The Role and Value of Biblical Scripture

There is a book that contains many other books and letters. It is a book full of fascinating historical facts and biographical accounts. It contains details of battles, giants, the sun being stopped in the middle of the sky for a day, the defeat of powerful kings by mere men, of death and people being raised from the dead. This book is a wild ride of adventure and intrigue, mystery and revelation. This book is the compiled 66 books of the Bible. 

I used to feel that reading the Bible was a feat that was overwhelming and unsurmountable.

I would begin to read from Genesis and wouldn’t make it much further than the genealogies or levitical dietary laws. Another source of discouragement was when I was part of group Bible studies where there would be a set timeline for reading a passage of scripture, or a commentary book to read along with the scripture.  I would make it part of the way through, and then fall off track. 

When growing up, I thought the Bible was mainly to read at church. I didn’t realize that reading the Bible often, or even daily, was beneficial or important. But as I started to realize the amazing accounts in the Bible and how they revealed people’s experiences with God, I became fascinated and enthralled with reading and studying my Bible. I took it everywhere I went, so that I could read it every time I had the chance. 

As I read, and dug through cross references and story backgrounds, I desired more and more.  I hungered for deeper closeness with my God, with my LORD, with my King.  I called my LORD by the name of Jesus at that time. It wasn’t until I studied what had happened to Him and His name throughout history that I began calling Him by his Hebrew name, Yeshua. That is a slight tangent, but impacts my perspective on the role and importance of scripture, and so I will recount my journey regarding His name and what I would call Him in a later point. 

I had heard a couple people in my prayer groups use his Hebrew name to refer to Him. I was intrigued.  At first, I thought maybe they were trying to show off. But there was something that drew me

to this name for Him.  A phrase would often come to mind, “Yeshua is Lord.” I had been intrigued by the Hebrew language for some time.  There had been such controversy about which translations of the Bible were reliable or the best for Bible study. It is yet another polarized controversial topic among Christians and denominations. I even experienced “mud-slinging” from one end of the spectrum to the other, calling one version the “nearly inspired” version, to the other end saying that the King James version is corrupt because it was commissioned by a king for his own purposes.  I cried out to the Lord, that I didn’t want to hear from Mankind anymore, but straight from HIm.  I didn’t want to be misled by the interpretation of other humans, but to receive understanding directly from Him.  This is part of my hesitation with a single teacher/speaker on a topic, no matter what the topic…because there can be influence by the person’s own will or agenda, or biases from their own education or institutional, denominational, or doctrinal background, or even from their own past hurts or life experiences. 

So, I began looking into the meaning of Hebrew characters. One book that contributed to the beginning of this walk for me was, Lost in Translation, Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of Our Faith by John Klein and Adam Spears. In the first several chapters, they explain the significance of the Hebrew characters, and their multi-dimensional meaning, versus English that is very singular in meaning.  What I mean by this, is that each English (and Greek, for that matter) letter has just one sound and only has meaning when it is part of a word with other letters.  However, in Hebrew, each letter has not only its own unique sound, but also a number, a picture of a common object in ancient Hebrew life, and 3 or more (some even have 5-10) different meanings to the character. Therefore, even if someone knows nothing about the Hebrew language, but has a chart containing the character meanings, they can extract meaning from the word and even get an idea of what the word is expressing.  There is so much missed in any English or Greek translation without this knowledge. 

While digging into the Hebrew and original language may not be for all Believers, it is an exciting adventure for those who are up for it. Clearly, the Lord can reach His people through other translations, and through anyone investing time in scripture to deepen their relationship with our one True God. For me, this delve into Hebrew characters and cultural history has been a huge part of my growth in understanding how to hear from the Lord, through Holy Spirit, and not through the interpretation of mankind. 

The first three words of the English Bible, no matter the translation, is essentially, “In the beginning.” In Hebrew, the characters for that same stretch of characters are listed in the chart below. Hebrew has a specific traditional word for this phrase.  It is 

בְּרֵאשִׁית

“In the beginning”

bə·rê·šîṯ

Hebrew Character, read from right to left	ת	י	שִׁ	א	רֵ	בְּ
Character name	TAV	YOD	SHIN	ALEPH	REYSH	BET/BETH
Character Number	400	10	300	1	200	2
Sound (right to left)	th	i	sh	ah	r	b
Meaning of character	The mark, sign, “x” or cross, ownership, to seal, covenant, join two things together, the last	A hand (closed or closing upon), to work, a deed done, a finished work, throw, worship	Teeth, ivory, point of a rock, a peak, to devour, consume, destroy, something sharp, El Shaddai, press, eat, two	Ox, bull, gentle, tame, the leader, strength, what is first, Adonai, thousand, teach	A head, a person, what is the highest, most important, chief, first, top, beginning	Tent, house, the body, the household or family, inside, within, amid

Figure 1*

So far, in the first three words of English, “In the beginning,” we have a house and a family, the highest most important person, a strong leader who is first, destruction, a finished work, and a joining together or covenant. If you read through a different path through those columns, from right to left, you will come up with a slightly different meaning, but equally as accurate.  So, you see that “in the beginning” is far too simple…far too little is in the description in English.  

The rest of the verse, “God created the heavens and the earth,” can be laid out similarly. The direct translation from Hebrew orders the words a little differently, because of their grammar differences. This is common when translating from one language to another. But bear with me. You will see it in there.

Figure 2 (https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/gen1.pdf)

Figure 3 (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0101.htm)

Here we have the hebrew characters in order from right to left (Figure 3), as they are in the original written language…not rearranged for the English translation to flow.  We have already defined the first 6 characters that were translated into “in the beginning.” Let’s look at the rest of the characters in the first sentence in Genesis 1:1, translated in English to, “God created the heaven and the earth.”  Read from right to left, you see it in order by approximate location between the Hebrew characters and the English translation. 

I feel like I should be doing a video to explain this, instead of a written explanation, but let’s give this a try. In Figure 4, going from right to left, we have a house or family, a most important person or beginning, a strong leader, another strong leader, a prodding forward, behold or reveal, a finished work or throwing or worship, and then mighty massive origin.  And that was just in the English words given there to be “Elohim (God) created”.  WHAT?!  The Hebrew characters hint at so much more adventure than just “God created!” (see Figure 4).

“Elohim created” 

bā·rā  ’ĕ·lō·hîm;    

בָּ	רָ	א	אֱ	ל	הִ	י	ם	Hebrew Character, read from right to left
BET/BETH	REYSH	ALEPH	ALEPH	LAMEDH	HEH	YOD	MEM Sophith (form at end of a word)	Character name
2	200	1	1	30	5	10	40	Character Number
b	r	Ah or silent	Ah or silent	l	h	i	m	Sound (right to left)
Tent,   house, the tent floorplan, body, the household or family, inside, within, amid	A head, a person, what is the highest, most important, chief, first, top, beginning	Ox, bull, gentle, tame, the leader, strength, what is first, Adonai, thousand, teach	Ox, bull, gentle, tame, the leader, strength, what is first, Adonai, thousand, teach	A staff, cattle goad, rod, to control, prod, urge toward or forward, go toward or forward, teach, learn, tongue, yoke, authority, bind	behold, to show, reveal, breath	A hand (closed or closing upon), to work, a deed done, a finished work, throw, worship	water, mighty, massive, many chaos (like the deep), to come from (like water down a stream), blood	Meaning of character

Figure 4*

In the next segment of the sentence (Figure 5, below), the characters present in what we say is “the heavens” in English portray a gentle leader, a sign of ownership or a covenant, to show or reveal or breath, powerful consuming, mighty massive waters, a finished work or throwing or worship, and more massive waters or many chaos like the deep. Sounds like there was creation of something, destruction, and a flood or two. 

“the heavens”

’êṯ  haš·šā·ma·yim

אֵ	ת	הַ	שָּׁ	מַ	יִ	ם	Hebrew Character, read from right to left
ALEPH	TAV	HEH	SHIN	MEM	YOD	MEM Sophith (form at end of a word)	Character name
1	400	5	300	40	10	40	Character Number
ah	th	h	sh	m	i	m	Sound (right to left)
Ox, bull, gentle, tame, the leader, strength, what is first, Adonai, thousand, teach	The mark, sign, “x” or cross, ownership, to seal, covenant, join two things together, the last	behold, to show, reveal, breath	Teeth, ivory, point of a rock, a peak, to devour, consume, destroy, something sharp, El Shaddai, press, eat, two	water, mighty, massive, many chaos (like the deep), to come from (like water down a stream), blood	A hand (closed or closing upon), to work, a deed done, a finished work, throw, worship	water, mighty, massive, many chaos (like the deep), to come from (like water down a stream), blood	Meaning of character

Figure 5*

In the final segment of Genesis 1:1, the English words are traditionally said to be “and the earth.” The Hebrew characters describe a nail or tent peg or securing something, a gentle leader or Adonai, another seal or covenant of ownership, to show or reveal or breath, another strong leader or Adonai, the highest or most important person, and something inescapable or a pull toward or a hunt/chase/journey.  There is a greater story here in the background.  

"and the earth.”

wə·’êṯ  hā·’ā·retṣ.

וְ	אֵ	ת	הָ	אָ	רֶ	ץ	Hebrew Character, read from right to left
VAW/VAV	ALEPH	TAV	HEH	ALEPH	REYSH	TSADHE	Character name
6	1	400	5	1	200	90	Character Number
V or w	ah	th	h	ah	r	Ts or s sharp sound	Sound (right to left)
A nail, a tent peg, a hook, add, joining together, making secure, becoming bound (nailed to)	Ox, bull, gentle, tame, the leader, strength, what is first, Adonai, thousand, teach	The mark, sign, “x” or cross, ownership, to seal, covenant, join two things together, the last	behold, to show, reveal, breath	Ox, bull, gentle, tame, the leader, strength, what is first, Adonai, thousand, teach	A head, a person, what is the highest, most important, chief, first, top, beginning	A fish hook, to pull toward, something inescapable, desire, trouble, a harvest, to hunt, trail, journey, chase	Meaning of character

Figure 6*

My point in researching, charting, and writing all of this is not to get into an intellectual or lingual debate, nor to attempt to discredit scripture at all.  My point is to present the possibility that there is more to scripture than what we have been taught. There is more to explore and learn than what immediately meets the eye. I want to point toward its complexity and its deeper truths, but also shed light on the fact that what we get from doctrine, commentary, institutional religion or theology is at the very least only scratching the surface; and quite possibly that the narrative is either too singular and linear, or altogether off-base. 

We must seek Holy Spirit to understand scripture. 

Another area that I feel should be addressed is the political circumstances surrounding events of the early followers of Yeshua and the first few centuries after His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The leaders of the time in Rome, Greece, Israel, and what is now the Middle East region, desired most to be gods and to have an eternal kingdom, despite the fact that they knew they were mortal men and would die and have to leave their rule in the hands of their successors. So, when Paul and Peter preached about an eternal kingdom and that Yeshua was that King, and that He would be returning soon to reign over that eternal kingdom, they had to wipe out his name and all of his followers. 

So, we see that there was motive for the leaders of that day to change Yeshua’s reputation and what his name proclaims about Him.  If you recall from the Hebrew characters in the charts above, every character in a word has its own meaning. Remember how God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Saul to Paul, and many other examples throughout scripture?  These name changes occurred after some transformation that caused a declaration to be made about that change.  A new name for a new person…proclaimed by the very characters in the name itself. Changing an S to a P in his name declared that the apostle Paul was no longer a destroyer of God’s people (SHIN), but now a mouthpiece for God, presenting a doorway through which they could enter into relationship with the One True God through Yeshua. Likewise, the changing of the SHIN and AYIN in Yeshua’s name (power to be seen), to two SAMEKHs in Jesus (crutch, a propping up), removes a declaration of Yeshua’s crushing, conquering power, and instead announces to the world that he is a cripple with two crutches, or at least that he is only a crutch to those who follow him. It was a strategic move of power for those who wanted to be in control and influence how the world perceived him. From there, his image was turned into a caucasian anorexic weakling, rather than the burly dark-skinned Middle Eastern powerhouse he was and is. 

With this same motive, the leaders of the time hunted down and killed all the original followers of Yeshua, making an example of them and instilling fear in the people for proclaiming His eternal Kingdom. These same followers of Yeshua were then sainted into the newly formed institutional church created by the pagan governments, in order to control the religion for themselves.  That same government formed a council through which to choose 66 books to become the Biblical Canon. How many books? 66. What? When in any of those books, do we see God use the number 6 or 66?  He would not have stopped at 66.  He would have at least gone to 67 or 77? Or maybe 777.  The VAV is the number of Man, a tent peg…in fact, it was an iron tent peg that they used to crucify Yeshua.  The letters to the seven churches in Revelation were written in about the year 95 A.D.  Those churches were being warned against the coming corruption of the pagan governments taking over and forming their own system of rules, regulations, and legalism to which they would assign Yeshua’s..well, Jesus’ name, playing off this new identity of Jesus as the real Savior of the World. 

The selection of books for the canon appears to have a very meticulous process. Which would seem to give credence to the books that were selected. However, scrolls that were available to the Jews in Yeshua’s time on earth were clearly left out. If you research the texts that were present in the temple for Rabbis to study at that time, you would find such books as the Book of Jubilees, the books of the Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Wisdom of Solomon, to name a few. Men, with political influence and motive for power, chose a legalistic set of criteria with which to judge whether or not something could be considered scripture, and discredited everything else.  If we are to truly be allowing Holy Spirit to interpret scripture for us, and to help us discern Yahweh’s Truth, then why should we allow the man-given authority of these political leaders to influence what we consider authentic scripture.  Shouldn’t we learn how to do that ourselves, if indeed we are to be (or at least become) a kingdom of priests?

Perhaps we should define the word scripture.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we read that “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” First, I would like to point out that this reputable translation (ESV) points out that it says that scripture is “breathed out” by God. This passage and many texts throughout the Biblical Canon, speak of God speaking to people. So, from this, it would make sense to deduce that any words spoken by God are scripture in and of themselves.  I realize this becomes a scary topic for pastors and CEOs of churches where their job may become obsolete if their congregations began hearing from God. But what else is a kingdom of priests supposed to look like?  Shouldn’t all of Yeshua’s people be talking to Him and hearing Him daily? If not, then how do we have relationship with him? How do we know the Shepherd’s voice? How will we know it is our true King, versus the Anti-Christ, unless we are learning to know Him by hearing Him? 

I digress. John said, in his own Gospel account (see John 1:1-17, below), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” So, John is proclaiming that Yeshua himself is the Word of God. Why, then, do we say that only the scriptures of the modern Bible are the Word of God? Why isn’t every word that proceeds from the mouth of Yeshua, or the mouth of God, considered scripture?  Revelation 22:18-19 is often taken drastically out of context, in an attempt to make people think that the warning to not add to or detract from the book of prophecy applies to the entire canonical Bible.  However, those verses only apply to the prophecies recorded in the book of Revelation, not the entire compilation of scripture in the Bible or elsewhere.  Therefore, that argument has no ground on which to stand.  

In summary, I would like to remind everyone reading this that there is adventure, intrigue, mystery, fascinating battles and conquests within the 66 books of the modern Bible. Those 66 books have been an essential part of my growth in knowledge, relationship, and understanding of my God, my Lord; Yahweh, Yeshua, and Holy Spirit. However, that is not all they have used to reveal themselves to me.  They speak through my thoughts and through events in my life. They speak through things that I see and things that I feel. They have sent me much-needed messages through other people, at times. 

My challenge to readers is to consider that the 66 books of the modern Bible is a critical part of our growth as followers of Yeshua. But to consider also that God did not handle all situations the same way with all people in the Bible.  In fact, if we pan out and look at the big picture, we see that we have biographical accounts of the DIFFERENT ways in which they handled every circumstance and every group of people. However, there was a common personality, a common motive of love and restoration, a calling of His people back to Him and to make Him their only King.  Let’s make Him our king. Let’s dethrone the idol of the Bible and the limitations earthly kings and leaders have put on our view of what scripture is, and seek Holy Spirit to help us each discern what is scripture…Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 

*Meaning of characters in Figures 1, 4, 5, & 6 are combined from charts on the following two websites: 

http://guardianguideandstay.blogspot.com/2012/11/hebrew-alphabet-chart.html

https://www.deviantart.com/sum1good/art/Hebrew-Letter-Meanings-Chart-204903888

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

John 1:1-17 ESV

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.”

John 5:39 ESV

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

John 1:1 ESV 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 Peter 3:15-16 ESV 

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Psalm 37:31 ESV

The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.

James 1:23-25 ESV 

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Colossians 3:16 ESV 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Psalm 119:11 ESV

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Hebrews 4:12-14 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Psalm 19:7-11 ESV 

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.