Yeshua’s Famous Last Words Amen, Emet, Truth

Michael Rood's Sabbat NIght Live Via Youtube ^ | 28 February 2014 | Michael Rood

[Errant]

Don’t kid yourself!

I heard him make a comment about it being grape juice during one of his TV presentations. Other than that one time, I honestly don't have a clue. I've never been to one his live seminars so I wouldn't know about those - wouldn't doubt it either. He is a stickler for detail as is readily apparent.

[redleghunter]

The historical evidence suggests strongly that someone of political or economic influences would be a Greek speaker and reader. Probably the higher on the totem pole would also have good skills on reading and writing Latin. The people in the country and fishermen not as much but in Galilee (of the Gentiles) probably quite some as they bordered and bartered with Hellenistic cities.

It is an historical argument I present to our FRoman FRiends here who assert outside of the city of Rome the early Christians were illiterate bumpkins. On the contrary it was a time in empire history where we see a sophistication of languages amongst the masses.

Paul of Tarsus would not be immune to such an upbringing of multiple languages as well.

[boatbums]

Just curious, Errant, do you speak, read and write fluent Hebrew? Do you think a person must in order to know the truths of God?

[Errant]

I'm pretty sure Paul spoke at least a little Greek, based on Acts 21:37 account of when he was jailed toward the end, and him having somewhat astonished one of the Roman soldiers that he was able to speak Greek. That also indicates to me that it may have not been that common of a thing for Hebrews to be able to do.

I agree that some merchants most likely were multilinguistic or had those resources available to them. When it came to recording those momentous events that were occurring during those days however, I can only envision they first were written down in their native language for a number of reasons.

[Errant]

Just curious, Errant, do you speak, read and write fluent Hebrew?

No, but I am trying to learn a little in my studies and research.

Do you think a person must in order to know the truths of God?

No. But I do think it is helpful to have some working understanding of the meanings of certain Hebrew words and phrases. They are not hard to understand and would be easily taught. What I have discovered in the four years I've really been pursuing a better understanding for myself, is an astounding amount of what we have been taught in ALL of our denominational doctrines just doesn't match scripture or reality when you really start examining the evidence.

One simple example is Sun Day. It's called Sun Day for a reason. Being raised to think of Sunday as a day of worship, and discovering it wasn't what the Messiah observed is really hard to accept. That's just one example. There are many others examples like that one, that we've inherited for the truth when it isn't - just as the prophets prophesied, and now we're turning to the Hebrews to learn what the real truth is, also prophesied.

Just one of many end things we were told in the beginning. Something that boggles the mind, for how can that be, but all is coming to pass and by it coming to pass, proof the Almighty exists. That's why I say, the truth is far more awesome than what we've been told, and instead of having to be blind to belief, you have to be blind not to believe.

[boatbums]

You have to then discount the Greek words that have no Hebrew form. For example, hypocrite:

A word often used by Jesus, "hypocrite," in describing the Pharisees and Sadducees, comes from the Greek word hypokrites, a compound word with the Greek preposition hypo for "under" and krites, meaning "judgment." This form is wholly lacking in Semitic languages. The word hypokrites basically means, "one who answers" (i.e., one who always has an answer, or excuse), but came to mean over time not only "expounder" or "interpreter," but "orator," "actor," stage actor, or one who spoke from behind a dramatic mask on stage. From this it came to mean "pretender," "dissembler." But this Greek word, so familiar in the denunciations of Christ, has no counterpart in Hebrew or Aramaic.

But, really, what difference does it make?

What difference does it make, anyway, what language Jesus and His disciples spoke? The answer becomes clear when we realize that there are churches, sects and cults today which make a great issue over the subject of "holy names." These churches will not use ANY name for God or Christ in ANY language except what they call the original "Hebrew" names for God and the Messiah.

According to these people, it is a SIN to mention on one's lips the word Adonai in Hebrew, translated "Lord" in the Old Testament! According to them, the word "Adonai" is a name for Baal the sun-god, and so "Lord" is a title for Baal, the sun-god! It does not seem to matter to them that the Scriptures themselves use this very word repeatedly in reference to the True God of Israel! Similarly, they condemn the use of the Hebrew name El, Elohim, Eloah, and all its derivatives as being PAGAN terms, used of the pagan gods of antiquity. They condemn the use of such words, including any and all translations from them, such as "God," "Most High God," etc. Any titles used for pagan gods they forbid to be used of the True God! Yet the Scriptures themselves repeatedly refer to the true God as El, Elohim, Eloah, etc., in the Old Testament, which translates into English as "God" (Gen.1:1, etc.).

