Ponder Scripture Newsletter Archives
Newsletter #45: Is "God" an
Accurate Translation of the Hebrew Title "Elohim"?
n my study God's Name According to
Ancient Hebrew Scholars, I supply a quote from a
pro-God advocate named Robert Young, who, in
2001, authored an article titled "Is it Right to
Call Yahweh Our God?" He wrote that even IF
it could be conclusively proven that the title "God"
found in our English translations is traced to the
Hebrew idol "God" identified in Isaiah 65:11, it
would not be evidence that Yahweh is against our
using it as His title, since, as Robert puts it, it
doesn't mean in English what it means in Hebrew. He
concludes, "When I use it merely as a title, not as
a name, not as a substitute for His name, I am
simply saying in my language that Yahweh is my
object of worship. Yahweh is my Mighty One, Yahweh
is my Supreme Being, etc. I am using it as a
translation of the Hebrew titles Elohim, El, or
Eloah, etc."
But there's a critical hitch in Robert's reasoning that
I hadn't sufficiently addressed in my study.
Actually several hitches.
More ...
Newsletter #44: Say His
Name!
ames are important. I have woven this truth
throughout nearly everything I have written over the
years. Those involved with the Black Lives Matter
movement understand the importance of names. Out of
that same culture arose a powerful "Say Her Name"
movement as a means of memorializing victims of police brutality. Memorializing the lives of others
is a natural part of the grieving process. That's
why memorial services are held for loved ones. We
cherish the memories they leave behind, and we want
to carry them with us forever. We all have fond
memories of loved ones who have passed, and just
hearing their names mentioned touches our hearts in
a special way. On the other hand, deliberately not speaking someone's
name has the opposite effect. Refusing to say
someone's name is not an act of love.
Where does all this tie in with our
Creator's name?
More ...
Newsletter #43: Divorce,
Remarriage, Adultery, Unbelievers, Etc.
had never, until now, chosen to write about marriage because
(a) it's never been an issue in my personal life
(thankfully), and (b) I don't really feel I'm
qualified to do so. Oh, I could argue that 46 years
of marriage qualifies me, and maybe it does, but I
can only base my reasoning and conclusion on
Scripture and personal experience.
More ...
Newsletter #42: Wine Is a
Mocker, But It's Not a Sin
hile watching the Jimmy Swaggart network's
roundtable talk show "Frances & Friends," a viewer
called in asking if it's okay to drink
socially because some of her Christian friends had
invited her to join them for drinks, which mortified
her. She was stunned that there are actually
believers who think it's okay to drink alcoholic
beverages, and she promptly turned her friends down.
A member of the panel, Dr. Don Paul Gray, took the
lead on answering the question. He emphatically gave
the caller a long-distance pat on the back for
turning down the invitation, while emphasizing his
conviction that drinking is wrong, and that those
who drink alcohol in any form are actually guilty of
sin. He didn't cite any specific Bible texts
validating his claim; instead, he referred the
caller to an article he had written for the
network's magazine The Evangelist for more
in-depth information about the evil pitfalls of
wine. I decided to access Dr. Gray's article and
review it for Scriptural accuracy.
More ...
Newsletter #41: Images,
Pictures and the Second Commandment
e need to keep in mind that we worship Yeshua
(Heb 1:5-6). Not only is He the Messiah, but if we can believe the
Apostle John and the Apostle Paul, He is also our Creator
(John 1:3, Colossians 1:13-17). A question arises as to whether or
not it’s okay for us to draw pictures or make other images of what
we think Yeshua may have looked like. Is it? This is
the question that we must answer, and we need to be
careful with our answer.
More ...
Newsletter #40: Religious
Bullying
lthough I
am not a regular viewer of the Daystar network, nor
do I share a lot of their beliefs, I have definitely
paid attention to the current
family
fallout debacle as it unravels on the
Internet. I've listened to the entire audio that was
secretly recorded in July 2023, in which Daystar
president Joni
Lamb and a pastor named Jimmy Evans rake Jonathan and Suzy Lamb
over the coals because they chose to not read a
viewer comment congratulating Joni and her new
husband on their marriage. I don't know the details
of why Joni's husband had previously divorced his
wife, nor am I really interested, but apparently it
was troublesome to Jonathan and Suzy—troublesome to
the point that they would not read the viewer
comment.
