Are Paul's Letter's "Scripture"?

Someone asked me the following questions recently: 

Do you think that Paul wrote his letters to the church as Scripture? I mean they were letters. He quoted Scripture but do you think he was writing these letters to become church doctrine?

This is a great question, and the answer isn't simple. Let me break it down into 3 parts: Paul's view, the Apostles' view, and the Historical-Grammatical view.

Paul's view

Paul seemed to believe that most of the time he was writing by authority delegated by Jesus, not like he was writing letters dictated by God, but that he had been given a divine commission to expound on the Tanakh and the teachings of Jesus. Sometimes he spelled out that he was writing prophetically, as revelation from God. See 1 Corinthians 14:37 and Galatians 1:11-12. He also directed that his letters be circulated to some extent. See Colossians 4:16.

As a counterpoint, Paul also sometimes said he was writing advice that was not binding as a divine command. This is especially true in 1 Corinthians 7, but implied in personal directions to specific congregations. For example, Romans 14, 1 Timothy 5:23, and Titus 1:5.

The Apostles' view

Luke seemed to believe that Paul's speeches were important enough to record them in great detail in the book of Acts, but we really only have Peter's testimony regarding Paul's letters. 2 Peter 3:16 calls Paul's letters Scripture. Technically the word just means "writings", but the context clearly indicates that he meant divinely inspired writings, particularly the Tanakh.

The Historical-Grammatical view

Looking at Paul's letters from the outside, considering his expressions, manners of address, personal asides, and historical context, it seems pretty clear to me that Paul didn't think of his letters as Scripture on the same level as the Torah or Prophets. They were personal letters that contained divinely inspired instruction and prophecy, but weren't Law in the sense of Exodus or Prophecy in the sense of Isaiah. Each letter was addressed to a specific person or group of people and written to help with one or more specific problems.

You're familiar with the different classifications of Scripture: Law, History, Wisdom, Poetry (I think those 2 deserve separate categories), Prophecy, Gospels, Epistles, Apocalypse. OT History tells how the Law plays out in the world. Poetry tells how someone feels about how the Law plays out. Wisdom gives advice on how to live in a land governed by God's Law in the midst of a world corrupted by evil. Prophecy tells what will happen because people reject the Law and calls them back to it.

I think the Pauline Epistles and the General Epistles should be considered separate categories. Paul's letters were personal and situational, while the General Epistles were broadcasts, more consciously "Scripture", with general instruction on how to live according to the Law while in exile in a corrupted world. It seems to me that Paul's letters are blend of Epistle, Wisdom, and Prophecy. Sometimes he prophesied. Sometimes he rebuked. Sometimes he wrote about overarching spiritual principles that apply universally, but mostly he wrote divinely inspired advice into the specific circumstances of mostly-Gentile congregations trying to figure out how to live by this new set of standards in a hostile, pagan world.

Paul didn't have authority to change God's Law--not even Jesus could do that--but he had authority to explain it and to put it into the perspective of Gentile converts who didn't have the advantage of growing up in a Jewish culture that was infused with Torah. Everything he wrote was based solidly on the Torah, but it wasn't itself Torah. As long as we understand that his letters are mostly advice, not Law, then we can take the advice that he gave to Timothy or to the believers in Rome, study the Tanakh to ensure that we understand his advice within that greater context, and figure out how it applies in our own circumstances.

Paul's letters are also a valuable litmus test to see if someone is reading them only within the context of the whole Bible. If a person believes Paul had authority to nullify prior Scripture, then he will interpret him as being very antinomian. He will lean into one of the major doctrinal systems that reject the Law: dispensationalism, reform/covenant theology, or Catholicism/Orthodoxy. If he believes Paul only taught was already established by prior Scripture, then his letters take on a whole new character and depth.

Does the Earth Have Four Corners?

Yes, I know this isn't what people mean by the earth having four corners,
but I still think the picture is kind of neat. ;-)

There are four passages in the Bible that use the phrase "four corners of the earth".

• Isaiah 11:12 - "He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."
• Ezekiel 7:2 - "And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land." [The Hebrew word for land is eretz, which also means earth.]
• Revelation 7:1 - "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree."
• Revelation 20:8 - "...and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea."

Do any of these verses mean that the earth literally has four corners? Let's look at each of them in turn.

Isaiah 11:12

Since we are required to interpret the words in a strictly literal manner in order to believe that this refers to literal corners, we must also assume that "the dispersed of Judah" are only dispersed into those four corners or else they will only be gathered from those four corners, leaving the remaining of the banished Jews in whatever land they were banished to. This would also mean that God only names the places from which he will gather the remnants of the Northern Kingdom (Israel/Ephraim) but leaves the source of the remnants of the Southern Kingdom (Judah) unnamed. 

This seems like a very unlikely interpretation. It's more likely that the places mentioned were simply the places that came to the minds of the people of Isaiah's day when they thought of "the nations": Assyria, Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, Babylon, Asia Minor, and Philistia. When God said that he will assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth, he meant "from wherever they have been dispersed, no matter how far."

Ezekiel 7:2

Once again sticking to the literal meaning of the words, the end prophesied in this verse can only apply to the four corners of the earth, leaving the the rest of the earth alone. However, the first part of the verse strongly indicates that the prophecy is only against the land of Israel, not the whole world. So, does the land of Israel have four corners? I can't find a single map of Israel, depicting any period in its history, in which it could reasonably be described as having four corners. Most maps show borders that follow rivers, ridges, and valleys or that taper off into the wilderness and fluctuate with the political winds. There could be ten thousand corners of Israel or there could be no corners at all, depending on what period of time you want to consider. 

There is no reasonable way to interpret "four corners" in this verse as literal corners. It is clearly an idiom intended to mean "the furthest reaches of the land in every direction".

Revelation 7:1

If the "four corners" in this verse means that the earth has four literal corners, then it must also mean that the earth has four literal winds. Since it says that no wind can blow on the earth while the four winds are held back, then the earth can only have four winds. No more. I suppose if you believe the earth is square, then you also must believe that weather maps are all fake, so I can't appeal to weather maps to prove that there are more than four winds. Perhaps if you go stand on any open hilltop, you'll be able to feel that the winds come from all directions, shifting constantly, but this could also be attributed to the interplay of two or more winds coming from different directions simultaneously. 

The typical flat-earth model shows the sun and moon attached to a dome and circling in the sky above. The sun setting below the horizon is only an illusion caused by it receding into the distance. However, v2 says that the rising sun. Since we are interpreting everything literally, this can only refer to the sun rising from below the horizon in reality, not apparently. This doesn't directly address the claim of "four corners", but it does address the related claim that the earth is flat and the sun follows a circuit around the sky. Either the earth has four literal corners OR the sun rises from the horizon in one direction and sets below the horizon in the other direction, without simply receding into the distance.

Once again, the most likely intended meaning of "the four corners of the earth" in this verse is none of the above. The most natural and obvious meaning is "the whole earth", not four literal corners. It's an idiom meaning "as far as you can go in any direction".

Revelation 20

I hyper-literal interpretation of this verse requires that Gog and Magog be precisely the same as "the nations that are at the four corners of the earth", which doesn't really make a lot of sense. There are no nations today that go by those names, so they would have to be ancient names that have changed since then. Nobody who believes that the earth has four corners is able to say what nations these are. Exactly which nations are at the four corners? Is this a prophecy against Australia, Argentina, South Africa, and India? That seems more than a little absurd. Nobody in the first century Roman Empire had any clue that Australia and Argentina existed, let alone have a name for them.

The most likely intended meaning, for the fourth time, is that "the four corners of the earth" was understood by everyone in the first century to mean "the whole earth", with no implication that the earth actually has any corners.

