THE WORDS OF ELOHIYM

John chapter 1










Today we are walking in: The Words Of Elohiym
















Num 24:4




He hath said, which heard the words H561 of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:






word




Today we look to the word H561 'emer--utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, command









The Torah testifies...............




I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto you, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them את all that I shall command him. Devariym (Deuteronomy) 18:18










Deuteronomy 32:1




Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words H561 of my mouth.







And he said unto them: Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to guard to do, all the words of this Torah. Devariym (Deuteronomy) 32:46












The prophets proclaim..................




Hosea 6:5




Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words H561 of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.




And many people shall go and say: Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of Yahuah, to the house of the Elohai of Ya'aqov; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Tsiyon shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of Yahuah from Yerushalayim. Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 2:3




Hear the Word of Yahuah, ye rulers of Cedom; give ear unto the Torah of our Elohiym, ye people of Amorah. Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 1:10









The writings bear witness...........................







Give ear, O my people, to my Torah: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Tehilliym (Psalms) 78:1







Psa 107:11




Because they rebelled against the words H561 of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:










The Words of ’Elohiym




Perhaps the greatest difficulty I am personally confronted with in teaching the Hebraic perspective is terminology. It seems that no matter what educational background a person has, it is words that get in the way. Communication is the most important thing we do. Think about it! Where would we be if Yah did not communicate with us through His word? What a wonderful way to let us know who He is. What a wonderful way to reveal to us how to be reconciled back to Him. He could have chosen other ways to speak to us. Sometimes He does. Sometimes He just "speaks" to us. But, for reasons that to many of us are obvious, He chose to communicate through people. Not just any people, but people that He knew in His omniscience would faithfully preserve His words through their culture. The Hebrew people. His view of the world became their view of the world. Or, you might say that their view of the world conformed to His view of the world.




So, life would be sin free and we would all be basking in paradise if it were not for one significant, unfortunate detail. The devil. haSatan, as he is called. The problem is that he knows all too well how important communication is. He knows what the Scriptures say. He misquotes them frequently, but he knows what they say. He knows that "... faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of ’Elohiym." He knows that faith in the Word of ’Elohiym and obedience to that faith changes lives. He knows the power of ’Elohiym's word. He knows that societies prosper and flourish when they obey ’Elohiym's word. He knows that people do not need to be healed when they are already healthy. He knows that nations, communities, and families do not need to be restored when obedient to the Word of ’Elohiym. He knows that when people keep the words of ’Elohiym, that they win and he loses! So, he commits himself to pervert the words of ’Elohiym.




Christians for centuries have known that the enemy perverts church doctrine. Christians have argued among themselves over doctrinal issues since the book of Acts, but to no avail. Why? Because we are swatting at the branches and not getting to the tree, much less the root. I will cut to the chase (idiom). Hasatan simply redefines the words, slowly, a little at a time. He spreads this calculated scheme over a long period of time. He uses evolution. He causes ’Elohiym's words to evolve over time. He uses the most elementary technique, the translating of one language to another. I am going to concentrate the next several lessons on words, scriptural words. Words that over time have changed. Words of the New Testament that have become almost second nature to us. I hope to show that there has been a tremendous paradigm shift.




The terms that we read in the New Testament were not created in a vacuum. Virtually every word or words that you read have their beginning and defining in the Tanakh. When Yahusha‘ or any of the writers wrote their words, they did so with full confidence that the readers were already familiar with the words they chose to convey ’Elohiym's ways. When Yahusha‘ said, "Be not afraid, only believe", He used a term already well established in the Tanakh as to it's meaning. The word 'believe' did not pop up from nowhere in the New Testament! He assumed a previous knowledge of this word. When He uses the terms; kingdom, life, light, righteousness, way, truth, receive, bind, loose, come together, or worship, for example, He assumes we know what these things mean from our knowledge of His previous words. But we take the meaning of these common words for granted. So, I'll shut up. Let's get on with the lesson.




WORD




Let's begin with a few very common New Testament terms and trace them back to their meanings, keeping in mind that how a word starts out is how it is meant to be understood. Is that not logical? I would like to begin with the word, WORD!




In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with את Elohiym, and Elohiym was the Word. Yochanon (John) 1:1 | את Cepher










And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the yachiyd of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Yochanon (John) 1:14 | את Cepher




Now, didn't Yochanan just tell us that the Word is from the beginning? So, it did not begin here in the New Testament. Therefore, defining the word in the Greek is not going to tell us what the word word means. We have to go back to where it (HE) began.




The main Hebrew word used to translate this word "word" is dabar. Dabar is a spoken thing. It is speech. Whether by Mosheh, David, Sha’ul, Mattityahu, kings, peasants, slaves, you, me, or Yah, it is things that are spoken. When Mosheh speaks, it is the dabar of Mosheh. When the king speaks it is the dabar of the king. Whether uplifting words or slanderous words, it is dabar. So, when the Scriptures say, "The WORD of the Lord said to Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) ..." you know that it is the dabar of ’Elohiym. It is His words, Holy words, Righteous words. When He speaks, you know it is not man's words, but His words, His commandments, ordinances, precepts, and ways. Let me give you a few examples of His words, to help us define what His word is.




