For the Kingdom of Heaven is Like…

20 11 2008

Our pastor has been preaching a sermon series on what the kingdom of heaven is like, using as his text, inter alia, the parables in the book of Matthew. At the end of one of his sermons, he asked us to write our own parable using our occupations, capacities as parents, or grandparents, etc. as the basis for our own parable.

For example, a teacher’s might begin, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a classroom…” Naturally, I thought, “Church assignment…blog post.” And thus, a snippet of the gospel according to Peter (red-letter edition):

Satan Smiting Job, William Blake

Satan Smiting Job, William Blake

…and Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a court of law, where the accuser very thoroughly and convincingly builds a case against the accused. He presents the evidence to the jury bit by bit, witness after witness.

Pointing to the one on trial, the prosecutor boastfully argues to the jury:

‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this poor excuse for a human being has committed heinous violations of the most holy law.

He has placed other gods before the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He has made idols of innumerable persons and things.

He has taken the Lord’s Name in vain countless times.

He has never kept the Sabbath holy, defiling it at every opportunity.

He has dishonored his father and mother all of his life.

According to the very words of God’s own Son, he has committed murder and adultery. Repeatedly!

This man is a thief, a liar, and a coveter. A worse human being has never been created. This man is guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

And justice requires that he be punished!’

There is no defense to present. The jury, horrified by the actions of the accused, quickly returns a verdict of ‘guilty,’ fully expecting the Judge to impose the stiffest sentence possible: an eternity in the lake of fire.

The Judge turns to the accused and says, ‘Is there anything you have to say for yourself before sentence is imposed?’

The accused, still bound and shackled, bows his head in shame knowing there is nothing he can say in defense of these accusations.

But, quietly and confidently, the advocate for the accused stands, and, placing his hand on the accused’s shoulder, says:

‘Your Honor, I stepped out of heaven and became flesh. I was born to a human mother. I was raised by a human father. I spent my life teaching humanity about You.

I was hated. Mocked. Spat upon. I was imprisoned, scourged, and tried before a sham court. I was convicted, sentenced to death, and crucified, all so that this man and others like him would not have to endure the same.

Three days later I rose again, having paid in full the price for all human sin. It is true, this man is guilty of all of those things. And more.

But, what you have required of this man is this: that he believe in Me and what I did for him and others like him, that it would not have been done in vain.

Your Honor, the only thing I can say in defense of this man is that he believes.

I have paid his debt. I have endured his punishment. His sentence has been imposed, his time has been served.

Ought not this man, being a son of Abraham, whom this accuser has bound, be acquitted and loosed from this bondage? Ought not this man be set free?’

The Judge, robed in pristine white, leans forward, looks at the accused, smiles, and says, ‘You are free.’”


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Scofield Study Bible - An Oldie But Goodie

6 11 2008
Scofield Study Bible

Scofield Study Bible

I just recently acquired an Oxford University Press Scofield Study Bible (KJV). It is black bonded leather with the 1917 notes. It’s really quite lovely.

I don’t want to get into a whole debate about dispensationalist theology - I’ll leave that to others - suffice it to say, I am not a dispensationalist, although there are elements of dispensationalist theology worthy of more exploration (on my part). And, if the fact that the Scofield Study Bible is unashamedly dispensationalist causes you grief, I understand. I also understand that a lot has changed since 1917, and our understanding of history, archeology, and science are completely different than it was nearly a century ago. But I do want to share a part of what is written in the introduction.

I know most people don’t bother to read the xx or so pages of introductory material at the front of their Bibles. Translation philosophies, explanatory essays, and dreadful lists of acknowledgments are for the truly hard core.

I, however, happen to fall into this category, ask my wife. She will testify that the first thing I do when we check into a hotel room is read the over-sized hotel binder cover-to-cover. I want to know about the facilities, amenities, services, attractions, etc. (you never know when you might need an aspirin at 3 a.m., and I want to know if I will have to leave the hotel, trek down to a “gift shop,” or call for room service). The same goes for my Bibles.

