Magic Squares in Christian Occultism, Part 2

Magic squares became associated with occultism through the practice of numerology. Numerology assigns number values to individual letters of alphabetic writing systems. Individual words or names can be assigned a numerical value by adding the values of their component letters. Numerologists often consider names and words with the same numerical value to be telated to one another in some way.

 Gematria, a form of numerology, began among the Assyro-Babylonians and was later adopted as a practice by the Jews. Words with identical numerical values were considered to be related to one another or to a person whose name could be assigned the same number. Remember that for the first few years, all Christians were Jews. The number of the Antichrist. 666, was recognized to also be the number of the Roman Emperor Nero, Nero Qasr (Nero Caesar).

The Hebrew word, gematria, probably comes from the Greek word, geometria (“geometry”).  Numerology is closely associated with the Jewish Qabbalah tradition, but there are examples within the Bible, where numbers such as 3 or 666 carry special meanings. The primary language for gematria has always been Hebrew. There is a Jewish tradition that God manipulated the letters of the Torah in order to create the universe; in effect, God’s creation of the universe was through the use of numbers; mathematics. The universe does indeed have a highly mathematical structure as attested to by modern physics.

The ancient Hebrews, and later the Jews, were very careful with names because the name of a person carried characteristics associated with that person. An example is Isaac, which means “he laughed” because old Abraham (he was over 100 years old) laughed when he was told that he and the aged Sarah (she was over 90 years old) would have a son. God said Sarah also laughed in secret but she denied it. Their laughter became that of joy and wonderment.

This is where the magic squares and the occultists come in. Because every word can be written as a number, words and even phrases can be embedded into number sequences. Sending a coded message to a fellow occultist, or placing a blessing or  a curse upon a person, could be accomplished by handing them a talisman upon which a magic square of numbers was inscribed. 

This is an attempt to use the power of words, phrases, and names to influence or to alter reality. Occultists believe that if the correct words (spells) are known, the practitioner can force the universe to create good health, wealth, love, and/or personal power. It is also true that malicious persons felt that they could cause disease, economic trouble, sadness, family conflict, and even death.

Even with the biblical proscriptions against involvement with magic, some Christians were fascinated by this.

Next: Magic Squares in Christian Occultism, Part 3   

Two Fathers

Today is Father’s Day.  The holiday is observed in at least fifty countries on the third Sunday of the month of June. The day celebrates fathers and their influences on the lives of their children.

A wonderful song for Father’s Day is Beautiful Boy by John Lennon. Every father should hear it.

One of the most important biblical stories about a father is that of Abraham and Isaac.  Abraham had already had to send away his first-born son, Ishmael, the son of his wife’s servant/slave girl. Surely he had loved this son.  Now, God was asking Abraham to sacrifice his adored young son, born to Abraham’s long-barren wife.

I believe that this story tells us about two fathers: Abraham and God.

Genesis 22:1-19

22 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The traditional understanding of this passage is that God was testing the faith of Abraham. Obviously, the omniscient omnipotent Creator knew the answer before He gave the test. I believe that there is much more there: God was also teaching Abraham at least three things:

1.          This is what I expect. You should put nothing ahead of Me.

2.          This is how much you love Me, that you would have done this thing if I had not stopped you.

3.     I will provide/have provided the only sacrifice necessary for you to be acceptable in My sight; the Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Biblical Greek Word Studies: μετοικεσίας

I started trying to read my Greek New Testament again recently, and very soon realized that the old adage "use it or lose it" really is true.  What I have especially forgotten is the vocabulary.

As I work my way through the new Testament, starting with the book 

ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ,

"according to Matthew"), I plan on posting vocabulary studies.  I hope you find the posts to be useful.

The first word is metoikesias μετοικεσίας which appears in Matthew 1:17.  The word is from metoikizo which means "changing one's abode," "resettle," or "deport."

Πᾶσαι οὖν αἱ γενεαὶ ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ ἕως Δαυὶδ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ Δαυὶδ ἕως τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος ἕως τοῦ χριστοῦ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες. (SBL Greek New Testament)

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and

from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations;

and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. (KJV)

Modern Names of Biblical Places: Ur of the Chaldees

“Ur of the Chaldees” (aka: Urin, Uru) is first seen in history in the 26^th Century BC/BCE.  The first recorded king of the Sumerian city-state Ur is the 25^th Century BC/BCE King Mesh-Ane-pada (aka: Mesannepada).  This is the city from which Abram (later renamed Abraham) was called by God.  This would mean that Abram, the father of the nation of Israel, was originally a Sumerian/Chaldean.  The city is mentioned in Genesis 11:31 and in Nehemiah 9:7.