Corners in all of these cases, even if it is translated as "quarters", just means "directions", as in North, East, South, and West. It's an idiom, like "I blew off his advice", which has nothing to do with blowing on anything, and like "He was slow as molasses", which doesn't mean anyone was actually as slow as molasses. All languages spoken by all people in all times have idioms that nobody thinks are supposed to be taken literally. This is one of them.

Even most flatearthers agree that "four corners" is just an idiom for "all parts". Those who interpret it to mean a literal four locations where two lines intersect are an extreme minority of an extreme minority. So why bother writing an article about it? Because some people still need to hear it.

Does Job 37:10 Say the Seas are Flat, Not Curved?

By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Job 37:10 KJV

Once more for the those seated in the mezzanine, Job was not written in English. I'm not sure it would matter if it was, though, because the King James Version is more-or-less written in modern English, but its vocabulary might be too challenging for those who think this verse says the seas are flat.

The Hebrew word translated as "is straitened" in Job 37:10 is bamutzak (במוצק). I don't have a problem with that. It's a perfectly acceptable translation. The problem is that some people think it says "straightened" rather than "straitened".

To be fair, the words are homonyms (they sound alike), but they have different etymologies. Strait means "a narrow, confined place" and comes from the Old French word estroit (Online Etymology Dictionary). Straight, on the other hand, means "not bent or curved" and comes from the Old English streht (Online Etymology Dictionary).

Job 37:10 is not saying that the waters are flat (straightened), but that the waters are confined (straitened) within their boundaries, i.e. shorelines. It's acknowledgint that God separated the water from the land in Genesis 1:9 and is completely irrelevant to the flatearth debate.

P.S. This verse isn't saying that frost literally comes out of God's mouth either.

Does Job 38:4-7 Mean the Earth Is Flat?

 

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Job 38:4-7 ESV

Several things about this passage lead some people to believe that it teaches a flat-earth cosmology.

1. V4 says the earth has a foundation.
2. V5 says the earth was measured by a line, not a curve.
3. V6 says the earth is supported by pedestals (or a foundation) and a corner stone.

Before I get to the real problem of interpreting this passage to refer to a flat earth, let's see if the actual words in these verses even say what people claim.

Foundation (v4) - If something has a foundation, that must mean it has a bottom and must be sitting on something, right? No. It doesn't even mean that in English, even though it wouldn't matter if it did. I know you think it might seem pedantic, but it seems necessary to me to remind you that the Bible wasn't written in English. The word "foundation" is not in the original text, because that's an English word. The Hebrew word used is bisdi (ביסדי), which does not mean foundation. It's actually rendered into an entire English phrase, "when I laid the foundation", but that's not a strictly literal translation. It literally means "when I founded" or "when I established" and doesn't say anything at all about what's underneath whatever was founded. The root word yasad can refer to a physical foundation of stone, but it doesn't have to. It can refer to the establishment of anything that has a beginning, such as the nation of Egypt in Exodus 9:18 or the Chaldeans in Habakkuk 1:12.

Line (v5) - The Hebrew word for line here is kav (קו), which refers to a string used to measure something. It has no relationship to the mathematical concept of a straight line in English. A kav, in this context, is essentially just a measuring tape. It can be used to measure a property line, a waistline, or the circumference of a bowl. In fact, it is used in precisely that manner in 2 Chronicles 4:2: "Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line (kav) of thirty cubits measured its circumference."

Bases, pedestals, or foundations (v6) - You got me on this one. The word adeniah (אדניה) literally means pedestals or bases. Keep reading, though. Don't get too excited yet.

Corner stone (v6) - Here's another one that means exactly what is claimed. Eben pinatah (אבן פנתה)  literally means corner-stone. But again, don't count your chickens before they hatch. (No, that doesn't mean I think you must have chickens. It's just an expression.)

Two out of four wouldn't be bad if we were playing the lottery, but this is Biblical interpretation, and that's a really bad ratio in this arena. Even so, let's talk about bases, foundations, and corner stones for a moment.

Clearly, Job 38:6 says that the earth's bases were sunk (into what?) and its cornerstone was laid, but does that mean that the earth actually has bases and a cornerstone? 

Only if vs 8-10 means the sea has bars and doors and came out of someone's womb. I suppose if you are a true believer in the Olympian deities, then you could argue that this supports the myth that Gaia gave parthenogenic birth to Pontus, her future lover and the primordial sea god, but that's hardly a biblically sound position to take, and it doesn't account for the bars and doors.

The only sensical reading of Job 38:8-10 is that God is using non-literal poetic language to speak of creating and managing the earth's oceans, not that he is describing the actual process of that creation. The Sports Page in the newspaper must pose quite a challenge for anyone who can't agree with that. "Nebraska Warming after Latest Cold Finish" must be a post-Ragnarok weather report....but there we go with the paganism again.

I kid, but what else can you do on a topic like flatearth? Humor is therapeutic.

Obviously Job 38:8-10 was never meant to be a literal description of the creation of the oceans. This means that vs 4-7 don't have to be entirely literal either, and it's most likely they aren't. God's artistry isn't limited to the natural world. He loves beauty in all forms. He wanted the furnishings of the Wilderness Tabernacle to be beautiful. He gave Abraham a beautiful wife and David a beautiful voice. Apparently, he also loves beautiful poetry and dramatic prose.

PaRDeS and the Quadriga

The Jewish hermeneutical¹ system of PaRDeS is fairly well known in Torah-observant circles, but few people know where it came from. Even fewer know that a competing Christian system was developed and formalized at about the same time.

PaRDeS is a method of interpreting Scriptures in which every (or almost every) passage is assumed to have four levels of meaning:

• Peshat - the plain, literal meaning that the original author intended to convey to his original audience. It still requires some common sense and doesn't mean that everything written is literally true. For example, when David wrote, "YHWH is my shepherd; I shall not want," he didn't mean that God is literally a man guarding a herd of four-footed livestock and that he (David) was a one of those four-footed beasts and would never lack anything at all, especially grass to eat and a stream to drink from. Obviously, David meant for us to understand that God is like a shepherd and that he is like a sheep, and this metaphor is still part of the Peshat (also spelled P'shat) meaning.
• Remez - the allegorical meaning that is suggested by the text, but not spelled out. For example, Noah's ark and the basket that sheltered Moses on the Nile river are both coated with pitch and protect their contents from both drowning and wickedness. The word for pitch is related to the word for atonement, a spiritual covering. One Remez interpretation of these stories could be that God will provide those who are willing to trust him completely with a spiritual atonement--a Messiah--that will protect them from eternal destruction.
• Derash - the moral or ethical meaning derived from a passage. In the case of Noah's and Moses' arks, a Derash (also spelled Drash) interpretation would be that we should simply obey God's instructions in troubled times, and everything will work out for the best in the end, even if we can't see how.
• Sod - the mystical, esoteric meaning of a passage. Sod ascribes deep, hidden meanings to what seem to be straightforward statements. For example, it may employ numerology, "Hebrew word pictures", or "Equidistant Letter Sequencing" to find hidden codes in the Biblical text. Sod often asserts that the real meaning of the text is the opposite of the plain (Peshat) meaning. For example, in the story of the serpent tempting Eve to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, one Peshat interpretation says that God actually wanted Adam and Eve to eat of it, despite telling them not to. He sent the serpent to urge them to rebel so that, through the experience of hardship and resistance to divine will, they could develop into the gods that the Creator planned for them to be all along.

Although the techniques of PaRDeS have a very long history, the hermeneutical system was formalized by Jewish mystics in the twelfth century. It also has some pretty clear problems. The Peshat level is common sense, and the Derash level can be helpful so long as it takes the whole Biblical text into account, but the Remez and Sod levels can get a person into a lot of theological trouble, especially the Sod which often makes a mockery of the Peshat.