Of course, the fact that God preserved the entirely of the New Testament in the Greek language seems to give these people "fits." They claim Greek is another pagan language, and that such terms as Iesous translated "Jesus," and Theos translated "God" are also pagan names and must not be used. They claim that a vast, overriding "conspiracy" in the first century destroyed all the "missing" Hebrew original documents, and that the New Testament we have today is essentially a forgery -- at least where the names of God are involved!

Proof or evidence of this conspiracy? There is none. Does God Almighty have the power to preserve His name in whatever language He chooses? Of course He does! And it is patently obvious that He choose to preserve the New Testament Scriptures in Greek -- not Hebrew! The fact that Jesus and the apostles all spoke Greek is another nail in the coffin of these "language-worshippers" and conspiracy addicts.

We need not worry about ancient conspiracies to destroy the word, or "name" of God. As Christ said, "Thy word is truth" (John 17:17); "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).

Peter wrote that the word of God "liveth and abideth for ever" (I Pet.1:23). The word of God, which He inspired to be preserved, is in all essential and crucial respects, inspired and correctly preserved, to all generations. As Paul wrote to Timothy, "ALL SCRIPTURE" -- and that includes the NAMES AND TITLES USED FOR GOD, in both the Old and New Testaments -- "IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD [Greek, "God-breathed"], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for CORRECTION, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (II Tim.3:16).

Wouldn't it seem awfully strange that if God only intended all mankind to use only the Hebrew names of God and the Messiah, that He Himself divided all mankind into many language groups at the tower of Babel? Wouldn't it also seem strange that this same God, who created mankind, and later gave him different languages (Gen.11), required that in order to receive salvation one would have to know, and pronounce "correctly," the Hebrew name of God and Christ -- and that ONLY THE HEBREW PRONUNCIATION WOULD SAVE ANYBODY?

What kind of God would that be? Generations of man have come and gone, and even the Jews say today that they have forgotten exactly how to pronounce the YHVH or Tetragrammaton of the Old Testament name of God! "Jehovah" is obviously in error, yet many use that name today. "Yahweh" is the more recently "scholarly" pronunciation suggested by many; yet historical evidence indicates that is just an "approximation" of the divine name, and "Yahveh" would be closer to the truth.

Others claim "Yahuveh" is more accurate. And on and on the argument goes -- where it will stop, nobody knows! Some claim "Christ" is a pagan (Greek) term, and that "Jesus" comes from the Greek god "Zeus." Both claims are patently false. "Christ" is merely the English form of the Greek word Christos, which merely means "Anointed" (just as the Hebrew word Moshiach literally means "Messiah"). The name "Jesus" comes from the Greek Iesous, and means "Saviour," just as does the Hebrew original Yeshua.

The important thing in God's sight is not whether we pronounce the syllables and consonants of His name in some precise manner directed by heaven. But rather, whether we love Him with all our heart, mind and soul, and love our neighbor as ourselves. As Jesus Christ said: "For this is the (whole) law and the prophets." Why the New Testament was Written in Greek, Not Hebrew

[Errant]

You cover a lot of ground in this post. One of the first things you learn hunting ducks, is that you have to pick out one to shoot at or you'll never put a duck in the oven shooting at the entire flock.

If you really wish to look at some of this, let's take one and work it, like perhaps "hypocrite"?

[Cold Heat]

I rarely stop and read the religious threads but I came across this post and it clarified a number of questions I have had and it helped to solidify opinions that I have held for a long time.

Just wanted to thank you...for posting it.

[Errant]

What you are doing here is exactly what we’ve been after, a better understanding:

EBible etymology of “hypocrite”

HYPOCRISY, HYPOCRITE. In the context of Gr. Drama the term hypocrite was applied to an actor on the theater stage. Since an actor pretends to be someone other than himself, hypocrites was applied metaphorically to a person who “acts a part” in real life, pretending to be better than he actually is, one who simulates goodness. In secular Gr. Literature, therefore, hypocrites may be either neutral or undesirable. In the NT, however, it is always undesirable, signifying one who works a deception by feigned piety.

