Shavuot, the Jewish holiday that celebrates God's giving of the Torah to His people, begins at sundown on May 26, 2012. God's law or torah is the spelling out of the details of the Covenant that was agreed upon and sealed at Sinai (see Ex 19:1-23; Num28:26-31). So, it is fitting to ask the question that if the Bible is God's word, did he sign it? Is His signature there? Is it evident? How do we know it is His word, and so on? Let's take a look.

Let's look at 1Kings 7:23. These are instruction for making a cylinder of some sort that has a diameter of 10 cubits. We as moderns know that there is a ratio of radius/diameter to circumference; there is a fixed relationship. Hence when given the radius or diameter of a circle we can find the circumference. We know the circumference is a little more than 3 times the diameter. This is modern geometry.

Ignorant people use this passage in 1Kings to say that God didn't write the Bible (or even worse that there is no God and if there were He is not all knowing). This passage states that the diameter of the cylinder is to be 10 cubits and the circumference is to be 30 cubits. Why, that is impossible, they proclaim. And, indeed, if that were the end, it would be impossible; but it is not.

The Hebrew text reads that cylinder is to be 10 cubits from lip to lip. The word used for "circumference," however, has no vowels written with it. This is one of several places in Hebrew Scripture where a word is pronounced one way and written another way. Two meanings can be extracted from the same word. If it is written, the word is kava. If it is spoken, the word is Kav. As you know from my other writings, all letters in Hebrew have a numerical value. Kav equals 106 and Kava equals 111. In Hebrew when a word is written one way and pronounced another way, there is a message which comes out of it showing that God is true.

Samuel or the writers of Kings wanted to tell us that there is a relationship between these numbers. Indeed there is. Three times 111 divided by 106 equals 3.1415! We call that Pi. Archimedes first knew of this relationship about 150-200 years before Christ; but it was Fibonacci who really formulated it around 1200 C.E.. Yet the Bible describes it years before either of these two men. In fact, 3.1415 is more accurate information than one needs to send a man to the moon!

Modern science accredits the formulation of the water vapor cycle to Bernard Palissy, who lived in the 1500's. Yet the Bible explains this cycle in Gen 2:6 and in Job 37:26, which happens to be the oldest written book in the Bible. It is also told again in Amos 5:8. Apparently, God wanted us to understand how He waters the earth!

In the creation story in Genesis, there are 34 verses in the Hebrew to describe it. Those verses are composed of 92 Hebrew words. How many elements do you need to create the universe? Ninety-two! Just as an aside: the elements from 93-115 don't exist naturally. They are made artificially and only last a few seconds. Hence, there are 92 building blocks for everything around you and 92 words used to describe it. There is no word for "coincidence" in Hebrew!

There are many, many more examples of God's signature in the bible. Then why do people insist the Bible was made up by primitive, tribal Bedouins? Did God use man to write it? Of course He did. But He is the author behind it. His signature runs throughout it. And if Bedouins wrote the Bible, where is the rest of their literature they've done since then? There isn't any!

The problem is "cognitive dissonance." Our minds will block out information that causes our hearts pain. To restate: we block out painful information. Recognizing that God is the true author of the Bible means it has to be taken seriously, man is not in control, and someone is watching us all the time! So man sturctures a world view that the Bible is nonsense, a fiction made up by primitive people a long time ago. They believe the Bible is not the instruction manual for life and if you suggest otherwise; you become the idiot, bigot, religious fundamentalist! One point missed is, of course, that there is someone watching OVER mankind, not just watching mankind. Suggesting that someone is watching over us and protecting us might be something we can offer those who deny the authenticity of the Bible. In other words, they don't have to be frightened! We understand their everyday life will change when they accept what is written; but, they can know this is the Word of God. In fact, if anyone studies it enough, they will realize the Bible is a love letter from God and that He is speaking to them directly. The purpose: to fulfill our lives!

By the way, the Hebrew word for learn and repeat are the same. That's how we learn, by repetition. God says that if we want to learn, we do it by repetition. Study, Study, Study His Word! Enjoy this short video showing God's signature in His creation. 

In Mark 10:16 we are told that Jesus took children up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this event. What was Jesus doing and why was it important enough for the synoptic writers to record this event?

Children are a sign of the covenant. God’s promises spoken over His people include the promise of offspring. God’s first pronounced blessing was to Adam and Eve when He spoke that they should be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28). God pronounced the same type of blessing to Noah in Gen 9:1. And then again to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Gen 17:2, 22:18, and 28:14). Again God promised offspring to David in 2Sam 7:11-12.

It is through our offspring, natural or spiritual, that God’s plan for the future unfolds. He has a plan, not just for today but tomorrow as well. Through our offspring the life of Christ is given to the world.

God instructed Aaron, His first High Priest how to bless. (By the way, if you are a believer in Christ, then you have been called as a priest as well.) God told Moses to speak to Aaron and his sons saying: “Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall SAY (emphasis added) to them: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace. So they shall put My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” Num 6:23-27. God said if we pronounce the blessing, He will bless. In the Hebrew this is very much in the present tense. Today we hear preachers saying: “May the Lord bless you…” But it is rather: “The Lord blesses you…” He is the Great I Am not the maybe-I-will-if-I-feel-like-it-sometime-in-the-future.