The Quadriga, a parallel Christian hermeneutical system, was formalized at the same time that PaRDeS was first becoming popular among Jewish teachers. I suspect that both systems were developed in response to the other. Just as in PaRDeS, the Quadriga subjects every (or almost every) passage to four levels of meaning:

• Literal - the plain, literal meaning that the original author intended to convey to his original audience. Precisely the same meaning as Peshat.
• Allegorical - the allegorical meaning that is suggested by the text, but not spelled out. Essentially the same as Remez, but usually with an emphasis on Christological typology.
• Tropological - the moral or ethical meaning derived from a passage. Precisely the same meaning as Derash.
• Anagogical - the mystical or eschatological meaning of a passage. This is similar to Sod, but very rarely asserts any meaning that is opposed to the literal, at least not to how the interpreter understands the literal meaning, which can itself be flawed. The Anagogical interpretation deals with the unknowable nature of God, the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy, the spiritual realities that lie behind the physical and apparent universe, the fate of the dead, and existence beyond the Final Judgment.

Both systems are rooted in very ancient--and even common sense--methods of interpreting any religious text. Both systems also have the same basic flaws that make them prone to abuse by false teachers who want to impose their own ideas onto the text. Gnostics, Kabbalists, antinomians, and metanomians all live in the Sod/Anagogical level of interpretation and force the Peshat/Literal to conform to their mystical eisegesis².

The Bible is an organic text, a collection of works that were spoken and written by and to people in specific cultural, political, and linguistic circumstances. Each work was written for its own purposes and in its own style. Even as they were guided by the Holy Spirit in communicating their messages, each author wrote from his own perspective to people experiencing their own circumstances. It seems extraordinarily misguided to expect every passage of the Bible to fit into the same interpretive framework. Letters must be read as letters, histories as histories, etc., with each work and author adding metaphor, poetry, allusion, and apocalyptic imagery as God guided and his message required.

All systematic theologies eventually fail because the Bible wasn't written as a system. The message of the Bible is cohesive and consistent, but it is not a monolithic text of mystical philosophy.

¹ Hermeneutical - "of or pertaining to interpretation; exegetical; explanatory; as, hermeneutic theology, or the art of expounding the Scriptures" (Webster's 1913 English Dictionary)

² Eisegesis - "the introduction by an interpreter of his own ideas into a text under explication." (-Ologies & -Isms. (2008).)

See Tom Steele's more detailed discussion of PaRDeS at Truth Ignited.

Which Canon?

 "Canon" is a measuring rod. In the context of Christian literature, the Canon is the core set of writings by which all other writings and teachings are to be measured, AKA the Bible, and different sects of Christianity consider slightly different sets of books to be valid canon.

So, it seems like a valid question for skeptics to ask "Which canon?" when you talk about the reliability of the Christian Canon. But let's think that through... If Canon 1 contains 66 books, Canon 2 contains the same plus 5, and Canon 3 contains the same plus 10, the only sure, reliable canon among the three sets is the first and smallest. Everyone agrees on the contents of Canon 1, while many people believe that the extra books in Canons 2 and 3 contradict the contents of Canon 1. Of course, whether they do contradict or not can be a matter of opinion, but you won't go wrong by sticking with Canon 1. That doesn't mean that the books included in Canons 2 and 3 aren't inspired or valuable. It just means that Canon 1 is a universally recognized rod for measuring the reliability of extra-Biblical works, even those other books included in some sectarian Bibles.

Short Video Lessons from the Epistle to the Romans

Some teachers have called Paul's letter to the Romans the most important theological work ever written. Although I'm not sure I'd go that far, it is definitely a theological gold mine! Every phrase is packed with meaning and there probably isn't a single important idea in the Bible that isn't at least mentioned in this one book.

Beginning in the summer of 2023, I started leading a study of Romans with the Common Sense Bible Study community. As I did with Proverbs before, I'll edit out segments of those longer studies, make them public at Rumble and Youtube, and post links below. I will also add videos that I make outside of CSBS as I make them.

I am posting my ongoing notes on Romans here.

• Introduction to Romans
• What Is the Gospel of God, Romans 1:1-2
• Paul's Obligation of Service, Romans 1:14
• Why do people worship idols? Romans 1:22-23
• The Judgment of God, Romans 2:2-3
• The Law without the Law, Romans 2:12
• Faith and Circumcision in Romans and Galatians, Romans 2:25
• God is the original Promise Keeper, Romans 3:3-4
• Calvinism vs Arminianism, Romans 3:19
• Do you have any control over your salvation? Romans 3:21-28
• A Metaphor of Grace in Eliezer, Ishmael, and Isaac, Romans 4:4-5
• Are Law-Keepers Disinherited? Romans 4:14
• Does Faith Void God's Promises to the Jews? Romans 4:16
• Why Does God Allow Suffering? Romans 5:3-4
• Rejoice in God through Jesus, Romans 5:11
• Romans 5 and Original sin with Rob Vanhoff, Romans 5:12-21
• Sin, Grace, and Law, Romans 5:20-21
• Dead to Sin and Baptized in Death, Romans 6:1-4
• Where Is Jesus Now? Romans 6:8-9
• Are You Under Law or Under Grace? Romans 6:14
• Under a Husband and Under the Law, Romans 7:1-3
• There's Only One Law, Romans 7:7
• Romans 7 and the Inner War against Sin, Romans 7:14-17
• 4 Laws and 4 Spirits in Paul's Letters, Romans 7:21-8:2
• The Flesh, the Spirit, and the Ways of God, Romans 8:5-8
• A Chiasm on Sons and Slaves, Romans 8:12-17
• The Resurrection of Creation, Romans 8:18-23
• What does "Foreknew" and "Predestined" mean? Romans 8:29-30
• What Does It Mean for God to be For Us? Romans 8:31-39
• They (and we) are Israelites, Romans 9:3-8
• What Does the Election of Jacob Mean in Romans 9:11?
• The Potter and Clay, Romans 9:21
• When Knowledge Breaks Understanding, Romans 9:30-33
• Is Christ the Termination of the Law? Romans 10:4
• Yeshua is the Word of Faith, Romans 10:5-11
• The Ready Ear, Romans 10:13-17
• Has God Rejected the Jews? Romans 11
• Paul, Jonah, and the Nations, Romans 11:11-12
• The Firstfruits and the Root, Romans 11:16
• Native and Wild Branches, Romans 11:23-24
• Consigned to Hit Rock Bottom, Romans 11:32
• Grace Given to Each of Us, Romans 12:3
• Seven Gifts of God, Romans 12:6-8
• Defining Evil and Good, Romans 12:9
• Bless, Rejoice, and Weep, Romans 12:14-15
• Don't Avenge Yourselves, Romans 12:19
• And Any Other Commandment, Romans 13:9
• Salvation Is Near, Romans 13:11-12
• Who Are the Weak in Faith? Romans 14:1
• The Weekly Sabbath, Romans 14:5-6
• Common or Unclean?, Romans 14:13-14
• Acceptance and Mutual Upbuilding, Romans 14:18-19
• We Who Are Strong, Romans 15:1-3
• Together with one voice, Romans 15:5-6
• Teach One Another, Romans 15:14
• Paul's Great Ambition, Romans 15:20
• Why did the Jerusalem saints need help? Romans 15:25-26
• Greetings in Romans 16
• Phoebe, Romans 16:1-2
• Disputes and Disputers, Romans 16:17-18
• Scribes, Translators, and Inspiration, Romans 16:22

Lucifer vs Hel-El

Someone on Facebook asked me about this interesting post:

Ooh, sounds scary. I don't want to come across any "dangerous names". 

