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The books or scroll of the Torah/ Pentateuch is the oldest (other than Job as far as we know) and most sacred of all our Scriptures. Without the TaNaK (Old Testament), there is NOTHING to compare writings to in order to even know whether or not to call it "Scripture". It is the ONLY Scripture that existed while the "New Testament" was being written and is made up of the "five books of Moses" and the Hebrew Prophets and Writings (that's what TaNaK means). The Hebrew name for the first book is B’reisheet (בראשית). It is also the first word of the book in the Hebrew text, as well as the name for the first Bible Study (the first week’s reading). B’reisheet means “in the beginning.” And it is important to understand that this IS the BEGINNING! We are introduced to the first humans, the first soulmates, the first sins, the first Sabbath, etc.

It's the first book of the Bible, after all and the first chapter. And the Writer of the book has to set the stage for the entire collection of books; to lay the Foundation.  It can also be thought of as the book of origens... of the world, mankind, the nations, the covenants, instructions and more!

 Torah/ Penteteuch:   Genesis 1:1-6:8 (Interlinear)

• Genesis 1:1 | Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath
• Genesis 2:4 | Another Account of the Creation
• Genesis 3:1 | The First Sin and Its Punishment
• Genesis 4:1 | Cain Murders Abel
• Genesis 4:17 | Beginnings of Civilization
• Genesis 5:1 | Adam’s Descendants to Noah and His Sons
• Genesis 6:1 | The Wickedness of Humankind
• Genesis 6:9 | Noah Pleases God

 Torah/ Penteteuch:   Genesis 1:1-6:8 (Interlinear)

• Genesis 1:1 | Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath
• Genesis 2:4 | Another Account of the Creation
• Genesis 3:1 | The First Sin and Its Punishment
• Genesis 4:1 | Cain Murders Abel
• Genesis 4:17 | Beginnings of Civilization
• Genesis 5:1 | Adam’s Descendants to Noah and His Sons
• Genesis 6:1 | The Wickedness of Humankind
• Genesis 6:9 | Noah Pleases God

B'rit Hadasha/ "new testament":  Colossians  (Interlinear)

• [sc_embed_player fileurl="http://audio.esvbible.org/hw/51001001-51001029.mp3"]Letters:
• [sc_embed_player fileurl="http://www.helding.net/greeklatinaudio/greek/colossians/col01g.mp3"] (Greek Audio) (Interlinear)

Colossians Chapter 1 Study Guide

[sc_embed_player fileurl="http://audio.esvbible.org/hw/66021001-66021015.mp3"]Revelation 21 | New Heaven & Earth

• Revelation 21:1 | New Heaven & Earth.
• [sc_embed_player fileurl="http://www.helding.net/greeklatinaudio/greek/revelation/rev21g.mp3"] (Greek Audio) (Interlinear)

Revelation Chapter 21 Study Guide

Revelation Outline

In the Hebrew Scriptures there are hidden aleph-tav’s [את] that aren’t usually translated into English. But they are very enlightening when we read them in the Hebrew, especially because Jesus/ Yeshua said He WAS the aleph-tav. The את identifies covenant peoples, persons, places, things and titles pertaining to the ownership of property by יהוה Father through את Yeshua our Messiah. As you move through the Laws of Liberty (Torah) notice where the את is placed and where it is not placed. Paul declares in Romans 7:12 the TORAH (nomos) is Holy and the Commandments are Holy (Set apart), Righteous (Just) and Good (of Benefit). Following are the aleph-tav’s [את] we find in this week’s study:

In the beginning of Genesis take notice where both the את and the ואת are placed during the creation starting with Genesis 1:1 which links the working of יהוה Father with and through את Yeshua as the Creator of the new Heavens and Earth as John states in John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with Elohim and the Word was Elohim. 2 The same was in the beginning with Elohim. 3 All things were made THROUGH Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.
 

Gen 1:2 gives us a key to understanding Father’s Ruach ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit),which is above the surface of the waters and is actually the working of יהוה Father’s Spirit, His presence in conjunction with Jesus/ Yeshua. Notice that on the third day that the Hebrew word “bara” for “create” or “asah” for “made” is not used and implies that the God-head causes the land to appear and then the plants to grow but nothing is actually created or made and consequently there are no Aleph/Tav Symbols!