And he said unto them: Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to guard to do, all the words of this Torah. Devariym (Deuteronomy) 32:46 | את Cepher










And many people shall go and say: Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of Yahuah, to the house of the Elohai of Ya'aqov; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Tsiyon shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of Yahuah from Yerushalayim. Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 2:3 | את Cepher










Hear the Word of Yahuah, ye rulers of Cedom; give ear unto the Torah of our Elohiym, ye people of Amorah. Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 1:10 | את Cepher










Therefore as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away את the Torah of Yahuah Tseva'oth, and את despised the Word of the Holy One of Yashar'el. Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 5:24 | את Cepher










Give ear, O my people, to my Torah: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Tehilliym (Psalms) 78:1 | את Cepher










Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the Torah, and the words which Yahuah Tseva'oth has sent in his Ruach by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from Yahuah Tseva'oth. Zakaryahu (Zechariah) 7:12 | את Cepher










I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto you, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them את all that I shall command him. Devariym (Deuteronomy) 18:18 | את Cepher










נ Nun Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Tehilliym (Psalms) 119:105 | את Cepher




Here are just a few examples of how Yah sees His word. They are laws and commandments for man to light his path. His word teaches us His ways, and how to walk in His paths. This is what the Word of ’Elohiym is. Now, Yochanan teaches us that this Word became flesh and dwelt among us. His Word, properly defined, was not a pre-existing thing or entity. It was not a concept housed in outer space waiting to become flesh. It was His teachings and His ways that became flesh. Now put this back into context in the New Testament.




Luke 8:21

And he answered and said unto them: My mother and my brethren are these which hear את the Word of Elohiym and do it. Luqas (Luke) 8:21 | את Cepher










Luke 5:1

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the Word of Elohiym, he stood by the lake of Kinneroth, Luqas (Luke) 5:1 | את Cepher










Acts 11:1

And the apostles and brethren that were in Yahud heard that the other nations had also received the Word of Elohiym. Ma'asiym (Acts) 11:1 | את Cepher










Acts 6:7

And the Word of Elohiym increased; and the number of the Talmidiym multiplied in Yerushalayim greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Ma'asiym (Acts) 6:7 | את Cepher










Luke 8:11

Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of Elohiym. Luqas (Luke) 8:11 | את Cepher










Acts 8:25

And they, when they had testified and preached the Word of Yahuah, returned to Yerushalayim, and preached the Besorah in many villages of the Shomeroniym. Ma'asiym (Acts) 8:25 | את Cepher

Next time, we are going to compare the scriptural teaching of the Dabar of ’Elohiym with the Greek version of the logos (Greek word for word is logos) of ’Elohiym. This has been one of the fundamental reasons for the swift change from faith being validated by obedience, to faith being validated by creeds. See you next time.




Shalom Alecheim!

HEBREW VS GREEK MIND: THE RISE OF GNOSTICISM

John chapter 1













Today we are walking in: Hebrew Vs Greek Mind: The Rise Of Gnosticism










1 Chronicles 28:9




And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind H3824: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

























MIND













Today we look to the word-MIND-H3824 lebab--mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory















The Torah testifies...............







Genesis 23:8




And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind H3824 that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,




Leviticus 24:12




And they put him in ward, that the mind H3824 of the LORD might be shewed them.







Numbers 16:28

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind H3824.



















The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 26:3




Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3824 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.







Ezekiel 11:5




And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind H3824, every one of them.









Habakkuk 1:11




Then shall his mind H3824 change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.















The writings bear witness..........................







1 Chronicles 22:7




And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind H3824 to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:













Lamentations 3:21




This I recall to my mind H3824, therefore have I hope.







Job 34:33

Should it be according to thy mind H3824? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.








Hebrew Mind vs. Greek Mind

THE RISE OF GNOSTICISM

Lesson Six







In the times of Yahusha' and Sha'ul, there were many thinking groups that would fall under the banner of gnosticism. The nihilists and the libertines would be two of these. Both of these groups would also be classified as antinomians or "against the law". This would be the definition as it is commonly known in the English. However, in the Hebrew the word for anti is tachat (תחת), which means instead of or in place of. You see, no one is really against laws, they simply deny Yah's laws and replace them with other laws. Every society, large or small, has rules. One may think he is free when unrestrained by law but he soon comes up with his own. Since the rise of gnosticism, I believe the church has been theologically duped into believing that liberty is freedom from law. The only way that one could claim to be a Hamachiachian and hold this theology is to allegorize or spiritualize the text. This allegorization sprang forth from the early gnostics, and gnosticism is Hellenistic thought at it's best.




So, what is gnosticism? Literally the word gnosis, a Greek word, means knowledge. This way of thinking was also a religious sect at the time of Yahusha'. However, more appropriately it is a way of thinking. Notice I said it is a way of thinking, not it was a way of thinking. There is no way to define this word in a few sentences, so we will define it as we go. The whole idea of gnosticism dove-tails with the whole philosophy of the holy psyche or soul, and the evil body and physical world. There are degrees, if you will, of this philosophy. Much of what is taught in modern Hamachiachianity is very pale compared to some extremes of people like Simon of Samaria (Acts 8), Saturninus, Cerinthus, Valentinus, or even Marcion. If you begin with a relatively small, unscriptural doctrine, it soon leads to a big one. Many of these men (circa 1st-2nd century A.D.) concluded that Yahusha' was not a man, but the spirit of the Messiah. Why? Because the "deity" would not have an evil body since the flesh is by nature wicked. Marcion taught that Yahusha''s body was a phantom. Many early church fathers stood against this doctrine for a time, except for Clement and Origen, who were sympathetic to this doctrine. Fundamental to clearly gnostic systems is dualism, which opposes the transcendent God and an ignorant demiurge. (Remember, this was the caricature of Yah). In some systems, the creation of the world resulted from the presumption of sophia (σοφία) (Gk. - wisdom).