Although I know it's sometimes hard to tell, most people aren't complete idiots. If you tell them an obvious lie, they can usually tell, and they'll just ignore or mock you. If you want them to believe it, you have to spend a lot of time conditioning them to believe nonsense (see the current trans-mania) or you have to disguise your nonsense with a veneer of truth. That's what this person is doing. It's total nonsense, but it's couched in just enough truth and true-sounding gobbledygook to seem believable.

This warning(?) sounds plausible if you don't know any Hebrew, nor how languages interact and evolve, nor how to use the tools to verify its claims.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, Lucifer is a Latin word that means "light bearer" or "morning star". 

According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew dictionary, helel means "shining one" or "morning star". It appears only once in the entire Bible in Isaiah 14:12.

When Jerome translated the Bible into Latin in the 4th century, he translated this word literally from the Hebrew to the Latin. That's pretty reasonable, since there is nothing in the context to indicate that it is the name of a person. The Jewish Publication Society and the English Standard Version both translate it as "day star", although the ESV capitalizes it as a proper title. Jerome wasn't trying to hide the original Hebrew, he was just translating it.

The Hebrew word isn't "Hel-El" and did not refer to a "Hel god". The Hebrew is helel (הילל), related to another Hebrew word halal (הלל), which is a verb that means "to shine". It is not a compound word made from hel and el, a generic Hebrew word for a god. It is a deverbal noun derived from a single verb. As far as I can tell, there was no deity named "Hel" in the Ancient Near East, so rendering helel as "Hel god" is doubly nonsensical.

Since almost all early churches in England exclusively used Jerome's Latin Bible, the word "lucifer" was eventually adopted into the Old English language as a pseudonym of Satan. The King James Version translated Hebrew helel as Lucifer, because that was a reasonable translation for the English of that day. Nobody was hiding any "dangerous names".

Lucifer and helel both mean "light bearer". They are synonyms. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says so also: "Satan disguises himself as an angel (messenger/bearer) of light."

The only conspiracy here is by someone trying to make Bible believers look foolish. Beware of peddlers of sensationalism. They are almost always trying to trick you into something.

Now I'm just waiting for someone to claim that drinking Shiner beers is pagan.

That's Not In the Bible

Our churches and synagogues teach many things that are not explicitly taught anywhere in the Bible. That doesn't mean that those teachings aren't true, of course, because the Bible isn't a comprehensive encyclopedia of all possible truths. It just means that you shouldn't hang your theological hat on any of these things, and that anyone who uses them as a basis for judging anyone else's salvation or "Christian-ness" is engaged in dangerous legalism.

I'm going to start listing these man-made doctrines below. I'll start small and add more over the coming years.

If any of these items upsets you, before you argue with me, accuse me of anything, or start ranting... get out your Bible and prove the point to yourself from Scripture. Find the exact place in the Bible where it says "There is only one God made up of three distinct persons, co-equal in substance and authority." Hints, types, etc., aren't explicit, by definition, so you'll have to do better than that.

• Biblical inerrancy
• The Trinity
• Apostolic succession
• You go to Heaven when you die
• You go to Hell when you die
• Vegetarianism is superior to omnivorism
• God wants you to be rich or comfortable
• The earth is flat or spherical or the center of the universe
• Cessationism (miraculous gifts of the Spirit ceased with the Apostles)
• Rome or America or Baghdad is the New Babylon
• The Church replaced Israel
• History is divided into theological "dispensations"
• The Sabbath moved to Sunday
• The Sabbath doesn't matter anymore

Short Lessons from the Proverbs

The Book of Proverbs records many (but far from all!) of the sayings of King Solomon, plus the words of a few other wise men and women. It includes profound wisdom on living a godly life, on finances, leadership, relationships, and even on farming and war.

Between January 2020 and April 2021 (and later), I recorded eighty-four (and counting) short video teachings on the Proverbs and how they apply to life in modern America. I have also linked almost all of them to one or more of the annual Torah portions. Those links can be found in YouTube playlists and in the topical tags on each video at Rumble, Daily Motion, and YouTube. 

These videos are also in a Rumble playlist.

Don't forget to subscribe to my Rumble, Daily Motion and YouTube channels.

Short Lessons from Proverbs:

• Introduction to the Book of Proverbs, Proverbs
• The Fear of Our Fathers, Proverbs 1:7
• Proverbs 1:7 and the fear of the LORD, Proverbs 1:7
• When is it OK to lie, biblically speaking?, Proverbs 1:10-19
• Wisdom is free to whomever is willing to go get it., Proverbs 1:20-33
• The Book of Proverbs Is about Principles, not Laws, Proverbs 1
• Honoring Your Parents, Even the Bad Ones, Proverbs 2
• The Escalating Quest for Wisdom, Proverbs 2:1-8
• Fathers above and below, Proverbs 3:1-12
• The Man of Violence, Proverbs 3:31-32
• The Wisdom of Our Fathers, Proverbs 4:1-4
• A Heritage of Wisdom, Proverbs 4:1-19
• Prize Her Highly, and She Will Exalt You, Proverbs 4:8-9
• The Fires of Youth, Proverbs 5
• The Forbidden Teacher, Proverbs 5:5-6
• Your Sins Will Find You Out, Proverbs 5
• Defeating Laziness, Proverbs 6:6-11
• Fake News, Proverbs 6:12-19
• The Utility of Moral Boundaries, Proverbs 7
• Why so much about women in the Proverbs?, Proverbs 7-8
• Leveling Up in Wisdom, Proverbs 8:1-4
• Four Characteristics of Wisdom, Proverbs 9:1-6
• Teaching Fools and Wise Men, Proverbs 9:7-9
• The OTHER Proverbs 9 Woman, Proverbs 9:13-18
• Three Truths about Diligence and Sloth, Proverbs 10:4-5
• Three Kinds of Speech, Proverbs 10
• Speaking Up and Keeping Silent, Proverbs 10:10-11
• Systemic Injustice in Our Weights and Measures, Proverbs 11, 20
• Civil Government and God's Law, Proverbs 11:7-11
• Ensuring Your Legacy by Honoring Your Parents, Proverbs 11:29
• Two Characteristics of the Super Successful, Proverbs 12:1
• Five Times to Keep Silent, Proverbs 12:22-23
• Parents Just Don't Understand!, Proverbs 13:1
• How is it hateful to spare the rod?, Proverbs 13:24
• Nothing Happens without Some Mess, Proverbs 14:4
• My Best Advice for the Hebrew Roots Movement, Proverbs 14:23
• Tyrants, the People, and God, Proverbs 14:28
• Identifying Good Counsel, Proverbs 14:33,15:22
• Don't Let Your Dark Side Speak for You, Proverbs 15:28
• How to Be a King of Righteousness, Proverbs 16:10-16
• Pride Invites Destruction, Proverbs 16:18
• The Crucible of Hearts, Proverbs 17:3
• The Poor and Rich Alike Bear the Image of God, Proverbs 17:5
• A Deceitful Heart Sees a Deceitful World, Proverbs 17:20
• You weren't meant to be alone - Proverbs 18:1
• Think Before You Retort!, Proverbs 18:2
• There Are Always Two Sides, Proverbs 18:17
• Friends of the Rich and Poor, Proverbs 19:4
• Some People Have to Learn the Hard Way, Proverbs 19:19-20
• The Man of Chesed, Proverbs19:22
• The Dangers of Wine and Kings, Proverbs 20:1-2
• Plow today. Harvest...next year?, Proverbs 20:4
• Beware the Walkers!, Proverbs 20:18-19
• The King's Heart, Proverbs 21:1
• Pure Religion, Proverbs 21:3, 21:27
• The Importance of Diligence and Persistence, Proverbs 21:5
• Choosing a Good Name, Proverbs 22:1
• The Disciplining of a Child, Proverbs 22:15
• Does God Really Repay the Unjust? Proverbs 22
• Ancient Boundary Stones and Traditions, Proverbs 22:28
• Be Not A Friend to Drunkards, Proverbs 23:20-21
• Proverbs 24:1-6 and Enduring Conquest through Self-Discipline, Proverbs 24:1-6
• The Home Is for Healing, Proverbs 24:15-16
• Rejoicing over the Fall of Your Enemies, Proverbs 24:17-18
• Faithless Advisors are Poison to Leadership, Proverbs 25:4-5
• Words Fitly Spoken, Proverbs 25:11-12,15
• Love Your Enemy, Proverbs 25:21-22
• The Causes and Solutions to Laziness, Proverbs 26:13-16
• The Words of Whispers and Sycophants, Proverbs 26:22-23
• Hidden and Fake Love, Proverbs 27:5-6
• A Little Bitter Makes Your Whole Life Sweeter, Proverbs 27:7
• Social Justice vs God's Justice, Proverbs 28:4-5
• Invest God's Resources Wisely, Proverbs 28:19
• When the Righteous Hide, Proverbs 28:28
• Who Understands Justice for the Poor?, Proverbs 29:7
• Sons and Servants, Proverbs 29:21
• Of Whom Should We Be Afraid?, Proverbs 29:25
• Who Wrote Proverbs 30?, Proverbs 30:1
• There's no Compromising with Fire, Proverbs 30:15-16
• Of Mice, Men, Ants, and Lions, Proverbs 30:24-31
• The Burdens of Authority, Proverbs 31:1-9
• A Woman of Valor, Who Can Find?, Proverbs 31:10-12
• The Proverbs 31 Woman Reaches Out to the Needy, Proverbs 31:20-21
• The Gates of Proverbs 31, Proverbs 31:23,31