My heart
broke for this couple because I was in a similar
position nearly 40 years ago when I was the editor
of our church's newsletter.
More ...
Newsletter #39: The Blurred
Distinction Between "Kill" and "Murder"
hile
reading the "Comments" section of a YouTube video, I
came across a posting from a man who claims the
Almighty is a "mass murderer." In fact, he wrote,
"I'm writing this (not to seem trite by any means)
but who is the greatest mass murderer in human
history?" His finger pointed to Yahweh (but that's
not the name he calls Him). I immediately recognized
that this poster doesn't understand the distinction
between "killing" and "murdering." It's a
distinction that's clearly brought out in Scripture,
but we live in a time in which fewer and fewer
individuals read the Bible, let alone study its
teachings. I did some checking, and it turns out
a lot of people do not understand the
Scriptural distinction between "killing" and
"murdering."
More ...
Newsletter #38:
Unscriptural Historical Narrative About the
Sabbath
friend
recently
gave me a copy of a Catholic Answers
article titled "What
the Early Church Believed: Sabbath or Sunday?" Of
course, the conclusion promoted by the anonymous author
is that the early Messianic believers (first century and beyond)
worshipped on Sunday. With such an array of
witnesses supportive of Sunday being the correct day
on which to worship,
it
would certainly appear the deck is stacked in
their favor. No one would consider the possibility that all
of them were both deceived and deceivers. Yet, that is what I
believe, and I'm willing to demonstrate as much to
anyone.
More
...
Newsletter #37: To Vote or
Not to Vote
friend
recently gave me a copy of the Assemblies of
Yahweh's September 2024 Sacred Name Broadcaster
magazine. The main article is titled "How Would
Yahshua Vote For President?" My friend expressed
his agreement with the author's conclusion, which is
that a righteous person should not vote.
In fact, he considers voting to be a violation of
Torah. A week later, we received the Yahweh's
Assembly in Messiah's October/November 2024
Beginning Anew newsletter. Its main article is
titled "Who Are You Voting For?" The author's
conclusion: It's okay to vote, but we should pray
for Yahweh's guidance to make the right choice. It
should be noted that both publications uphold
Torah observance. Clearly, one of the two authors
exhibits incorrect reasoning. Which author has the
correct view?
More ...
Newsletter #36: Republicans
Shooting Themselves in the Foot With Abortion Restrictions
try
to stay away from political discussions, but with
less than a month remaining before the 2024
Presidential election, I feel compelled to
speak out, knowing full well my small voice will
only reach a handful of readers, most of whom share
my ability (or lack thereof) to effect any
changes in the outcome, and some within that handful
may not even agree with me anyway. I pray my
fears for this nation are all unfounded, but at this
point it appears the conservative Republican Party
is shooting itself in the foot, and not only will
the resulting wound hurt them more than they will
ever know, but it will hurt our nation even more.
Click here for the full
article.
Newsletter #35: Biblical
Unitarians' Unbalanced Approach
n
last month’s newsletter, I addressed the fact that,
according to the Hebrew Gospel of John, the
existence of which I was unaware of in 2019, “In the
beginning was the Son” (John 1:1).
This reading represents a significant variance from
the Greek translation, which has “In the beginning
was the Word.” Based on the Greek
text’s use of logos (“Word”) instead of “Son” (Gr
huios), my opponent interpreted the text as
meaning, “In the beginning was the plan,”
i.e., Yeshua’s birth and ministry were in the
Almighty’s Plan. If the original phrase was
“In the beginning was the Son,” this
can only be understood as meaning that Yeshua
Himself was indeed “in the beginning” and not
merely “in the Plan.” According to the Apostle John,
the disciple whom Yeshua loved, Yeshua the Son was
in the beginning and He created “all things.”
In this month's newsletter, I bring out
additional proofs that I had not considered
prior to my 2019 debate, such as "How Could David
Call Yeshua 'Sovereign' if Yeshua Was His
Descendant?" and how overzealous Biblical Unitarians
go so far as to mistranslate the Greek word
for "root" (rhiza) as "shoot" in
their attempt to refute Yeshua's statement that He
is the "root of the families of Dawid" (Rev.
22:16).
More
....