This concept of pretended goodness was foreign to OT thought. The Heb. Root h-n-p, translated “hypocrisy” or “hypocrite” in the KJV, was translated in the LXX [Septuagint—Greek translation of the Old Testament] by anomos, “lawless,” “criminal,” or “godless,” parallel to poneros, “an evil doer” (Isa 9:17); and by asebes, “godless,” “irreverent” (Isa 33:14).

In the book of Job it is clear that the hanep is one radically opposed to God, one who forgets God (Job 8:13; 15:34-35; 20:5; 27:8). The verb hanep means to pollute or corrupt (cf. Num 35:33; Ps 106:38; Isa 24:5; Jer 3:1). Theodotion’s translation of Job, later incorporated into the LXX, rendered Heb. hanep as hypocrites in two verses (Job 34:30; 36:13). Thus it seems that Greek-speaking Jews were employing hypokrisis in another sense in addition to its metaphorical meaning of feigning to be what one is not.

….“Hypocrite” occurs 18 times and “hypocrisy” twice in the words of Jesus. He warned His disciples of “the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Lk 12:1). He diagnosed them as appearing righteous to men, but being full of hypocrisy and iniquity within (Mt 23:28). That He accused the Pharisees of more than mere pretending is suggested by the parallels to the reading “their hypocrisy” in Mk 12:15. In Mt 22:18 it is “their wickedness” or malice, and in Lk 20:23 it is “their craftiness.” Only in Lk 20:20 does the verb hypokrino retain the original Gr. meaning of pretending: the scribes and chief priests, attempting to arrest Jesus, sent spies “who pretended to be sincere” (RSV).

Outside the Gospels hypokrisis occurs three times. Paul rebuked Peter for “dissimulation,” his deliberate inconsistency of first eating with Gentile converts at Antioch and then, fearing the circumcision party, refusing to associate with them further (Gal 2:13, verb and noun)–and this following God’s vision to Peter prior to his visiting Cornelius (Acts 10). Paul reveals that in the last times there will be those who follow evil spirits and doctrines of demons and speak lies in hypocrisy (1Tim 4:1-2). The Christian himself is warned to get rid of all hypocrisy in his life (1 Pet 2:1).

http://haquelebac.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/the-etymology-of-hypocrisy/

[Errant]

"According to these people, it is a SIN to mention on one's lips the word Adonai in Hebrew, translated "Lord" in the Old Testament! According to them, the word "Adonai" is a name for Baal the sun-god, and so "Lord" is a title for Baal, the sun-god! It does not seem to matter to them that the Scriptures themselves use this very word repeatedly in reference to the True God of Israel! Similarly, they condemn the use of the Hebrew name El, Elohim, Eloah, and all its derivatives as being PAGAN terms, used of the pagan gods of antiquity. They condemn the use of such words, including any and all translations from them, such as "God," "Most High God," etc. Any titles used for pagan gods they forbid to be used of the True God! Yet the Scriptures themselves repeatedly refer to the true God as El, Elohim, Eloah, etc., in the Old Testament, which translates into English as "God" (Gen.1:1, etc.)."

Here, whomever wrote this, gets it all turned around, as we've already discussed many times. So badly, that I see little need in carrying this further with this particular piece. Kudos on bringing up hypocrisy though...

[boatbums]

Again, some are available, many are not. Many exist as bits and pieces awaiting study by scholars. Some are locked away for now. I trust the Almighty has his ways of having the full truth emerge when the time is right. Maybe he is waiting for his people to show some interest in actually knowing the truth - I see that happening too with the Hebrew Roots movement growing like it is.

Oh yeah? From Why the New Testament was written in Greek, not Hebrew :

Scholars have long denied the veracity of the New Testament Scriptures, claiming that the earliest gospels were not eye-witness accounts of Christ and His life, but were written some one hundred years afterward, or about the middle of the second century, and were based on hearsay, myth, fable, and oral stories which had been passed down. Thus many scholars have regarded the very words of Christ, as recorded in the gospels, as "suspect."

Astonishing as it may seem, however, bits of papyrus in an Oxford University library puts the lie to the cherished theories of unbelieving, skeptical scholars! Three scraps of text of the gospel of Matthew, inscribed in Greek, have traditionally been believed to have been written in the late second century. But German papyrus expert Carsten Thiede has published a paper arguing that these fragments kept at Oxford's Magdalen College very likely represent an actual EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT of the life of Jesus!

