ‘trust‘ in GOD. It has become necessary to reshape the definition based on our terms. Afterall, it is the believer that is (or should be) the expert in GOD, right?

Until we can say, “belief” while hearing ourselves confess “trust“, it would be best to retrain our thoughts, by speaking only of our trust in GOD, and giving ‘belief‘ a time out.

Trust in GOD is the SOURCE behind our “Many Infallible Proofs”

Every time another victory is achieved through prayer, I file them in my thoughts or write them in my Bible under Acts 1:3, By His Many Infallible Proofs!

The list of GOD’s proofs to us has not stopped. His proofs grow for believer’s daily and His Wisdom is poured out unto the humble…the Simple. Amen.

GOD is constantly providing Proof, even though He doesn’t have to.

I would like to see every Christian, keep their own personal record of GOD’s Many Infallible Proofs in their lives. We should write the names, dates and places of every victory, all over our Bible in the Book of Acts. Asa Constant Reminder…

From this Pentecost forward, when you read the Book of Acts, it will be more personal than ever before!

We are only 3 – 4 Days outside of Pentecost… and we have work to do.

These were the days the disciples set out to prove their ministry…They set out out build the cities of GOD.

Praying from a position of trust, undergirds the totality of my confessions, thoughts and conversations. In my experience, trust surpasses belief and I see the results in my prayer life.

Praying from a position of trust…rebuilds the lost city of Aman on every mountain top!

Years ago, I heard a prophet make an analogy between praying “sea level prayers” or and praying from the mountain top. That has always stayed with me.

From the mountain top, you can survey all the surrounding terrain, formulate a strategy, marshal your forces. From the mountain top, you can see your enemies coming from a far off. Praying “sea level” prayers, you lack the basic advantages of spiritual warfare.

Praying From A Position of Trust is Prayer from The Mountain Top.

Photo by livestudiointel at Unsplash.com

There is prime spiritual territory available, that we can regain by lining our conversation up with the Word. Since GOD spoke of our trusting Him, we should speak in the same terms.

GOD declared that He would raise up a trustworthy priest that would do according to His Heart and His Mind…Christ fulfilled the call.

Paul said…Let this Mind be in You, that was also in Christ Jesus…

Christ is calling for a trustworthy priesthood….

HOW LONG WILL IT BE BEFORE WE TRUST GOD?

Let’s take a fresh look at some of the messages of GOD that we saw in the previous message. But this time, let’s exchange the word believe for trust.

Genesis 15:6, “and he [Abraham] trusted in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”

Exodus 19:9, “that the people may hear when I speak with thee and [trust] thee forever”.

Numbers 14:11, “How long will this people provoke me? How long will it be before they [trust]me?”

Numbers 20:12, “Because you [trusted] me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel…”

GOD is Asking for Our Trust.

Photo: Swapnil Dwiyedi. Unsplash.com

If our understanding of belief had remained firm, this conversation would not be taking place today. The problem is that the idea of being ‘firm, or secure‘ in GOD no longer connects with the word ‘belief‘.

Take another look at the surveys I attached in the previous post, I think you will agree with me when I say that, modern day ‘belief‘ has become, “flimsy“.

When you trust someone, you will go the entire distance with them. You will travel through the most treacherous territories, under the most difficult of circumstances.

If you just believe someone, there is a chance that you might grow faint and jump ship, before going the entire distance.

The Apostles, didn’t frame their words on ‘belief‘, they spoke of their trust.

Every scripture example I provided you in, ‘A Webster’s Dictionary Kind of Faith’, was based on the word aman, meaning trust.

Gen 15:6, Ex 14:31, Ex 19:9, Num 14:11, Num 20:12, Jonah 3:5 – You can replace the word believe, with trust and gain a much better understanding of what GOD needed us to understand.

Do We Trust Him… (The absence of the question mark is intentional)

In antiquity, believe or belief was a legitimate word choice in translating, aman. Once upon a time, “I believe” (I know) the church didn’t use that word so friviously.

Today, “I believe” that we must go back to the beginning, applying words that possess greater strength in expressing our position about the things of GOD.

Belief should get us to where we need to be in GOD. But, if it doesn’t, we need to stretch a bit further, adapt our words, and confess our trust.

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Mark 11:23.

You see, the formula for us (Christians), is that we don’t just get to “think it”,

(1) We have to “SAY IT” with our mouths, (2) not doubt it in our hearts, (3) and ‘trust’ what we said.

