Facebook

I was teaching the other day through the book of Matthew with the students and I made this comment, "If you want to see where someone's heart is, check their Day Planners and their Checkbooks." After I said that, one of the students added, "and their Facebooks!"

After class, I started looking at people's Facebooks and I must totally agree. For the first time, I started looking at what the postings where about and who they were about. Many of them where innocent enough and not very revealing, others very clearly indicated that the things of God where the most important to them. and yet others were quite obvious that the things of this world occupy their hearts and minds. I'm not saying this to condemn, but quite frankly I was saddened and sometimes a little shocked at what we as Christians are willing to reveal about ourselves to the entire world. To you, it may be just a picture. However, the old saying still holds true, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Yes, I agree, if we want to see where someone's heart is, we need only check their Day Planner, Checkbook and their Facebook. All three added together will really give you a pretty good glimpse as to what is going on in their lives spiritually. It's the places were we spend our time, our money and our thoughts that ultimately determine where we are spiritually. I can't check anyone's Day Planner or Checkbook, but my own. However, I can check their Facebook. What does your Facebook say about you?

Evidence of Inspiration

I shared this with my Matthew class at the Bible College today. "Using the Masoretic text, which has not changed by as much as one character for more than 2000 years, we find the word TORAH spelled out at skip sequences at the start of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Hebrew word TORAH means law, or teaching, and is the title rabbis use to describe the first five books of the Bible, the Law of Moses.

Finding this pattern does not mystify the Bible. It is simply there. It is a fact. It can be checked by counting the letters manually or, today, with computer programs. That the pattern is there is remarkable. It recurs too many times to be considered coincidental. It is an indication, a seal so to speak, of divine authorship.

The first word in Genesis 1:1 is BERESHEET, meaning “In the beginning.” The last letter of the Hebrew word is a tav. Hebrew is read from right to left. Tav is the first letter of the word TORAH. Count seven times seven letters, or 49 characters, and the 50th letter in the Hebrew text is vav – the second letter in the word TORAH. Keep going in this way, every 50th letter, and TORAH is spelled out. Also starting with the first occurrence of the letter tav in the book of Exodus, the word TORAH is spelled out in the same way.

Do the exercise in the fourth and fifth books of the Bible – Numbers and Deuteronomy – and we find the same phenomenon, except that the word TORAH is spelled backwards; pointing inwards, so to speak.

What about Leviticus, the middle book of these first five books of the Bible? In that book, dominated by the seven opening chapters detailing blood sacrifices for sin, we find the ancient name for God spelled out. Starting with the first letter yud, skipping seven letters and counting the eighth, we find the word YHWH, translated into English, by the way, as Yahweh or Jehovah.

It is impossible that this could have happened by chance. The only conclusion is that the Spirit of God directed the men who wrote the text."