Does 12-13-14 Have Any Special Meaning?

I imagine that the numerologists are very busy today looking for arcane messages in today’s date, 13 December 2014. This date can be represented as 12-13-14.  This alignment of dates will not happen again for 100 years.  Surely it must have some cosmic significance! Personally, I think it is just a coincidental arrangement of numbers due to our current dating system.

When I noticed the 12-13-14 arrangement, I thought about the significance of numbers, especially in the Bible, which does use numbers as symbols. Think of the numbers 3, 7, 666, and 1000. Some people think that they see beyond the obvious symbolic use of numbers and that they can detect many numerological messages secretly embedded in the text by God. This is on the same order as belief in the controversial Torah Bible Codes.

The hidden messages which do undeniably exit in the Bible were of human origin. For instance, investigate ATBASH. An example occurs at Jeremiah 25:26. These messages were meant by the writers to obscure the true meaning from hostile governmental authorities who might read the texts. The idea is "to hide in plain sight." Also investigate the use of acrostics, an intentional literary form used by some of the Old Testament writers. Two examples of biblical acrostics occur at Proverbs 31:10-31 and Psalms 119.

I do not believe that the Bible is full of hidden supernatural messages. That is a pagan Gnostic idea. God inspired the writing of the various books of the Bible as a coherent whole and it is intended to be understood. It is a tool, a book of revelation about the nature of God, not a book of puzzles.

The Bible tells us that God is not a man and that His ways are not our ways. God is totally other, unknowable, and perfect.  He moves in the sub-atomic places and in the cosmic places. The Bible is part of God’s effort to make the utterly unknowable (Himself) understandable, at least partly, to our inadequate tiny little minds. Over and over we are told, “the Kingdom of God is like ….” I believe that God has used the entire Jewish religious and cultural system to explain what He is like. The entire Bible points toward Jesus, Who is the ultimate revelation of Who God is.

A Bent and Deformed Tree

In one of the numerous cities strung along the Alabama Gulf Coast, trees line the main highway.  This is a very intentional touch which reduces the "strip-mall" feel of the single story restaurants and stores which line the highway behind the trees.  The trees stand up straight, all the same type, all the same height.  This makes startling the one tree which grows straight out of an incline, parallel to the ground,  and then turns upward.  Someone failed to tend to this tree and it seems to have eventually turned upward of its own accord.  It now points in the desired direction, but it is gnarled and deformed.

Realize that our children are like these trees.  Raised and trained properly they will often stay within the faith.  Left to their own devices, they may stray.  Some will eventually return to the faith but only after receiving numerous scars and deformities.  They need loving gardeners.

 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Children learn values by watching their parents. There is a phrase, "Show, don't tell." Explain rules, do not just impose them. One thing which I taught my son and my grandchildren: "Don't be afraid, just be smart." Love unconditionally and predictably.  Do not "smother" your children's individuality. Your children do not need or want to be little clones of you.

This is ancient knowledge known by the Jews long before there were any Christians.  Christians often fail to remember our Jewish origins. In its strictest sense, “Torah” means the first five books of the Bible.  The word “Torah” תּוֹרָה

translates as “teaching,  or “instruction.” Read this web page written by the Chabad-Lubavitcher Rabbi Eliezer Shemtov of Montevideo, Uruguay.  Though I would interpret this in a Christian context, I agree with every word spoken here by the rabbi.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Bob Newhart: ((b. 1929, Illinois, USA; aka: George Robert Newhart) Stand-up comedian, television and film actor. Roman Catholic.

Virginia Quinn Newhart: Wife of Bob Newhart. Roman Catholic.

Chloe Grace Moretz: (b. 1997, Georgia, USA) Child film actress most known for her controversial roles in Kick-Ass (2010) and Carrie (2013).  She says that her family is “very Christian.”  I am not sure what she means by that and whether or not she, herself, is a Christian.. 

Reginald Howard White: (b. 1961, Tennessee, USA – d. 2004; aka: “the Minister of Defense”) College and professional football player and a member of the Hall of Fame at both levels. Ordained Baptist minister and evangelist.  His views on race and homosexuality became very controversial.  Late in his life, he learned Hebrew and studied under Nehemia Gordon, a Karaite Jew, who is based in Jerusalem.  White's profound interest in Torah led many to believe that he became a Jew, but he never renounced his Christian faith.