Short Lessons from Joshua

The Book of Joshua records the events following the death of Moses, when Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land and into war against the many cities and kings of the Canaanites. Although the Israelites were numerous, they had little experience in war, no trained armies that we know of, and less advanced technology than their enemies. What they did have on their side was God and his angelic armies, and the fear that God's presence inspired in peoples all over the region. 

In 2019 I recorded a series of short lessons from the Book of Joshua. Each episode is only a few minutes long. I recommend you read the Book of Joshua and use these videos as a supplement to other study aides. 

Don't forget to subscribe to my Rumble, Daily Motion and YouTube channels.

Short Lessons from Joshua

• Crossing the Jordan in Life and Death. Joshua 1
• Rahab's faith and works in Joshua 2
• God wants to work through you and me. Joshua 2
• Follow the Ark into the Promised Land. Joshua 3
• Stepping into the river in Joshua 3
• The God of Life and Death in Joshua 4
• Circumcision in Joshua 5
• The Reproach of Egypt in Joshua 5:9
• Passover and Manna in Joshua 5:10-12
• YHWH Tsevaot in Joshua 5:13-15
• Joshua 6:8-10, A Time to be Silent
• Achen's Crime in Joshua 6-7
• Achen vs the Two Spies in Joshua 5-7
• Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves? Joshua 8
• The King of Ai and the Image of God in Joshua 8
• Joshua and the Gibeonites, part 1. Joshua 9
• Joshua and the Gibeonites, part 2. Joshua 9
• Joshua 10: The Amorite Alliance Against Gibeon
• Joshua's Long Day in Joshua 10:12-14
• Chariots on Fire in Joshua 11
• Divine Genocide in Joshua 11
• A New Kind of Existence Requires a New Kind of Leader. Joshua 12
• Never Forget Why You're Fighting. Joshua 13
• Inheritance on the East Side of the Jordan in Joshua 13
• Caleb and the Heart of Praise in Joshua 14
• Caleb's Daughter in Joshua 15
• The Divine Plan in Joshua 15
• The Jebusites and Messiah in Joshua 15
• Zelophehad's Daughters in Joshua 17
• Ephraim's Test in Joshua 17
• Avoiding Potential Stumbling Blocks. Joshua 18
• Apparent Discrepancies in the Tribal Land Allotments in Joshua 17-21
• Justice Is Your Responsibility. Joshua 20
• God Keeps His Promises. Joshua 21
• No New Covenant Annuls an Older Covenant. Joshua 22
• Manasseh's Wealth in Joshua 22
• Joshua 23:4-8 and Thanksgiving
• Easy Come, Easy Go - Esau vs Jacob in Joshua 24
• Don't Go Back to Egypt! Joshua 24

The Age of the Books of the Bible

This is a list of the books of the Bible in the approximate order in which they were written. I say "approximate" because there are three factors that greatly complicate such a list:

1. Nobody knows exactly when most books were written.
2. There is much disagreement about when most books were written, with opinions differing by many centuries at times.
3. Some books were written over the course of many centuries, being compilations of oral histories and records from different sources, and even being edited or updated by later authors.

Order: The order in which the book appears in the standard Protestant Bible.

Name: The commonly understood name.
Author: The traditional, primary, and/or probable author(s). Some books were written by multiple authors and others were edited, translated, or compiled by a later scribe, like Ezra, working from a collection of manuscripts or oral traditions.

Subject Period: The period of time covered by the books contents. Like the date of authorship, the subject period is a fuzzy concept for many books. Some books combine historical narrative with prophecy of the future (Isaiah, for example), and the precise subject period of prophecy is always up for interpretation.

Written: The approximate period of time in which the book was written. Some books, like the Psalms, were written over vast periods of time and other books are of very uncertain date, so their placement in the list is fuzzy, to say the least.

