In the 1996 mini-series,
Noah's Ark, Noah's wife plans to throw overboard the tarantulas, giant cockroaches,
and as she puts it, "Who would want tape worms?!" While she opens the window, Noah appears and stops her.
It is not her call; God chose all that entered the ark.
In the same tone, I ask, "Who would want to read the Book of Numbers?" Although it's not nasty like her creepy crawlers, it is BORING! Right?
Yet it was required research for my book. [Sigh] Thus I joined a group doing an eleven week study of Numbers.
It was an amazing study! I was so fascinated that I studied hours every day, each week ending up with a full 12" x 14" tote of file folders on each portion. The internet was a gold mine of information. I also studied several books and various Bible translations.
The group was dedicated to an in depth study and they were very knowledgeable. One gentleman had traveled extensively in Israel and provided verbal pictures of the places and the culture we were reading about. Several others were students of Biblical Hebrew.
Picture an onion or a head of lettuce with their many layers waiting to be peeled one layer at a time. That's an accurate picture of Biblical times Hebrew. Fascinating! Every letter of the alphabet has several meanings and represents a number. There are only 800 words in old Hebrew compared to thousands upon thousands of English words. Therefore, every Hebrew word has several meanings, and must be considered in context of its use. So you're looking at each letter that makes up the word, the word itself and how it's used.
I also learned all Hebrew names reflected the character of that person. So when we read the lists of clans and leaders for the census at the beginning of Numbers, our group facilitator looked up each name in Hebrew. I was amazed. How did parents know what character traits their adult child would have, when they named their newborn?
Like children learning to talk, we attempted to study with a Hebrew mindset. Asking, "What did the words mean to those Hebrews wandering in the wilderness?" Ending with "How does this apply to me today?"
I studied from different viewpoints: Christianity, Jewish, Messianic, and occasionally non-relgious. Each viewpoint included a multitude of differences. How would I sort out the truth?
After gathering all that data and the information from the group, I prayerfully pondered it to find God's true message. Like Hebrew, the message isn't the same for everyone. In fact, the truth may be totally different when I reread it. That's the delight of Scripture...it is new every time. It is as pertinent today as it was long ago, while God's chosen people were wandering in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, Israel.
[think on this] Selah-
To be continued.
Constance