But on all the other days of creation, when the God-head is actually making or creating, the Aleph/Tav’s are always there. Amazing! The entire Tanakh gives us a perfect picture of the God-head as יהוה Father works His will in conjunction with and through את Jesus/ Yeshua together as ONE, but please understand, it is Father’s will that is predominate and insight into this is every time Jesus/ Yeshua speaks about Father in the Gospels. Case in Point:

Matt 20:23 to sit on My right hand and on My left, is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My Father…John 14:10 The Words that I speak unto you I speak NOT of Myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the Works.
 

For it is unto יהוה Father that the 24 elders in the throne room bow down and cast their crowns before His feet in Revelation 4:10.

Genesis 3:8 And they heard את voice of יהוה our Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day…confirming what we thought all along, that the one walking and speaking to Adam and Eve in the cool of the day was את Jesus/ Yeshua working together as ONE with יהוה Father by the power of His Holy Spirit.

As you will see the Aleph/Tav את Symbols also show the connection of covenant ownership by יהוה Father with and through את Jesus/ Yeshua the Messiah in every aspect of His creation both of whom are Elohim (plural form). The day Adam is created there appears an את in front of Adam’s name (Gen 1:27) and the rib which is taken from Adam to create Eve is marked by the את (Gen 2:22). The first and only time an את appears in front of Eve’s name is after the fall in the Garden, when Adam has intercourse with her perhaps for the first time and she conceives Cain (Gen 4:1). In Genesis 5 there is an את in front of each male’s name recorded from Adam’s generation to Noah. Also the meaning of their names in the order they were born tell the Gospel Story of Jesus/ Yeshua the Messiah just like the meaning of the names of the sons of Jacob (Israel), whose descendants are the 12 tribes also tell the Gospel Story. This is important to note because the את does not appear in front of everyone’s name in the Old Testament (TaNaK) and when it does it is relevant and is either a sign of covenant relationship, ownership or judgment. From this study I believe you will come to understand that יהוה Father and the extension through whom He has created everything and established His everlasting covenants and by whom atones for sin is in conjunction with and through the workings of את Jesus/ Yeshua the Messiah. Insight into this is Psalm 40:7 and Hebrews 10:7

Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the scroll it is written of Me, TO DO THY WILL, O Elohim.

As Isaiah proclaims also in 53:1 Who has believed our report? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF יהוה BEEN REVEALED?

Both יהוה and את Yeshua working together as ONE, as we shall see.

Hebrew “Word of the Week” by Hebrew4Christians.com

Greek “Greek of the Week”

Of the five senses, which sense to do you think is the most spiritual? The five senses are as follows: 1) Sight 2) Hearing 3) Smell 4) Taste and 5) Touch. So which would you choose? And is there a right or wrong answer to such a question? The answer is astonishing.

“Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the King Messiah, actually says something similar:

“A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of YHVH will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of YHVH. His delight (וַהֲרִיחֹו) will be in the fear of YHVH. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears…” Isaiah 11:1-3

If the Messiah will not judge by His eyes nor ears, how will He judge?

Around the year 132CE, The Talmud recounts a story of the sage Rabbi Akiva and a military leader named Shimon Bar Koziba. After the initial success of Bar Koziba, Rabbi Akiva proclaimed him the Messiah, renaming him “Bar Kochva”, the “son of the star” based on Numbers 24:17,

“I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star כֹּוכָב will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel…” Numbers 24:17
 

The Rabbis, however, rejected the Messiahship of Bar Koziba as the Jerusalem Talmud states,

‘“R. Simeon b. Yohai taught, “Aqiba, my master, would interpret the following verse: ‘A star (kokhab) shall come forth out of Jacob’ (Num. 24:17) ― ‘A disappointment (Kozeba) shall come forth out of Jacob.’” R. Aqiba: When he saw Bar Kozeba, he said, “This is the King Messiah.” Said to him R. Yohanan ben Toreta, “Aqiba! Grass will grow on your cheeks, and the Messiah will not yet have come!” Jerusalem Talmud, Ta’anit 4:5, edited by Jacob Neusner, Hendrickson Publishers

In the story of Bar Koziba, the Babylonian Talmud records an interesting detail regarding the Messiah,

“(Bar Koziba reigned two and a half years, and then said to the Rabbis, “I am the Messiah.” They answered, “Of Messiah it is written that he smells and judges: let us see whether he [Bar Koziba] can do so.” When they saw that he was unable to judge by the scent, they slew him.)” Sanhedrin 93b, Soncino Press Edition

To the untrained eye, this idea of the Messiah judging by smell seems humorous. If the Messiah will not judge by His eyes, nor His ears, He’ll judge by . . . his nose?!

