This week, listen to the attached Facebook post….
…then complete the questionnaire!
CLICK BELOW TO WEEK 2 QUESTIONNAIRE
https://s.surveyplanet.com/bxdjtx0n
The Questionnaire closes on February 21st MIDNIGHT, Pacific Standard Time.
PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS and FEEDBACK:
- (Week 1 Prep) Introduction and Assignment
- (Week 1 Exercise) – Student Responses; Introduction and Overview of Steps 1-3
If your are just joining in and would like to participate in this free series.. just click this link for a quick review of the purpose and plan for this online series and exercise in studying the art of apologetics.
GOD BLESS
The Rabbi’s teach us that Torah Study is the Highest form of Worship… (cf. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 30a)
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES and See if these things be true!
Apologetics Prep – Week 1 – Student Responses
Below you will find the responses that were received from the questionnaire sent out Monday, February 9th. (Week 1 Prep)
A quick review of the purpose and plan for this online series and exercise in studying the art of apologetics.
RECAP:
Here’s how it works…
You will be given a scripture to investigate – Basic Level investigation. Using the Interlinear and Biblegateway.com, answer the questions as best you can.
For those of you who did not attend the class, try present day skills out and see what you find – and hopefully learn!
At the end of the week, I will post the answers and provide snapshots of the interlinear pages so that you will be able to follow the information presented and gain a few – hopefully new insights.
Either way, see how well you do!
Leave me a “code name” for your self in the summary” Question #4 what did you learn? – and I will post all results with code names only so you can see how well you did.
If there are more responses than expected, just keep note of your answers and I will post ALL RESPONSES without names and you can see how you did in comparison to your peers. In any case, responses will be anonymous.
NOTE: THE LINK TO THE ORIGINAL EXERCISE FOR WEEK 1 IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED: Questions and Student Responses posted below.
Four Question were posed. The questions and the responses are listed below.
Interesting fact: In the last week approximately 400+ people have stopped by to check in to this site.
As you will see, ONLY 2 of them took me up on the challenge; 1 is a previous student (Betty) and the other (I won’t give their name without permission) is a first time participant in studying with us. I’m very surprised about this! While at the same time, very pleased that these brave souls accepted the challenge and made the spiritual declaration that they want to uncover MORE in the Word of GOD.
I will do as much as I can in this series to help you by outlining a process and plan for your personal study time.
LESSON #1 – ALWAYS KNOW WHOSE SPEAKING
The WORD of GOD is very meticulous and GOD is very specific. We love saying things like, “GOD is in the Details.” Now we are going to apply that principle consistently every time that we open our Bibles to study.
We are going to examine the details! To do this effectively, we have to be able to answer some questions. For Example:
- Always be certain that you know who is speaking in the text you are studying; Verify who is speaking and who they are speaking to.
- Is the Speaker GOD, JESUS or the HOLY SPIRIT?
- Is the speaker named or unnamed, i.e., “There was a certain man…”
- Is the speaker friend or foe?
- What is the speaker doing? Are they aligned with GOD?
- Are they saying one thing and doing another?
- Are they for GOD or against GOD? Is this His loyal opposition speaking?
- Does the speaker have an agenda? What is the agenda of the speaker?
- What is the prophetic agenda of the author of the Book? i.e., the passage we briefly examined in week #1 was John 4:24. Later I we will gravitate to understanding the prophetic agenda of the author and to identify various points to consider as we do that.
The study of Torah is about asking questions. Along with our list of questions that we need to ask…this is what we need to avoid.
- Make No Assumptions or rush to Snap Judgements (John 7:4).
- No jumping to conclusions (John 7:4)
- Never read your “presuppositions or biases” into the text. Be aware of when you are doing that. Stay vigilant and watchful on this point. It is very easy to do if you are not careful.
- Cast down every vain imagination and high thought that creeps in attempting to exalt itself above the knowledge of the Most-High. (2 Cor 10:5).
- If you came to learn of Him… (Matthew 11:39) allow the voice of GOD to speak without interruption. You can speak afterwards. (After fully examining the text).
- Tip: As we move forward, write down what you think you know about the passage or the verse- before you study it. Write down what you’ve been told; What you think or believe it means or what you think or believe it is teaching… list them as bullet points in your journal. Label them your ‘Preconceived Notions or Ideas.” Then set your preconceived notions, biases, judgements, assumptions, etc., aside until you have completed your study of the verse or passages of scripture. Once you have completed your studies, come back and review them. then do as Luke 10:26 instructs… ask yourself, ” What is written in the Torah?” Now, what sayest thou?