I call this our confession of faith in action.

By the way, ‘believe‘ in the Greek is pisteuo (4100) and it means to trust in, or be entrusted with.

Have You ever thought about it like this... We are being entrusted with our own confession. Do we even trust the words coming out of our own mouths?

This is quite another matter. Our trust is connected to trusting the WORD of GOD. Mark puts the ball in our court. Trusting GOD is equivalent to trusting ourselves.

The Apostle Mark is birthing out the baby believer. Mark was placing a demand on their spirit to graduate.

A completely different level of character is required for this level.

When you see a mountain, move it!

Our failures to move the mountain, can not be blamed on GOD, as per our customs and traditions.

We have to move the mountains with our words and we have to trust that we have the power to do it, with our words.

[This requires kavanah. It’s what I call, heartfelt devotion, when we pray. Prayer, with the highest level of power, focus, and intention imparted upon our words].

What if the mountain is made of rock?

Eric Noponen, Unsplash.com

In brief…This is why Moses was supposed to graduate the children of Israel to a new level by “SPEAKING TO THE ROCK“. Instead of taking them to the next level, he allowed the people to get him in the flesh and he “struck” the rock instead.

That was 4k years ago or more. It’s not a question of Moses trusting the words GOD gave him to speak. Moses, had he not allowed the people to provoke him so badly, he would have spoken to the rock and water would have flowed forth. That’s a given.

But the people missed their own blessing because they were so busy being in the flesh, they provoked the Man of GOD to come out of the anointing–

As a result, THEY unnecessarily delayed the blessing!

And they missed their own purpose. It’s been perhaps 4k years…When do we learn to speak to the rock, instead of trying to use brute force?

Do we trust our own words to cause the waters to flow?

Look at that equation again. Our words have to get past doubt, before we can ‘believe’ in the heart.

If our words are contaminated with doubt, then there is no trust. We can not operate at the level of trust. Our words can’t be empowered by trust.

Do we trust that we have enough word in us, to even decree and declare a thing?

Do we trust, that everything GOD taught us, poured into us, has credibility?

Everything we need is in this WORD. GOD has laid out His treasures before us. 66 Books May we each tread softly, least we tread on the Word GOD has given to Us!

God Bless You,

It’s a lot to think about…. but doing so, will prepare you for your tomorrows.

This teaching is dedicated to Rebuilding the Lost Cities of Gold, Amen.

The torah teaches that one person is equivalent to a nation.

A nation contains many cities. Rebuilding a city, is rebuilding a person, ourselves, and each other.

May You Rebuild the Cities of GOD…

This teaching began with the Hebrew Letters. Additional teachings on the Hebrew Letters can be found in these Posts:

Cover photo by: Joshua Newton, Unsplash.com

Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.

Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.

Uncategorized

The Day After Pentecost Has Come…

The Days of Counting the Omer have past and Pentecost is now yesterday, if we allow it to be.

The Counting of the Omer was a Commandment (Leviticus 23:15-16). It’s purpose is to focus our attention during the days between Passover and Pentecost, on the Giving of the Word at Mt. Sinai.

Aside from all the arguments Christianity gives of, “being under a new covenant”, the Counting of the Omer was given for a higher purpose.

A purpose that surpasses our differences of interpretation.

This purpose concerns our spiritual health and well being. The Counting of the Omer is to commemorate the Giving of the Torah, the Giving of His Word to us, which is what we are seeking daily.

The Feast of GOD are given in cycles. Our benefit, is that as the cycles return, we can enter into the same blessing during the Season the Heavens are open for these types of blessings.

The Feast are Divine Appointments with GOD. He maintains a Spiritual Calendar, that most Christians don’t even know is available to them.

Lack of this critical spiritual knowledge leaves us open and vunerable.

The mockers and scorners can say what they will. Don’t allow them to deter you any further.

I know the Prophetic Power of the Feast of the Lord, and they contain blessings we all have need of.

Who Doesn’t’ Want Greater Blessings?

GOD ask that we proclaim His Seasons. When we come into agreement regarding the Supernatural Seasons of GOD, more blessings flow.

This is what I want you to know for yourselves.

HOW MANY DIVINE APPOINTMENTS HAVE YOU MISSED?

We keep every other carnal, chronological, mundane date on the secular calendar, and miss every Divine Appointment that GOD has scheduled for a Personal Meeting with us. What sense does that make?