The material creation, including the body, was regarded as inherently evil. Sparks of divinity, however, had been encapsulated in the bodies of certain pneumatic or spiritual individuals, who were ignorant of their celestial origins. The transcendent God or demiurge sent down a redeemer (Hamachiach), who brought them salvation in the form of a secret gnosis or knowledge. To the gnostics, salvation was not dependent upon faith or works but rather knowledge of one's nature, so there was much indulgence in licentious behavior. There were no rules for the body since the logos or ultimate knowledge was not interested in physical or material things. This also meant that marriage was held in contempt as well, for procreation involved the body. A "unisex" being was held in hopeful reverence. The two main religious ordinances of these sects were baptism and the Eucharist. The bottom line of gnosticism is an other worldly existence. Many New Testament doctrines are used to support this thought which we will put back into context later. Gnosticism, historically speaking, is simply the logical progression of Greek or Hellenistic thinking. This philosophy, several centuries later, led to the monastic system and eventually to the Papal system.




We will reveal much, much more about this teaching as we get into the comparisons between the Hebrew and Greek minds. We are going to take several subjects and discuss them from these contrasting points of view. I think you will soon see how and why the modern Church believes and teaches some of the doctrines it does. You may begin to see why our culture is in the condition it is and why many other cultures collapsed. It may become clearer why so many Hamachiachians struggle with sin and cannot seem to conquer anything in their lives. The conclusion will be simple. The Greek/gnostic thinking of inwardness only sounds holy, good, and scriptural. The problem is this. Our mind and our bodies are created by Yah and have natural needs and desires. These needs and desires are anticipated by our Creator, so He has rules for the mind and the body. If our theology denies these rules (the reason is really irrelevant), our mind and body will satisfy them some other way. This is why in much Hamachiachian theology the laws of Yah (that is, the Old Testament "where there is no Holy Spirit"), are superceded by the "law of Hamachiach" where there is the Spirit. God, who lives in the transmundane, is only interested in the spiritual and has no interest in the mundane cares of the world.




In lesson seven we will begin to compare these two contrasting world views. I will take you back to some more details of Greek philosophy as they apply.

Shalom Alecheim!

HEBREW VS GREEK MIND: ANTIOCHUS IV TO YAHUSHA

John chapter 1








Today we are walking in: Hebrew vs Greek Mind: Antiochus IV To Yahusha








1 Chronicles 28:9




And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind H3824: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

























MIND













Today we look to the word-MIND-H3824 lebab--mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory















The Torah testifies...............







Genesis 23:8




And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind H3824 that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,




Leviticus 24:12




And they put him in ward, that the mind H3824 of the LORD might be shewed them.







Numbers 16:28

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind H3824.



















The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 26:3




Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3824 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.







Ezekiel 11:5




And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind H3824, every one of them.









Habakkuk 1:11




Then shall his mind H3824 change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.















The writings bear witness..........................







1 Chronicles 22:7




And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind H3824 to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:













Lamentations 3:21




This I recall to my mind H3824, therefore have I hope.







Job 34:33

Should it be according to thy mind H3824? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.












Hebrew Mind vs. Greek Mind

ANTIOCHUS IV TO Yahusha'

Lesson Five




During the second and third centuries B.C., Hellenism and the perpetuation of the Greek language quickly dominated the entire Western world. The Macedonian kings from Greece took their Egyptian influenced culture back to Egypt through the Ptolemy family. Around 260 B.C. the language and thought processes of Greece had so changed the Eastern culture that King Ptolemy put forth the decree to translate the entire Hebrew Bible into Greek. This was later known as the Septuagint translation of the Scriptures, or the LXX. The Septuagint was so named allegedly because it was accomplished by 70 scholars, but there is some uncertainty about that. None the less, Yahusha' quoted from it quite often. This version of the Scriptures is one of the most awesome pieces of evidence of the reliability of itself. Virtually every scriptural and secular scholar agrees that the Scriptures, with the exception of Esther, were translated from Hebrew to Greek in or around 250 years before the birth of Yahusha'. Do you realize what that means? It means that the 333 prophetic utterances of Yahusha''s birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection are, at the very least, written 250 years before they happened.

One by one the generals of Alexander began to fall to the Roman Empire. Philip IV of the Antigonid empire began the decline by challenging Rome in the first place. The Seleucid dynasty was still going strong in 163 B.C. when Antiochus IV ruled Jerusalem. Antiochus, as did his predecessors, carried the Greek-Egyptian traditions and culture into his reign. The books of the Maccabees record much of this period of Greek history, especially as it permeates the Hebrew culture. The story of Chanukkah is the best example to date of how scriptural thinking and culture can be dramatically altered. Normally a change in thinking processes occurs very slowly over a long period of time. But the account of the Maccabees happened comparatively quickly.

This is a quote from 1st Maccabees:

1st Maccabees 1:11-14

In those days [i.e. of Antiochus Epiphanes] lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many saying, "Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us. This proposal pleased them, and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem [for Greek education], according to Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.

The first thing done in Greek thought is to build an education center to train captives in Western thinking. To conquer with the sword is only temporary, and still maintains an enemy. Conquer the mind and you have a friend and an ally. Change the language and you change the meaning of things, for words are only symbols. If you change the symbol, you change the meaning and create a whole new set of parameters. Paradigm shifts in any society are created over time in gradual increments. This is primarily why people, especially church people, see the instructions of Yah as antiquated, obsolete, and almost impossible to grasp. Our whole thinking process has been so far removed from Yah's that it is almost unrecognizable.

Let's continue on with 1 Maccabees:

1 Maccabees 1:41-49

Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, and that each should give up his customs. [What he really meant was for the captives to give up their customs.] All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; [see what I mean!] they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and feasts, to defile the sanctuary and the priests, to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they should forget the law and change all the ordinances.