Then answer the question waiting for you at the end of every investigation… What did you learn in this exercise? (see below)
Question #1 RESPONSES…
LESSON #2 – IDENTIFY IF THERE ARE ANY DISCREPANCIES Between the ENGLISH TRANSLATION AND THE ORIGINAL HEBREW or GREEK
By incorporating the Interlinear into your studies – this one simple act– can take you to a higher level of understanding the Biblical Text. It will be a major step in your education. Stay with me in the next few weeks and I will show you what I mean. You need to learn how to extract essential information from the interlinear bible. We will use the online resources so that we can all see the same information from the same source. Eliminating any confusion and taking ALL of our personal opinions out of the dialogue.
The discrepancies that I am speaking of result from the differences between the definitions, meanings and application of words in the English Language verse the original definitions, meanings and application of words in the Biblical Hebrew or Greek.
Suffice it to say -for now- that Biblical Hebrew and Greek are meticulous languages – FAR MORE SO than English.
As you stick with this, you will begin to see the way in which we lump our terms together in English. That does not occur in the Biblical Hebrew.
There is a precision in Biblical Hebrew and Greek that does not exist in English.
NOTE: I am emphasizing BIBLICAL Hebrew and Greek, because this is an important distinction.
BIBLICAL Hebrew and Greek are not the same as Modern Hebrew or Greek.
Question #2 RESPONSES…
LESSON #3 – COMPARE AND CONTRAST – INTERTEXTUALLY
Scripture Confirms Scripture.
Scripture does not go off on rabbit trails. The message is consistent throughout. The New Testament echoes and reinforces the Hebrew Scriptures. The test of accuracy in our understanding is whether or not our understanding/observations in the Word are in sync with the consistency of scripture…. meaning, “Are we going off in the wrong direction? Do you understand what GOD is saying?
Should we discover something that “appears” to be a contradiction… (an accusation that is being tossed about a great deal lately – in apologetics), we have more work to do, because scripture does not contradict itself.
It’s easy to blame the scripture for our lack of understanding, rather than do the work and search the scriptures as we were told.
I plan to show those who want to learn… how to search the scriptures for themselves. If for no other reason than this… to identify false teachers and false teaching.
I am approaching the topic a completely different way than the norm, so bear with me. I am confident you will grasp the art of apologetics much faster by following the steps that I will outline for you in this process.
Amen.
Question #3 RESPONSES…
LESSON #4 – Did you learn anything new?
You learned 3 basic simple steps in examining scripture. We will build on this foundation as we move forward, but at all times – no matter which verse of scripture you are studying – employ these steps every time.
Ask the same essential key questions – every time. With practice they will quickly become automatic and they will help you stay focused on the essential elements of the conversations and the teachings.
In this method, you will be connecting the dots. Better yet, you will be able to show others how to connect the dots and uncover the honey in the rock! (Which is revelation).
A friend of my showed me a video just yesterday of a young lady who left the faith because she felt so lied to and no one had answers for her. She was so sick of the rhetoric and falsehood, that she threw her hands up- took her bat and ball and went home- walked out and said, “Never mind.”
She felt betrayed and that everything she ever learned was wrong. No one had the tools to show her how to study. Being a Christian is about studying to show yourself approved… a workman, worthy of his craft.
We have to search the scriptures for ourselves and we need to know how to do that. I regret that she trusted in man more than GOD in her attempts to learn His Word. She wound up (temporarily, I pray) walking out on the faith because of it. But she’s young and I’m believing she will recover her faith.
For this reason alone, the equipping of the saints is one of my highest priorities.
Question #4 RESPONSES…
You have 3 key steps in your arsenal now in your quest to search the scriptures. Practice them.
Remember this phrase. I will say it often:
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.
- ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT POINTS:
- Remember what time zone you are operating in... We are studying in the 21st century, examining text from the 1st Century and beyond. Whenever we treat the scriptures as if they are from the 19th, 20th or 21st Centuries, we disrespect the message and the messenger. The Scriptures speak into our centuries, the centuries do not speak into them!