Let’s look at the source for this belief again:

וַהֲרִיחֹו בְּיִרְאַת יי
“His delight will be in the fear of the L-RD. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears…” Isaiah 11:1-3

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginzburg explains,

“The word for “delight” (v’haricho) has the same root as the word “smell,” (rayach). The Sages interpreted this to mean that the Mashiach will be able to judge through the sense of smell. According to tradition, the four senses of sight, hearing, taste and touch were all blemished due to their participation in the sin of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden. Only the sense of smell does not appear in the verses describing the sin, thus retaining its original pristine state. The common expressions “something doesn’t smell right,” and “this stinks” used to illustrate situations that feel intuitively wrong, allude to the association between smell and judgment. Smell is connected to intuition and inspiration, both of which emanate from a superconscious level above logic and reason. Inner.org, Mashiach and Jewish Leadership

The Ketoret, or Incense, was a powerful aromatic aspect of the Temple service. It must have had an wonderful scent, as there is an explicit command in the Torah not to use it for perfume.

“The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for the L-RD. Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.” Exodus 30:37-38
 

Consisting of eleven ingredients, its scent was extremely powerful according to ancient accounts,

“The goats in Jericho used to sneeze because of the odour of the incense. The women in Jericho did not have to perfume themselves, because of the odour of the incense. The bride in Jerusalem did not have to perfume herself because of the odour of the incense.” Yoma 39b, Soncino Press Edition

According to Josephus, Jericho was 150 Roman stadioi (about 18 miles) away. The incense quite possibly had a repellent effect to insects also. All of Jerusalem was a fragrant aroma to YHVH affecting the entire atmosphere. Amazingly, the Torah compares the incense to prayer,

“Let my prayer be set before you like incense, the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.”3 Psalms 141:2
 

The Book of Revelation reveals a glimpse of this ketoret of the Heavenly Temple,

“Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.” Revelation 5:8

 THE CREATION OF ADAM
וַיִּיצֶר יי אֱלֹקִים אֶת־הָֽאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַֽיְהִי הָֽאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃
“YHVH Elohim formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:
 

Where does the Breath of Life enter? Into the nostrils! In Lamentations, it reveals the secret of the Breath of Life:

רוּחַ אַפֵּינוּ מְשִׁיחַ יי
“The breath of our nostrils, the Messiah of the L-RD, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.” Lamentations 4:20
 

The breath of our nostrils is the Messiah! The Mashiach is the one who resurrects the dead. Chaim Kramer, of the Breslov Research Institute writes,

“Mashiach is represented by the “nose,” our source of life and breath. . . As long as we breathe the breath of hope – the breath of prayer and reliance upon God – there is hope that Mashiach will come and fully purify our lives. The verse states (Lamentations 4:2), “The breath of our nostrils [is] the Mashiach of God.” Mashiach, Who, What Why, How Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 71

Amazingly, the breath breathed into Adam occurred on Rosh HaShanah, the day of Resurrection:

“Man becomes a living, sentient being when God breathes His breath into him, transforming him from physical matter into a living hybrid of the physical and spiritual. When we blow the shofar on the day of Man’s creation, it serves as a memorial to that first breath, the divine breath of life blown at the dawn of Creation, on Rosh Hashana.” Aish.com, M’oray HaAish, R. Ari Kahn: The Sound of the Shofar

Chaim Kramer then makes an astonishing statement:

“…just as breathing sustains each person, whether one is conscious of it or not, so too, Mashiach, the world’s ultimate rectification, has sustained the world from its inception, whether we are conscious of it or not.” Mashiach, Who, What Why, How Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 44