I remember now… someone said, we don’t have to keep the Feasts of the LORD anymore.

This is a good place to decide something…

15. And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the omer of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete;

16. even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto the LORD.

Leviticus 23:14 commands us to keep the feast as an statute forever, throughout our generations.

Christ testified that he did not abolish or destroy the commandments (Matt 5:17).

He kept the feast days, and so did his disciples after him.

May our Love for GOD settle the Dispute!

A new bottom-line I would like to offer everyone, that has been taught to abandon the Feast of GOD, should this topic irritate or concern anyone,(which is NOT my intent) is this…

I want to give everyone who reads this an opportunity to consider these words in prayer over the next 10 months, in prayer…

and consider your love for GOD…

When you love someone, it’s an all or nothing proposition. Despite, our likes and dislikes, nothing about them is obsolete or insignificant.

When we love someone, we acknowledge them and celebrate them. You would not allow anyone to tell you otherwise.

You find ways to make what is special to them, special to you.

What is important to them, becomes important to you.

At the very least, the Feast Days are Special to GOD, therefore we should make them Special to Us!

In His “Mind”, according to His Words, forever is perpetual and everlasting.

Forever, has no expiration date.

His promises are eternal and so are His Sabbaths and His Feasts.

How can we as ‘believers’ claim promises that are eternal, but call his Feast obsolete? His Word is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, right?

His Feast are attached to His Word.

We say Christ is the LORD of the Sabbath. True.

How do we celebrate Christ? Do we celebrate the Sabbath? Do we celebrate Christ once a year at Passover?

Do we Pray with Him, once in a while?

We can’t separate the Feast from the Sabbaths, the Feast are Sabbaths.

The Feast make us MINDFUL of Him. The Feast are a way of saying, ‘I Love Everything about You!’ What’s important to you, is important to me.

We can call it outdated or “old”, but the truth is, the spiritual health and well being of the people is worse and worsening.

Afflictions of the spirit include, but are not limited to, depression, rage, anger, alcoholism, drug addictions, misery, cursing, suicide attempts, etc.

Spiritually speaking, all are serious indications of a sick, tired and weakened spirit.

I say this to say, that GOD instituted a plan for spiritual cleansing and healing that we either don’t know about, have no confidence in (trust), consider to be outdated, or have been taught to consider them outdated.

Be it unto you, as your faith is…

Yet, “Christ touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you.” (Matt 9:9, [Matt 9:20, 22, 23, 8:13, 21:21, Mark 5:34, 10:52, Luke 8:48, 17:19], Just to cite a few).

The faith that made them whole, always included the substance of GOD’s Spiritual Remedies.

The Omer Contains Opportunity.

Our 49 days of spiritual reflection has culminated in another level of a prophetic journey from our personal Egypt’s, to our Prophetic Word at Mt. Sinai.

Egypt represents the World, the World’s Systems, bondage, and/or spiritual depravity or spiritual deprivation.

Mt. Sinai was the remedy to the world systems, spiritual depravity and/or spiritual deprivation.

The children of Israel had sunk to their lowest level ever. It took sinking to the lowest possible level, before they cried out to GOD with one heart, one mind.

They had adapted / assimilated to so many of the worlds customs and traditions and replaced them for the customs and traditions of GOD, that they had lost nearly all of their spiritual identity…

Their ONE redeeming quality was that they kept their names… (the last traces of their spiritual identity), they remembered GOD, and they got back into a position of prayer.

Why am I calling these 3 (spiritual) factors ONE?

Because, it was these 3 (spiritual) factors working in combination that became their 3 strand cord.

A cord strong enough to pull them back from the brink.

How did our journey to Sinai begin this year? (April 27th through June 8th).

Did we even make the journey?

Did we search our hearts to discover what it is we needed most to remove from our carnal nature?

Was there even one thing we sought to change about our character and nature?

What were we mindful of during the Counting of the Omer?

Did we purpose in our heart to achieve a higher spiritual level, and pray daily for 49 days to constrain the anointing over our request?

Or, did the pressures of our daily lives pull us out of the anointing until we lost focus and our spiritual request became a fleeting memory?

49 days to focus on character refinement. How did you do?

Where have we arrived?

Which of my baser instincts was I able to conquer?

Which element of my personality has been refined into an expression of the divine?

The barley offering is a food for animals, but sifted and refined, it is eligible to be offered to God.

What refinement of our character can we offer to GOD?