Order	Name	Author(s)	Subject Period	Written
1	Genesis	Moses	4000-1600 BC	2000-1400 BC
2	Exodus	Moses	1600-1400 BC	1600-1400 BC
3	Leviticus	Moses	1600-1400 BC	1600-1400 BC
4	Numbers	Moses	1600-1400 BC	1600-1400 BC
5	Deuteronomy	Moses, Joshua	1600-1400 BC	1600-1400 BC
6	Joshua	Joshua, Phinehas	1500-1300 BC	1500-1300 BC
7	Judges	Samuel/Unknown	1500-1000 BC	1400-900 BC
8	Ruth	Unknown	1100-1000 BC	1050-900 BC
9	1 Samuel	Samuel, Nathan, Gad, Jeremiah, Unknown	1000-700 BC	1000-500 BC
10	2 Samuel	Samuel, Nathan, Gad, Jeremiah, Unknown	1000-700 BC	1000-500 BC
19	Psalms	David, Asaph, et al	1600-400 BC	1600-400 BC
22	Song of Solomon	Solomon	1000-950 BC	1000-900 BC
20	Proverbs	Solomon, Agur/Hezekiah, Lemuel	1000-700 BC	1000-700 BC
18	Job	Unknown	2000-1500 BC	1000-500 BC
21	Ecclesiastes	Solomon	950-900 BC	950-900 BC
31	Obadiah	Obadiah	Prophetic	900-550 BC
29	Joel	Joel	Prophetic	850-600 BC
32	Jonah	Jonah	800-750 BC	800-750 BC
30	Amos	Amos	Prophetic	800-725 BC
28	Hosea	Hosea	Prophetic	750-700 BC
33	Micah	Micah	Prophetic	750-700 BC
23	Isaiah	Isaiah and compiler	700-500 BC	700-500 BC
34	Nahum	Nahum	Prophetic	650-600 BC
35	Habakkuk	Habakkuk	Prophetic	650-600 BC
36	Zephaniah	Zephaniah	Prophetic	650-600 BC
11	1 Kings	Jeremiah/Unknown	950 BC-850 BC	650-570 BC
12	2 Kings	Jeremiah/Unknown	855 BC-560 BC	650-570 BC
24	Jeremiah	Jeremiah and compiler	Prophetic	600-550 BC
26	Ezekiel	Ezekiel	Prophetic	600-550 BC
25	Lamentations	Jeremiah/Zedakiah/Unknown	600-550 BC	600-500 BC
38	Zechariah	Zechariah	Prophetic	550-500 BC
27	Daniel	Daniel	Prophetic	550-500 BC
37	Haggai	Haggai	Prophetic	550-500 BC
17	Esther	Unknown	500-400 BC	500-300 BC
15	Ezra	Ezra	500-400 BC	450-400 BC
16	Nehemiah	Nehemiah	450-400 BC	450-400 BC
39	Malachi	Malachi	Prophetic	450-400 BC
13	1 Chronicles	Ezra	4000-400 BC	450-400 BC
14	2 Chronicles	Ezra	4000-400 BC	450-400 BC
59	James	James the Just	40-50 AD	40-50 AD
40	Matthew	Matthew	10 BC-30 AD	40-65 AD
41	Mark	Mark, Peter	10 BC-30 AD	45-53 AD
48	Galatians	Paul	47-55 AD	47-55 AD
52	1 Thessalonians	Paul	50-55 AD	50-55 AD
53	2 Thessalonians	Paul	50-55 AD	50-55 AD
45	Romans	Paul	54-57 AD	54-57 AD
42	Luke	Luke	10 BC-30 AD	60-64 AD
46	1 Corinthians	Paul	50-60 AD	54-56 AD
47	2 Corinthians	Paul	50-60 AD	50-55 AD
44	Acts	Luke	30-65 AD	60-64 AD
49	Ephesians	Paul	60-65 AD	60-65 AD
50	Philippians	Paul	60-65 AD	60-65 AD
51	Colossians	Paul	60-65 AD	60-65 AD
54	1 Timothy	Paul	60-65 AD	60-65 AD
57	Philemon	Paul	60-65 AD	60-65 AD
60	1 Peter	Peter	60-65 AD	60-65 AD
56	Titus	Paul	60-65 AD	60-67 AD
55	2 Timothy	Paul	65-70 AD	62-67 AD
58	Hebrews	Apollos(?)	65-70 AD	65-70 AD
61	2 Peter	Peter	65-70 AD	65-70 AD
65	Jude	Jude	65-70 AD	65-70 AD
43	John	John	10 BC-30 AD	60-96 AD
62	1 John	John	90-95 AD	90-95 AD
63	2 John	John	90-95 AD	90-95 AD
64	3 John	John	90-95 AD	90-95 AD
66	Revelation	John	Prophetic	90-100 AD

Your Father, the Devil

I had an interesting exchange with someone in another group earlier this week. He insisted that a subset of the Jewish people (specifically the scribes and Pharisees and their physical descendants today, who are the Jews living in the land of Israel) are literally and physically descended from Satan and not from Adam at all.

His scriptural proof?

1. The Hebrew word translated "beguiled" in Genesis 3:13 (KJV) can also mean "seduced" and Cain isn't mentioned by name in the genealogy of Adam in Genesis 5, therefore the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil can ONLY be a metaphor for Satan sexually seducing Eve and fathering Cain.
2. Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees in John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil..."
3. Someone told him that William Branham said it was so.

Never mind that Genesis 5 says that Adam had "many other sons and daughters" that aren't named. Never mind that the Hebrew word nasha is never translated as "seduced" anywhere else in the KJV, and isn't used in any context that is remotely sexual in nature. Never mind that Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that he knew they were the physical descendants of Abraham in the very same conversation in which he called them sons of the devil.

Evidence is meaningless to someone who is determined to believe a lie. Satan had beguiled him so that he was no longer able to see anything else.

Is "Holy Ghost" a Bad Translation of the Hebrew Ruach haKodesh?

Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is translated from the Greek πνευματος αγιου (pnuematos agiou) and Hebrew רוח קדשׁ (ruach kadosh).

Many people feel like "Holy Ghost" is a bizarre and even sacrilegious way to translate this term, but this feeling is based more on poor education than on any actual problem with the translation.

The word "ghost" comes from the Old English word gast, which meant breath, wind, spirit, angel, demon, etc.

The word "spirit" comes from the Latin word spiritus, which meant breath, wind, spirit, angel, demon, etc.

At the time that the KJV was translated from Greek and Hebrew into English, if someone wanted to talk about the spirit of God, they were just as likely (maybe even more likely, since the common people were more familiar with Germanic-rooted words) to use the word ghost as the word spirit. They were perfect synonyms. The two words were interchangeable.

In today's English we tend to associate the word ghost only with the spirits of the dead and the word spirit with the spirits of supernatural beings. But that doesn't change the actual meanings of the words. Notice that I said "spirits of..." in both cases. That's because the words mean essentially the same thing, and it is still perfectly acceptable in modern English to refer to the "ghost" of a dead person as a "spirit".

The only two real differences between the words "ghost" and "spirit".

1. The two words came from different ancestral languages, Proto-German (via Old English) and Latin (via Old French).
2. We are in the habit of using one word in some contexts and the other word in other contexts.

The definitions of the words haven't really changed. It's only our informal usage of the words that have changed somewhat since the KJV was translated.

Having said all that, a modern English translation of the Scriptures shouldn't use the word "ghost" to refer to the Holy Spirit because it does confuse people who are only used to hearing that word in the context of the spirits of dead people.

Is "God" the Name of a Pagan Deity?

The quotes below are from a comment on a Facebook post in the Common Sense Bible Study group.

The name גד has ancient origins as a false deity in many places around the world, and it is mentioned in Isaiah 65:11 specifically. You cannot deny this. It was used in Europe when the first printing presses rolled out the first bibles and it was a name of one of their foremost deities before the catholic church invaded their land. These are facts and there are many more like them.

Yes, Gad is used in Isaiah 65:11 to refer to the god of fortune that was commonly worshiped in ancient Semitic cultures. However, the word itself just means "fortune" and was applied to the corresponding god more as a nickname than anything else. If someone today decided that there was a god that governed how much light is put out by light bulbs, but didn't know its name, he might call it "the god of lumens". If he started a religion to worship this god, eventually his followers would probably just start calling their god "Lumen" because it's easier. Same thing here. "Gad" was not really the name of the god, but of the god's area of responsibility.

This is almost exactly the same way that ba'al was first a common Hebrew word that simply meant master or husband, but was later used like a proper name for a particular false master. It was a perfectly good word coopted for nefarious purposes. Interestingly enough, YHVH uses the word "ba'al" to refer to himself more than once in Scripture.

The rest of this claim is historical fiction as far as I can tell. I haven't found a single source for the existence of a deity named Gad or God anywhere outside of the Ancient Near East. The English word, god, descends from an old Germanic word that meant almost exactly what it means in English today: a supernatural being. It was never the proper name of any deity. Someone probably made that up because they wanted to impress their friends with their arcane knowledge, what Ryan (IIRC) refers to as more-special-than-thou syndrome.

In the ancient Semitic languages, including Hebrew, gad means fortune or troop, depending on the language and context. This has absolutely no connection to the ancient Germanic word. The German languages, including English, are part of the Indoeuropean family of languages. English and Hebrew share one major element in common: they are both spoken by humans. But that's about it. If a word in Biblical Hebrew sounds similar to a word in Old English or German, there is next to zero chance that the words are actually related in any historical way.

In Exodus 23:13, YHWH specifically says we are not to have the names of other deities even found in our mouths...