Just as prayer links to the incense, Kramer notes,

“Mashiach will “breathe the fear of God,” since his soul is rooted in the place of breathing, the nose. And this “nose,” the source of life of the Mashiach, alludes to prayer. Rebbe Nachman thus taught: Mashiach’s main weapon is prayer…” Thus prayer is represented by the nose. And the nose is breathing, life itself.” Mashiach, Who, What Why, How Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 42

He continues,

“…[Mashiach’s] “breathing” will have a very positive effect upon mankind. . . The breath that Mashiach will breathe will emanate from the Torah and its 613 mitzvot. This is “The spirit of God [that] hovered over the waters.” The spirit is Mashiach and the waters are the Torah. Mashiach’s spirit is embedded in the Torah and he will draw his breath, the awe of God, from it. With this spirit, he will be able to “breathe into others” filing them with an awe and respect for God.” Mashiach, Who, What, Why, How, Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg.63

This links incredibly to the Book of John,

“Yeshua therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit!” John 20:21-22
 

At the end of Sabbath, there is a service called הַבְדָּלָה Havdalah, which means “separation”. It sets the Shabbat apart from the ordinary days of the week. When at least three stars shine in the sky, three elements below are brought out for the special occasion. A braided Candle, a Kiddush Cup, and a box of Spices, called besamim in Hebrew. I remember standing at the Kotel, or Western Wall, when spices were passed around to smell. It was an incredible experience.

“The (subject of) the work of creation (may not be expounded) in the presence of two, nor (the work of) the chariot in the presence of one, unless he is a sage and understands of his own knowledge.” Chagigah 11b, Soncino Press Edition

On September 5, 1977, the Voyager 1 probe was sent into space by NASA. At the request of American astronomer Carl Sagan, eleven years after its launch and having traveled an incredible distance of 3.7 billion miles, the probe was directed to turn around and take a snapshot of earth. The historic photograph, taken on February 14, 1990, was stunning. Named “Pale Blue Dot,” it displayed a small speck in the midst of a beam of light, across a vast, dark ocean of space. This picture inspired Carl Sagan to pen these hauntingly beautiful words, albeit tainted by a hopeless atheism,

“Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. . . There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot 

While Sagan’s words were incredibly poetic, the question is raised: Is true that it is merely an “illusion” that we have a “privileged position in the universe”? Is it true that there’s “no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves?” We will explore these fundamental questions as they are ground zero in a fierce battleground between believers and skeptics. With the exception of the nihilism inherent in Sagan’s poem, he actually echoes the words of the Psalmist,

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?” Psalms 8:3-4
 

To be sure, there is a false dichotomy in the fields of Biblical and Scientific understanding: The position of believers and unbelievers that the Torah and Science are contradictory, leading the former to create an alternative “science” which conforms to their erroneous interpretation of the Torah, and the latter to correctly respond that this pseudo-science is incompatible with the facts, but ends up over-correcting to the point of denying the unknown, and minimizing the implications of the evidence.

“God on the ropes: The brilliant new science that has creationists and the Christian right terrified.” This was the headline of a 2015 Salon.com magazine article about a revolutionary theory by MIT Professor Jeremy England. It was shared by the Richard Dawkins Foundation website, in an attempt to further the atheist cause. Another news article’s headline was entitled, “Has science just disproved God?”

The question arises: Didn’t the media tell us that ‘science’ had God on the ropes years ago? According to this headline, does this mean that God is still in the ring, using an Muhammad Ali-eqsue rope-a-dope technique? There is one massive problem with the media hype regarding this theory. It’s author, Jeremy England, is an Orthodox Jew who prays every day. He states,

“I see God revealed just as much in physics, neurology and cosmology as I do in Scripture and theology and prayer: God is present in all of these places and available if we’re just willing to open our eyes to the wonder and the mystery that is our maker.” Jeremy England, MIT Professor, Interview with Relevant Magazine 

England’s theory is incredibly brilliant showing that, “under the right conditions, a random group of molecules will self-organize in a way that allows them to more efficiently use energy in their environment. Over time, the system could improve its ability to absorb energy, becoming increasingly lifelike. Nor is it an arbitrary process, but an inherent bias of the physical world, to form such self-organized systems.”

