Hebrew Insights - Biblical.Hebrew.Messianic.

With the Passover (Pesach) coming soon I spend a few minutes sharing some of the background to this feast and why it's so important for all believers.

Passover is coming up in less than a month and I wanted to talk about some words that are connected with this special feast!  Enjoy!

I sit down for a fascinating conversation with George Whitten to discuss world events, Israel and his ministry - Worthy News.

Our good friend Sue Werner gives some wonderful insights into the feast of Esther.

The feast of Purim is almost here and we're going to talk about a central idea of the holiday, casting lots.  That's what a "Pur" is.  The Hebrew word is "goral".  But we're also going to hit on the Urim and the Thummim in this conversation.

Bride (kalah) and groom (chatan) both contain ideas that are valuable to marriage.  There's a lot that could be said about them, but here I unpack a couple key thoughts for you to chew on.  Enjoy!

The four words we look at in this episode are often translated "rejoice".  Rejoicing is an expression of joy.  The expression in Hebrew are really cool.

There are many Hebrew words for happiness and joy in Hebrew.  I'm going to spend two weeks unpacking seven of them.  First up - Simchah, Asher and Chedvah.

Righteousness is an important and sometimes difficult word to understand in scripture.  Its antonym Rashah means guilty or wicked.  But they both are established in relationship to a standard or standard giver.

The fear of Jehovah and the command to not fear other things is a dominant theme in the Hebrew Bible.  It's important to understand the nature of fear in Hebrew to understand our attitude toward our heavenly Father.

The word for neighbor (re'ah) is an important idea in scripture.  Defining who was meant by this term was a significant theological/legal debate.  Yeshua's answers this question with a story that leaves everyone undone and dividing lines broken to pieces.

The Gospel is the message that contains the power of salvation and in today's episode I share a couple thoughts from the Greek word and the Hebrew!

Yeshua was asked what was the greatest commandment and He quotes the Sh'ma and the Ahavtah from Deut. 6.  I want to take a look at the use of heart, soul and strength in this context and show the expanding circle of love that he is describing.  A circle that He wants to fill.

Kinah is a passion for what is yours or you wish were yours.  It is most often translated as jealousy or zeal.  

We continue our conversation from last week wth Sue Werner on Hanukah; and she shares her thoughts on Hanukah and Christmas.

We sat down for a conversation with Sue Werner to talk about the story of Hanukah (the feast of dedication).

The feast of dedication is coming up in few weeks and so I'm going to share the meaning of the word Hanukah as well as Maccabees, the Israelite hero's of the Hanukah story, and the some information on the word for light, or!

Heaven is of common word in the Hebrew Bible and refers to multiple places like the sky, space and the dwelling place of Elohim.

To be noble is to be generous, to be a leader is to lift up others and to be a ruler is to make the world like you want it to be.

Lord is a very common term for Jehovah in the scriptures, not to be confused with LORD (YHVH).  The basis for authority in Lord is very important as well as the nature of the special word for Lord used exclusively for Jehovah.  Sar is the Hebrew word often translated prince in the Bible.  Yeshua is referred to as the Prince of Peace for good reason.

Given the recent election in the US, I'm going to spend the next couple weeks talking about words for rulers and authority in Hebrew.  This week is el (god) and melech (king).  Both words are very common in scripture, but perhaps not fully appreciated.

The Hebrew words for times are all rich with meaning.  I share what the sense of each word is and an insight into the nature of telling time in the Bible.  Yom = Day; Shavuah = Week; Chodesh = Month; Shanah = Year.

Rosh Hashanah is coming up this week and in the Bible Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) is the Feast of Trumpets.  There are two Hebrew words that are translated trumpets and they are very different instruments.  I also discuss the two words that are most associated with these instruments.

This week I sit down with Renalee Colon to hear her miraculous testimony concerning the Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew).  The word Shabbat comes from the idea of ceasing and is used as a verb in the scriptures as well as a noun.  The Sabbath was created on the seventh day by God ceasing from His work.  It's a day that He blessed and set apart as a day of rest for His creation and especially for man.  If you would like to learn more about the Sabbath check out our Beth Emanuel Sermon podcasts on the Sabbath that I recently finished.

The Feasts of the Lord from Leviticus 23 are remarkable as both descriptions of times of meeting between the Lord and His people and the remarkable correlation they have with the plan of redemption.  Yeshua is crucified on Passover, raised on the Feast of Firstfruits and the Holy Spirit is given on the feast of Pentecost.  These are all feasts or appointments ordained by the Lord in His word 1,300 years before these events.  What else can we learn from them?

Raphah is the Hebrew word for healing.  The idea behind "raphah" is to knit together or mend, especially with the thought of restoring to an original state.  The Lord is our healer and has made provision through Yeshua's own death (being torn apart) for us to be held together or restored to wholeness.

Psalm 23 contains a lot of familiar and beautiful ideas on what it means to be one of Jehovah's sheep.  In this episode, I'm giving additional translation notes on many of the words used in this familiar psalm.

Here are three more words that are translated love in the Hebrew Bible.  They all provide wonderful insight into the emotion and commitment of love.  This is perhaps the most striking when we think of Jehovah's love for us with these words, but probably the most convicting when we think of the call that we have to show this kind of love to the Lord and others!

There are a few Hebrew words that are translated "love" in English.  I'm going to take a brief look at the meaning behind each of them and what light they shed on "love" in the Hebrew Bible.  You're going to "love" it:-)

The word "offerings" is almost always a translation of four different Hebrew words.  I'm going to touch on each of them in an attempt to shed light on the ideas in offerings.  Ideas like not coming near empty handed, the ascending of sweet aroma, apportioned tribute and the shedding of blood in our acts of worship to Jehovah.  Please let me know what you think about the podcast!  The Hebrew words here are really beautiful and rich!

The word for covenant in Hebrew likely comes from the word to cut and or to to eat.  It's amazing how clearly this imagery is shown in our new covenant with Jehovah through the sacrificial death of Yeshua (Jesus).  It is also related to the Hebrew word for creation of forming which is to cut away.  It reminds us of how a sculpture creates statues by removing from the rock or marble the parts don't belong to the image in his mind.  This word is additionally related to the idea of choosing, as in cutting away what is unwanted.  The bottom line for covenant is that it is a solemn promise or oath.  In the case of the New Covenant, Jehovah has done all the promising and choosing and we simply respond by putting our faith and confidence in His character to keep His covenants!

Rauch is translated spirit, wind or breath most commonly in Scripture.  It is the connecting of the visible and in the invisible as a we cannot see wind, but we see the world effected by the wind.  It is also connected to the word for smell (Re'ach) and reminds us that we need God's Spirit to be a pleasing aroma to the Father.

The Hebrew word for face is used in a lot of different ways in the Bible depending on context and conjugation.  It comes from the root "panah" to turn and has the idea of what we are focused on.  Where our face is turned. "Panim" is also translated presence and teaches us that simply showing up isn't the same as being "present". One of the most interesting ideas of panim as a face is seeing God's face or being face to face with God.   Face is connected to God's glory and in the New Covenant scriptures Paul tells us that our faces are unveiled so that we can behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror. Meaning that we see His face in our face.  2 Cor. 4:16 says the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is in Yeshua's (Jesus') face.  This work of seeing His face albeit dimly transforms our face.  Until one day, we will see Him face to face and as John says we will be like Him. How amazing that Jehovah is giving us His "panim"!

The Hebrew word for Blessing is connected to the word for knee or kneeling.  The idea is that one bows when blessing another.  We can see this in our own blessing of God in our need to humble ourselves.  But what is more remarkable yet is that God humbles Himself to bless us.

This week we dig into Torah, a word usually translated Law in the english Bible (over 85% of the time to be exact).  However, Torah derives from the idea of pointing or directing more than just commandments or rules.

This week we unpack the word for house "bayit".  It is a common word in scripture appearing over 2,000 times.  It can deal with a physical location or a household of people and in that connection lies some wonderful insight in this important word.

In this episode we unpack the word SHALOM.  It is the Hebrew word for peace, but there's a lot more to this word.  Listen in to get the scoop on SHALOM!