The Omer represents our aspiration and commitment to character refinement, to ennoble our carnal nature and baser instincts and prepare ourselves for greater spiritual achievements.

In Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 30 and 2:19; GOD creates the animals with ‘nephesh chaiyah’ (a living soul).

Man is created ‘nephesh chaiyah’ also; (a living soul, Genesis 2:7).

The same language applies to us both.

Man and animals possess a soul, and the animalistic instinct.

We are animals (Scientifically classified as part of the Animal Kingdom), but we are not limited to scientific classifications as animals.

Man contains the breath of GOD, which has the power to elevate us above our animalistic tendencies.

To accomplish this we have to nurture our spirit with the WORD of GOD.

His Word, is His Presence. We have to adorn ourselves with our spiritual garments and not leave them hanging up in the tent, like our brother Esau.

Our souls are equipped to elevate above our animalistic instincts.

A Measure of Barley for Your Character…

During the counting of the Omer, the children of Israel, offered barley as an offering to GOD.

In a prophetic sense of the term, ‘Sifted and Refined like barley, we are worthy to approach God.

Our Hebrew Roots agree with our Christian teaching in that, it is our mandate to rise above our carnal nature, to rise above the rule of our instinct, to realize and actualize our higher nature.

As ALWAYS, GOD is Good.

Regardless of where we came out in regards to the Counting of the Omer, we have the power to repent.

We can proclaim at anytime, a spiritual consecration to GOD. A DO OVER, if you will.

Our Faith can Make Us Whole!

SAVE THE DATE!

We can also, change the outcome for 2020, declare our Omer, put it on our Google Calendars Now! Look forward to it! April 16th – May 29th, 2020.

Pray our way there!

GOD, loves a Bold Move toward the Throne!

Pray and Meditate on this message. “Ask and it shall be given unto you”, if I speak the Wisdom of GOD or not.

Send them a confirming Word, Jesus.

Amen.

This message is dedicated to EVERYONE and their Households, EVERYONE who tapped into this blog this Year and EVERYONE who taps into it throughout 2020.

I speak into your next 365 Days, till we meet again at Pentecost.

The Days shall await your prayers and instructions. Design them carefully, with your prayers.

Pray them well. Decree and declare with me, your next 365 days shall serve you, the days shall open up their treasures and release blessings, all the fruit of the spirit, with royalties; wisdom, knowledge, understanding, perfecting spiritual insight, and discernment.

May your words become saturated in the anointing and absorb all the oil, the corn, the wine, the honey, the manna and wheat, from God’s Word and His Promises.

May your spirit be revived by your consecration and dedication.

Together, through the Power of the Word of GOD in us, so be it, as our Faith is.

May this message be pleasing to GOD.

Amen.

**(This entire message is a prayer. My apologies for publishing this twice, but from my tiny phone I had difficulty publishing the correct draft copy).

Uncategorized

The Meaning of Life is… Simple

If someone called you simple, chances are you would be offended. Being that we are in the 21st Century, who could blame you for being offended. To be called, simple in the 17th century, when the bible was written, was a very nice complement.

The earliest use of the word ‘simple’, meant to be free from guile, innocent; upright, free from vanity, modest; to be of humble origins. These definitions still appear in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.

Of course, time would have it, that another definition emerged for the word, ‘simple’ meaning, lacking in knowledge or expertise; lacking in intelligence; not socially or culturally sophisticated; lowly in condition or rank. Today, I’m sure this is what we all would hear, in a statement of that kind.

The Meaning of Life is so Simple, it’s Practically a Secret

We are not studying to obtain only the literal meaning of the words. God is Prophetic. His Perfect Will, was that His people would all be Prophets, Priest and Kings. To walk in the anointing, in HIS Image and Likeness, we must not be shy of the prophetic.

To walk alongside the prophetic is to become simple again…

And Being Simple, is not a bad thing. Simple can become for us, the meaning of Life in GOD.

Watch these 5 Key Words in Psalm 19:7—

The [law] of the LORD is perfect, [restoring] the soul, The testimony of the LORD is [sure], making [wise] the [simple].

I taught earlier, that the use of the word ‘law‘ as a translation for ‘torah‘ is a good example of missing the mark.

In that teaching, numerous examples of this were provided. In Psalm 19:7, once again, we find ‘torah‘ translated as ‘law‘.

Why the translators choose not to translate ‘torah‘ as ‘torah‘, instead of law, I do not know. This approach to scripture, has only served the purpose of putting more distance between the Christian Church and our Hebrew Roots.