- Your objective is to see the scriptures through the lens of the culture, history, times and traditions from which they emerged. When studying the New Testament, if you lose your focus on the fact that ‘Jesus was a Rabbi” you will begin to drift toward. the 21st Century mindset and take Him out of his culture, history and times and strip Him of His Identity.
- Jesus is Jewish. Something we ought to be proud of! and we hopefully desire to get to know Him as a “person” in His Jewishness. When we read His Words from His Jewishness, we recapture important aspects of our Jewish roots and heritage in the Word. If we blot out His Jewish heritage, we do violence to the text and we’re automatically reading in bias, judgment, assumptions, etc.
What justifies the above statement? Let me ask you this… If I say I want to get to know you, but I want to get to know you without any knowledge of or references to your history, culture, family traditions, customs, heritage, roots and how they have shaped you into the person that you are…. would you even want to get to know me?
The people that gravitate to the teachings that I present here in this site, want to know the authentic Jesus, in His Character and Nature as the Messiach of Israel. As we study together our primary goal – MY AGENDA- is to add Him back into His Message and to remove all they various ways that our history, culture, traditions and times have misrepresented Him and show anyone who wants to know Him, how to get to know Him much better. This begins with dispelling the rumors and innuendo that contribute to the misidentification of Jesus.
I hope you found this information useful and interesting. I will post the answer key to the questionnaire #1 at the same time I send out the Apologetics Questionnaire #2.
GOD BLESS
The Rabbi’s teach us that Torah Study is the Highest form of Worship… (cf. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 30a)
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES and See if these things be true!
THE LORD LOVES A GOOD DISCUSSION!
Apologetics Prep – Week 1
For all those interested in continuing your studies in Bible Research Techniques, I am rolling out this New Beta Series on Apologetics Preparation Studies.
Welcome to this TORAH CHALLENGE!
Here’s how it works…
You will be given a scripture to investigate – Basic Level investigation. Using the Interlinear and Biblegateway.com, answer the questions as best you can.
For those of you who did not attend the class, try present day skills out and see what you find – and hopefully learn!
At the end of the week, I will post the answers and provide snapshots of the interlinear pages so that you will be able to follow the information presented and gain a few – hopefully new insights.
Either way, see how well you do!
Leave me a “code name” for your self in the summary” Question #4 what did you learn? – and I will post all results with code names only so you can see how well you did.
If there are more responses than expected, just keep note of your answers and I will post ALL RESPONSES without names and you can see how you did in comparison to your peers. In any case, responses will be anonymous.
This will be fun! Enjoy.
THIS IS THE LINK TO THE EXCERCISE FOR WEEK 1:
https://s.surveyplanet.com/fp8n8057
If You enjoyed the survey and would like more, just send me a like!
Preview – Question #1 Lesson: Always Know Whose Speaking!
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ELUL, I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine..
Just for a moment, let’s take a closer look at the Hebrew Word, ELUL.
Below is an excerpt from Biblehub.com; the Interlinear translation of Psalms 6:3.
In Song of Solomon 6:3, we have the beautiful verse, ah’knee luh-doe’dee vuh’doe’dee lee
meaning: I am of My Beloved and My Beloved is Mine
This Month on the Biblical Calendar is called ELUL…
ELUL, is written with four Hebrew Letters, aleph (A) – lamed (L)- vav (U)- lamed (L) (The Aleph carries an E sound). Ref: see the snapshot of Song 6:3 above, the first letter starting form the right is the Hebrew letter aleph).
Much like using an Internet acronym or text abbreviation, ELUL is a type of Hebrew acronym for the words: Ah’nee Luh-doe’dee Vuh’doe’dee Lee
The 1st letters in each Hebrew word in that phrase spell the name of the Biblical Month we are in right now… The Month of Elul
This offers us a beautiful picture with prophetic symbolism. In this we can see the connection to GOD in prayer that resides in this Month, devoting time in prayer and study, to the lover of our soul. An personal time of relationship and fellowship with GOD.
ELUL is the month on the Biblical Calendar dedicated to the search we conduct within our own soul to cleanse out all the clutter and evaluate our own actions so that we can come before GOD in earnest and rededicate ourselves to Him.
So, every time you hear yourself pronounce the word, ELUL (which I have plastered all over this BLOG, you are engaging in sweet prophetic shorthand saying, “I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine!
That’s an AMEN.
