Today is Brought to You by the book of Leviticus, part 1

Leviticus (Va’yikra in Hebrew) means “and He called”, which is how verse one starts. We call this book Leviticus because it records the duties of the Levites. The Hebrew title is representative of the content and purpose of the book, namely the calling of God’s people, and in particular the calling of the Levites, to minister before Him.

This book was written by Moses and its major themes are like an instruction manual for morals and ethics. There are civil, sanitary, ceremonial, moral and religious regulations for the nation of Israel. There are also instructions for making offerings (burnt, meat, peace, sin, trespass, grain). We have the ordination of Aaron and his son, rules and laws for purification, regulations for atonement, rules for sexual relationships, provisions for festivals, and final instructions and warnings.

Psalm 119, a couple of facts

Let’s look at Psalm 119. It is the longest psalm as well as the longest chapter in the Bible. It is referred to in Hebrew by its opening words:

 Ashrei temimei derech

 ("happy are those whose way is perfect") It is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Torah, the sacred law. There are 176 verses, 8 verses for each of the 22 Hebrew letters. The first 8 verses each start with the Hebrew letter Aleph ,the next 8 with Bet and so on through the alphabet (alephbet).

We have lost the amazing beauty of the psalm in translation.

Happy Easter Everyone

I just wanted to share this Amazing Hallelujah Song
Praise God. He is risen.

Passover + Jesus

We really need to look at the Passover celebration as revealed in the instructions given to Moses and Aaron in Exodus chapter 12 because the symbolism is wonderfully woven into the Jewish and the Christian experience.

Each household needed a lamb, a perfect male, and they had to take it on the tenth day of the month and not sacrifice it until the fourteenth day. Compare: Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10th day and was crucified on the 14th day.

Passover restrictions required that they had to eat the lamb and not break any of the bones. Compare: Jesus was crucified, but His legs were not broken (as was the custom in crucifixions).

In celebrating the Seder (Passover) dinner Jews still put three pieces of unleavened bread together (representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) then take the middle piece, break it and wrap it in white cloth (symbolizing Christ’s death) and hide it (the burial). If you’ve seen Matzah bread you know it is striped and pierced (as was Jesus – whipped and later pierced with a sword). Later the bread is found (resurrection). The third cup of wine is drunk; it is the cup of redemption.

(taken from CROSSING THE SCRIPTURES)

Cindy C Bennett's THE END OF FEELING

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Benjamin Nefer seems to have it all. He’s the most popular guy in school, the star quarterback with college scouts looking at him, his grades are near the top of his class, he can get any girl he wants . . . but he hides behind his dream life to mask the nightmare of his reality.

Charlie Austin is the new girl. Forced to move in with a bitter aunt, she only wants to protect her fragile mom from the world’s cruelty. When Benjamin sets his sights on Charlie, she’s armored against his charm—friends warned her about Benjamin’s game of pursuing and then dumping a long line of girls, not caring about the broken hearts he leaves behind. She doesn’t count on how single-minded he can be when she refuses him, or how charismatic, easing into her life through what he claims is just friendship.

Benjamin thought he could keep Charlie in the same place he keeps all girls—something to be used and then discarded. But Charlie has as many secrets as he does, secrets he’s determined to discover while keeping his own hidden. He realizes she’s the perfect girlfriend candidate . . . someone he can use to keep up the façade of a perfect life. Now he just has to keep his frozen heart from softening toward this unique girl, because if he doesn’t, his carefully constructed lies might just come thundering down around him, crushing him beneath the burden of feeling.

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The End of Feeling is a story that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Haunting, heartbreaking, in other words, another winner for Bennett!

~ Sherry Gammon, author of Unlovable

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~ Jamie Canosa, author of Falling to Pieces

A tale of hope and love about a couple of teens who have every reason to believe in neither. It's raw and real, but leaves us believing in the power of redemption.

~ Juli Caldwell, author of Psyched

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Once again Cindy C Bennett's incredible talent shines through yet another masterpiece . . . a triumphant story of love, compassion and human strength.

~ Camelia MironSkiba, author of Hidden Heart

Bennett brilliantly weaves the fears and trepidation of two teens treading the hazards of acceptance, young love, and. Curl up with this story and enjoy the ride—it's terrific.

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Learn more at Cindy C Bennett's blog.

Visit The End of Feeling blog to read the full reviews.

Today is Brought to You by the Hebrew Letter Gimel

The third Hebrew letter, gimel, represents the “camel”. The desert dwelling Bedouins call the camel the “gift of God” because their entire sustenance – food, drink, clothing, fuel, and travel – depends upon it. Camels are frequently used in the Bible as a symbol of wealth and abundance. Picture the wise men with camels, bearing gifts for the Christ child.

In the Hebrew alphabet the first three letters are aleph, bet, and gimel. Aleph has the symbolic meaning of ox or “leader for God”. The second letter, bet, means “house”. Their word for father, Av, combines the first two letters, hence we clearly see the hidden meaning in this short word: the father is the leader of the house.

The word for son, ben, is spelled with the letter bet and the letter nun which means “heir”. Do you see the hidden meaning of son? Heir of the house. Makes sense to me. Therefore, we’ve got Father, Son, and … we’d expect the third letter to give us the Holy Spirit, right? How do we get that from gimel, camel?  Well, the three letters that spell gimel, also spell gamal, gamál, and gomel (vowel points were added centuries later). Gamal means camel, gamál means recompense, reward, deal bountifully or do good and gomel means benefactor or abundant giver. What I know of the Holy Spirit seems to fit these definitions, especially abundant giver – what do you think?

I love the codes in the Hebrew alphabet. As I see it the first three letters show us the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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A Closer Look at the TEN COMMANDMENTS

The first commandment is basically 

“I am Adonai your God” 

The word Adonai here is actually the tetragrammaton seen above and pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah, but Jews replace this sacred name with Adonai or HaShem and never speak it. If you start reading at verse 1 of Exodus chapter 20 then you know that God “spoke” all these words: the commandments. He starts with this implicit fact that He is our God.

“You shall not have other gods before me.” 

Literally, it says “before my face”, implying forever and everywhere, since God is omnipresent and eternal.

“You shall not take the name of Adonai your God in vain.” 

This commandment prohibits the voicing of the Lord’s name in an empty or useless way. Did you read that? Do not say “oh my God”! It has become a habit for too many people and it breaks my heart when I hear anyone and especially small children repeating this phrase.

“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” 

Set it apart. The Sabbath should be special. Heed God’s word, after all He spends several verses on this one command explaining that you should not work on the Sabbath.

“Honor your father and your mother.” 

Now the commands switch from being about our relationship with God to being about our relationship with others. Notice that this command to honor your parents continues with a blessing for you if you obey. Read verse 12 and see what you will get if you honor your father and your mother.

“You shall not murder.” 

If your translation says “kill” it is wrong. That is too broad a word. The actual Hebrew implies illegal killing only, hence murder. This commandment does not prohibit justified killing or killing in war.

“You shall not commit adultery.” 

Could that be any clearer?

“You shall not steal.” 

Stealing implies a lack of trust that God will supply all of our needs.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” 

This commandment is implicit in our lives if we live by the truth.

“You shall not covet” 

This goes on to list the things that you shall not covet: your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, ox, donkey, or anything he owns. To covet is to have a selfish desire or even lust.

The commandments are given in Deuteronomy 5 as well.