Ultimately today, when our brains hear ‘torah‘, it is as if some Christians feel they are being subjected to something forbidden… information barred from the Church. Yet, GOD called His Word torah. It is my sincere hope that more of us can draw closer to Him through torah. Meanwhile…

Let’s restore this verse a bit, to another place and time…

The next word we want to look at in the verse is, teshuv (tah-shoove), translated, ‘restoring‘. teshuv means to return to GOD.

Additionally, ‘aman‘ is translated as ‘sure‘. Which is not wrong, it’s just more poetry than we need. aman means to trust.

Wouldn’t it serve our souls better to build upon the Word from a place of understanding, that the testimony of the LORD is to be trusted?

And finally, ‘wise‘ is from the word, chokmah (hoke-mah), In this case, it means the wisdom of GOD.

‘Simple’ as it was known, before our culture and times drained the beauty and anointing out of the word, used to be understood as ‘possessing GOD’s favorite characteristic’… humility, to be free from guile, or innocent.

Now, let’s put this verse and teaching, back into it’s proper place…

The torah of the LORD is perfect, returning the soul [to GOD], The testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise [giving the Wisdom of GOD to] the humble/the innocent.

Once more…

The torah of the LORD is perfect. Studying/learning/abiding in torah, returns the soul to GOD. The testimony of the LORD should always be trusted. When GOD’s testimonies are trusted, The Wisdom of GOD is transferred to the humble.

Torah Returns Our Soul to GOD.

Everyday, our souls desire to return to GOD’s presence. Torah, while NOT a system of laws, is greater than the sum of it’s teachings. Torah is formed from the raw materials of creation, the aleph-bet.

It is said that the torah, (traditionally known as Genesis through Dueteronomy), contains over 600,000 letters. One for each soul that came out of Egypt.

One letter for every soul.

…and when the day of Pentecost (Shavuot) had come, once again, there were tongues of fire above every head, i.e., one letter for every soul.

The Torah Contains The Meaning of Life…

When GOD gave the torah, he was not giving us a bible story, or merely a list of teachings, instructions and commandments.

Every letter, every word, accounted for every soul and every household, every generation and their seed.

The letters themselves contain life and purpose, they are the creative force behind the universe, often referred to as the building blocks of the universe.

The Letter Behind the Letter

Even as these letters are written on this page, the space around the letter allows the black ink to shine forth and be made visible, seen.

In torah study, we learn that the visible shape of the letters (via the black ink) reveals a shape and form in the background, revealing it’s two dimensional form. Think of this as a letter behind the letter.

Our computers allow us to select one color for the background and one color for the ink. There is no point selecting white background with white ink, or black background with black ink. The resulting letter is hidden. Unreadable.

The torah was written in such a way, that in order for any one letter to be made visible, it required another letter behind it. The background being as equally important as the foreground.

Each letter representing another soul. One soul supporting the other. Without each soul working in concert with the other, neither is visible.

Seen another way... when you write on a white canvas using white letters, your message is invisible. The colors compete with one another creating a situation where the message is unreadable, invisible. Nothing is seen, nothing is accomplished. Nothing of value can be communicated.

It’s the contrast that reveals each letter and within the contrast a deeper message can be revealed. For example, the letter aleph reveals two letter yod’s and one letter vav are combined, and together they form the letter aleph!

The vav which represents the firmament (at the heart of the aleph) is connected to the letters yod. The one on the right, pointing to (connected to) the heavens and the one on the right pointing to (connected to) the earth.

Another message is revealed in the form of the Hebrew letter aleph.

What is the message?

The first letter in the Name of GOD, is a physical and symbolic representation of the connection between Heaven and Earth. The aleph (the letter A) is not just a symbol representing a letter of the Hebrew Alephbet. The aleph is symbolic of GOD’s ultimate desire, His “Perfect Will” which is to connect Heaven to Earth.

It’s spelled out for us in the very first letter of His Name, Elohim.

One soul, allows the other to shine.

There are times in everyone’s life, when they feel invisible, unseen, unimportant. But we are never invisible. Each person has been given the creative power, the fire…to shine light on another soul.

Let Your Light So Shine!

God Bless You,

This teaching is dedicated to the Grand-Children. I pray I have imparted something simple to you…something innocent and without guile. I pray you will always receive the Word untangled, so that you never have to start from scratch, relearning the Holy Language of GOD.