On page v of my new Scofield Study Bible, there is a section of the introduction entitled “A Panoramic View of the Bible.” Without going into the whole thing, one of the sections struck me:

First. The Bible is one book. Seven great marks attest this unity. (1) From Genesis the Bible bears witness to one God. Wherever he speaks or acts he is consistent with himself, and with the total revelation concerning him. (2) The Bible forms one continuous story - the story of humanity in relation to God. (3) The Bible hazards the most unlikely predictions concerning the future, and, when the centuries have brought round the appointed time, records their fulfillment. (4) The Bible is a progressive unfolding of truth. Nothing is told all at once, and once and for all. The law is, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn.” Without the possibility of collusion, often with centuries between, one writer of Scripture takes up an earlier revelation, adds to it, lays down the pen, and in due time another man moved by the Holy Spirit, and another, and another, add new details till the whole is complete. (5) From beginning to end the Bible testifies to one redemption. (6) From beginning to end the Bible has one great theme - the person and work of the Christ. (7) And, finally, these writers, some forty-four in number, writing through twenty centuries, have produced a perfect harmony of doctrine in progressive unfolding. This is, to every candid mind, the unanswerable proof of the Divine inspiration of the Bible (italics in original).

If there is a better, more succinct apologetic for the divine nature of scripture in print, I am unaware of it. Perhaps some of you will enlighten me. Thoughts?


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Categories : Apologetics, Bible, Bible Translations, Book Reviews, Christianity, Faith, God, Jesus

Book Review - Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian

28 10 2008

I want to thank InterVarsity Press for the courtesy copy of Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian by Gary A. Haugen for review.

Just Courage

Just Courage

Book Details:

Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian

Gary A. Haugen

InterVarsity Press (June 2008)

ISBN 978-0-8308-3494-5

I think every Christian at one time or another is forced to ask, “Shouldn’t there be more to this Christian life?” Gary A. Haugen describes this another way, “Indeed, there comes a time in the life of every believer…where a voice inside us simply asks, Now what?” Mr. Haugen describes this phenomenon as “a voice of divine restlessness,” “a voice of sacred discontent,” and “a voice of a holy yearning for more.”

For anyone who has ever felt that “divine restlessness,” and, in particular, for those who presently have that feeling of “sacred discontent,” Just Courage might just be the holy kick in the church-pew-softened backside you need.

Haugen begins his book by recounting a relatable childhood memory about a trip to Mount Rainier with his father and older brothers. In short, Haugen laments letting fear and anxiety prevent his climbing to Camp Muir (the base camp used by summit climbers) with his father and siblings. Haugen spent the rest of the day in the visitor’s center waiting for his family to return. His father and brother had an unforgettable day and stories to tell, he did not. Haugen says he went on the trip but missed the adventure.

Haugen likens the regret of missing that adventure to the “divine restlessness” felt by many Christians. Haugen’s answer for satisfying this “voice of sacred discontent” is responding to the call of God in the struggle for justice. The justice to which Haugen is referring is not the typical 90-day sentences meted out by judges and juries to misdemeanants, but rather the international war against forced sex trafficking and slavery. Haugen maintains that the root cause of much of the suffering he and his organization encounters is violence.

Gary A. Haugen is the president and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights organization dedicated to securing justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of oppression. Haugen notes that the body of Christ has been mobilized to address many of the symptoms (hunger, homelessness, sickness, etc.), but that the root cause is the less-familiar problem of violence. An issue the body of Christ has yet to address.

Haugen provides riveting examples of how the IJM lawyers, investigators and human rights workers battle this international problem. One of the many examples worth noting is that of Sean Linton, a lawyer at an elite national law firm who decided to test a divine paradox, “the hypothesis according to Jesus,” that you find your life when you lose it. Linton left his life as a high-powered lawyer to work for IJM. Linton, who opened IJM’s first office in the Philippines, “thought, If I can rescue one child from the unspeakable horror of forced prostitution, it would outweigh any sacrifice I could possibly make.” Linton said, “It was like math…No emotion. I did not have the faith to believe that God could somehow provide for me and that I might even find joy in it. No, I just expected to be lonely and to suffer. But I signed on to try and save that one child.”