Newsletter #34:
Did Yeshua the Messiah Have a
Pre-Carnal Existence? — John 1:1
In the beginning was the Son of
Eloah ...
ver five years ago, I
debated a
Biblical Unitarian on the topic of whether or not Yeshua the Messiah
had a pre-carnal existence. Biblical Unitarians
believe He
did not; I believe He did.
Since that debate, I have come across additional
evidence validating Yeshua's pre-carnal existence. Some of these
findings are addressed in my three-part study “Did
Yeshua Messiah Have a Pre-Carnal Existence,”
which I completed in 2020. But even more evidence has been
brought to my attention since 2020. For the purposes of this
particular newsletter, I will only focus on one: John 1:1.
Prior to our debate, I was only aware of a so-called original Greek
text of the book of John. Three years later, I learned of a
Hebrew book of John that was discovered in the vast archives of
the Vatican library. The manuscript is known as
Vatican Ebr. 100.
More
....
Newsletter #33: When to
Say, "Shabbat Shalom!"
t's never pleasant to
have disagreements, but if they can at least be
friendly disagreements based on personal
opinions that really cannot be proven one way or the
other, I can deal with it! If only life could be
that simple! The question is, "When is the
appropriate time to say, 'Shabbat shalom'?" One
opinion is that you can say it at any time
during the week. The other opinion is that, strictly
speaking, we really shouldn't bid someone a "Shabbat
shalom" until the Sabbath has already begun. In the
scheme of things, this topic really should be
something we can agree to disagree on over a cup of
coffee.
More
....
Newsletter #32: The
"Touch Me Not" Doctrine
"Touch Me Not"
argument is predicated on the belief that since
Yeshua, on the first day of the week following His
resurrection, told Mary Magdalene in John 20:17, "Touch
me not; for I am not yet ascended to my
Father,"
AND since she had mistaken Him as being a gardener
who must have been holding a
wave sheaf in His hands (v. 15)1,
this means He was "obviously" at that time
waving the wave sheaf offering on the
correct day (Sunday). Proponents of the "Touch
Me Not" belief are persuaded that Yeshua
forbade Mary from touching Him because He was in
some "untouchable" mode until He ascended to the
Father.
More
....
Newsletter #31: Not
Funny–Bibles Are Being Phased Out
lot
has changed since 1998.
I think it was around ten years ago
when, during one of our hotel stays, June
and I noticed that there wasn't a Bible in
the room. We figured a previous guest must have taken it and the
hotel hadn't replaced it yet. But the next hotel we stayed at was
likewise missing a Bible from our room. Over the years since that
time, we've noticed that finding a Bible in a hotel room is more the
exception than the norm.
More
....
Newsletter #30:
Is This Year a Sabbatical Year?
friend
recently asked me if this year
(Spring 2024) is a Sabbatical year.
As a result of my
searching for the best answer to give my 2024
friend, I am personally led to believe this year is
not a Sabbatical year. Moreover, if my
research conclusion is correct, the next Sabbatical
year won’t begin until the fall of 2026.
Here’s how I made this
determination:
Newsletter #29:
My Thoughts on LGBTQ, Abortion, Our
Divided Nation and the Kingdom
n this
study, I want to essentially combine my understanding of Torah with
my understanding of prophecy. To begin with, it should come as no
surprise that the times we live in here in the 21st century are
vastly different from the times we lived in during the latter half
of the 20th century. Many will agree that the 1950's and 1960’s
marked a turning point in our nation. Many of the controversial
issues now dividing our nation weren’t issues at all in the 1960’s.
Let’s consider homosexuality, for example. Those of us who
understand that the commands found in Torah are still in effect
understand ...
More ....
Newsletter #28:
Speaking the Names
of Idols Actually Means "Speaking Their Authority"?
try
to not be dogmatic with my religious views, but whenever a
particular controversy boils down to whether or not we honor our
Heavenly Father, I tend to make an exception. Whether or not we
honor Yahweh by referring to Him as "God" or "our God" is one such
controversy. In my estimation, it's a controversy that should never
have been. Those who support referring to Yahweh as "God" come
up with many of what I have found to be baseless arguments aimed
at defending their position and naturally those who are already
entrenched in referring to Yahweh as "God" accept these
arguments hands down without question. In 2001, my wife and I
authored a study titled "Do We Honor Yahweh by Referring to Him
as 'Our God'?" Our study grew from a relatively short
rebuttal to an expanded version
totaling over 100 pages in 2001. But the protests kept coming,
so by 2010 it had grown to over
200 pages, all because we do our best to address every.
single.
argument. Our bottom line premise is sooooo simple: Our
Heavenly Father Yahweh, in the book of Isaiah,
specifically identifies an idol named "God" for whom
unregenerate heathens prepared tables with offerings. In the
very next verse, these same people are condemned.