Stay humble. Your humility will keep you connected to GOD. Stay in torah. torah, will nurture your soul, everyday. May your lives always be a support to one another, separate but one, harmonious and yet, distinctive…

Your souls allow each other to shine!

In the Volume of the Book that is Written of You, You Are to be a Light, and An Answer to the World.

May All the Angels say, Amen!

Posts Included in This Series:

Resources:

In my last post, I provided a few scriptures for your review that demonstrated the need for us to go back in time for an understanding of the meaning of words.

When Matthew says go into your closet to pray (Matt 6:6), we have to consider that ‘closets’ may just be a modern convention and not a norm of the 1st century.

This means we do a little homework and find that Matthew is urging us to discover our secret place of prayer, which could be anywhere, as long as it is private and provides the solitude required for prayer.

An inter-linear bible is excellent for this part of our study, or if unavailable, use of an online equivalent like Biblehub.com is suitable to begin practicing.

An online resource to learn about the origin and development of words is etymologyonline.com.

However, my first love is a library! Libraries are the best source for researching words in detail. However, a quick look online can be insightful. I use etymology online for quick reference and when I am out and about!

Yet, nothing can ever replace having a local or university library at your disposal. If you have access to either, I highly recommend it.

Some librarians will even look up information for you over the phone.

Enjoy!

Cover photo by Stefan Steinbauer, Unsplash.com

Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.

Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.

Updated October 20, 2025

Uncategorized

A “Webster’s Dictionary” Kind of Faith…

For your review, I have attached a copy of the study conducted by Lifeway Research entitled, What Do Americans Believe About God. The attached study released October 26, 2018 polled over 3,000 Americans, Christians and Non-Christians alike.

In addition, you might like to review The 2018 State of Theology Study, conducted every 2 years to assess trends and beliefs among Christian/Evangelicals. Although I find, that both studies contain disturbing results that I intend to explore later, I think that it is important to address one simple point for now.

There is a great deal of information obtained in these surveys that I disagree with, agree with, strongly disagree with, find shocking, outrageous and curious. Nevertheless, these are the findings and as a result, they are an indication of our current state of affairs.

The links to these studies are provided below.

Several of the questions were framed in context to what we believe. It is in this regard that I would like to take exception. Our beliefs are not only in question, but questionable. So, the question I wrestle with is, “When we define belief, what definition are we working with, as Christians?”

The World Can Not Define ‘BELIEF’ for Us. Christian’s definition of belief should be taken from the scriptures, and not from the dictionary, and definitely not from the world.

When the conversation shifts to a question of ‘Spiritual Belief’, Why are we allowing the world’s definition of belief, to dictate and define what we as Christians say, we “believe” in?

Who is best qualified to define our faith and the meaning of belief? The unbelieving world, or we as Christians?

Naturally, our response would be, “We define belief.” But in all actuality, we are working with a Webster’s dictionary definition of belief. (To be fair, even an Oxford’s Dictionary definition of faith).

When we speak of ‘belief’ what are we really talking about here?

A solid portion of the questions presented in these research studies is framed around the question of belief, What do we believe?…

When it comes to belief, It seems that we are operating from two different points of view. How we define belief has a strong bearing on our belief system as a whole, and how we (anyone) relate(s) to the Word of GOD.

There is a secular/worldly definition of ‘belief’ and a sacred/holy definition of ‘belief.’

Americans (Christians and Non-Christians) who responded to either study agree in several points. One that stands out is that both groups agree that scripture is not relevant to todays’ society and when answering questions about belief, it is assumed we are processing the questions on the same level.

If I ask you about belief in a spiritual context, does the concept of trust come to the forefront of your mind?

As Christians, we can not claim to believe in GOD’s Word, in this case, 2 Timothy 3:16 and then turn around and say that the bulk of scripture is not applicable to “modern-day life as a Christian” in today’s society. What do we really believe?

Christians have been asked if the bible is applicable to present day beliefs and a good many are answering, “no or not all of it.” In essence they too, are calling the bible irrelevant and outdated. Is there a new breed of Christianity? Are we Christian-Agnostics? Atheistic-Christians? or just double minded, opposing our own-selves? (James 1:8, 2 Timothy 2:24-25)

That’s what it sounds like in reviewing the attached studies.

A great man said, that belief is concretizing an idea, and as a consequence a person restricts their own growth, their movement, their development as a human being. Strangely enough, I agree with that assessment as long as we are working with the world’s definition of belief.