Linton noted the four things holding him back: 1) comfort, 2) security, 3) control, and 4) success. Haugen writes, as “Jesus said, ‘If you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.’” In return, Linton got 1) adventure, 2) faith, 3) miracles, and 4) deep knowledge of Jesus. “Who among us wouldn’t want these?” Haugen asks.

In contrast to the many other reports of international injustices, Haugen goes beyond reporting on the problem and offers practical advice for the reader who wants to get involved. Just a few of the practical ways anyone can get involved:

  • Sending a text or an email to get people involved.
  • Obtaining a IJM Mission Training DVD to assist churches and short-term missions teams in identifying injustices.
  • Becoming a IJM prayer partner.
  • Partnering financially with IJM.
  • Engaging Congressional Representatives on justice issues.
  • Join IJM’s church mobilization staff for worldwide field offices.

Just Courage is undoubtedly one of the most thought-provoking books I have read in years. More than just thought provoking, Just Courage is faith-provoking, action-provoking, and provoking in general. I strongly encourage anyone called to the mission or justice fields to read this book. For those who aren’t called into those fields, Just Courage might stir another calling or prompt you help others who are so called.

People who should definitely read this book:

  • Pastors, missionaries and missions team leaders;
  • High school and college students who are internationally or missions minded;
  • Law and criminal justice students and professionals and law enforcement officers;
  • Sociological, psychological, and social work students and professionals;
  • Educators of any kind; and
  • Anyone who is bored.

The book is a quick read, approximately 150 pages, only 130 or so of which are the book’s text. The remaining pages are the appendices and acknowledgments.

If there is a criticism I have, and I’m not entirely sure that I do, but if I do it is the focus of the book. Not the subject matter, but the scope. “Justice” as a subject is highly appealing to me (as a lawyer), but others may be less attracted. I think Haugen appropriately addresses this foreseeable objection by providing a variety of methods and opportunities to get involved short of being thrust into the brothels and sweat shops of some foreign and unfamiliar land.

I not only encourage everyone to read Just Courage, but to support and participate in the International Justice Mission’s mission:

International Justice Mission (IJM)

IJM - Giving

IJM - Employment

IJM Relentless

IJM Institute

IJM Facebook

IJM - Wikipedia


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A Little Time at the Tower of Babel

16 10 2008
Tower of Babel

Tower of Babel

I have spent the last few weeks in Genesis 11 reading about what might have been one of the greatest construction projects in world history. Out of the blue one day I was overwhelmed with the need to go back (or forward - since most of my time is spent in Genesis 1) to the account of Babel.

I wasn’t really sure what I would find or even whether there was anything new to be found in this familiar account. As always, there is some pretty great stuff there, there is some pretty challenging stuff, and then there is just some stuff that needs to be worked out theologically. So, who knows where this is going.

Also, this will have to be a series because I have absolutely no idea when or how it will all play out, and it probably won’t be continuous - for those that know me, you know that Part XII may appear some time next year. For now, this first post is just a quick look at the ancient Hebrew pictographs that make up the word “Babel.”

In Hebrew, Babel is spelled BET, BET, LAMED. The Hebrew letter BET is the equivalent of our letter B, and it is pictured in the ancient Hebrew pictographs as a house or a tent. The letter BET also symbolically represents a house or lineage, as in “the house of David.” The letter LAMED is the equivalent of our letter L, and is pictured as a shepherd’s staff or ox goad. LAMED symbolically means to shepherd, lead, teach and/or prod.

What does that give us? Something quite remarkable really. The story of the Tower of Babel is of a unified, homogeneous group, perhaps an extremely large family, the descendants of Noah, sharing one language and coming together for one purpose: to make a name for themselves by building a great city with a tower that reached to the heavens. God puts a halt to this by confusing their language and scattering the people, presumably into different tribes or people groups with different languages (one “house” being transformed into multiple “houses”). So, the picture painted by Babel is of God, the great shepherd, taking His staff and scattering His flock into different families or houses over the earth.

Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. Gen. 11:9.

Babel in the Ancient Hebrew

Babel in the Ancient Hebrew

More of the theological stuff later, but, for now, yet one more example of the divine nature of the language of God.


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Genesis 1:1 and God’s Great Ambiguity

8 09 2008

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of my study of Genesis 1:1. When I first began studying Genesis 1:1 in the ancient Hebrew, I remember being amazed at how after 2 months I had yet to exhaust the remarkable wisdom and revelation contained in this one seemingly simple verse.

1

Genesis 1:1

The one-year older and one-year wiser me now realizes that, even after a year, I still cannot wrap my head around all God has packed into those seven little Hebrew words. If you are new to this blog, please review these posts for reference:

As wonderful and majestic as these revelations are, they barely scratch the surface. In addition to trying to show the word pictures painted in Genesis 1:1 by the ancient Hebrew pictographs, I have struggled for almost as long trying to come up with an accurate and appropriate English translation of Genesis 1:1. Quite frankly, I don’t think I can. I’m not sure anyone can. There are plenty of approximations, but none that I would endorse as being the translation.

After spending a year in this verse, I think I know why: Genesis 1:1 is ambiguous. I don’t mean to suggest that God meant for it to be ambiguous, or that He wants it ambiguous, or that He thinks it is ambiguous. But, Genesis 1:1 is not translatable into a single, simple rendering. The language of God (see The Language of God and God Speaks: The Origin of the Alphabet) is ambiguous because it is so meaningful and so complex that it cannot be rendered word-for-word or thought-for-thought and still mean all that it is supposed to mean.

I don’t think this sort of ambiguity is limited to Bible translation, scriptural interpretation is just as ambiguous. For example, I am familiar with four interpretations of why God favored Abel’s offering and not Cain’s (Genesis 4): 1) Abel’s offering involved a blood sacrifice, Cain’s did not, 2) Abel’s offering was of the first born of the flock, Cain’s was not of the first fruits, 3) Abel’s offering was made in faith, Cain’s was not, and 4) (the most recent and interesting interpretation I’ve heard was actually from our pastor, Eric von Atzigen of Emmanuel Fellowship Church) Abel’s offering was of the first born and not made in the course of time as Abel’s was.

Are any of these interpretations mutually exclusive? Don’t they all suggest scriptural principles? Can they all be correct? I’m not saying that all of these interpretations are necessarily right, but I find no scriptural reason why they couldn’t be. I think the same is (often) true of Bible translation. And I think it begins in the beginning.

Thus, a few suggestions for the many facets of Genesis 1:1:

1. The Runner Up: The translation of the Jewish Publication Society’s Hebrew-English Tanakh (I will presume the qualifications to produce such a translation). The Holman Christian Standard Bible contains a similar translation suggestion in a footnote as do other English translations. This is probably as accurate a translation as there is.

1 When God began to create heaven and earth-2 the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water-3 God said, “Let their be light”; and there was light.

2. The Narrative: My own personal idea of God as the great narrator, telling Moses the ultimate campfire story. I don’t pretend that it is a word-for-word translation, but I think it conveys what it needs to. It fits with the Toledoth (Hebrew for “generations,” translated “the generations of…”) structure of Genesis, and has that “Once upon a time” feel.

1 The beginning: God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void and darkness was over the abyss. God breathed on the surface of the waters and they started to vibrate. 3 And God said to light “you will exist,” and light existed.

3. The Technical: A very literal but useful translation which gives insight into the expansion of the universe and other cosmological observations. I pieced this together from the mechanical translation at the Ancient Hebrew Research Center and others.

1 In the beginning, God fattened the sky and the land. 2 The land had only existed in chaos and was unformed, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and a wind from God was fluttering upon the face of the water. 3 And God said “light will exist,” and light existed.

4. The Ultra-Hebraic: A translation that is somewhat surprising, but I think as plausible as any, although you would never know it from any of the traditional translations (see The Letter Aleph at Hebrew for Christians). I very much appreciate the idea that, if God creates things by speaking them into existence, the first creation has to be language and an alphabet.