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The Message in the Letters of Torah… Part 5, the 611 of torah
“But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14
My apologies, I couldn’t end this series before providing you with an introductory bit of information about Gematria. There are infinite examples on the internet of the gematria of torah, 611. I hope to offer you a few examples that are not a part of the common internet landscape.
I want to provide a few examples that I have not seen lifted up at all, or not very often.
The Gematria of torah is 611.
tav (400) vav (6) reish (200) hei (5) = 611
Applying a little Gematria…
During the entire teaching on the letters of torah, I told you about a little thing called gematria. Allow me to introduce you to a site that helped me when I first began studying torah called, Hebrew4Christians.com. It is very user friendly, and can assist you in staying grounded in torah concepts.
Hebrew4Christians.com explains to us that: “Within the earliest Jewish traditions, groups of Jewish scholars counted the number of times each letter appeared in the Scriptures (as well as the number of words, verses, paragraphs, etc.). These textual specialists were called Soferim (counters).” They provide an interesting read on the subject, so I suggest you take a look.
Today, I will present a few words that highlight the significance of the numerical connection between Hebrew words.
#1. LIGHT in Hebrew is the word, ‘or’. Pronounced the same was as the English word, or. Example: “My choices are between light or darkness.” Light in Hebrew is spelled,
aleph (A) vav (V) reish (R)
The consonant vav, doubles here as an ‘o’. Ore, (215) means to be or become Light.
All 3 of the above letters have been introduced to you in the teachings entitled, the Undiscovered Adam….(on the letter aleph) and The Message in the Letters of torah… (the vav and the reish).
Watch closely:
The Hebrew Letter that represents GOD is aleph
1st… aleph-vav-reish is how you say, LIGHT in Hebrew. Our 1st observation, which must stand out to you is, that in order to say LIGHT in Hebrew, you have to begin with an aleph– Because GOD is LIGHT.
2nd…You have the vav, the letter that represents the Messiach, The SON of the Living GOD, (at another level, the vav can represent mankind)
3rd…You have the reish, the letter that represents Headship and You, standing in your place of Headship/Leadership)
What connects the aleph and the reish. The vav, is the connection between the GOD of Heaven and the reish on Earth.
Without GOD, the aleph, and His vav, The SON of the Living GOD and the reish, YOU, their Representative on Earth, there is no Light.
From the very first time GOD said, “Let there be Light”, He had YOU in mind.
You were ALWAYS a part of the equation. GOD can not spell Light, without a reish.
aleph (1) vav (6) reish (200) = 207
aleph (GOD) vav (Son) reish (You) = 207
While we are hear, know that Light in Hebrew has the same numerical equivalency as the words; I see (H7200), I Speak (H1696), and in righteousness (H6666), crown (H2213), to name a few.
Sight, Speech, Righteousness and Crown are all equivalent to Light. They are all in line with and equal to; The Father, The Son and the reish, the Light
That is not coincidence. That is the providential blessings in the Hebrew.
But, Rev. Madison…You said Light equaled, the 611 in torah.
“Yes, I did.”
Let’s take a look at Psalm 18:28 for a minute.
“For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.”
(tav) – aleph – vav – reish, …reads (will) Light.
When a tav is placed before the verb, ‘Light’ in Hebrew, the tav becomes the word, “will”.
tav (400) aleph (1) vav (6) reish (200) = 611
When tav takes the ‘imperfect’ form through use of the letter tav… it is expressed in the imperfect tense, meaning ‘I will’.
The Imperfect Form in Hebrew represents “Incomplete Action”. Words like, “will and shall” are incomplete.
In Hebrew, the Future (tense) is called Imperfect. It’s imperfect, because there is an unknown element.
“For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.”
Our focus is on the first 4 words.
For (key) You (atah) will (represented by the letter tav) light (ore, aleph-vav-reish)
transliteration: key atah tah’ear (see Notation #1 at the end of this teaching)
For You Will Light….meaning GOD will light
“For thou wilt light (ore) my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.”
Again, that’s the literal translation…. Let’s look at this same verse from another perspective, applying what we have learned about the Hebrew Letter tav.
tav + LIGHT = 611
tav – aleph – vav – reish… The tav, represents the Covenant and the Cross. Psalm 18:28 says, For YOU will light my candle… David is speaking of GOD. tav-aleph vav-reish is how you say, “You will Light”
“You (atah), Will (tav)” is expressed, by the placing the letter tav in front of the word Light. (I am intentionally repeating this information)
To place LIGHT in the future imperfect tense, you add a tav in-front of the word, ore (LIGHT).