This is the perfect description of apostasy, the abandonment of Yah's instructions. This will indeed happen again according to Mattityahu (Matthew) 24. More on that later. Many people in Israel at that time gave in to the king and abandoned the covenants and feasts. These were the forerunners of the Grecians. Over generations, these Hebrews mixed Western thought with their own ancestry. But many of these people did not. Some were executed for their tenacious trust in Yah. Others escaped and followed the Maccabean brothers in the desert to eventually return and take back the temple. This is, of course, the facts of the Chanukkah story. The point is that Yah's way defeated the Western way by standing strong in His words and not giving in to the Greek influence.

Between the time of Antiochus and the birth of Yahusha', the Roman empire had defeated all of the kingdoms of the Macedonian empire. Rome's culture is now prevailing at the time of the so-called birth of Christianity.

Shalom Alecheim!

HEBREW VS GREEK MIND: ARISTOTLE AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT

John chapter 1










Today we are walking in: Hebrew vs Greek Mind: Aristotle And Alexander The Great












1 Chronicles 28:9




And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind H3824: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

























MIND













Today we look to the word-MIND-H3824 lebab--mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory















The Torah testifies...............







Genesis 23:8




And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind H3824 that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,




Leviticus 24:12




And they put him in ward, that the mind H3824 of the LORD might be shewed them.







Numbers 16:28

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind H3824.



















The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 26:3




Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3824 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.







Ezekiel 11:5




And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind H3824, every one of them.









Habakkuk 1:11




Then shall his mind H3824 change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.















The writings bear witness..........................







1 Chronicles 22:7




And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind H3824 to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:













Lamentations 3:21




This I recall to my mind H3824, therefore have I hope.







Job 34:33

Should it be according to thy mind H3824? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.






Hebrew Mind vs. Greek Mind

ARISTOTLE AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Lesson Four




Greece, in the fourth century B.C., produced a second thinker whose intellectual legacy achieved monumental proportions. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Plato's most brilliant follower, earned his enduring reputation in science and philosophy from his groundbreaking work in promoting rigorous systems of logical argument. He taught that truth was discovered by systematic arguments based on "premise to conclusion" concepts. One first begins with a premise and then sets down a system of steps to come to an ultimate conclusion. The problem with this is that it still relied on human reasoning which was, of course, limited by human experience. The gods would not and could not supply truths, for they were to be idolized only. The block logic of Hebrew was considerably different than this type of thinking, but none the less, it was Hebrew logic that the Scriptures were written in. We will discuss this much later in the course. Aristotle's religious beliefs were much the same as Plato. The gods were still to be worshiped and revered and excellence was still the goal, (telos in the Greek). He was deeply critical of democracy, but only because it meant the rule of the majority and the majority was uneducated and poor. Only the elite had the capacity to rule. Only the academies could train children to succeed. Fathers and mothers were incapable of properly training Greek children.

During the years of Aristotle came the military rule of Philip of Macedonia, a land just north of Greece. Philip was a great conqueror, but not as great or popular as his son Alexander. The main thrust of Alexander's reign was that it happened so quickly. This is the primary reason why Greece is referred to as a leopard in the book of Daniyy'el (Daniel). With lightning fast speed, the greatest mortal hero of Greece defeated the known world. Alexander was not only a great military leader but was savvy and wise as well.




His strategy was for Greece to dominate the world by conforming the world to Greek thinking. He knew that this could only be accomplished by language. He knew, almost supernaturally, that if you change a people's language, you change their whole view of life. Alexander, because of his brilliant tactics, was revered as a god, and he considered himself the son of Zeus. His belief in the superiority of Greek civilization was absolute. His most treasured possession was "The Iliad" of Homer, and he had the plays of the three great tragedians sent to him in Asia, together with poems, and the history of Philistus. They were his favorite readings. He admired Aristotle as the leading exponent of Greek intellectual enquiry, and he had a natural yearning for philosophical discussion and understanding. His mind was to some extent cast in the Aristotelian mold. He educated his future leaders in Greek letters and weaponry and established schools throughout his conquered regions. At the same time, he organized traditional Greek festivals to honor the gods in the most lavish fashion. He taught that the deities made their wishes known through natural phenomena and through omens and oracles, which were interpreted through great speakers in the theaters and arenas. This is why Sha'ul (Paul) and Barnabas were called Jupiter (Zeus) and Mercury (Hermes). These were the Roman names for the Greek gods. Although Rome conquered Greece, they took upon the same system of philosophy, only the names were changed.




The story of Alexander is a story of a major change in thought, so much so that he named a city for himself, Alexandria, Egypt, and the Tanakh was translated into Greek at this city. Alexander trained his successors in the Greek language. A most interesting twist occurred at Alexander's death. Instead of appointing his son to take over, he remained basically silent in the matter. His four top generals took over the reign of the known world instead of his son. These four men were Antigonus, his son Demetrius, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. These four men would soon divide up the known world and begin what would eventually be called the Hellenistic age. Antigonus and Demetrius took over Macedonia and Greece, Seleucus in Syria and the old Persian empire, and Ptolemy in Egypt.