The ruins of the ancient city are now located at Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq.

Female Images of God: El-Shaddai

Star Trek (The Original Series) was a science fiction television program which was ambivalent, if not overtly hostile, towards religion.  It reflected the attitudes of its creator, Gene Roddenberry, who as an adult rejected his Southern Baptist roots.

Actor Leonard Nimoy, who is Jewish, introduced some aspects of religion to the program.  These included the Vulcan Salute and the Vulcan Salutations, "Live long and prosper" and its response "Peace and long life." 

The salutations reflect the Hebrew greeting, "Shalom aleichem" ("Peace be upon you") and its response  "Aleichem shalom" ("upon you be peace").

The Vulcan Salute reflects the hand positions used in the Birkat Kohanim (Priestly Blessing).  The positioning of the fingers reflects the Hebrew letter sim/shim, the first letter of the word "shaddai."

ש

“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1 "I am El-Shaddai."

El-Shaddai is often translated as "Almighty God" because the translators of the Septuagint believed that it came from the word "shadad," which means "to overpower."  Some now say that it actually comes from "shad," meaning "breast," carrying the idea of sufficiency and nurturing.  So, instead of "God Almighty," this name would mean "All-Sufficient/Nurturing God."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spock_vulcan-salute.png  (Use rationale for this image)

Links;
The Vulcan Salute

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute

The Jewish Origin of the Vulcan Salute

http://upstel.net/~rooster/v-salute.html

Amy Grant El-Shaddai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydd4XTIDzF0

Hebrew Names of God

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/El/el.html

El-Shaddai

http://www.parentcompany.com/awareness_of_god/nog6.htm

Where is Samaria?

The region of Samaria is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament, but exactly where is Samaria?  The answer is that ancient Samaria corresponds approximately to the northern half of the modern West Bank.  The Hebrew name is Somron or Shomron.

32.1431 N, 35.2606 E

http://www.longitude-latitude-maps.com/city/102_47,Eli,Judea+and+Samaria,Israel

The name of Samaria is derived from Shemer.  Shemer was either an individual, a family, or a tribe from whom King Omri purchased the area about 884 BC.   Omri, the King of Israel, built his capital city here in this wine and oil production area.

The Samaritans are still an identifiable Abrahamic people who claim to practice the original Abrahamic religion.  They insist that Judaism is a later innovation.

The Samaritans built their temple on Mount Gerizim in the Fifth Century BC/BCE.  The Maccabean leader John Hyrcanus destroyed the Samaritan temple in 110 BC/BCE. 

The Connection of the Bible Codes to Kabbalistic Thought

I have said before that I am not a believer in the Bible Codes.  I think that some simple code sequences  can clearly be shown to exist (see the sample below), but the more advanced codes which Israeli computer researchers are finding depend on very artificial manipulations of the text like skipping uneven numbers of letters between consecutive letters, etc.  It might be a case of finding codes because you are searching for them.  The patterns might have occurred by mere chance.

In Genesis 1:22-26; the name of Abraham is spelled out (from the top line down, enclosed in the added boxes) by the letters in the passage with each letter of the name separated from the preceding letter by forty-nine (seven times seven; seven was a sacred number, Genesis 2:2, 4:24, 21:28)) intercalary letters.  In each of the forty-nine letter sequences, אֱלֹהִים (elohim/God, backlit in gray) appears.

Also, the researchers insist that the codes cannot be used to predict the future.  My question is, if the codes are real, why not?  God is not bounded by time.  Tomorrow is the same to Him as The Creation.  It is all Now.

The Israeli researchers also insist that the codes cannot prove that Jesus is the Messiah.  Are they afraid that the codes, if real, might do this?  Rabbi Jacob Rambsel, a Messianic Jew, insists that he has found a code, "Jesus is my name," in the Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah 53.

The most strict theory of the codes is that they apply only to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.  This is because one Jewish tradition insists that God dictated the Torah letter by letter. 