More ....
Newsletter #27:
The Debate: Did Yeshua the Messiah Have a
Pre-Carnal Existence?
n June
2019,
I held my first-ever public debate with a gentleman
named Chuck Henry. As you can tell from the title of this
newsletter, the topic was whether or not Yeshua
the Messiah had a pre-carnal existence. Although I was
definitely “rough around the edges,” I am persuaded that the points
I made established my position as being the correct one, and since
those points were not refuted by Chuck, I am moreover persuaded that
I won the debate. Chuck’s strategy was to establish that
Yahweh is One (which I already agree with 100%), that Yahweh alone
created the heavens and the earth (which I already agree with 100%)
and that Yeshua came as a Man (which I already agree with 100%).
However, where we primarily disagree is ...
More ....
Newsletter #26:
When Were the Pyramids Built?
hen fellow
believer and friend Kathy Stewart drove her mother to Kentucky to
see “The Ark Encounter” in October 2018, it was out of a desire to
combine her annual Sukkot vacation with some pertinent sightseeing.
Little did she know the dynamic impact that her visit would have,
not only on her life, but our family’s as well. Maybe, after
reading this commentary, it will also change your perspective
of Scripture as inspired by our Heavenly Father.
More
....
_____________________
Newsletter #24:
Saul, Samuel and the Witch of Endor
Bible topic
that recently came up during a recent Shabbat meeting is that of whether
or not the dead prophet Samuel truly conversed with King Saul in the
account known as “Saul and the Witch of Endor” (I Samuel 28:1-19). Was
it really Samuel or did the witch conjure up a demonic
counterpart? Although I was familiar with the story, I hadn’t really
ever considered whether or not it was the “real Samuel,” primarily
because I was more interested in the lesson we should learn instead of
the means by which the lesson is taught. Without question, Saul’s
decision to consult with a witch was an ill-advised decision, especially
in view of the fact that it goes not only against the grain of Torah,
but even against Saul’s own orders banishing such individuals from his
kingdom. By now, the prophet Samuel was dead and awaiting the
resurrection of the just. Would Yahweh grant Saul’s wish to consult
with the spirit of the dead prophet? Or would a demonic spirit play the
role of the now-departed Samuel?
More
....
_____________________
Newsletter #22:
Calendrical Hypocrisy
n the
April-May 2018 edition of Sacred Name newsletter
Beginning Anew
(which we received in early March), the group alerted its readers to be
on the lookout for the upcoming "critical" new moon of March 18th
because IF the sufficiently-ripe "Abib barley" was to be
found in Jerusalem, then that upcoming new moon would mark the countdown
to Passover. The contingency about barley being found in Jerusalem as
the criterion for using the upcoming new moon to begin the countdown to
Passover was intriguing to us because most groups claiming to go by the
"green ears of barley" as observed prior to the new moon sighting are
content to go with barley
anywhere
within the state of Israel. So was sufficiently-ripe "Abib barley"
found in Jerusalem prior to the new moon sighting on March 18, 2018?
More
....
______________________
Newsletter #21:
What Do 1,000 Manuscripts With "Yehovah" Prove?
n January 2018, a
friend sent
us a link to a posting on Nehemia Gordon’s “Nehemia’s Wall” web site
because he wanted to know our opinion about Nehemia’s jubilant claim that
he and his team, through diligent research, have now found over 1,000
Hebrew manuscripts in which the Tetragrammaton (יהוה)
is vowel-pointed so as to be pronounced “Yehovah.” This, they claim,
“ends the controversy” over how the Creator’s name is pronounced because
surely 1,000 manuscripts can’t be wrong: The scribes who so diligently
copied those manuscripts left us with the “true pronunciation.” Or so
they claim. We
know there are many
gullible believers out there who will fall for the above reasoning.
A few, however, may be a little skeptical and if you are just a tiny bit
skeptical of Nehemia’s
conclusion based on his team’s “research,” then this is
something for you to consider before reaching your
conclusion.
More ...
______________________
Newsletter #20:
Striving About Words
he time we spend “striving about words” that ultimately
can’t even be traced to idol worship and therefore cannot make one
individual any more spiritual than anyone else takes us away from the
real issues that matter. Our focus should be drawing closer to our
Heavenly Father. A part of deepening that relationship does involve
words because I maintain that research bears out that words such as
“God” should never be applied to the creator of the universe. If
we’re going to criticize someone’s choice of words, let’s base it on
honest research, scholarly inquiry and respectful sharing of ideas and
beliefs. More
...
______________________
Newsletter #19:
Tribute to Worley Maynard
ne of the first things you will encounter
upon embracing a life of Torah observance (or in our case striving
to be Torah observant) is that truth is not popular. It's a
challenging challenge to manage a Torah observant lifestyle while
simultaneously cultivating meaningful relationships with those who
don't. In my case, I have learned to settle for not being a "go
to" person when it comes to questions about faith in a creator and the
lifestyle changes brought about by recognizing His Son as the Savior of
the world because people typically just don't want to hear truth.
Most people aren't interested in my perspective on life or truth, so I guess I've
learned to settle for a "quiet faith." People in general do not
want to change their torahless lifestyles, and the average person doesn't
really care about calling on the creator of the universe with the name
He gave to Himself. However, there was a man whose life crossed
our spiritual path and he exhibited his own special way of dealing
with indifference to truth. His name was Worley Maynard. Don't get me wrong: Worley Maynard
was far from perfect; that's a character flaw that those who didn't like
him would expect me to remind our readers, so I hope they're satisfied. I won't go into that
side of Worley's life because I know there was another side that needs
to be shared. I would also remind our readers that no one is perfect, and
even a man known as being "a man after Yahweh's heart" was guilty of
some pretty grievous sins. The quality I admired in Worley was his
indifference to indifference. He didn't care who you were, he had
a knack of striking up a conversation with virtually anyone, and it would
initially flow as one of the most pleasant of conversations you could
have with a stranger, when without the other party realizing what was
happening, the topic would drift to religion. If Worley introduced
you to a doctrinal belief that made you feel a bit uncomfortable, you'd
better brace yourself because he wasn't going to give you any breaks.
More ...
______________________
Newsletter #18: Cold Love
A Handicapped Woman Rides
the DART Train in Dallas, TX
s I weaved through the throng of passengers making our
way to the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) shuttle bus, I heard a
noisy, screeching metal-on-stone sound that interrupted the otherwise
peaceful procession. “What on earth IS that?” I wondered to myself.
Looking around, I spotted an old woman determinedly pushing her walker
through the crowd. The walker had front wheels, but the rear rubber
pads in back had long since been ground away and the woman was making do
with what she had, noisy or not.
More ...
______________________
Newsletter #17: How
Do We Know if We Accept the King's Invitation?
We all know that man's calendar is
nothing like the one established In Scripture -- but does it really
matter?
don’t know about you, but if I knew that my family
and I reckon the new year in the spring of each year and that this “new
year” coincides with the timing ordained by the Creator in His Word,
plus if I knew that there is a prophecy about a futuristic “horn” that
would dare think to change “times and laws,” I would be very, very, very
hesitant about declaring that the new year, going forward, will begin in
the winter instead of the spring. Everyone has been invited to marriage
supper of the Lamb, which will take place in the Kingdom of Heaven and
you would think that everyone wants to be there; however, the reality
is, many folks either don’t believe the marriage supper of the Lamb will
ever actually take place or else they don’t give it enough thought to
take it seriously.
More ...
Newsletter #16: Name of
the Messiah: Accepting Dialectal Variety – With An Asterisk*
t's 2015 and an issue that seemingly won’t go away has
already taken up a sizeable chunk of our time this year. I’m referring
to the topic of the Messiah’s name. Ever since June and I began
referring to Him by the name Yeshua instead of Yahshua,
we’ve been criticized, ostracized and occasionally condemned by various
members of the Sacred Name Movement. We cover this fact in-depth in
chapter 3 of our study
Name of the Messiah. The primary
point of contention is the vowel in the first syllable of His name and
if you don’t get it just right by Sacred Name Movement standards, you
are regarded as being among those who remove the Father’s name from the
Son’s name. The first syllable of the Father’s name is Yah, and
it is this same first syllable that, according to Sacred Name Movement
adherents, must be written and pronounced as the first syllable
of the Messiah’s name.