And yet the Bible, all of which is clearly meant to be read aloud, contains many names of pagan deities. God commanded the prophets to speak the names of pagan deities on many occasions, for example in Jeremiah 46:25 which contains the name "Amon of No" (strangely translated as "multitude of No" in the KJV).

The same pagans (and Israelites!) who worshiped Ba'al also used the name YHVH to refer to multiple pagan deities. They were only following the example of the Hebrews with the golden calf at Mt Sinai. Since YHVH became the name of one or more pagan gods, does that mean we can't use that name for the original YHVH anymore?

Clearly Exodus 23:13 can't mean that we absolutely must never speak the name of a pagan deity under any circumstances, or else God commanded the prophets to sin. Rather, it means that we must never pray to them, call on them, speak or act in their names, or swear by them. In other words, don't speak of or to them as you should to YHVH.

...yet you would teach as many people as you can in your warped desire to break this command wantonly and to justify your own wrongdoing.

To which I can only respond with Exodus 20:16, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Why not just drop your pride and be wrong for once? Why not just let go of you and say to Him, "Okay, Father." Why not just use the name HE told you was His instead of fighting so hard against Him and everyone who would oppose you, instead of insisting on using what YOU want to call Him.

Like adonai, baal, and elohim, "god" and "father" are both titles, not names. They are both titles applied to countless false deities as well as to the one true Creator (also a title and not a name). YHVH also said to call him Adonai, Elohim, El Shaddai, Father, Yeshua, Emmanuel...and even Ba'al.

I am perfectly willing to admit when I'm wrong. I have done so many times, and I'm sure I will make and correct many more mistakes if God (YHVH, if you prefer) allows me the time.

But you're going to have to use some actual evidence of error--as opposed to historical fantasy--before I'll take you seriously.

A Meme Is Not Evidence

• "King James personally supervised the translation of the KJV and he was a pervert."
• "Francis Bacon translated the KJV or at least edited it, and he was a Freemason."
• "The NIV deliberately removed X number of verses from the Bible."
• "The Pope removed whole books from the Bible."

These are just a few examples of the many urban myths about Bibles and translations that have been circulating for decades and even centuries. They are all false--mostly if not totally--but people keep repeating them because these myths align with their notions of how the world works.

I don't have a lot of respect for the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church. I think the KJV has outlived its usefulness as a source of doctrine. I have issues with how the NIV translates some passages.

My prejudices aren't excuses for repeating lies.

If you see a claim about a conspiracy or if you see a meme that "exposes" some shocking truth, do some actual research before you repost it. See if you can verify the claims with primary sources.

You'll learn a lot and maybe save yourself some embarrassment at the same time.

Does the Bible Say that the Earth Doesn't Move?

Tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
1 Chronicles 16:30 

The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Psalms 93:1 

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.
Psalms 104:5

I have heard some people quote these verses in support of the idea that the earth can't possibly be spinning through space, orbiting around the sun. "God says the earth doesn't move and God doesn't lie!"

If you read these verses in isolation without looking at the context or the underlying Hebrew, and if you squint just right, I can see why a person might think that, but if you take just a few minutes to understand what the authors were trying to communicate, you'll quickly see that it doesn't hold up.

For example, 1 Chronicles 16:30 is part of a prayer that David spoke after bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. It's poetic and demonstrative, and--like almost all poetry--uses some very picturesque language that wasn't meant to be understood literally. Other lines in this same prayer describe the land (Hebrew eretz, which can be translated "land", "ground", or "earth") singing to God and speaking to the nations and peoples. If verse 30 literally means that the world (Hebrew tebel) cannot physically move, then verses 23, 24, and 31 must literally mean that the land speaks in an audible, comprehensible voice. We all know that it doesn't. 

The Hebrew word translated as "moved" in these three verses is mot, which literally means to shake. It does not mean to move something from one place to another, as the earth orbiting the sun or a person moving from one room to another. It's used in Job 41:23 to describe the scales of the leviathan. I don't think anyone would seriously propose that the leviathan was in immobile statue, so it obviously doesn't mean that its scales can't move from one place to another. It's also used in Isaiah 41:7 to describe an idol that has been nailed to a base or other type of mount. Again, that doesn't mean the idol can't be moved. It only means that the idol won't wobble and fall over.

Clearly saying that the world or the earth can't be moved, does not have to mean that it is fixed in a static location within the universe or else we would have to say the same thing about finished idols and the leviathan. 

"The world shall never be moved" doesn't even mean that it won't be moved in the literal sense of being shaken. Earthquakes happen all the time, even in the Bible. More than that, the Bible says that entire mountain ranges and oceans have been rearranged over time and will be again.

Even if you believe, despite the overwhelmingly massive evidence all around you, that the earth is a plane, standing on literal pillars, Job 9:5 says that God moves mountains and 9:6 says that he shakes the whole earth out of its place. Psalm 104:5 says the earth's foundations mean it can't be moved, but Psalm 82:5 says all the foundations of the earth are shaken. The selectively hyper-literal reading of flat-earthers requires that the earth cannot be moved and that it moves. It is inherently contradictory. It is physically, literally, and logically absurd.

So if "never moved" doesn't mean that the earth's location is permanently fixed in the universe, and it doesn't mean that the earth never trembles or moves around in any way, what does it mean?

"The world shall never be moved" is just a poetic way of saying "This stuff sure is dependable compared to you and me." And that's all it means. It's an idiomatic expression (Dictionary definition of idiom), never meant to be taken literally. Neither David nor Job believed that the earth could never be moved, and I'm sure they would be dumbfounded if they learned that anyone had taken their words to mean that.

If any "teacher" says otherwise, you should immediately stop listening to him. He is not qualified to be a teacher of anything at all that requires a basic understanding of human language.

Did Miriam Author Part of the Bible?

There is an obvious chiasm in Exodus 1-2 in the story of Moses' birth and adoption into Pharaoh's house. The chiasm includes at least Exodus 1:22-2:9, and possibly as much as Exodus 1:5-2:15.

This image shows the clearest segment:

Here is the expanded chiasm, which I think is correct:

A .v8-19 - Egyptians oppress Hebrews. Midwives rescue. Answer demanded. Escape.
B ...v20-21 - God's favor on the Midwives and growth of their families.
C .....v22 - Pharaoh said, "Take the son away. Let the daughter live."
D .......v1 - Amram went and took his wife, Jochebed.
E .........v2 - Jochebed conceived and bore a son.
F ...........v2 - Jochebed saw that the child was fine, took pity on him, and hid him for 3 months.
G .............v3 - Jochebed went to the river and hid the child in a basket in the river.
H ...............v4 - Miriam stood at a distance to learn what would happen.
G .............v5 - The princess went to the river and found the basket in the river.
F ...........v6 - The princess revealed the child, saw him crying, took pity, and recognized him.
E .........v7 - Miriam found a woman who had born a child.
D .......v8 - Miram went and called the child's mother, Jochebed.
C .....v9 - The princess said, "Take the child away. Pay the woman her wages."
B ...v10-11a - The princess's favor on Moses and his growth into a man.
A .v11b-15 - Egyptians oppress Hebrews. Moses rescues. Answer demanded. Escape.

Chiasms are always fascinating. The most interesting part is usually at the center, and this one is no exception. Miriam is at the center of a chiasm on the birth, near death, and adoption of Moses, and not just Miriam, but her observing and studying the process of Moses' transformation from Hebrew to Egyptian and back again to Hebrew.

What does this mean?

It probably means that Miriam was the source of the first part of Exodus; it might even record her exact words. How do we know what happened with the midwives and Jochebed and the basket and Pharaoh's daughter? Miriam witnessed it all so that Moses could his story as seen through her eyes and possibly even her words.