1 In the beginning, God created the aleph-tav, the sky and the land. 2 The earth was chaotic and formless, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And a wind from God was fluttering upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let their be light,” and there was light.

5. The Traditional: The translation with which we are most familiar, with slight variations (a combination taken from the NASB and NIV). Although not necessarily the most accurate, it is the most common, and probably as accurate as any.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

I do not believe that any of these translations are mutually exclusive, nor do I believe that any suggest anything that is scripturally false. I do believe that all of these are supportable from the text and that all suggest a slightly different aspect of God - all of which I love.

I write this to suggest that ambiguity in the Bible might not be ambiguity at all, but our inability to put the Word of God into simple English, or Spanish or Esperanto. If this is the case, shouldn’t we be less dogmatic about our own determinations about which translation is the most accurate. I think I prefer the idea that God’s Word is so rich and meaningful that it cannot be put into…well, words.


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Categories : Bible, Bible Translations, Christianity, Faith, Genesis, God, Hebrew, Old Testament, Religion

Digital Apologetics Study Bible

6 09 2008
Apologetics Study Bible

Apologetics Study Bible

I want to thank Kent from Logos Bible Software for making me aware of the new digitized Apologetics Study Bible (ASB) that is a part of the Holman Reference Collection available from logos.com.

In my post So Many Translations, So Little Time, I wrote that my next big project would probably be the Apologetics Study Bible published by B&H Publishing Group. The text of the ASB is the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) which I am quite fond of; in particular, the treatment of the Hebrew in a few key Old Testament passages (Genesis 1:1 to be exact, albeit in the footnotes). I appreciate that Kent found my reference and responded.

More than the referral to the digitized Apologetics Study Bible, I was quite surprised by the scope of the entire Holman Reference Collection. It includes the Apologetics Study Bible, the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, the Holman Bible Handbook, the Holman Concise Bible Commentary and Teacher’s Bible Commentary, Holman Bible Atlas, Holman Book of Charts, Maps and Reconstructions, Harmony of the Gospels, the book 131 Christians Everyone Should Know, 4000 Questions and Answers on the Bible, and much more.

The production is still in the preorder stage, so if you are interested, you can preorder for approximately 60% off. I, personally, have not preordered. I am not familiar enough with the publications listed to purchase the package without more information. The package does look impressive though.

My personal experience with Logos is extremely limited, but I know several others who absolutely love Logos, my pastor included. I will have to put familiarization with Logos on my ever-increasing to-do list. Thanks for the info, Kent.


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What’s in a Name? On Ishmael and Isaac

27 08 2008

Most believe that the alphabet as we know it is a human invention. I do not. I have come to the sincere belief that every single word (or jot) in the Bible is divinely placed and meaningful. Additionally, I believe that the language in which the Old Testament was originally written is also divinely created and given by God (see God Speaks: The Origin of the Alphabet).

I think some of the best evidence for this belief can be found in Biblical names. I have previously shown the vivid pictures painted in the names Noah and Moses by the ancient Hebrew pictographs. I believe equally vivid stories can be told for most, if not all, names in scripture.

Among the reasons I believe that the ancient Hebrew alphabet was created and given to man by God is the superhuman mix of simplicity and complexity. The simplicity of an alphabet based on child-like pictures (an ox head to mean a strong leader or God) is in stark contrast to the complexity of a name prophetically depicting verses in scripture written some 500 years later (see Elohim as Psalm 23). I can imagine an extremely gifted human developing a language with symbolic alphabetic characters, perhaps even where the symbols can be arranged to form words, possibly even tell stories. But, when someone does this in a manner that also prophecies something 500 years in advance, then I might reconsider my position.

I believe there are countless examples of words and names depicting scriptures, a divine double entendre, but without the ambiguity. In this post, I want to focus on just two of these examples: Ishmael and Isaac.

I believe this is actually possible with any name in the Bible, I have studied Adam, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Moses and others, and never have I been disappointed. I might write on others later, but the account of Ishmael and Isaac has always fascinated me because of its reflection of God’s grace vs our works.

