After receiving a personal request from a reader, I thought that I might share today (Sunday), some of my research for an upcoming book, since it would up being very interesting indeed.
I appreciate the fact that at the moment when I begin to talk about God, and especially to talk about him in this way, in a personal way, it is likely to be a moment when you begin to feel uncomfortable.
This is not a religious gathering and I would imagine that among our number there are adherents of all faiths and none. Some of you will believe in a personal God, and some may not. Among those of you who do believe in a personal God there is likely to be a great diversity of beliefs as to what God is like.
Psychologically speaking, even among believers in the same God, there will always be a considerable variety of internalized God images: we each carry a unique picture
of God within us.
This will be equally true for any atheists, or non-theistic believers who may be here: you will also be carrying an internal image of God, the God in whom you do not believe.
Psychologically speaking, the God in whom one does not believe is a very powerful figure in our internal worlds.
If our God image fails to develop in step with our growing experience it will die, either gradually through atrophy, or traumatically, as happens when we are
overwhelmed by an experience that destroys our capacity to sustain faith in the God we knew.
When images of God die they become images of the God in whom we do not believe. But God can also be reborn in the form of a new, more comprehensive image, which coheres more adequately with our own adult experiences in life. It is with these thoughts in mind I have called this The Death, and Rebirth of God.
In the Book of Deuteronomy we find a statement from Yahweh that caught my attention. In connection with my upcoming book “The Bible Says the Earth is Round and Gives its Measurement”, I decided to include an explanation of the two creation events in Genesis 1 and 2 and to explain a few other interesting items that my research has revealed.
As a reminder, The Book of Deuteronomy (literally “second law” from Greek deuteros + nomos) is the fifth book of the Jewish Torah, where it is called Devarim, “the words [of Moses]”. And it is equally the fifth book of the Christian Old Testament, where it is also known as the Fifth Book of Moses. So we are not dealing with some obscure prophet, or some little-known Book, but one of the principal books in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy we find the Deuteronomic Code, a series of mitzvot (commands) to the Israelites regarding how they ought to conduct themselves in Canaan, the land promised by Yahweh, God of Israel.
One of my sources was Deuteronomy 32:39, which is traditionally translated in the English Standard Version as follows:
Deuteronomy 32:39 English Standard Version
39 See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
When he mentions, as translated above, “there is no god beside me”, the word
that is used in the text itself is not “god” but “Elohim”. And when the above translation furnishes “I Kill, I make alive, I wound” etc., that is not the best and most common translation for those terms, as you will see below.
Here is the actual meaning behind each of the words from the original Hebrew text:
to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider
at this time, now
that, for, because, when, as though, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely,
I
I
he, she, it
and, and therefore, also, then, yet
to have not, nothing, not, nought
Elohim
with, with me
+ suffixes indicating “his” and “my”
I
to die, kill, have one executed, to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct)
and, and therefore, also, then, yet
to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life,
to smite through, shatter, wound severely
and, and therefore, also, then, yet + I
properly to mend, to heal, make healthful
and, and therefore, also, then, yet
a primitive root meaning to be nothing or not exist; a non-entity; nothing, not, nought
from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than
hand, strength, power
+ suffix indicating “my”
to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder, deliver oneself
Unlike English (and modern Hebrew as well), Ancient Hebrew had a very different sentence structure. It formed sentences with the Verb first, then the Subject of the sentence and finally the Object.
In order to properly understand just who is doing what to whom, we need to arrange
our text in that format, which I have done below:
Yahweh Jehovah is the subject of this verse and the others in this chapter.
V S O
Look now!, because I, I am He, and not with my Elohim,
I die and yet remain alive; I am wounded and I mend.
And none of my power is snatched away.
In later reports when I explain that the Elohim consisted of Yahweh, whom we know of as the Creator God, along with various members of his Divine Council of sub-gods, which group was called the Elohim (plural), and especially when I go over the Genesis 1 and 2 creation themes, please keep in mind the above statement by Yahweh the “I am He, alone and not along with my Elohim”. Which makes it pretty clear to us that Elohim is not a singular in most cases.
Here we have an immortal God; one who can be cut or hurt but will forever mend himself, and whose power is not diminished even if in the process of remaining alive, and whose power can’t be taken from him by others or by other means. This was a clear statement to Moses and the people of the tribes of Hebrews.
And now for the good news. Jesus told us on several occasions that “I and my Father are One”, and on other occasions he linked himself with his Father, the Creator God. What this new translation of mine does is to provide a very early announcement of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Because we see that Jesus, in dying and resurrecting, fulfilled one of the actions that would prove that He and the Father were one. They both died and were reborn.
Actually, a dying and reborn god was a theme found in a great many of the ancient cultures of that timeline.
We never learn of this corrected translation from the Old Testament because the Hebrews did not wish to provide more ammunition to the group that was claiming the Messiah was brought into life with Jesus. I can understand that. But why have our scholars, our own Biblical commentators, never pointed this out?
I invite you to check the original Hebrew text, word for word on www.qbible.com, and confirm my work above. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcomed.