A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This quote of an Chinese philosopher is obvious, but telling. Looking at what I have learned over the past few months is nothing compared to what I have yet to understand. I have been blown away by not only the complexity of the Bible itself, but even the original language. The untold information waiting to be unlocked is astronomical in scope, but once you've taken that first step, the thirst for more is unquenchable.
I have been a believer in Yeshua hamashiach (His proper Hebrew name and title) since 1992. I had been involved in my church in many ways including a Sunday school teacher, Youth Leader and serving on various committees. I never seemed to find the time to get involved in a Bible study. Last year,while riding to work on the bus, I noticed one woman reading a bible on her kindle tablet. I had been watching movies and listening to music on my phone when I could have been doing something useful! Almost immediately I began bringing my Bible with me and read it on my way to and from work. I still do this and cherish this time. After discussing it with my wife, we approached our Pastor and asked to be put into a Bible study group. Little did I know how this would turn our lives upside down.
Sometime after beginning the Bible study is when my wife's uncle introduced me to 119 Ministries. This put a fire in my heart and a thirst for knowledge. I started to question my Bible. I knew from previous experiences that it was full of supposed contradictions and tackled that head on. I also realized that the term "lost in translation" was also applicable. I think it is very important that we look at the scriptures as they were written. The Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Aramaic. Remember, the oldest translations of the NT (New Testament) that Bible publishers routinely use are in greek, however, Yeshua did not speak greek. He likely spoke aramaic which is a slang of Hebrew.Translation loses something when you go from Hebrew to Greek and Greek to English or what have you. It boggles my mind that people think that The Heavenly Father has "protected" the scriptures so that nothing is lost. You need only to look at the 121 different translations in English alone ! Never mind that, how about 40,000 different denominations. How can everyone be correct? They can't. We have to go back and start over. Just as an example look at this found on bible.com same verse, some information was left out.
I brought my concerns about translation to my Bible study group and openly questioned the validity of the current translations. That pretty much derailed the bible study for that week. It wasn't totally a train wreck though. It did start some great debate and got my pastor and the other couple at the bible study thinking. I had never really thought much about the original texts until this time, but it has me enthralled and perplexed. My wife and I have been blown away by the Passion for Truth Ministries series on the Aleph Bet. For those who are unaware, we get the word Alphabet from the Hebrew term Aleph Bet (pronounced Alef Bait). It is an incredible language that simply amazes with its complexity. Each letter has an individual meaning and when used to make words, the meanings of the letters tell you the meaning of the word. Not end there, each letter has a numerical value, and there is new evidence they also represent musical notes. Even the Hebrew Alphabet tells the story when you understand each letter and follow them in order: The strength of the leader of the house who is the generous rich man who gives to the poor man . That opens the door to revelation of the nail. It brings forth the sword of the spirit which is a plow that opens up the earth separating it and brings forth a fence that surrounds and separates holy from unholy. This gives you a choice, the snake in the basket if you make the wrong choice. If you choose to do the right thing The right hand of power anoints you. You receive the staff of authority which allows you to wash which brings forth new life. If you are leaning on the truth you will have spiritual insight. You will then see and proclaim and you will become righteous. Once you are righteous, you can see in both kingdoms, spiritual and physical. This is far as I've gotten in their teachings, but it is amazing, the depth of the language.
It's kind of funny, I was so starved for the word, I watched teaching after teaching, I got to the point where I was almost physically ill. I over ate as it were. This also happened to my wife and my wife of the uncle that opened our eyes to the realization that we have been disregarding our Father's direction of worship. Some people say there is a "god" shaped hole in us. I think it is more an issue of not properly reading the owner's manual we've been provided. Many of us read it, but are unaware the instructions are translated from one language to another by someone who did not have a grasp of the first language and context. Kinda like getting instructions in english that were translated from chinese by a french man. You're going to miss stuff, but this wasn't just by accident, the enemy was involved. We can't forget him and his ability to infiltrate and deceive.