You also know that, tav represents GOD’s Covenant.
David is literally saying, “GOD will light his candle”… but David is also saying, through the Hebrew lettering…The Covenant is Light. The covenant is the candle. As long as David operates by the Covenant, GOD will enlighten the darkness.
Without the Covenant, there “will be” no Light. tav takes this entire conversation to the imperfect tense, because whether or not the light comes, will depend on whether or not YOU accept the covenant.
Covenant + Light = torah.
David has a candle for GOD to Light.
It takes GOD to light our candle. GOD ignites the flame inside our hearts.
He gave us the Covenant, represented by the letter tav in this verse.
In order to say, “YOU will light my candle”, you have to place a tav before the light.
When we take up GOD’s Covenant, the Light comes…
How do I know, that I know, that I know…, What are my many infallible proofs, besides what I have shown you in the letters themselves?
Because David told me so, in Ps 119:130
“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
God’s Word, brings the Light
When we add the Covenant, God’s Word bring’s the Light
…and that’s the 611 on torah
- What I want you to learn and remember in this teaching?
- GOD’s Word always agrees with itself.
- The word Light (215) means to be or become the Light.
- Acceptance of GOD’s Word, brings Light.
- The Imperfect Tense in Hebrew, awaits Your Decision.
- God is Prepared to do something…What are we prepared to do?
- The Covenant is how we bring GOD’s Light into the World. We must accept and obey the covenant.
- You Already Knew GOD called you to be a Light in the World. Now you know, that YOU were already written into the word Light.
- GOD, Christ and You, spell LIGHT.
- Christ is in the middle, connecting GOD and the reish.
- It takes, GOD, Christ and a reish, to bring the Light into the darkness. It’s a Partnership.
- When we bring the Covenant, GOD sends the Light!
- As long as David operated by the Covenant, GOD would enlighten his darkness.
- Place a tav before the Light.
Torah is Viewed From Many Vantage Points….
Take a piece of paper in your hand. An 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper, would be great for this demonstration. You have many options available to you to view this piece of paper. Front or back, you can fold it in half’s, quarters, eights, etc. You can bawl it up, unfold it and look at each individual sub section. You can flip it horizontally, vertically, lining your sight up with the edges in order to gain different perspectives, until you have examined every conceivable aspect and viewpoint.
This is how you study torah. You leave no stone unturned. Examine everything, every word, every phrase. Find the connections. Our goal is a higher perspective from which to view scripture.
“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” —Psalm 31:24
Just for Fun… a bit of 611 Trivia.
OK, I can’t help myself. So, I just have to point this out! Back in the day, in America, when you used to be able to pick up the phone and call 611 for information/customer service. Does anyone remember that? The phone company had a system set up that allowed you to call for residence and business listings of phone numbers. It was called 611.
Looks like, 611 is connected to the pursuit of wisdom, knowledge and information. Someone at AT&T must have had a little torah in them.
NOTATION #1: You = atah tah (will) ear (light) : when ore, Light is conjugated with tav (will) the sound of ore changes, form on “o” sound to an “e” sound. For now, without straying off into grammar too far, stay focused on the word for ‘light’, which is ore, aleph-tav-reish.
God Bless You,
This teaching is dedicated to Adrian “The Tzaddik”… You truly embody the LORD’s Most Excellent Way! I’m looking forward to Your Books, and to the day you agree to become an CO- Author on this site! (1 Cor 12:10, 14)
Posts Included in This Series:
- The Message In The Letters of Torah…beginning with the tav
- The Message In The Letters of Torah… Part 2, the vav
- The Message In The Letters of Torah… Part 3, the reish
- The Message In The Letters of Torah… Part 4, the hei
In order to access more teachings of this kind on the Hebrew Letters:
- Because Mother’s Untangle the World
- The Undiscovered Adam and the Unexplained Man, Part 2
- If God Told You A Secret, Could You Keep It?
- Make A Window In The Ark
Cover 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.
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[OFFICIAL WEBSITE] Leave A Little Light As You Pass By
THE LORD LOVES A GOOD DISCUSSION!