  • This dialog can teach us 2 important things:
  • It is extremely important to know if you are working with the same definition of terms.
  • The definition of words change over time, they are like a living organism – because they come from a living organism. Words, like people, refuse to remain static. A few KJV Examples:
    • Matt 6:6, “entering one’s closet to pray” does not mean a literal 2018, 21st century ‘closet’. It is referring to a 1st century concept of an “inner chamber, or secret room”. A private place of any kind that shuts out the world, would be a good way to think about it. A private place of Prayer.
    • Gen 1:28, the command to “replenish” the world. In 1611, when the Bible was written, replenish meant “to supply fully.” The ‘re’ in replenish is from the intensive form meaning to move forward with a sense of urgency. Today, our understanding of ‘re’, would be to do it again, or to do something over. If we walk away with that understanding, we would take the verse to mean, that GOD is somehow asking us to start over with the world.
    • Num 6:26, “…the LORD lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Peace in English means freedom from disturbance, tranquility. The word for peace is, ‘shalom’, which means to be made whole or complete. Shalom, means more than being free from disturbance, restful or calm. Shalom means to be made whole, in every way. Which would you prefer?
    • Psalm 37:14, “…to slay such as be of upright conversation.” The word being translated as ‘conversation’ is the Hebrew word derek, which means road or way. derek has to do with your conduct or behavior, how you carry yourself / walk through life, your character. In it’s original use in English, it meant the place where one dwells, or the manner that you conduct yourself in the world. The reason KJV translators chose the English word, ‘conversation’ to represent the Hebrew word, ‘derek’, is because at that time ‘conversation’ used to mean, conduct or behavior.

A large part of our controversies and misunderstandings come from reading a 17th century text (written in thee early 1600’s) as if it was a 21st century document. Which is compounded further by the fact, that we are translating ancient Hebrew and Koine Greek into the Old English of the 1600’s.

For an authentic definition of ‘belief’, I want to walk us back a bit, beyond the 1600’s. To accomplish that, I must show you this from the Hebrew.

REMEMBER: Hebrew is read from Right to Left

In the Hebrew, the word ‘aman’ [Strong’s 539, 540] is translated 111 times as belief, believe, trust, established, faithfulness. [Strong’s 539 = 108x, Strong’s 540 = 3x]

In ‘The Undiscovered Adam and the Unexplained man, Part 2″ I provided information on the 1st letter in the word ‘adam’, which is also the 1st letter in ‘aman’, the aleph, (A).

Please see that article for details on the aleph.

Also, in ‘The Undiscovered Adam and the Unexplained Man, Part 2’, we covered the 3rd letter in ‘adam’, which is the 2nd letter in aman, the mem, (M).

The Hebrew letter nun has 2 forms, the bent form (called a bent vav in Hebrew) which looks a little like a backwards small letter ‘c’ in the English alphabet, with angles instead of curves, and the final form, is called the nun sofit (the elongated form).

The final (3rd) letter in the word aman, is the Hebrew letter nun sofit, (N). Whenever the nun, appears at the end of a word, it takes it’s elongated form and is called ‘sofit’, meaning end.

The nun is bent, at the beginning, middle or any other position in a Hebrew word, in a humbled position depicting faithfulness. In the Ancient Paleo form, the nun originates as movement, offspring, fish, or meaning to multiply.

When the nun appears at the end of a word, the nun reaches below the line (stretching out its height) and becomes straightened or upright, representing “The Righteous One.”

The numerical value of nun is 50. The first appearance of the word ‘nun’ is in Exodus 33:11 in reference to Joshua, the son of nun.

Aman means to be firm, sure, securely fixed in place, to stand firm in the sense of a support. Not subject to change or revision. To Trust and have total confidence in someone or something.

WHOSE REPORT DO WE BELIEVE?

We define ‘belief’ in the English language, as doctrine, ideology, ideal, principle, ethic… When our understanding of belief is formed only from this secular perspective, I completely agree it is restrictive, limiting, and creates a block to our spiritual understanding.

However, If we take our understanding of ‘belief’ from the biblical perspective, from ‘aman’ we free ourselves from the concrete that weighs us down, and discover that belief is having confidence and trust in GOD’s Word. Their is a Trust that creates the Acts 17:38 kind of movement, where we can live and breath, and have our being in Him.