Daniel Meyer: (b. 1957) World’s only Christian sword swallower. Clown, juggler, stilt walker, fire eater, glass eater. 

References to Jesus in the Talmud

The Latin language work, Jesus in Talmude (1699), by Rudolph Martin Meelfuhrer in Altdorf, Germany, was the first book devoted entirely to the subject of references to Jesus in the Talmud.
Most modern Jewish scholars view the references as reactions to Christian proselytism of Jews.

During the Middle Ages, Jews and Christians argued over the references, which the Christians interpreted as insulting to Jesus.  Some of the Jewish scholars said the references were to someone else other than Jesus.  Some of the references were removed from later editions of the Talmud.  Since the early 20th Century most Talmuds include the references.

The most commonly identified references to Jesus in the Torah:
He was a sorceror. Bablyonian Sanhedrin 43a-b
Healing was performed in his name. Hullin 2:22f; Abodah Zarah 2:22/12; Jerusalem Shabbath 124:4/13; Qohelet Rabbah 1:8; Bablyonian Abodah Zarah 27b
He was a Torah teacher.  Bablyonian Abodah Zarah 17a; Hullin 1:8; Qohelet Rabbah1:8
He was a son who turned out badly.  Sanhedrin 193a/b; Berakoth 17b
He was a magician and an idolator.  Sanhedrin 107b; Sotah 47a
He was punished in hell.  Bablyonian Gittin 56b, 57a
He was executed.  Bablyonian Sanhedrin 43a-b
He was the son of Mary.  Shabbath 104b; Sanhedrin 67a

Typographical Errors

In my post yesterday on The Big Book of Church Jokes I made a typographical error, even though I check every post for spelling and grammar before I release it.  It is very easy to misspell a word, double your “ands” or your “thes, ” leave out “of,” or to  say something which seems logical when written but which really makes no sense.  In yesterday’s post, I spelled “silly” as “sily.”  I apparently totally missed the red underlining provided by my word processor’s Spell Checker program.

Knowing how easy it is to make a mistake when one writes, it makes it even more amazing to know that the first five books of the Bible (the Torah) have been preserved by the Jews at the LETTER level for thousands of years.

Each synagogue which can afford one owns as Sefer Torah, a handwritten copy of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  This is in the form of a scroll which is used in formal religious ceremonies.  When not in use, the scroll is stored in the holiest spot in the synagogue.

Each of the scrolls is produced under extremely restrictive conditions, on a particular type of parchment using a particular type of quill pen by one specially trained rabbi.  The entire scroll must be produced by that one sofer (scribe)..

The number of letters must total 304,805 with each letter in its proper position, each one perfectly formed, sized, and placed.  The ink of a random imperfect letter may be scraped off the parchment and replaced by a perfect one.  If any error of any sort involves the name of God, that page must be cut from the scroll and a new perfect page must be sewn into its place.  The removed page is buried with respect.

A Sefer Torah can take as long as a year and one half to produce and cost as much as $10,000.  Parchment is a perishable material; still, the oldest known surviving are over 700 years old.

The Jews have done us a great service by their historical insistence on preserving the purity of the scriptures.

The Connection of the Bible Codes to Kabbalistic Thought, Part 2

It is important to us as Christians to understand the Jewish origins of our faith since Jesus and his followers were observant Jews and were, at first, recognized as such by other Jews.

One stream of Judaism is the ultra-orthodox, many of whom believe that God dictated the Torah letter by letter. This is one basis of the thought which has fostered the study of the Bible Codes phenomenon.

One Jewish school of thought, considered heretical by some Jews, developed from a mixture of mysticism and ultra-orthodoxy to become what is known as Kabbalism.  “Kaballah” in Hebrew means “receiving,” and is concerned with secret doctrines, hidden meanings, and commentaries about the relationship between an unchanging God and the ever-changing world.  The early Jewish mystics developed in the first and second centuries at the same time that the Gnostic sects were developing among the Christian community.

Kabbalism remains strong among modern Hasidic Jews.