The London Times reported that the evidence on an early form of writing paper was a potentially "important breakthrough in biblical scholarship, on a level with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947" (Los Angeles Times, Dec.25, 1994, "Gospel Fragments in Britain May Be Contemporary Account of Life of Jesus Christ, p.A42).

Some scholars have questioned the accuracy of the New Testament as historical, believing that the earliest texts were written long after the actual events described. However, careful new analysis by Professor Thiede has dated the fragments to the middle of the first century, thereby indicating that they are evidence that the Matthew Gospel was written only a generation after the crucifixion, or even earlier! Says William Tuohy of the Los Angeles Times, "Parts of the New Testament may have been written by men who actually knew Christ, rather than authors recounting a 2nd-Century version of an oral tradition."

The Magdalen fragments have been at the Oxford college since 1901. Little work has been done on them since 1953 when they were last edited by biblical scholars. But earlier this year, Thiede visited Oxford and inspected the papyrus. He concluded,

"The Magdalen fragment now appears to belong to a style of handwriting that was current in the 1st Century A.D., and that slowly petered out around the mid-1st Century. Even a hesitant approach to questions of dating would therefore seem to justify a date in the 1st Century, about 100 years earlier than previously thought."

The lines on the fragments are from Matthew 26 and include the oldest written reference to Mary Magdalene and the betrayal of Christ by Judas. This fragment, written soon after the death of Christ, in the first century, is written in the Greek language, putting in the trash compacter once and for all the notion that the apostles did not speak or write Greek!

This new discovery by Professor Carsten Thiede, a papyrus expert, will provoke controversy among scholars, if not even dismay and consternation on the part of disbelievers and skeptics. His discovery is strong evidence that the gospel accounts regarding the life of Jesus Christ are accurate, and reliable historical documents.

The Magdalene fragment from the Gospel of Matthew has been identified as coming from a document dated to the middle of the first century A.D. -- during the very lives of the apostles! This fragment is written in GREEK, and could even be a fragment from an original monograph written by the apostle Matthew himself! This amazing new discovery is powerful evidence, obviously, that the writer, evidently the apostle Matthew, was very familiar with the Greek language and was capable of writing intelligently in it.

[boatbums]

Seriously, ES, you need a recess. Maybe the merry-go-round, the swings, a leisurely teeter-totter - something to get you to show a little more maturity than calling people names like “snot face” and others like you were still in second grade!?

[boatbums]

"Empty gracers"...is that the pet term now for those who believe in the promises of Almighty God who saves us by His grace through faith and not by works??? It sounds to me like those who presume that their own merits, works, efforts, deeds and obedience to all God's commandments earn them salvation are the REAL empty gracers. It is not grace at all when you have to deserve the gift of eternal life. It isn't a gift that way, either! It makes God your debtor instead of your Redeemer/Savior.

[boatbums]

Well, why don’t you pick a duck from the comment and explain why you disagree?

[boatbums]

Thank you for your thank you. I appreciate it.

[Iscool]

Easily the world’s foremost expert on early Hebrew texts.

According to whom, Nehemiah Gordon???

[boatbums]

Okay...the point was that there are Greek words in the New Testament that had no Hebrew equivalent. This is but one example which is used to prove that the originals were in Greek not Hebrew or Aramaic. The contention was that there are Hebrew "puns" that got lost when translated into Greek. Yet, we have early Greek manuscript copies and fragments by the thousands and no such things in Hebrew. It makes sense that God would have inspired the New Testament books be written in the lingua franca of that time which was Greek.

[boatbums]

Here, whomever wrote this, gets it all turned around, as we've already discussed many times. So badly, that I see little need in carrying this further with this particular piece. Kudos on bringing up hypocrisy though...

Have you bothered to read the comments of others on this thread? That very thing IS brought up - in fact, only a few posts back.

[ShadowAce]

Why would anyone bother to ‘prove’ anything to a satanic snot face like you?

Elijah did. He took time to school 400 of them.

[metmom]

The point is how one ultimately is able to endure to the end in faith, to receive that saving justification.

Except for the complicating fact that when we are saved, we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit until the day he redeems us. Our salvation is NOW and it is secure.

We *persevere* because it is He who works in us to will and to do according to HIS good pleasure.

We *persevere* because He enables us to.

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 5:4-8 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.