Genesis - Torah Class

I must admit, I didn't think it would take this long to get through one book.  AND yet I thought it would take longer.  I want ALL the knowledge now, and there are so many things that are brought up, that I simply have to check out before I can move on.  I am learning so much by going through this class.  Some I admit I still have problems with, and truly I don't think it's where I wanted to go as far as my learning.  But it's good insightful information.  I think truly I should have found a Talmud class, rather than a Torah class.  Cause I want to pull these two together in my head, and I think that it would make more sense to learn the traditions and cultures.  But then again, would that just confuse me if I don't go through the Torah first.

I'm rambling, but getting my concerns off my chest.  Thanks for listening and I will post some "eye openers" for me here in the near future.  Stay tuned.

Torah Class

I have decided, based on everything I have read so far.  That it is crucial for my understanding, to learn the Old Testament from a Jewish perspective.  So I have spent most of the last week on the below listed sight.  I'm starting at the beginning, and taking my time, so that I absorb and understand.  I am 1/4 of the way through Genesis in one week.  Yea me.  At this rate, I will be through the bible by 2016.  LOL  Just kidding, it shouldn't take that long.  Some of the things I've learned just this far are EYE opening, and lots of Ah HAH moments.  I highly recommend you make this journey if, your seeking enlightenment.


Torah Class

More Than A Carpenter ~ Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell

I read this book a few years ago.  When I first returned to church.  It made a lot of sense to me when I read it before.  So I decided since I am flourishing on this journey that I'd read it again.

I have recommended this book many times over the last few years.  IF you read nothing else, I suggest vehemently that you read this one.

There are a lot of good things to consider, that I hadn't really heard before.

But the one I want to mention is:
         " Lord, Liar, or Lunatic? "

Precisely.  There are no other options.  Broken down, it simply states:  Jesus, knew what he was and what he was doing, OR he knew he was not but portrayed himself falsely OR he didn't know what he was.  These are truly the only three options.

Raving madman? for 11 men to follow and go to their graves standing behind the madman?  I think not.
False Prophet? Was he a liar, trying to pull the "wool" over our eyes?  WHY? He gained nothing by this.

Lord and Savior, is truly the ONLY option that makes sense.

McDowell delves into this far better than I can, and introduces you to many other things to think about.  Even if you are a true believer and follower of Christ.  Read this book.

My First Enlightenment Moment

Many times over the past 40 some odd years, I have started to read the Word of God, and sat down with my Bible and began.  Where?  Genesis.  Do I make it far?  No, not really.  Chapter 1, V. 26-27.  I know, I know, this is so sad.  Being hung up on ONE little word, to the point that I let myself stall and stay stuck there.  Yes, I have read on through Adam and Eve.  I've read on through Noah.  Noah is about as far as I would make it, before my overwhelming quirked out factor kept me from proceeding.

Now don't get me wrong here, I AM NOT OPPOSED TO THE CONCEPT OF THE TRINITY.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  However, I am opposed to that being a satisfying answer as to my questions about the use in these two verses of  "us", "our" and "ourselves".

Let "us" make humankind.  Who is He referring to?  It's just Him, right?  In the likeness of "ourselves"... HUH????  what a minute... Read it for yourself, I have included the Jewish version here, but check them all, they are all the same.  "us", "our" and "ourselves".

The Jewish Bible

26Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth." 27 So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 

Yes this could very easily be referring to the Holy Trinity.  It could.  EVERY one that I've discussed this with, says so.  BUT... the concept, the idea, the explanation of Trinity, is not mentioned here, it's not explained here, it's not really (if you think about it) alluded to here.  So no, for some reason this bucked me right off track, That answer to This question, didn't satisfy me in any sense.  

Now... I know why.  
And I've included that explanation here for you.

The true God is introduced to us in the first verse of Genesis and we are also given the first of what will prove to be many of the unchangeable, sometimes inscrutable, characteristics and attributes of God. The Hebrew word that our Bibles translate to “God” is Elohim.  First we must understand that Elohim is NOT God’s name; we won’t be advised of God’s name until much later in the Torah. Rather Elohim is a title and it is a plural title (plural as in more-than-one). Elohim and its various usages is a complex matter that we are only going to barely touch upon today. However we need to know for the moment that Elohim is a word that is not only used in the Bible to refer to the one true God, it is also used occasionally when speaking of the false gods; as we talked about in the introduction last week, context is everything when dealing with Hebrew language and culture.

So with the introduction of this plural title for God, Elohim, instantly the door is opened to dealing with this incredible truth and paradigm: God is one but He also is many.  The “I-M” at the end of the word Elohim makes this word a masculine plural noun. In fact as a basic Hebrew lesson, whenever you see the letters “I-M” ending a Hebrew word you can know that it is speaking of more than one (plural). Yet there is another usage in Hebrew of the “I-M” ending and it’s called the “plural of Majesty”. That is adding the “I-M” at the end of a word can also denote greatness rather than plurality.