Israel would end up being under the domain of Ptolemy. All four of these kings carried on the Greek religion and thought process. Eventually all four kingdoms would fall to the Romans. All four kings forced the koine Greek language on their conquered territories. As I said before, this was a very wise move, for language shapes, molds, and defines a culture. Hate will soon turn to loyalty if one can change the meaning and purpose of words and traditions. Greek had become the international language of the eastern Mediterranean coast lands. Even in Afghanistan, King Asoka, a convert to Buddhism, used Greek in his public inscriptions to announce his efforts to introduce his subjects to Buddhist traditions. Literature in these Hellenistic cultures began to shift more and more to mythical dramas and comedies, yet worship and adoration of the gods remained as strong as ever. Human behavior and truth were becoming irrelevant as long as the gods were pleased through public attestation.




Greek philosophy in the Hellenistic period reached a wider audience than ever before. Fewer thinkers were concentrating on metaphysics and more on logic, physics, and ethics. The Epicurean and Stoic schools were now becoming popular. This is also a result of the Greek concept of the gods. The Greek gods were not infallible to their minds. They all had the ability to change, to fail, to give in to emotions, and to vacillate. It is because of this that philosophical schools came and went, as well. The bottom line at this time was how to deal with negative, outside forces. So we now have the rise of the Stoics and Epicureans. The Epicureans took their name from it's founder, Epicurus (341-271 B.C.). Basically, Epicurus believed that humans should pursue pleasure. The best way to achieve this is to stay away from distasteful situations by congregating with friends and like minded people. One should avoid the everyday mundane existence of the common people. The gods take no notice of human affairs, so humans have no fear of them. The Stoics, on the other hand, recommend a different, less isolationist path for humanity. A man named Zeno of Citium founded this philosophy. Their goal was the pursuit of virtue and a resignation to fate. They believed that fate was responsible for everything that happened, basically denying free will. Stoics believed in shunning all emotion, which is how our culture uses that term. Through endurance and self-control one attains tranquility. Dozens of other schools, such as the Sceptics and the Cynics, popped up to help explain life to the Greek world. The gods had not the foresight to guide life in any absolute way and were not interested. This brought about the infusing of various cultic and religious philosophies in concert with the reverence of the gods. The Hellenistic age can be summed up in one word, mixed. What was wrong today, may be right tomorrow, what is distasteful to one generation may soon become the banner of the next generation.

Shalom Alecheim!

HEBREW VS GREEK MIND: THE BEGINNING OF THE END

John chapter 1








Today we are walking in: Hebrew vs Greek Mind: The Beginning Of The End


















1 Chronicles 28:9




And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind H3824: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

























MIND













Today we look to the word-MIND-H3824 lebab--mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory















The Torah testifies...............







Genesis 23:8




And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind H3824 that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,




Leviticus 24:12




And they put him in ward, that the mind H3824 of the LORD might be shewed them.







Numbers 16:28

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind H3824.



















The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 26:3




Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3824 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.







Ezekiel 11:5




And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind H3824, every one of them.









Habakkuk 1:11




Then shall his mind H3824 change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.















The writings bear witness..........................







1 Chronicles 22:7




And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind H3824 to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:













Lamentations 3:21




This I recall to my mind H3824, therefore have I hope.







Job 34:33

Should it be according to thy mind H3824? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.












Hebrew Mind vs. Greek Mind

PLATO - THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Lesson Three




As we begin to enter the "Hellenistic" era of the evolution of Western thought, we come to the basic fork in the road. Socrates' most famous student is going to take Greek philosophy to it's most respected heights. Socrates was not adept at winning friends and influencing his enemies. Actually, up to this time, Greek thinking was rather tame and friendly with Scriptural thinking. But Plato is about to take it to a new level. This is where we will spend some time revealing what we really mean when we speak of Greek thought.

Plato lived from 428-348 B.C. Most history books and encyclopedias credit Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle for being the most influential people in Western history. Their philosophical views sprang forth from Homer's great mythical heroes. This led to the ultimate philosophical goal of excellence which led to the various social structures of Greek life. Plato, of course, was a member of the social elite. This was part of the background of his most powerful contribution to religious thought, the dualism of man. Plato taught that man consisted of two parts, the "soul" and the "flesh". He taught that only the soul was good and good is what all men seek. The flesh was evil and could do no good. The body was only one passing phase of our cosmic existence. Only the soul was involved in the future, and only the soul could do any good, so what the body did was virtually irrelevant. The people who were able to grasp this concept were in the highest class called the "guardians".




These were the educated class which were trained to live in shared houses, to eat in the same mess halls, their children were to be raised as a group in a common environment by special caretakers (public schools). Only this ruling class possessed the knowledge to determine policies and make decisions determining who is allowed to mate with whom to produce the best children, with intellectual excellence as the goal. Plato brought to the world the nation of "thinkers". Knowledge was the key to everything. This, we will see, led to the era of Gnosticism which continues today under other names. Multitudes of mystery cults would come forth from this philosophy. Life was intellectualized, and only for the initiated. Life became abstract, metaphysical conceptions. This is why I am personally very skeptical of turning simple commands of God into abstract concepts. Why? Because one cannot prove or disprove these concepts. This is why the students of Plato would argue for days in the great theaters with no results. They would stand by themselves in empty theaters and argue against fictitious opponents with imaginary audiences. These great debates were designed to cause our minds to conceive the demiurge, or ultimate mind, around us and to ignore the realities of the world we live in.