The emphasis of the Bible Code researchers on the Torah reflects, at least in part, kabbalistic thought about the true nature of the Torah.  The Rambam (Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon, b. 1135, Spain – d. 1204, Egypt) declared that “… the entire Torah is the names of the Holy One.”

The Zohar Yitro 87a declares, “We have already taught; The Torah in its entirety is the Holy Name, for there is no word in the Torah which is not included in the Holy Name.”  So, according to the Kabbalists, the Torah is God’s Name.

Kabbalism teaches that God created the universe by the manipulation of the letters of the Torah. In other words, He created the universe by the use of His Name.

The most that a Christian can say on this is what the Bible says. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1: 1-3.

As to the name of God, He has answered the question:

“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”  Exodus 3:13-14.

Literacy in the Biblical Era

There are estimates that the level of literacy among the citizenry during the New Testament period was about ten percent.  Even though most people were illiterate, they were not stupid.  There was a long tradition of oral learning and memorization, producing many competent intellectuals and scholars of the Law.  Presumably, many scribes memorized large portions of the Torah and, at least some could read and write.

Raised in the royal Egyptian household, Moses (ca. 1200 BC/BCE)would have been literate, having received a royal education.

Ezra (5^th century BC/BCE) and his helpers taught the Torah to the Jewish population (Ezra 7:25)  The Torah was taught: Deuteronomy 31:12-13, 2 Chronicles 17:7-9, Nehemiah 8:7-8.

In the Pharisaic tradition, men, including Jesus, a carpenter, would stand and read the scriptures in the synagogue.   John 7:15.  “Never studied” meant that he had no formal training. (Other references to Jesus’ literacy: Luke 4:16-30, John 8:6..)

  

The sign on Jesus’s cross assumed that the people who saw the crucifixion would be able to read it.   It was written in three languages to make sure that everyone could read it. (Mark 15:26, Matthew 27:37, Luke 23:37, John 19:20)

The Jewish historian, Josephus (37 - ?100 AD/CE), spoke about Jewish literacy, “… we pride ourselves on the education of our children … (the Law) orders that (children) shall be taught to read …” (Against Apion 1:12.60 and 2.25.204)

On the question of female literacy in the biblical period, remember that this was a completely male-dominated society.  This is one reason that women were so drawn to the teachings of Jesus: He insisted on treating them as persons.  The early Christians continued this: Paul said there is no Jew nor Greek, no male nor female, no slave nor free.

One estimate has it that “for every five or six men who could read and write, there was one woman who was fully literate.” (David M. Scholer, “Writing and Literature: Greco-Roman”,” in Dictionary of New Testament Background, page 1283. Quoted in  JETS 50/4 (December 2007) 747–59, WOMEN’S EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SPEECH IN ANTIQUITY, by craig keener*

http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/50/50-4/JETS_50-4_747-759_Keener.pdf

When I was at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Greek scholar and professor, Pastor Frank Stagg, was speaking on the subject of women’s education in biblical times.  While acknowledging that most women of the time were intentionally kept illiterate, Dr. Stagg was sure that many wealthy women were privately educated.  He even discussed the possibility that the reason that the author of the book of Hebrews is not named is that the book was written by a woman.

 

Other interesting links.

“On Ancient Literacy Levels”

http://www.tektonics.org/tsr/tilliteracy.html

Jewish scripture and the literacy of Jesus, Craig A. Evans

http://www.craigaevans.com/evans.pdf

Josephus

http://elfinspell.com/Shotwell11.htm

 Women in Judaism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Judaism

Were there any female writers in the Bible?

http://www.preachitteachit.org/articles-blogs/ask-roger/post/archive/2010/september/article/were-there-any-women-bible-writers/

The Book of the Wars of the Lord

The Book of the Wars of the Lord is one of several otherwise unknown works mentioned in the Bible.  Gil Student, a Jewish scholar, in "On the Authorship of the Torah," at http://www.aishdas.org/toratemet/en_torah.html , says "... we have seen the talmudic and midrashic evidence that the forefathers, including Moshe, wrote books other than the Torah that were maintained and studied.  However, there is also much internal evidence that there were other books written."  The Book of the Wars of the Lord, quoted in Numbers 21:14-15, would be one of those books.