Christians, rightfully so, take the word Elohim as indicating BOTH greatness AND plurality, and from this eventually grew our uniquely Christian concept of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…..3 gods in one. Or better a single God consisting of 3 persons or essences or manifestations. The use of the word Elohim does not in and by itself prove that God is plural. Rather there are several more critical pieces of evidence that we will encounter to show that God is indeed a plurality.

http://torahclass.com/old-testament-studies/34-old-testament-studies-genesis/57-lesson-2

The Word

Why is it, when one starts to study the bible, that people from all over your life come out of the woodwork to tell you how things are.  They don't listen to reason.  They don't come bearing facts.  They just preach what they think, and BOOM you should see their light.

My head is spinning right now.  My very good friend just left.  He has very good intentions.  I think.  But I'm on a journey towards enlightenment.  And I don't think getting sidetracked in denominations is going to be productive for me.  

I want to study the Word, learn the Word, and absorb and understand the Word.  Yes I know there are a lot of versions of the Word, and a lot of interpretations of the Word.  But I think, honestly, that if you break it down one chapter at a time and look at all possibilities, and especially starting with the original Hebrew.  That you can interpret for yourself.  God WILL let you get from His Word what he wants you to get from it.  HE will make it clear. 

But you have to seek Him, and work for the Word to be open to you.  

Please do not hit me with denominational traditions.  All of that is irrelevant to my journey.  Protestant, Catholic, Pentecostal, Lutheran, ALL of these are branches, versions, just like the many bibles out there.   Jesus was a Jew, he learned from Jews, their culture, their language, their teachings.  He taught the Jews, and used the Jewish Scriptures when he taught others.  So why when one starts out learning would one not start "In the beginning..." (Both in the Scripture, and in the study of Religion). 

Choices

God has instilled in us the power and privilege of free will.  This means I can choice to believe in God or not.  I can choose believe in his son Jesus or not.  All of us are granted this free will, to choose for ourselves whether to follow him or not.

I can educate you, I can show you the way, I can open your eyes, but in the end, you get to CHOOSE.

This goes for all things, in all areas.  To include abortion, same-sex marriages, same-sex parenting.  What I think is right or wrong matters not.  The man/woman with free will that chose poorly will answer to God for his/her choices not to me.

I have (nor does anyone else) no right to dictate to others their choices.  I'm not allowed to judge, that is for God alone.

And forgive those who trespass against you.  We have no right to deny forgiveness to others, God won't.

Scientific Facts in the Bible ~ Ray Comfort

My daughter is attending Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina.  The family decides to pick up from Arkansas and take a mini vacation and go watch her graduate.  We spent 5 days there spending time with her, a good time was had by all.  We needed a few things  late one night, and made a run to WalMart, yes they are everywhere.

I gathered the few items I needed, as did the rest of my family.  And upon arriving at the checkout, this book caught my eye.  I hadn't brought enough to read late at night, so I snagged it up.

This booklet is 101 pages in length.  Honestly wish that I had picked something else to read.  Yes there is a lot of fact in this book.  However, the format is very juvenile in nature.  Let me explain. 

It starts out addressing itself towards Atheists. Then follows a sort of debate style, on a grammar school level.  

People say....      Here's a verse.  

People say....      Here's a verse. 

People say....     Here's a verse.  

 Most of this involved no explanation, no in depth discussion, just here it is. 

Then there is a section:  He believed, so you should too.  He believed, do you think he was wrong.  This guy is known for most of what we know scientifically and he believed.  Why?  This sort of argument wouldn't convince me, and I'm a believer.  

Last, but not least, and honestly wish I had quit reading before I got to this point.  

On page 99 it says, "However, the correct answer is C.  Over 100,000 people were shot, strangled, stabbed, or poisoned and no one was brought to justice.  If your loved one were one of the victims, you would no doubt be outraged by such injustice.  It would then make sense to you that there would be final justice for those murderers on the Day of Judgment."

WRONG!!!

Final justice for those murderers, IF they don't repent of their sins and be forgiven before they arrive before God on the Day of Judgment.  

God can forgive them, then so should we, and not harbor a need for any final justice.  

I hate that I am pointing this out, but when your trying to convince an Atheist, you can not show inaccuracies for them to focus on.  You can't tell untruths, because they will use this to cast doubts on the rest of what you have to say.  I do NOT have all the answers, but I won't lead you to believe I do either.  

Christianity

I feel I need to clarify something.  I am very much a follower of Jesus (Yeshua), he is my Lord and savior, he died on the cross for me.  I believe this with my whole being.  I am on a journey through the bible, and the written documents of old and new that I come across, and a lot of stuff online.  I do attend a Methodist Church, and believe as the Apostle's Creed states.   I also know that there has been a separation of religion, just like the languages of man, the religions of man have been fractured and scattered.  I believe that for one to have a full picture, one must pull together the WORD as it was meant, and for that an understanding of the fractions is necessary.  All branches of my faith began with Judaism.  That is going to be the main of my starting point on my journey.  I will then explore through Catholicism, Protestant Revolution, do other offspring as necessary.   I hope you join along.  And thanks for reading.  Would love some feedback from you.

jrpodgurski27@gmail.com

Blood Moon Tetrads

In 5,000 years there have been 3,479 eclipses, but only 142 tetrads.  Since Christ there have been 62 tetrads, with only 8 of these falling on feast days.  The 9th is upon us now, and there will not be another this century.  

"The last two times there were four blood moons in a row, they happened, first, right after Israel became a nation in 1948, and then again when Israel retook Jerusalem in 1967."

The 9th one is upon us now.  I look forward to see what is coming from God this time.  

Blood Moons - Mark Biltz

This is in follow up to the Blood Prophecy post from a week or so ago. 

Blood Moons - Mark Biltz

The book I referenced earlier last week, The Four Blood Moons ~ John Hagee, I happened to see on Pastor Wes' shelf earlier this week when visiting him.  He said this book was better, and lent it to me. 

Eager now to learn all I can, I all but devoured this book.  Lots of good information to be gleaned from the reading of this book.  I am a little disappointed in the lack of attention to the Blood Moons, and the Tetrad coming.  Yes Biltz did discuss this in a chapter.  The other 7 or so chapters (contained excellent material) but focused on the biblical calendar.  This is imperative information, and I'm very glad that it was included.  It was information that everyone needs, and a lot of good websites to follow up with.  I recommend this book highly.  

Biltz was the first to connect the Blood Moons, the Tetrad, to the Biblical calendar, and it's truly enlightening what he has to say.  

In follow up to my earlier post, I have included those passages that Biltz referenced below to further the argument that YES the heavens, and stars, are signs, and used by God as signs.  God made the heavens and earth, he surely can turn them off and on.  

Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. 

Joel 2:30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

Joel 3:15 The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness.

Luke 21:11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

Luke 21:25 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 

Revelation 6:12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 

Joshua 10:13 So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. 

2 Kings:9 Then Isaiah said, "This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?" 10 And Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees."11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz. 

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.

Not Trail Mix

I won't normally share things of this nature, but I feel the need to today.  The Bible is our instruction manual.  Read it!!  All of it.  It's all important.  Old and New Testament.  Without the Old there can be NO New.

The Case for Christmas ~ Lee Strobel

This book was given to me by Pastor Wes, at a Christmas service, Heritage United Methodist Church.  Yes, I know it took me a while to getting around to reading it.  I enjoyed this book.  The author very much has the same concerns I had at one time.  And he had the resources and time to get answers to some of those questions.

1.  "Son of Man"? Daniel 7:13-14
2.  Does archaeology support or debunk Jesus?
3.  How can one believe in the virgin birth?
4.  Doesn't Christianity mimic other religions?
5.  The census.
6.  Existence of Nazareth.
7.  Slaughter at Bethlehem

All these and more, are addressed in this little 91 page book.  I found it to be very enlightening and hard to argue with.  I recommend anyone on the journey for answers, check out this book.  The author was able to talk to some really big names in the field of Theology, not something a layman like me would be able to do.

About Me & Prophecies

I have completed the About Me section of this blog.  Please enjoy.  And share any questions, comments or concerns, either there in the comments, or privately on the email indicated at the bottom of the page.

I have also added a page listing the 48 prophecies from the old testament that Jesus fulfilled.  For your information.  If you are not familiar with fulfilled prophecies, please take the time to look at these.

Thank you!

God's Not Dead - In theaters now.

Went to see this movie yesterday.  I was a little skeptical at first based on the name.  But they did an excellent job.  The story involved many characters, that were at first seemingly unconnected.  I like those kinds of movies.  One central character pulls them all together.  I was a little disappointed at a couple of characters the way they ended, but that is how it goes, not everyone can see the Light.  Kudoos for this young man standing up to the bully and fighting for what he believes in, in the face of everyone standing against him at first.  And very nice meeting the Newsboys at the end.  

I was absolutely floored when the credits rolled and saw ALL those cases that inspired this movie.  Saddens my heart that so many don't see...

THIS IS A MUST SEE MOVIE!!