The demiurge was the dualistic god that created the world. He was the cruel god of battles and bloody sacrifices. The world was cruel and could not have been created by a "good" god, since all matter is evil. So this cruel demiurge sent a son called the logos who was the good god. The Tanakh (Old Testament) was a cruel book of laws, judgment, and death. The New Testament was the result of the incarnation of the god of the gods, the mind of the gods, called the logos. We will get into much more detail on this later. This demiurge, literally worker of the people, was whimsical and could change his mind or desires at any time. He would require certain demands on his creation at any time and withdraw them at any time. Laws and commands were spontaneous. The whole idea of the one God was no different than the images of all the gods. They were always subject to limitations and foresight. And, of course, god was only interested in the invisible, spiritual world as the physical world was evil. When the body performed an evil act it was simply seen as the natural thing for an evil, material body to do. This thinking would eventually lead to some of the same kind of behavior we see today. Quoting Plato from his Symposium:




"I believe that the greatest good for a youth is to have a worthy lover from early on and, for a lover, to have a worthy beloved. The values that men need who want to live lives of excellence lifelong are better instilled by love than by their relatives or offices or wealth or anything else ..."




In the Greek social life of his time, homosexuality was common love. Greeks, by this period, found it natural for an older man to be sexually aroused by the physical beauty of a boy. Physical immorality was not to possess eternity, only the soul.




Plato also began the era of the sophists. These philosophers continued in Plato's teaching that matters of the physical are matters of human relativism. Matters of family, government, education, customs, or law, were all relative because they were all outside of the soulish area.




Truth was determined by persuasiveness. Whoever had the best argument was the purveyor of truth. Truth was determined by man's own will. Since the gods were to be worshiped and revered and had no instructions for man, man was left to determine them for himself. Therefore, some things were good and some were bad, some things were good and bad at the same time. When potential governors would debate, the same subjects would be argued year after year, for there was no absolute. Sound familiar? Plato introduced the world to many philosophies that shaped the world we live in today. He would soon produce another student who would be the most influential man in Alexander the Great's life.

HEBREW VS GREEK MIND: THE INFLUENCE OF HOMER

1 Corinthians chapter 1







Today we are walking in: Hebrew vs Greek Mind: The Influence Of Homer










1 Chronicles 28:9




And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind H3824: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

























MIND













Today we look to the word-MIND-H3824 lebab--mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory















The Torah testifies...............







Genesis 23:8




And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind H3824 that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,




Leviticus 24:12




And they put him in ward, that the mind H3824 of the LORD might be shewed them.







Numbers 16:28

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind H3824.



















The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 26:3




Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3824 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.







Ezekiel 11:5




And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind H3824, every one of them.









Habakkuk 1:11




Then shall his mind H3824 change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.















The writings bear witness..........................







1 Chronicles 22:7




And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind H3824 to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:













Lamentations 3:21




This I recall to my mind H3824, therefore have I hope.







Job 34:33



Should it be according to thy mind H3824? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.















Hebrew Mind vs. Greek Mind

THE INFLUENCE OF HOMER

Lesson Two

The New Testament makes several references to Grecians and what had become commonly known as Hellenism. What is Hellenism and what influence did Hellenism have on the culture of Yahusha''s time? The term "Hellenistic" was invented in the nineteenth century to designate the period of Greek and Near Eastern history from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. to the death of Cleopatra VII, the last Macedonian ruler of Egypt, in 30 B.C.

The early Hellenistic period saw the emergence of a new form of relationship, compounded from Macedonian and Near Eastern traditions, which became the dominant political, religious, and social structure in the eastern Mediterranean after Alexander's death. The "Helen" of Hellenism comes from the writings of a blind poet by the name of Homer. Most Greek scholars are not convinced that this man actually lived, but for someone who may not have existed, he certainly was very influential in the shaping of Greek art, science, philosophy, religion, and social justice. His alleged writings were called "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". These were epics set in the 12th century B.C. about a war between Greece and the city of Troy. This is where the Trojans come from. This is not a course on Greek history, but we need to get the background of where Greek thinking comes from. It did not burst onto the scene with Alexander. There was a gradual process that spring-boarded the influence of Greek thinking onto the known world at that time. The retrospective story of the Trojan War that the Iliad tells symbolizes the aims of this society as reflected in the literature of a later age. The heroes of Homer's poem sail far from their homes in Greece to attack the citadel of the Trojans in western Anatolia.




Their announced mission is to rescue Helen, the Greek queen whom the son of the king of Troy had lured away from her husband. This is essentially where the term "Hellenism" comes from. Most of the anti-Biblical, pagan cultures we are familiar with, Greek, Babylonian, Persian, etc., have a woman or Goddess-type mother that represents that culture. Isis, Astarte, Ishtar, or Gaia are some examples. Greek culture was no different. However, this way of thinking has a background, as well. The background of Hellenism is from Egypt, no less. Some nineteenth century scholars wish to downplay or deny any significant cultural influence of the Near East on Greece, but that was plainly not the ancient Greek view of the question. Greek intellectuals of the historical period claimed that Greeks owed a great deal to the older civilization of Egypt, in particular, to religion and art. Recent research agrees with this ancient opinion. Greek sculptors in the Archaic Age chiseled their statues according to a set of proportions established by Egyptian artists.




Greek mythology, the stories that Greeks told themselves about their deepest origins and their relations to the gods, was infused with stories and motifs of Near Eastern origin. The clearest evidence of the deep influence of Egyptian culture on Greek culture is the store of seminal religious ideas that flowed from Egypt to Greece. Rather than looking for a nonexistent origin of Greek identity, we will identify, as many as possible, the various sources of cultural influence that flowed together over a long period of time to produce the Greek culture we find recorded in the New Testament times. "Hellenistic" also conveys the idea that a mixed, cosmopolitan form of social and cultural life combining Hellenic (i.e. Greek) traditions with indigenous traditions emerged in the eastern Mediterranean region in the aftermath of Alexander's conquests. This provides some of the background for the term "Grecian", or 'Hellenist', as applied to many Jews at the time of Yahusha'. These were a mix of Hebrew ethnicity with Greek world views. The very nature of the ways of the nations in Scripture is a mixture of various ideas and views of how to live life. The Greek perspective provides us with a background as to the nature of a god or gods that desire to be worshiped, entertained, adored, and revered, but not necessarily obeyed. In Greek mythology, the gods were to be revered and celebrated, but the intellect was to guide man in this life. This is precisely why Sha'ul (Paul) tells us in 1Corinthians 1:22 that the Jews require a sign but the Greeks seek wisdom.