Man has made ‘belief’ common, a base notion of faith. As Christians, we have not countered their criticism correctly. In the world’s hands, belief has become a lower level of faith. The kind that crumbles in a crisis and entertains every doubt when in distress.

A Webster’s Dictionary kind of ‘belief system’ will not sustain us in hard times.

It is this kind of belief, that I feel is responsible for saying, “I believe in GOD, I just don’t think that the bible is relevant to everyday life. I call that, a Webster’s Dictionary kind of faith.

How Man Defines Belief and How GOD Defines Belief…

When the scripture say’s, “and Abraham believed GOD.” This is not the mediocre belief that we engage with in “plain English”. Abraham trusted GOD, all his confidence was in Him. Abraham was operating at a higher level of faith. Belief in our Dictionary sense of the Word, is a watered down version of Abraham’s faith.

When GOD speaks of belief in Scripture, He uses the word ‘aman’.

Genesis 15:6, “and he [Abraham] believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”

Exodus 14:31, says that the people“believed the Lord, and his servant Moses”.

Exodus 19:9, “that the people may hear when I speak with thee and believe thee forever”. NOTE: Forever, is a “No Matter What“ kind of faith.

Numbers 14:11, “How long will this people provoke me? How long will it be before they believe me?”

Numbers 20:12, “Because you believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel…”

Jonah 3:5, “So the people of Nineveh believed God…”  Notice: When it came down to it, even the one time enemies of GOD and Israel, declared their Trust in GOD.

“aman” or faith/belief means: to be certain about God and His character, unlimited power, wisdom and promises, to trust GOD, to have confidence in Him.

Trust is our testimony toward the Character of GOD.

OVERTIME, WORDS HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF THEIR HOLINESS

Language is like a living organism. It contracts, expands, changes over time, some for the good, some for the bad. 2000 years after Christ, our understanding of ‘belief/faith’ has become compromised, flawed, weakened. Words don’t only evolve, they devolve.

Until we replace our understanding of ‘belief’, back into it’s original context; emphasizing the stronger and more fortified concepts of trust, confidence and establishing ourselves in GOD, Christian’s will continue to be under the influence of a faulty understanding of what belief is.

When we say we believe GOD, we are bearing witness to the Character and Nature of GOD. Lukewarm equivocation on this, is not faith.

Our definition of belief, must line up with the WORD’s definition of belief. Until then, we are not qualified to answer questions on surveys that represent the Body of Christ.

LANGUAGES CHANGE OVER TIME... which we have to be cognizant of as we study.

It is our responsibility in study, to ensure we know the meanings of GOD’s Words, from the past to the present. Especially, we should focus our attention on gaining an awareness of words, that convey Holiness.

Life and Death Resides in the Power of the Tongue. Even Words have died…

silly ~ in the 1200’s used to mean, innocent, blessed, happy, fortunate. It’s clear this word has suffered severe damage.

Awful ~ used to mean awesome, full of awe, commanding profound respect or fear.

Doubt ~ used to express the idea, “I’m afraid that might be so”, or that, “I am uncertain whether it is so”. Overtime, it’s use in the latter sense became dominant.

Moody ~ used to mean, brave, high-spirited, willful, proud (in the 16th century) now it means, unpredictable, volatile, unsteady.

Resentment – originally meant gratitude.

Success ~ originally in the 1530’s, success referred to results or outcome, whether good or bad. the root, ‘cedere’ means to go or move. Success had more to do with moving forward, whether your results were good or bad. Even bad results are educational, right?

The more materialistic we became, the more materialistic our words become. The world has stripped faith, beauty, passion, even spirit from our words.

Point being, the definitions we are working with today may not have been the definitions originally applied in the past. The definitions we had in the past, while they have transitioned through time, they connect us to the original conversation, and shed greater light.

Look at what we can discover about our words in the English language. Imagine what we have yet to discover from the Hebrew.

Tracing words back to their Hebrew origins, gives us the LORDS definition, which is what we wanted the entire time.

God Bless You,

To The Future of Faith

This teaching is dedicated to the Grandchildren… who will surpass belief and arise into the excellency of trust and confidence in GOD.

Questions from conversations that I had after writing this blog, seemed worthy to incorporate into the message for the benefit of all. These updates I have highlighted for you in blue font.

RESOURCES:

COMING SOON IN THIS SERIES:

  • Scripture Is NOT Dead History…

Cover photo by Rev. S. Madison

Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.

Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.