Because it is important for us to understand the Jewish background of our faith,  I will talk tomorrow about the direction in which one stream of Judaism, the Kabbalists, has taken these concepts.

This is why some people are fascinated by the Bible Codes.

GENESIS 1: 22-26

The Hebrew text above is one example of why many people believe in the phenomenon of the Bible Codes.  I must admit that I tend to be a skeptic about things like this, but you can see why this would intrigue people.

Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl (1903-1957), the driving force behind the Bible Codes movement, found the following in Genesis 1:22-26; the name of Abraham is spelled out (from the top line down, enclosed in the added boxes) by the letters in the passage with each letter of the name separated from the preceding letter by forty-nine (seven times seven; seven was a sacred number, Genesis 2:2, 4:24, 21:28)) intercalary letters.  In each of the forty-nine letter sequences, אֱלֹהִים (elohim/God, backlit in gray) appears.

 In the midrash Bereshit Rabbah (68, 11f), Rabbi Nehemiah said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, united His name with Abraham; with Isaac too he united His name."  

One of the names of God is "Yahweh" (in biblical Hebrew this is represented as HWHY, read from right to left).  Remember that the ancients believed that names and even the letters of which the names were composed carried meaning and power.

When God confirmed His covenant to Abram by declaring that Sarai's son would be the long-promised heir, He inserted himself (the "H") into their names, giving them new and suddenly different lives.  Abram became Abraham; Sarai became Sarah.  Isaac means "he laughed" which is what elderly Abram did when God told him that he and and his very old wife were going to finally have a son. 

The text (Genesis 1: 22-26) into which this insertion of the name of Abraham occurs says nothing about Abram.  He wouldn't be born until centuries later.

"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

***********************************
There are often odd spacings and other abnormalities in the text when Hebrew and other Semitic languages like Arabic are inserted into a text.  Microsoft Word insists on reversing the letter order to conform to English usage (unintended ATBASH?)  Word processors need special software to properly handle these alphabets; without the software you have to try to trick Microsoft Word which doesn't always work.

Abraham in Genesis 1:22-26, Updated

 I finally have the 8 October 2009 post fixed.  The title is Abraham in Genesis 1:22-26.  To view it, click on this post's listing in the Blog Archive in the right side column of this blog.

He Laughed

     "The Holy One, blessed be He, united His name with Abraham; with Isaac too He united His name."  Rabbi Nehemiah in Bereshit Rabba, 68, 11f.

     In Genesis, God changed Abram's name to Abraham and the name of his wife from Sarai to Sarah.  In the posts for October 6th and 7th I had some thoughts about this.  Rabbi Nehemiah's writings are certainly not scripture, especially for a Protestant Christian, but the quote above raises an interesting question.  What could it mean that God united his name with Isaac?

     God told Abraham and Sarah that the heir would not be Ishmael, Abraham's beloved son by his wife's Egyptian slave woman, but a new son by the very old Sarah.  They both laughed out loud.  Some commentators try to make this a laugh of joy or an exclamation of surprise, but the Bible says Abraham fell down laughing. (Genesis 17: 17-19)

      God told them the son would be named Isaac (Yitzhak = Hebrew = "he laughs.")  This could have been a reference to Abraham's laughter.  Maybe God laughed at them for their silliness in not believing that He could fulfill His promise even with old folk like them. 

God Inserted His Name Into Abram's Name

(See the post today titled "Abraham."  This post is related to the October 6th and 7th posts; "Abram to Abraham; Sarai to Sarah."  I'm new at scanning so what you will see was what I was able to do.  I'll get better.)

     Regardless of what you think about the controversy over the idea of divine code's having been inserted into the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) by God in a letter-by-letter dictation of the books to Moses, what I am about to tell you will leave a buzz on the back of your neck.

     Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl (1903-1957), the driving force behind the Bible Codes movement, found the following in Genesis 1:22-26; the name of Abraham is spelled out by the letters in the passage with each letter of the name separated from the preceding letter by forty-nine intercalary letters.  In each of the forty-nine letter sequences, the word "elohim," one of the names of God, appears in the text.

     I admit wholeheartedly that the mathematics, statistics, geometry, and computer science being used to search for hidden divine messages in the Torah are all far above my understanding.  Even so, I found the book, Cracking the Bible Code, by Dr. Jeffrey Satinover to be a fascinating read.