The Greeks are also known for their philosophy. We will discuss Aristotle and others later. The poet Homer's poems set the stage for the creative writing of the Greek myths of ancient gods and goddesses. This would provide the background for the ultimate mind of all the gods called the logos. This logos, as we will learn later, is a mixture of religious concepts from several cultural sources, which are generally represented scripturally by Jezebel, Babylon, the queen of heaven, and many other names which will be mentioned as we go. The nature or essence of Greek philosophy will be studied in detail later on in this course. Right now we are trying to establish the fact that this philosophy made a major impact on the thinking process of the populations that Sha'ul encountered, and that this influence has stayed with the church for two thousand years. The following is a quote from the book "Alexander the Great" by N. G. L. Hammond. Mr. Hammond is considered to be the foremost expert on ancient Macedonian history. Macedonia is the ancient name of the kingdom of the Balkan peninsula, which generally covers the area of Greece, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria.

"In 342 B. C. Philip [Alexanders' father] hired Aristotle at a handsome salary to teach ‘philosophy', which embraced both practical and theoretical knowledge. Lessons and seminars were held usually in the open air in the sanctuary of the Nymphs near Mieza, a beautiful place with natural grottos in the limestone, which was visited by sightseers in Plutarch's day and still is so visited. The influence of Aristotle on Alexander was profound. Alexander accepted as correct Aristotle's views on cosmology, geography, botany, zoology and medicine and therefore took scientists with his army to Asia, and he was fascinated by Aristotle's lectures on logic, metaphysics, the nature of poetry, and the essence of politics. Above all he learned from Aristotle to put faith in the intellect. In their personal relationship the boy's admiration developed into a deep affection, and they shared a special interest in establishing the text of "The Iliad"."

Homer was the major influence of Aristotle. It was Homer who introduced, at least from the view of literature, the whole idea of mythology and hero worship. This lies at the core of Greek society. The era called the dark age of Greece (900-700 B.C.) was the beginning of the construction of gymnasiums. These were Greek arenas that housed athletic games, with great crowds cheering the participants and the gods, particularly Zeus. The gymnasium was a place where nude athletes would appease the gods by their great feats. The word gymnos is the Greek word for naked. This period also began the great city-state called the polis, which was designed to confine the social elite.




These cities were erected to honor the gods. Within these city-states, smaller arenas, later called theaters, were erected. Theaters began with the Greeks, and were intended to host two particular events. At the beginning, they were primarily used to provide a place for the production of comedies and later, Greek tragedies. But by the later Archaic age, these were used to host the great philosophers and their famous debates. These debates were originally created to provide a place for the great thinkers and intellects to have a place to out-intellectualize each other. These places would soon produce Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

THE ATHENIAN HISTORY

We have now come to what is known as the Athenian age in the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War around the 4th century B.C. This episode in Greek history produced the famous Socrates. According to most current encyclopedias, Socrates was the most influential thinker in the Western world. Socrates, although he wrote nothing of his own, was the progenitor of the philosophy that man's evil actions are caused by ignorance. He developed, what is called today, the Socratic method. This is called inductive reasoning - that is, by reasoning from particular facts to a general idea.




In theory this seems logical, but all the reasoning depended upon what was considered a fact. Life was based upon thoughts and ideas to be debated. Many of the testimonies of his students attested to the fact that there were rarely any conclusions drawn, but everyone looked forward to the next debate. Socrates lived in poverty and disdained material possessions. He believed that no one knowingly did evil. Although Socrates was a thorn in the flesh of conventional Greek thinking, he none the less separated himself from any instructions of the gods and taught to rely on, after careful scrutiny, our own moral intellect to lead a happy life. Socrates, like many before him, sought wisdom no matter where it came from. Every culture had a part to play in the collective mind so long as moral knowledge was the goal.

Socrates' student, Plato will be the one who introduces the world to the demiurge. We will discuss this during our next lesson. Meanwhile I would like you to read Mizemor (Psalm) 119:1-9.

Shalom Alecheim!

HEBREW VS GREEK MIND: LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU….

Philippians chapter 2













Today we are walking in: Hebrew Mind vs. Greek Mind: Let This Mind Be In You…










1 Chronicles 28:9




And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind H3824: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

























MIND













Today we look to the word-MIND-H3824 lebab--mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory















The Torah testifies...............







Genesis 23:8




And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind H3824 that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,




Leviticus 24:12




And they put him in ward, that the mind H3824 of the LORD might be shewed them.







Numbers 16:28

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind H3824.



















The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 26:3




Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3824 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.







Ezekiel 11:5




And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind H3824, every one of them.









Habakkuk 1:11




Then shall his mind H3824 change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.















The writings bear witness..........................







1 Chronicles 22:7




And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind H3824 to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:













Lamentations 3:21




This I recall to my mind H3824, therefore have I hope.







Job 34:33



Should it be according to thy mind H3824? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.


















