At the start of the book of Deuteronomy we find Israel in Moab, where the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea. Moses takes time to prepare the people for the road ahead. Rather than speaking sternly and professorially, he speaks straight from the heart. He knows these people have endured God's discipline for 40 years, but now they stand on the cusp of receiving the promise. With Egypt behind them and the Promised Land before them, Moses inspires the people not with a battle cry but a reminder of God's law. Obedience will be the key to their success.
At the start of the book of Numbers we find Israel still at the foot of the Mountain of God, but all that soon changes. This book was written to chronicle the new nations history and their journey across the Jordan River to the nation fields of Moab at the edge of the land of Canaan. The journey is the primary story, but it also continues the story of God's covenant with Abraham all the way back in Genesis and the covenant God made with Moses and the people — even though their numbers would dwindle during this 40-year journey largely characterized by wandering.
The failures of the people of the great “I AM” were made clear in the book of Exodus; in Leviticus God is all about teaching his people how to move forward. Not literally, of course, since we find Moses and the people still at the foot of the mountain of God. Instead of guiding the fledgling nation out of the desert, God guide them to honor and worship him – both publicly and privately – because corporate and personal obedience to the laws would eventually contribute to the overall health of their nation. God is setting them up for success.
Exodus is a continuation of Genesis. Examining Genesis 46.8 where the phrase "These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt..." we find a parallel in the opening verse of Exodus (1.1), "These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family...". Clearly the two books belong together. The book begins listing the names of those impacted by oppression and slavery and ends with a rescued population of Israel camped out in the desert at the foot of God's Mountain.
We mentioned in this series already that even though YHWH is written in the Bible many times it was only ever spoken by the priests in the Temple. When outside the Temple the priests used the name Adonai. This name for God means “Master” or “Owner” and represents God’s right to rule as he is the creator and owner of every person. This name for God occurs nearly 300 times in the Old Testament. Before the people then, the Priest would read a passage from the Law and replace this personal name YHWH with Adonai.
The Psalmist writes, "I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your name..." (138.2a). When you give thanks to God, what name do you call him by? I bet you end your prayers "in Jesus name", but is that right? A while back a reader emailed me asking about the name Yeshua. For the uninitiated, Yeshua (also Yehoshuah) is the Hebrew name of Jesus and it means “salvation.” If this is Jesus’ Hebrew name, how did we come to know the Son of God as Jesus? The simple answer is language.
Before we properly met she knew that I was a regular attender and that I sat with my parents most every week. I knew she was an accomplished guitarist and singer. Even though we both knew something about the other we wouldn’t say that we knew each other. Knowing someone requires one crucial piece of knowledge: that person’s name. Which brought a question to my mind later in the day: Why should it be any different with God? Each Thursday for the next several weeks we will take you through the names of God to understand it's meaning and to know God more intimately.
It's a joke we invented in college, and I confess I still use it from time to time. During a discussion or debate, should the other person accuse me of being judgmental, I remind them of this truth, "I'm not your judge, but I agree with Him." Usually said with a smirk. it is used to help lighten a conversation rising in intensity, but there is nothing light about the All-Powerful Lord, the Pantokrator (pant-oh-kray-tore). Pantokrator is a name for God that not many protestants are familiar with, but it is very old and very telling.
"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. This week in the Bible and Media: Is China going to create their own "Communist-approved" translation of the Bible? Also, ancient scrolls that disappeared five years ago resurface, and a Hebrew prophets tomb is restored and open for visitors once more.
"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. This week in the Bible and Media: China bans the sale of Bible's online, California makes a move to ban the sale of the Bible in their state, and a public US high school discriminates against LGBTQ students.
"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. This week in the Bible and Media: At a time when social media is attacking the Bible and Christian speech, politicians try to use the Bible to justify their political agendas and a famous composer's study Bible sheds light on his faith.
Mark it on your calendar, Think-Biblically.com is officially declaring 2018 the Year of Bible Proofs. Technically it began in November of last year with the opening of the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC, which we covered here. While it opened in November, it now has all its exhibits up and ready for patrons. Just across the street from the world famous Smithsonian, it is a beacon of light revealing how the Bible has impacted America's history politically, and in civil rights and social justice issues. It does all this through the exhibition of 40,000 artifacts.