You all know the story, Sarah becomes impatient with her inability to produce a child and persuades Abraham to impregnate Hagar. I’m sure we can all sympathize with Sarah’s impatience. I know I’ve tried to help God along on more than one occasion. But, the promise is fulfilled not through our works, but through God’s grace. So what of the works? They amount to nothing, usually cause problems, and are cut off like Ishmael.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Gen. 22:2.

By this time Abraham had both sons, Isaac and Ishmael. But, what does God say, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac…” This is a harsh, but true reality. As far as God was concerned, Abraham had only one son, the son of promise. Now, God made provision for Ishmael, and promised Abraham that he would become a great nation too, but there were consequences. Here is how the Angel of the Lord explained it:

The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Gen. 16:11-13.

First, more than a prophetic statement, this is now an historical fact. Second, this prophetic look into the future of Ishmael was decreed from the naming of Ishmael (You shall name him Ishmael). In Hebrew, Ishmael is spelled YOD, SHIN, MEM, AYIN, ALEPH and LAMED. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the YOD is pictured as a hand from the fist to the elbow meaning my, my hand, or my works. SHIN is pictured as two teeth meaning to destroy or consume. MEM is pictured as waves of water meaning waters, nations or peoples. AYIN is pictured as an eye meaning to see, or to see as God sees. ALEPH is an ox head meaning strong, leader or God. LAMED is pictured as a shepherd’s staff meaning to lead.

Recall from earlier posts that the combination of ALEPH and LAMED form the Hebrew name El or God. The name Ishmael means God hears me or my God hears because the YOD or “ee” sound is the letter or sound for my/me and “shama” (produced by SHIN, MEM and AYIN) is the Hebrew word for hear. So, Ishmael (or ee shama el) is my God hears or God hears me. But, when you look at the Hebrew pictographs what you see is Genesis 16:11-13, “his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers…” and “You are the God who sees me…”

Here it is in the ancient Hebrew pictographs:

Ishmael in ancient Hebrew

Ishmael in ancient Hebrew

As much as Ishmael is a vivid picture of future strife, Isaac (meaning laughter) vividly depicts the replacement of Ishmael and the sacrifice God asks Abraham to make with Isaac. The Bible says Ishmael was a hunter or bowman, a man of the bow. Ishmael is a man of the bow because the bow is a symbol of covenant (see my discussion of the bow as covenant), and, while God’s covenant with Abraham was to be through Isaac, we are reminded that God also promised to make Ishmael a great nation.

Nevertheless, the Abrahamic covenant was through Isaac, and Ishmael was completely cut off from it. We can see this is the name Isaac. In Hebrew, Isaac is spelled YOD, TSADE, CHET and QUPH. Again, the YOD is pictured as a hand, meaning my or my efforts. TSADE is pictured as a man lying on his side or a fish hook meaning to hunt or fish. CHET is pictured as a wall or fence meaning to cut off. QUPH is pictured as a horizon meaning some sort of time element. So Isaac is a depiction of the relationship between Abraham and Ishmael: MY HUNTER (Ishmael the hunter or bowman) will be CUT OFF for all TIME, or the product of MY EFFORTS, the HUNTER is CUT OFF for all TIME.

Isaac in ancient Hebrew

Isaac in ancient Hebrew

Moveover, in the ultimate test of one’s faith, God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. It is quite an amazing test, one I’m not sure many would pass. But, Abraham does, and it is recorded in this way:

Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Gen 22:9-12

You can almost picture Abraham taking his son by the hand and then in his arms and laying him down to cut him with the knife, but the angel intervenes in the nick of time. What is truly remarkable is that this picture was painted before Isaac’s birth, when the Lord told Abraham, “your wife Sarah will bear you a son and You will call him Isaac…” Gen. 17:19. Actually, now that I think about it, all of these word pictures were painted before time began. They were only revealed later. Quite astounding!

Here is Isaac:

Isaac in ancient Hebrew

Isaac in ancient Hebrew

…lest anyone doubt the significance of a name!


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Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Belief, Bible, Christianity, Faith, Genesis, God, Hebrew

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