God does not institute rites for the fun of it. There is no wasted motion in what God does, nor is there a lack of purpose. Every thing that God does, he does so to produce life at a higher level when it is observed. This blessing in Numbers 6 was the vehicle God chose so that He could bless His people. He is present in the blessing, when it is invoked, to impart the blessing. “And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. (emphasis added)” This is the way God chose to impart something of Himself to His people.

Jesus continued to use this rite of blessing to impart life to His followers and to the future generations. This blessing must be spoken; it is not something wished for silently. In fact, everything man ever receives from God is by the spoken word. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. “The word is nigh thee, even in they mouth, and in they heart; that is the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:8-10).”

Simply put, God is present in the blessing when it is spoken. Why would you not choose to bless your children in the same way Jesus did? The building of Godly character is one of the benefits children receive when the blessing is imparted to them by their parents and others.

When you speak the blessing over others the last part is about God imparting “peace” to His people. The Hebrew word is “Shalom,” which means the sum total of ALL the good which the Lord does for His people. Isn’t that what we want for our children and others?

Children as well as others who receive blessings from their parents and others on a regular basis will notice a difference in their lives. It is God who blesses when His name is invoked over our children and friends. In Jewish families, parents will take a dip of honey and place it on the lips of their small children when invoking the blessing and remind the children that the Word of God is as sweet as honey and much to be desired; a wonderful custom that you might want to begin.

Read how Jacob struggled to receive his blessing (Gen 25), how he fulfilled it in Gen 27—29, and just how important the blessing pronounced and received is. The Apostle Peter tells us that we are called for the very purpose of inheriting a blessing (1Peter 3:9). The Scripture is replete with stories of pronouncing and inheriting a blessing. Search them out. You will be amazed.

In conclusion, every blessing in the Bible is a verbal one. The blessing is not just a desire hidden in the heart. It must be spoken. Words have power when they are released. God said it this way: “Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel, You shall SAY to them. . .”

 

 

Apocalyptic literature is an ancient literary form or genre in literature. The word apocalypse means revelation. Please note, the word is singular. Usually, an apocalypse is a first-person narrative in which the author relates one or more revelatory visions about the present, future, heavenly world or all three. Jewish apocalypses often reflect a sharp distinction between the present evil age and the imminent future age of blessing. The conflict between a righteous minority and wicket majority is understood as representing a clash between God and Satan. After a period of intense conflict and great suffering, God will decisively intervene in history to vindicate and reward His people and punish or eliminate their earthly oppressors. Further, most Jewish apocalypses use a great deal of symbolism, often quite bizarre.

Apocalyptic literature as noted above is its own genre. If I told you that a "paid political advertisement" was about to come on the television, you would know what to expect. You would expect to hear the degradation of the opposing candidate along with the adulation of the candidate for whom the ad is written. As another example, if I told you the Star Wars movies were being played, you would know that they depict a universe that has been subjected to evil forces; that the high tech background mirrors our society; and that even though the power of good seems to be reduced to one young man, good will triumph over evil.

If you haven't seen a paid political advertisement or the Star Wars trilogy, you might not know what to expect; and the language, illusions, and symbolism would be lost to you. Apocalyptic literature is the same. It is full of images that have a long history stretching from ancient Near Eastern myth through the Old Testament prophets to Jewish apocalypses like the book of Daniel. These images were also used in the New Testament.

Apocalypse is the Greek word for revelation. From Daniel at the end of the Old Testament to Revelation at the end of the New Testament, we have a wide variety of such visionary writings from both Jewish and Christian circles. Their audiences were familiar with this form of expression, just as people today are familiar with the two examples used above of t.v. ads and movies. Their audiences understood the symbolism used: numbers, colors, horses, messengers, wars, good and evil, names of ancient battle sites, corrupt government, beasts, dragons, lambs, eyes, heads and horns, and so forth. They knew that an apocalypse with symbolic visions of world history was about to unroll the plan of God. The audience understood that they were much closer to the end of history than to its beginning. The apocalypse would reassure the audience that their suffering would visited with divine judgment, that the faithful are not forgotten, and that their reward was to be happiness, fulfillment, and blessings in the future.

Apocalyptic literature comes from people oppressed by imperial powers. That situation is, of course, another reason that they used highly symbolic language, which only people familiar with the tradition of interpreting such images could understand. Criticism of political rulers could be a dangerous business! In fact, oftentimes in ancient apocalyptic writings, the author would hid behind a pseudonym or ancient sage. In the New Testament book of Revelation we see a "revealing angel" instead.

This type of literature involves then more than just a style. It is a specifically religious response to the experience of persecution from without and erosion from within. In literary terms, apocalyptic answers the question posed by the choice between "king" and God. To those suffering for God, it says, be comforted; to those tempted to leave the faith, it says hold fast. There is tension between conviction and experience. The people of the Old Testament knew the law. They knew that to obey it meant they were blessed. But soon came the experience of persecution. They were being put to death simple because they were obeying the law; not because they were impious but because they were pious! Their children and possession were being ripped away and their own taken. God did not seem to be in control. This conflict between experience and conviction was real. It was usually addressed the literary form called apocalyptic.

The key to a proper appreciation of the apocalyptic tradition lies in the realization that apocalypses are more of the nature of poetry than dogma. They are works of art and imagination which are not in general sources of factual information. They were not written with that purpose. Rather, their value lies in their ability to envision alternatives to the world of present experience and thereby provide hope and consolation. As such, they speak to enduring human needs and are a vital part of our religious heritage and experience.