Hebrew Mind vs. Greek Mind

Lesson One

Philippians 2:5

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Messiah Yahusha

What kind of mind do you suppose Yahusha had? This will be the central focus of this class. We are going to search the Book of Life to determine the great gulf fixed between the ways of the nations and the ways of Yah. We will learn some Greek history as well as Hebrew history. I hope to show two different paths, two separate and distinct ways, of looking at life and the world around us, and how this directly influences how we look at Scripture.

There are a few things that need to be explained before we begin.

1. I will use the King James version of the Scriptures for all quotations. This is not because I believe that this translation is any more accurate than others. It is simply because most reference material is still keyed to this translation. It makes it easier to trace the etymology of words, which we will do often.


2. Most of what you will read will be in English, however some words will be in Hebrew. Special words or phrases that are part of the lesson will be transliterated or translated in the text. Names of books would be a good example. I will always use Yahusha instead of Jesus, Sha'ul instead of Paul, Yochanan instead of John, for example. Why? Because it is the Hebrew that best represents what Yah's intention was, not because we like to toss around some sort of highbrow priestcraft. Besides, that is what their name is!!


3. I will not give a test at the end of every lesson. More than likely, it will be every 3 or 4 lessons. Tests will be in essay type or form. I want to know that you have grasped the material and it's meaning, and that it is part of your thinking process as well. I want to know that you understand the material.




Let's begin.

THOUGHTS

One of the most popular books of the last ten years is entitled, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". It is popular because it reveals much about ourselves. In a very simple, realistic way this book shows us how different the genders are. There is a vast difference in the way men and women view the same set of circumstances, and how different our conclusions are, as well. It also teaches how those differences can be accepted and used to benefit a marriage relationship. But, as you are reading this book, you can begin to see how different the two thinking processes are. The focus of this course is much the same.




Eastern thinking is not like Western thinking. The major difference between this and the gender gap is that no where in Scripture does Yah ever desire to unite His ways with the ways of the nations. There is no way that Hebrew thinking can ever be united or combined with Greek thinking.

What are we talking about when we say Hebrew thinking or Greek thinking? Let us begin by talking about thoughts and words. Another way of describing thoughts is meaning.




What is meaning? With very strict observation, you will find that in practice we use the term in two principal ways: if someone asks me the meaning of a word in another language, I give him a word in his language which best expresses the same thing as that word. You may observe that we never, therefore, know the meaning directly, but only through a symbol - a word or linguistic expression.




Hence, I have no way of knowing your meaning except by the language you use to express it. I cannot possibly tell what you mean except by what you say. In other words, I, as opposed to Yah, cannot read your mind. Being human, I am relegated to understanding thoughts and intentions by the symbols used to represent that thought or intention.




That is really all that language is. When I want to express a thought I arrange letters in a certain way to form words, which also, when placed in a certain order, reveal my thoughts. Different languages use a different combination of letters and symbols to express thought. This is precisely what this course is about. We will be concerned with language or expressions that reveal thoughts about marriage, children, government, education, the nature of man, the nature of Yah, what is right or wrong, good or bad, holy or unholy. We will see how very different the Western world views these subjects from the world in which the Scriptures was written.




FROM THE BEGINNING

Bere'shiyt (Genesis) 1:1

In the beginning 'Elohiym created the heavens and the earth...

From the start we see that 'Elohiym separated. In the beginning He separates mass from spirit, visible from invisible. He then goes on to separate night from day, light from darkness, waters from waters, earth from seas, the greater light from the lesser light, beasts from humans, man from woman. In Bere'shiyt 2:9 He places two different and distinct trees in the garden. In Bere'shiyt 3:24 He separates man from Himself. He goes on to make a clear distinction between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. He puts a difference between Abel's offering and Cain's offering. He removes Noach's family from the rest of the world. He drives Avraham away from Ur of the Chaldees and the worship practices of his father, Terah. In Bere'shiyt 17:11 He separates Avraham from his foreskin.




In the books of Shemot (Exodus) and Vayiqera (Leviticus), He reveals what is clean and what is unclean, holy and unholy. In Shemot 11:7, He makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. In Shemot 19:5 He separates Israel from the rest of the nations, commanding them to obey Him that they might be a peculiar treasure unto Him. The Tehillot (Psalms) reveal the vast difference between Yah's ways and the ways of the nations.




In the Tanakh we see Yah giving His instructions for life to Israel and warning them not to mix with the nations. Why? Was it the people themselves that were unclean or was it their customs, their ways, their worship, and their practices? In the Tanakh we find the contrast between Yah's people and the nations or gentiles. In the New Testament we find the general term Greek used to represent ways contrary to Scripture. Many times, this is seen in the word the world (Yochanan (John) 1:10, Acts 17:6, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 2:2). This is because at this time the world outside of Jerusalem was still influenced by Alexander the Great's brilliant psychological tactics, not to mention his military genius. The Scriptures of the New Testament draw this contrast several times.

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.










Ma'asey hashsheliyechiym (Acts) 14:1

... both of the Jews and also of the Greeks, believed.










1Corinthians 1:22, 24

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. 24 But unto them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.










Acts 19:10

And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Adonai Yahusha, both Jews and Greeks.

When we add these accounts to the several occasions in which Sha'ul reminds us that in the body of Yahusha there is no difference between Jew and Greek, we begin to see that there was a difference. This is the very reason why Sha'ul had to teach us that there is now no difference. This will become much clearer in later lessons. Sha'ul's letters are specifically aimed at other than Semitic nations i.e., the Greeks. I might remind you that I am not referring to the country of Greece and it's inhabitants, but rather the Greeks as they represent western culture. In the same way that Babylon is symbolic of all false religion and pagan practices. The Greek or Hellenistic culture was dominating the uttermost parts of the earth at the time the New Testament was penned.