No one knows exactly what this book was but there have been many educated guesses: a collection of victory songs or poems; a book of Hebrew/ Israelite military history; another name for The Book of Jasher (mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18); a collection of sacred poems; and a military instruction manual written by Moses for use by Joshua.

Non-canonical books such as The Wars of the Lord are mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments and Paul even quoted pagan poets to make his points.

Atbash

Interest in the possibility that secret codes (inserted by God) exist in the first five books of the Bible has inspired much discussion and numerous books.  The Bible Codes and possible humanly inserted acrostics have been discussed in this blog.

There is another Hebrew biblical convention known as Atbash (ATBS).  This is a simple monoalphabetic substitution cipher which was used to "hide in plain sight" secret messages intended only for those who knew the code.  The code consists of reversing the Hebrew alphabet.  The third letter from the beginning of the alphabet would be replaced by the third letter from the end of the alphabet, etc. An example from   Jeremiah 25:26 and 51:41 is the substitution of Sheshak (שֵׁשַׁךְ) for Babylon (בָבֶל).

Book Comment: Cracking the Bible Code

"All that was, is, and will be unto the end of time is included in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible."  So said the Lithuanian (though born in Belarus) Talmudic scholar Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (1720 - 1797).  He was a mathematician and bible commentator who memorized the Talmud.  


When the rabbi was challenged, "Where is the Rambam?" (The 12th Century Rabbi Moses ben Maimonides), he instantly responded, "Rabot (may be multiplied) Moftai (my wonders) B'eretz (in the land of) Mitzraim (Egypt)."  This is Exodus 11:9.


Rabbi Moshe Cordevaro (1522-1570) had earlier said, "The secrets of our holy Torah are revealed through knowledge of combinations, numerology (gematria), switching letters, first-and-last letters, shapes of letters, first- and last- verses, skipping of letters (dilug otiot) and letter combinations."


Both men were echoing an ancient Jewish tradition that the Torah was dictated by God to Moses letter by letter and that it contained coded or encrypted information about the past, present, and future.*  This is the subject discussed by Jeffrey Satinover in Cracking the Bible Code (1997).  For example, Satinover points out that AHRN (Aaron) occurs twenty-five times in the Hebrew text at equidistant spaces in Leviticus 1:1-13, a passage in which Aaron is not mentioned.


The claim of hidden messages in the scriptures is at the heart of Kabballah, Jewish mysticism.  There are currently many teams of researchers using computers to search for names, sentences, predictions, etc.  Many claim to have found mentions of historical and modern persons and events.  Most are using the Old Testament Hebrew text; a few are attempting to use the same techniques on the Greek text of the New Testament.


Who knows?  It seems unlikely, but who would dare to insist it is not true?  Is it a situation like what is said in the film, The Number 21, "You're finding it because you're looking for it."?  It does seem dangerous, though, to base one's faith in the Bible on Bible Codes, religious relics, the Shroud of Turin, or other such things when we have the Bible itself and the witness of the Apostles.  The Bible Codes might be equivalent to seeing Jesus' face in a plate of spaghetti.    


















* Many modern theologians, including many Jewish scholars, believe that someone, possibly Moses, assembled the Torah from earlier, far more ancient, sources.  

Gone!

     I just spent the last week in Mundelein and Vernon Hills in Illinois and came away with an odd feeling.  I saw maybe eight black people the entire time I was there and several of them were employees of restaurants and stores I visited.  I saw plenty of Asians and Hispanics but almost no blacks.  It felt creepy, a whole group of people suddenly just gone.  I live in the Deep South where African Americans have a heavy and very visible presence.

     During my alone time during the week I read Cracking the Bible Code by Jeffrey Satinover.  One of the prime movers in the Torah Bible Code movement was Rabbi Michael Dov Ber Weissmandl,  who spent the last years of his life pursuing the codes.

     The more obvious historical significance of Rabbi Weissmandl is his role in at least being able to delay the extermination of the Jews of Slovakia by bribing and deceiving numerous Nazi officials.  It haunted him the rest of his life, but, ultimately the rabbi was not able to save even his own immediate family.  In total, over six million Jews were murdered.  It was as if the entire Jewish population (about 5.2 million in 2009) of the United States were missing.

     The near absence of black people reminded me of the sudden disappearance of the Jews from Europe.  There and then suddenly just gone.