More ...
______________________
Newsletter #15: Does
Yahweh Worship = Jupiter Worship?
hen it comes to being a truth seeker, one of the first things we come to
grips with is the name we use in reference to our Heavenly Father. Many
believers are coming to the realization that you just cannot improve on
the name that our Creator gave to Himself. Sadly, that realization
leads to unnecessary division amongst the very individuals seeking to
emulate the One they worship because now we are faced with several
opinions as to how that name is "correctly" pronounced. So on the one
hand, we are unified in our drive to call upon our Heavenly Father by
the name He gave to Himself, but on the other hand we're divided over
how to vocalize it. The latter cancels out the former. June and I do
understand that there is a reasoning process that gets each of us to the
current understandings that we all have. We do understand that we may
each come up with differing conclusions. What we don't understand
is the apparent need that some folks have to demonize or otherwise
denigrate ...
More ...
______________________
Newsletter #14: Charlie,
the Media and Freedom of Speech:
Where do we draw the line?
he
current events dominating world news (01/11/2015) are focused on the
horrific tragedy in France where terrorists stormed the
office of a weekly newspaper called Charlie Hebdo, brutally executing
its editor and eleven others, including staff members and two police
officers. Eleven others were wounded, some seriously. The Islamic
terrorists who perpetrated this atrocity did so as an act of revenge for
their prophet Muhammad, whose image had been spoofed and mocked
repeatedly by the newspaper. In a worldwide show of support for
the newspaper's right to satirize and mock individuals of their choice
in the name of "Freedom of Speech," world leaders joined French citizens
and defiantly displayed signs of solidarity that read, "JE SUIS
CHARLIE," which is translated "I AM CHARLIE." Our hearts grieve
for the loss of life and the sorrow felt by those left to mourn their
loved ones. Whenever a life of another is taken, one of the questions
that is often asked (and it needs to be asked) is, "Why?" While I do not
pretend to have all the answers, I am nevertheless persuaded that I have some
of the answers and at the risk of coming across as arrogant, I am
persuaded that if everyone would put my proposed solution into practice,
most, if not all, of these unspeakable horrors would be a thing of the
past.
More ...
______________________
Newsletter #13:
Can a Scriptural Month Have Only 28 Days?
are persuaded that the Scriptural month of Adar 2014 only consisted of
28 days. While we had often wondered if a 28-day month might be
possible, it wasn’t until 2014 that we found out that it is. We
understand that many believers may have a difficult time accepting the
possibility of a 28-day Scriptural month. This may be due to having
been indoctrinated with the understanding that Scriptural months can be
no shorter than 29 days and no longer than 30 days. For what is
considered normative Judaism, it is an outright teaching that months can
only have 29 or 30 days – no more, no less. What does Scripture say?
Does Scripture make allowance for months to contain fewer than 29 days?
More
...
______________________
Newsletter #12: Should
Hanukkah Be Memorialized?
am
writing this essay on December 7, 2013, a day that many memorialize as
"Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day," the day the Japanese perpetrated an
attack on Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,400 Americans. I don't mean
to seem harsh, but those who express opposition to memorializing
Hanukkah may as well also express opposition to memorializing Pearl
Harbor Remembrance Day. There are many sources you can turn to for
information about Hanukkah, so a study that June and I authored ten
years ago is only one of many that brings out the fact that Hanukkah
memorializes a Jewish triumph over an evil tyrant named Antiochus
Epiphanes, who was responsible for massacring 40,000 Jews within the
space of three days and selling 40,000 others for slaves to neighboring
nations (2 Maccabees 5:11-14). We are persuaded that Yahweh
used a man named Yehuda (the Maccabee) and his 3,000-man unit (I Macc.
4:6) to defeat an army of 65,000 (I Macc. 4:28) in retaliation for that
massacre and other atrocities inflicted on their fellow Jews. Yehuda and
his men then cleansed the temple from the swine's flesh that had been
sacrificed there and rededicated it to the worship of Yahweh on the 25th
day of Casleu.
More
...
_______________________
Newsletter #11: Should
We Translate Names?
ne of the
great mysteries in life, to me at least, is how we can live in a world
that, for the most part, does not call upon the Creator by the name He
gave to Himself. While June and I are persuaded that the name our
Heavenly Father gives to Himself is Yahweh, there are others who refer
to Him as “Yahwah,” “Yahuwah,” “Yehovah,” etc. Such a controversy
wouldn’t exist if the “Ineffable Name Doctrine” had not been
perpetrated. The “Ineffable Name Doctrine” is promoted by Judaism and
holds that the Almighty’s name is “too sacred to pronounce.” It is not
a Scriptural doctrine, especially when one considers the fact that the
name Yahweh (יהוה)
is used
some 6,823 times in what is known as the Old Testament. It only makes
sense that those who love the Almighty and seek to have a relationship
with Him would also want to know and use His name in a reverent way.
Nevertheless, this is not what is being promoted by today’s churches and
assemblies.
More ...
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Newsletter #10: Update on the
2013 Calendar Feud
ast month at
this time we were on the receiving end of several e-mails explaining why
the only workable Scriptural calendar is one that is based on first
observing the green ears of barley in Israel, then sighting the
subsequent new moon. June and I have been reckoning the Scriptural
calendar from the new moon that is sighted on or after the vernal
equinox since 1999, so we’ve been exposed to all the arguments, and
since we went by the green ears of barley reports prior to using our
current method, we pretty much know all the pros and cons of both
arguments by now. In last month’s newsletter, we addressed how
untrustworthy the current green ears of barley reports from Israel are
and we continue to harbor that same sentiment this month!
More ....
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Newsletter #9: Spring
of 2013 – The Calendar Wars Continue: "Green Ears of Barley" vs.
the
Vernal Equinox
ell, today is March 9, 2013 and we again find
ourselves in the midst of that awkward transition time between late
winter and early spring, which coincides with that time of year when
people send calendar articles designed to let the reader know why their
view is correct and all the others are wrong. So far this month we've
heard from at least five different individuals, none of whom (to the
best of my knowledge) have taken the time to read the two studies that
June and I have already composed on this subject. We wrote
Balancing the Calendar back in
2005, then
Balancing the Calendar II five
years later. To date, not one person has ever let us know of the errors
of our reasoning, yet they still apparently expect us to read their own
studies, which will apparently help us to "come to our senses" about the
true Scriptural calendar.
More ...
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Newsletter #8: Bul 2011
Pagan Associations: Have You Gone Back Far
Enough?
ccasionally, June and I are
questioned about our conviction that the crescent moon is the
original Scriptural "marker" for beginning a new month, and this is
a question that one believer posed in his e-mail inquiry. He
has obviously been exposed to the teaching that using the crescent
new moon to determine the beginning of a new Scriptural month
constitutes imitating a heathen custom. One web site, playing
on the shock value of pagan association,
offers this clever challenge, ....
More
...
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Newsletter #7: Elul 2011
Creation Evidence in the Midst of
Drought Conditions
lthough I
do not feel there is much to gain by attempting to persuade
non-believers that there is an intelligent Creator who is
responsible for our existence, at the same time, I know that I was
once an agnostic who didn't "really" believe there was a Creator,
but through a chain of events that transpired in the year 1977, all
that changed. First, I was confronted (in a
non-confrontational manner) by a couple of young men seeking
converts to their church. This occurred on-campus at the university
I was attending. They asked me if I knew Yeshua the Messiah as
my Savior (of course, they referred to Him as "Jesus Christ" instead
of the name He was called during His earthly ministry). My
answer was yes, but within the space of three minutes of asking me
some very basic questions, it became clear that I didn't have a clue
about His ministry or purpose.
More ...
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Newsletter #6: Ab 2011
Why Do We Use the Form Yeshua When
Referring to the Messiah?
ver
the years, June and I have taken a lot of flack from Sacred Name
believers about the name we use in reference to the Messiah. We
decided to devote a special section of this month's newsletter to
the study of the Messiah's name because, once again, we have been
challenged on this topic.
More ...
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Newsletter #5: The "Pre-First Day" of
Creation: Did the Sabbath That Occurred After Creation Fall on
the Eighth Day of the Month?
t seems pretty simple, doesn't it?