     The book claims that names of specific individuals, dates, events, and other subjects have been found hidden in the Talmud with specific locations stated and grids of Hebrew letters presented with the discovered words and phrases highlighted.  To me, it was chilling that the following has been found: "AIDS" ("AYDS"), "virus" ("VYRUS"), "in the blood," and "immunity;" all in the same letter array.

     I don't have enough understanding of the subject of the Bible Codes to make an informed judgement.  It may be as Walter Sparrow's wife says in the film The Number 23 (2007), "You're finding them because you're looking for them."  What is true is that there are numerous rabbis, Hebrew scholars, mathematicians, and computer scientists working full time on the subject right now in Israel.

Abraham in Genesis 1:22-26

     The Hebrew word for God, "elohim," אֱלֹהִים occurs four times in this passage, one time in each of the forty-nine letter sequences between the letters of Abraham's name; ABRHM, read right to left as  אַבְרָהָם.  The first letter of Abraham's name   אֱ  (aleph or alef) occurs at position 10 (counting from right to left), count 49 letters,the next letter is בְ  (beth), count 49 more letters, the next letter is רָ  (resh or rosh), count 49 more letters, the next letter is  הָ  (he or hay), then count 49 more letters, the final letter is ם   (mem).

     The word processing software I have insists on switching the letter order to left to right as in English.  The text below is in the correct letter order.

וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים לֵאמֹר פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת־הַמַּיִם בַּיַּמִּים וְהָעֹוף יִרֶב בָּאָרֶץ׃

וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יֹום חֲמִישִׁי׃ ף

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תֹּוצֵא הָאָרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה לְמִינָהּ בְּהֵמָה וָרֶמֶשׂ וְחַיְתֹו־אֶרֶץ לְמִינָהּ וַיְהִי־כֵן׃

וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת־חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ לְמִינָהּ וְאֶת־הַבְּהֵמָה לְמִינָהּ וְאֵת כָּל־רֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי־טֹוב׃

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעֹוף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל־הָאָרֶץ 

וּבְכָל־הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃

:26 

1 ר ֶ 

מאֹיּ ַ 

ו 

u·iamr 

and·he-is-saying 

םי ִ 

הלֹ ֱ 

א 

aleim 

Elohim 

ה ֶ 

שׂ ֲ 

עַ 

נ 

noshe 

we-shall-makedo 

ם ָ 

ד ָ 

א 

adm 

human 

וּנ ֵ 

מ ְ 

ל ַ 

צ ְ 

בּ 

b·tzlm·nu 

in·image-of·us 

וּנ ֵ 

תוּמ ְ 

ד ִ 

כּ 

k·dmuth·nu 

as·likeness-of·us 

. And God said, Let us 

make man in our image, 

after our likeness: and let 

them have dominion over 

the fish of the sea, and over 

the fowl of the air, and over 

the cattle, and over all the 

earth, and over every 

creeping thing that creepeth 

upon the earth. 

וּדּ ְ 

ר ִ 

י ְ 

ו 

u·irdu 

and·they-shall-sway 

תַ 

ג ְ 

ד ִ 

ב 

b·dgth 

in·fish-of 

ם ָ 

יּ ַ 

ה 

e·im 

the·sea 

ף􏰀ע ְ 

בוּ 

u·b·ouph 

and·in·flyer-of 

ם ִ 

י ַ 

מ ָ 

שּׁ ַ 

ה 

e·shmim 

the·heavens 

ה ָ 

מ ֵ 

ה ְ 

בּ ַ 

בוּ 

u·b·beme 

and·in·the·beast 

ל ָ 

כ ְ 

בוּ 

u·b·kl 

and·in·all-of 

־ 

- ץ ֶ 

ר ָ 

א ָ 

ה 

e·artz 

the·earth 

ל ָ 

כ ְ 

בוּ 

u·b·kl 

and·in·every-of 

־ 

- שׂ ֶ 

מ ֶ 

ר ָ 

ה 

e·rmsh 

the·moving-animal 

שׂ ֵ 

מ ֹ 

ר ָ 

ה 

e·rmsh 

the·one-moving 

ל ַ 

ע 

ol 

on 

־ 

- ץ ֶ 

ר ָ 

א ָ 

ה 

e·artz 

the·land : 

: