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Since before the Yom Kippur War (October 1973) I have adventurously navigated the Hebrew Bible and Hebrew undercurrents of the New Testament. This has not been a well-charted sea of endeavor, and to sail these waters has demanded steeled determination, born of faith.
Ancient winds of tradition buffet the sails of independent travelers. Mainland warships fire warning shots across the bow to prevent your entry into their protected ports. Then cultic pirates, flying self-made flags, try to recruit you, but quickly attack if you refuse to join them. But using Scripture as a compass always guides to ports of freedom and peace. In recent decades, many non-Jews have the discovered “the Jewish roots of the New Testament.” In some cases, those rich roots are being exploited by disingenuous, faddish marketeers to attract newcomers to their sectarian, non-Hebraic groups. But for others, discovering the Roots has been transformative. “Why weren't we taught this in church before? This is so obvious in the New Testament.” Many followers of Jesus (both Jewish and Gentile) have abandoned the “Egypt” of Christianity, in favor of a truly biblical Messianism which is hosted and led by Yeshua haMashiach: Jesus the Anointed One. The old wine skins of historic (Roman) Christianity cannot contain the fresh and vibrant fruit from the Ancient Vine. In consuming these Hebrew roots and streams, people recognize immediately a unity between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. They deeply experience a vision and taste of Home: HaAretz.
My own journeys have been far-ranging, ongoing and existential. I’ve learned much from a few deep writers on Scripture and history. My early interest in the Hebrew backgrounds of the NT was greatly stimulated by the recordings and booklets of the late Rabbi Lawrence Duff-Forbes of Australia. Then Alfred Edersheim’s The Temple opened my eyes to the good, rich heritage God built into Israel. And the mind-opening historical surveys by the late Messianic scholar Jakob Jocz altered my views of Judaism and Christianity. I read many other books. But the most rewarding time has been with the original languages of Scripture. Three trips to Eretz Yisrael also gave me tangible, sensory contacts with the world of Yeshua, Isaiah, David and Moses — and the modern Restoration of the Jewish people. In my ongoing search for what to do with my “Hebraic consciousness,” I’ve taken courses at synagogues, four colleges and two seminaries. My masters thesis at Pepperdine University opened new vistas for understanding biblical monotheism and New Testament Messianism. My research focused on the heavenly council in the Hebrew Bible, Jewish literature, and the book of Revelation. The article here on The Heavenly Council briefly summarizes my work. My purpose for this website is educational. It points out certain overlooked, forgotten, or ignored elements of the Bible. The site is history and language focused, as well as “theological.” I delve into what some call theological archeology. My interest is in the shared contents and message of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, before the emergence and evolution of Rabbinic Judaism and Catholic/Orthodox Christianity. I’m an Originalist. That is, I believe in and promote a reading of the Bible as written and passed down — prior to the growth of Jewish and Christian bodies of orthodox interpretation. Though the Bible is a living document — and breathes the mind of the living God — its truth, revelation and authority do not change, regardless of evolving human ethical, moral and religious preferences and syncretistic spirituality.
To discover (or rediscover) the Original, we need an objective but humble attitude toward the Scriptures. We need fair tools to examine them. Some of these come from the accumulated experience of Bible historians and interpreters. There is value in academic or scientific study of Scripture. It helps to distinguish the actual contents of the Bible from the assorted evolutions and distortions within various religious traditions. Ironically, it also helps to expose anti-Bible agendas held by secular, deconstructionist academics. But when I discuss God, he is not to me a cadaver who must submit to my academy-honed scalpel and over whose probed remains I proudly claim special knowledge of his innard workings. Rather, I keep in mind:
to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:2) The works on this site are not overtly devotional. Close readers, however, may gain devotional insights. The late Oxford and Cambridge don C. S. Lewis once wrote, Devotion is best raised when we intend something else. At least that is my experience. Sit down to meditate devotionally on a single verse, and nothing happens. Hammer your way through a continued argument, just as you would in a profane writer, and the heart will sometimes sing unbidden. (The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Vol. 2, Letter of 4 April 1934) While my articles strive to be historically and linguistically accurate, they are also meant to be faithful to the content and spirit of Scripture — not assault it. The Word is, as Yeshua said, “Spirit and Life.” I take his words seriously. If you wish, email me:
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