According to the Scriptural record, Yahweh spoke the heavens and the
earth into existence within the space of six days and then He rested
on the seventh. Before that first day, time as we know it
didn't exist. Before that first day, creation as we know it,
including the sun, moon and the stars, did not exist. That's
the way things are presented to us in the Biblical account of
Creation. Mankind, it seems, would like to make things more
complex than they really are. Although Scripture records the
"great lights," including the sun and the moon, having been created
on the fourth day of Creation, a group of people known as
lunar sabbatarians believe the moon
had already been created in
advance of day #1. Furthermore, they are persuaded that the
weekly Sabbath, even though it was the seventh day of Creation, fell
on the eighth day of
the month. That's right, even though Scripture only presents a
seven-day time span from the beginning point of Creation until the
ending point of the seventh-day Sabbath, lunar sabbatarians maintain
that the seventh day of that week was actually the eighth
day of the month.
More ...
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Newsletter #4: Sivan 2011
-- Is Pentecost
Always
on Sivan 6 When Counting from the Morrow of the Festival Sabbath?
his third
month
of the Scriptural year has presented us with a
hodgepodge of controversial topics to deal with, ranging from
whether or not Yeshua is the Messiah to NBC’s decision to remove
“God” from their Pledge of Allegiance
during its coverage
of the U.S. Open golf tournament in Washington, D.C. In this
month’s Ponder Scripture
Newsletter, we
would like to offer brief commentaries on these and other items of
interest that came our way by means of cyberspace this past month.
Topping our list is the
controversial issue of counting to Pentecost. Year after year we
find ourselves explaining to believers – many of whom we feel
should know better – that for those
of us who use the Scriptural calendar (as opposed to modern
Judaism’s calculated calendar), Pentecost does not always fall on
Sivan 6 when counting from the morrow of the “Festival Sabbath” of
the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We’ve been pointing this out for
over 20 years, but it feels as though our explanations fall on deaf
ears. The latest charge came from a fairly well-known, published
author who otherwise seems to have a decent handle on Scriptural
topics.
More ...
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Newsletter #3:
Ziv 2011 --
Should Women Wear
Tassels?
ast month we addressed a
controversial topic involving whether or not we should kill a
lamb at Passover time. From time to time, we would like to address
a controversial
topic here
in the Ponder Scripture Newsletter, and this month we have decided
to examine the issue
of whether or not we should wear the tassels as commanded in Numbers
15:37-41. June and I personally find it ironic that some believers
claiming to be Torah-observant teach that this law no longer
applies in this day and age. I might understand their line of
reasoning if it could be demonstrated that human beings are no
longer capable of forgetting to do things.
More ...
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Newsletter #2:
Abib 2011 --
Should We Kill a Lamb for Passover?
une and I
have attended several Passover observances where a lamb
was killed for Passover. To be frank, our presence at these
observances was somewhat on the reluctant side because we weren't
really sure of which way to lean. Some are quick to say that it
should have been an easy decision to stay away, but there are a
number of "pro" arguments in favor of killing a lamb for Passover
that served to at least help us understand that the motives of those
who kill a lamb for Passover (at least the ones we have associated
with) are pure. This is something that I believe we should all
consider before we openly attack or otherwise harshly criticize
those whose views don't necessarily square with our own. Let’s take a balanced approach as we
examine this controversial topic here in our Abib 2011 newsletter!
More ...
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Newsletter #1: Shebat 2011
-- Should We Pray That
Our Flight Not Be On the Sabbath Day?
anuary 2011 marked the
25th anniversary of Sabbath observance for June and me. We have lots of
memories of our journey since that venture into the unknown. I remember
that not long after June and I made the decision to observe the weekly
Sabbath, we made the mistake of sharing our new-found truth with several
of our best friends. Some might say our mistake was in forcing our view
on others and expecting them to believe us "or else." But no, we
expected them to study this issue on their own and let us know what they
came up with, just in case we had reached a premature and incorrect
conclusion. We were (and are) willing to pursue scholarly inquiry with
anyone who wanted to study this topic with us.
Even
today, 25 years into Sabbath observance, June and I often find ourselves
challenged by others on various Scriptural topics. How do we
respond?
More ...