Unfortunately, many ‘Bible believers’ may outright reject the theory of England because they have been told by the media that his theory is in conflict with the creation account of Genesis. Nothing could be further from the truth, and this incident highlights a massive problem in the world of popular science reporting: The science itself is not the problem. The problem is that the media are biased. Not to mention that the creation of the US is HEAPED in  REPLACECEMENT THEOLOGY, but not the kind that most people may be familiar with.

As in the world of politics, the popular media attempt to “spin” scientific data in order to support their narrative and worldview. For example, the media has portrayed the Big Bang Theory as a “replacement” for the book of Genesis. As we will see below, the truth is the exact opposite of what has been reported. However, many believers, both Christians and Jews, have been tricked into rejecting it, all the while it is one of the most powerful arguments, if not the most powerful, FOR the veracity of the Biblical account.

Well known tests such as the Miller-Urey experiment, which attempted to simulate the early conditions for life, and test for abiogenesis, the process of life arising from non-living matter, was hailed in the popular media as “creating life” in the absence of a Designer/God. While the experiment had several mistaken factors, it has been repeated successfully in subsequent experiments. However, no actual life was ever created. All that was produced were amino acids, the precursors or building blocks of life.

However, if such an experiment were to be successful and actually create some type of primitive life, would this disprove a Creator? Not according to the Jewish understanding of the Torah. R’ Aryeh Kaplan (1934 – 1983), who was a Torah scholar and physicist, wrote the following,

“I remember years ago when some of the first experiments were conducted making amino acids, the basic building blocks of living matter, out of carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and water vapor, together with spark discharges or ultra-violet radiation. I remember where further experiments were performed, where Professor Fox was able to combine these amino acids automatically to form simple proteins and micro-spheres, which almost looked like very simple living creatures. When this happened, many religious people were very upset. Many people saw this as a blow to our tradition. Here we saw that the interface between the living and the non-living was not quite as immutable and unbreachable as people thought it was. I recall that around that time, people came to me and asked, “Rabbi Kaplan, what do you think about that?” My reaction was “Mah gadlu ma’asecha HaShem” – “How great are Your deeds O G-d.” R’ Aryeh Kaplan, Kabbalah and the Age of the Universe, pg. 6

Rabbi Kaplan continues,

“All this experiment did was show that inert matter and nonliving elements have the ability to actually crystallize into life, producing the chemicals of life. But what does this mean? It means that Whoever created the basic matter of the Universe, created it to be the building block of life. Whoever created the carbon atom, designed it specifically so that under certain conditions, it would build into amino acid and proteins.” R’ Aryeh Kaplan, Kabbalah and the Age of the Universe, pg. 6

YHVH designed the universe to support life. England’s theory, and the Miller-Urey experiment, only verify that that design of the universe is structured to inherently support life. Imagine the media reacting in surprise that Legos just happen to fit together, and then claim that they were not designed. It is surprising that the media and believers see this as a blow to the Biblical account, when that is exactly what the Biblical account says. Rephrasing the question, we may ask, does Evolution disprove Creation?

In truth, Evolution only asks the question of HOW, not WHO. Therefore, most believers actually do not reject evolution per se, but rather the assertion that it is RANDOM, without a guided design or purpose. The method of how YHVH created the universe and life is a not problem, as we have a dictum ‘dibberah Torah k’lashon bnei adam’, “The Torah speaks in the language of man.” In other words, God could have used evolution (with punctuated equilibrium) all He wanted to. The real issue is that it is impossible to test whether something is random or guided. Because it is not testable, the idea of random chance, without guidance, is not scientific. It is a nihilistic philosophy, which is what believers in the Bible truly reject. 

Therefore, evolution in and of itself presents no problem for a believer.

Evolution says that life began in the oceans, and through a gradual process of natural selection, life made it to land, with the apex being the human being. The Genesis account says that life began in the oceans, and through a guided process of increasingly complexity made it to land, and culminating in the human being. In truth, the real problem for these two accounts to mesh is the time frame.

The subject that we are about to explore is complex, and it is challenging to know exactly where or how to begin. Therefore, let us begin in the Beginning.

“In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
 

In contrast to the Torah, which states the universe had a beginning, the scientific community believed in the Steady-State Theory until relatively recent history. Steady State Theory states that...