Knowledgeable Bible students will recall that this isn't the only extended record of Miriam's words. Exodus 15:1-21 contains The Song of Miriam.

Bible Passages about the Weekly Sabbath

I'm currently working on a series on the weekly Sabbath. In the process, I compiled this list of Sabbath-related Bible verses/passages. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who could use this list, so here it is. Feel free to suggest additions in the comments.

• Genesis 2:2-3 – God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because he rested from his work in creation.
• Exodus 16:1-30 – Gather manna for 6 days. Gather twice as much on the 6th. Do not gather on the 7th.
• Exodus 20:8-11 - Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy. Do all work in 6 days. 7th is a Sabbath to God. No work for anyone in your house or city because God created in 6 days and rested on the 7th. Blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.
• Exodus 23:12 – 6 days work, 7th day rest for animals, family, and everyone.
• Exodus 31:12-17 – Sabbath important. Sign between God and Israel that the people are sanctified like the day. Death for profaning it. Cut off for doing work. 6 days work. 7th day a solemn rest, holy to God. Death for working on it. Covenant forever. 6 days God created, 7th day rested and refreshed.
• Exodus 34:21 – 6 days work, but the 7th is a Sabbath.
• Exodus 35:1-3 – 6 days work. 7th day is a Sabbath. Death for working. No kindling fires. Set between Moses going into the Tabernacle to commune with God and the people giving gifts for the Tabernacle’s construction.
• Leviticus 19:3 – Revere your parents and keep my Sabbaths.
• Leviticus 19:30 – Keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary.
• Leviticus 23:1-3 – Sabbath is one of God’s feasts. Work 6 days, rest on the 7th.
• Leviticus 24:1-9 – Showbread arranged on the Sabbath.
• Leviticus 26:2 – Keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary.
• Numbers 15:30-36 – The man profaning the Sabbath by collecting firewood.
• Numbers 28:9-10 – Sabbath day sacrifices.
• Deuteronomy 5:12-15 – Keep the Sabbath. 6 days labor, 7th is Sabbath to God. No work for anyone in your house or city. You were a slave, so give your slaves a Sabbath.
• Joshua 6:1-5 – God commanded Israel to march around Jericho on the Sabbath day.
• 2 Kings 4:23 – The Shunammite woman regularly went to Elisha on the Sabbath and new moons.
• 2 Kings 11:5-9 – The priests and Levites who served as Temple and royal guards changed shifts at the beginning of the Sabbath.
• 2 Kings 16:18 – It had once been tradition for the King to attend at the Temple every Sabbath.
• 1 Chronicles 9:32 – The showbread prepared every Sabbath by Kohathites.
• 1 Chronicles 23:31 – Special prayers and songs offered to God during the Sabbath day offerings.
• 2 Chronicles 2:4 – Sabbath offerings one of the purposes of the Temple.
• 2 Chronicles 8:12-13 – Sabbath offerings made every week at the Temple.
• 2 Chronicles 23:1-11 – The priests and Levites who served as Temple and royal guards changed shifts at the beginning of the Sabbath. 
• 2 Chronicles 31:2-3 – Sabbath offerings restored with the rest of the Law.
• Nehemiah 9:14 – Sabbath revealed by God at Sinai.
• Nehemiah 10:31 – The people vow not to sell on the Sabbath.
• Nehemiah 10:32-33 – The people vow to make offerings for the Sabbath and feast days.
• Nehemiah 13:15-22 – Nehemiah rebukes the people for profaning the Sabbath.
• Isaiah 1:12-14 – Don’t keep the Sabbath disingenuously. 
• Isaiah 56:1-8 – Blessed is the man who keeps the Sabbath. Foreigners who keep the Sabbath made to be Israelites.
• Isaiah 58:13-14 – If you keep the Sabbath, not doing your own thing, you will be blessed.
• Isaiah 66:23 – From Sabbath to Sabbath…
• Jeremiah 17:19-27 – Blessings for keeping the Sabbath. Curses for breaking it.
• Lamentations 2:5-7 – God made Israel forget the feasts and Sabbath because they profaned them.
• Ezekiel 20:11-24 – Sabbaths as a sign of sanctification. They rejected the Sabbath. Curses for profaning the Sabbath.
• Ezekiel 22:8 – Judgment for profaning the Sabbath.
• Ezekiel 23:36-49 – Judgment for profaning the Sabbath.
• Ezekiel 44:24 – Priests in the Millennial Era will teach the laws and keep the Sabbath.
• Ezekiel 46:1-3 – The gate of the New Jerusalem will be closed 6 days and opened only on the Sabbath. People worship on the Sabbath and new moons.
• Hosea 2:11 – Sabbath taken away with feasts as punishment.
• Amos 8:4-14 – Impatience for the Sabbath to end is equated to oppression of the poor.
• Matthew 12:1-14 – Walking, plucking grain, and healing on the Sabbath. Lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
• Matthew 24:20 – Pray you don’t have to flee on the Sabbath.
• Matthew 27:62 – Chief Priests and Pharisees gathered to accuse Yeshua on the Sabbath. Weekly Sabbath or Unleavened Bread?
• Matthew 28:1 – Women went to the tomb after the Sabbath.
• Mark 1:21-34 – Yeshua taught in the synagogue and healed on the Sabbath.
• Mark 2:23-28 – Walking, plucking grain on the Sabbath. Sabbath made for man. Yeshua is lord of the Sabbath
• Mark 3:1-6 – Yeshua healed in the synagogue on the Sabbath.
• Mark 6:2 – Yeshua taught at the synagogue on the Sabbath. 
• Mark 15:42 – The day before the Sabbath called the Preparation. Weekly or Feast Sabbath?
• Mark 16:1 – After the Sabbath, the women took spices to anoint Yeshua’s body.
• Luke 4:16-41 – Yeshua read Isaiah and taught in the synagogues and healed on the Sabbath. He also walked from one town to another.
• Luke 6:1-5 – Walking, plucking grain on the Sabbath. Yeshua is lord of the Sabbath.
• Luke 6:6-11 – Teaching and healing on the Sabbath. 
• Luke 13:10-17 – Yeshua teaching in the synagogue and healing on the Sabbath.
• Luke 14:1-6 – Yeshua dined with Pharisees and then healed on the Sabbath.
• Luke 23:54-56 – Women prepared for Yeshua’s burial on the Preparation day and then rested on the Sabbath
• John 5:1-18 – Yeshua healed on the Sabbath. “My Father is working, so I am too.”
• John 7:22-24 – Circumcision and healing on the Sabbath. 
• John 9:1-41 – Yeshua heals the faithful blind on the Sabbath.
• John 19:31 – Take Yeshua from the cross on the preparation day before the high Sabbath.
• Acts 1:12 – Mt of Olives is a Sabbath Day’s journey from Jerusalem, right outside the city.
• Acts 13:14-15 – Paul and friends went to synagogue on Sabbath and were invited to teach.
• Acts 13:27 – The prophets read in the synagogues every Sabbath.
• Acts 13:42 – The people begged Paul and friends to teach on the next Sabbath too.
• Acts 13:44-48 – Paul and Barnabas teach gentiles on the Sabbath.
• Acts 15:21 – Moses is read in the synagogue every Sabbath.
• Acts 16:13-15 – Apostles find a place of prayer and ministry for the Sabbath. Teach gentile women.
• Acts 17:1-9 – Paul customarily went to the synagogue and taught on Sabbath days. 
• Acts 18:4 – Paul went to the synagogue every Sabbath and reasoned with the Jews.
• Colossians 2:16-19 – Don’t let anyone pass judgment on you for not keeping the Sabbath according to man-made rules.
• Hebrews 4:1-10 – A Sabbath rest for the people of God. Rest on the Sabbath like God did.