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One Word Changes Everything

~ Often only one little word or phrase can change our whole paradigm

One Word Changes Everything

Category Archives: Bible study

troop?

01 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Children of Israel, Exodus

troop“So all who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth for military service in Israel, even all the numbered men were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty” (Num. 1:45-46). These verses record the total number of men who were eligible for military service that came out of Egypt at the Exodus. If we add women and children to this number, many biblical scholars estimate that perhaps two million Jews made the Exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. There are several problems with such a large number, outlined by Professor Colin J. Humphreys of Cambridge University.

First, there are some internal inconsistencies with the numbers in the book of Numbers. As an example, the number of firstborn males a month old or more was 22,273, according to Numbers 3:43. That being the case, and given about one million males (assuming that half of the two million Jews were males), this means that the average mother must have had about 100 children—very unlikely! Second, it is hard to imagine such a massive number of people moving and surviving in the desert for forty years, even given the manna, quail, and water. Another problem with such a large number arises when we read Deuteronomy 7:7—“It was not because you were more numerous than all the peoples that Jehovah has set His affection on you and has chosen you, for you were the fewest of all the peoples.” Two million is a very large number, yet the Scriptures indicate that the Jews at that time were the fewest of all the peoples.

Humphreys has discovered that one little word in the ancient Hebrew may have been mistranslated, and that is the word for “thousand.” It turns out that this word can also be translated as “troop” (i.e. military unit). It would certainly make sense to translate this word as “troop,” since Exodus 13:18b says, “And the children of Israel went up arrayed for battle out of the land of Egypt.” When the word is rendered thus, as “troop,” then seventy-four thousand six hundred (those men numbered of the tribe of Judah, for example—Num. 1:27) would read 74 troops and 600 men [total]. When the word “troop” is used, all the numbers in the book of Numbers match up beautifully (with the exception of a few minor deviations for which Humphreys gives very thoughtful and reasonable explanations—see P.S.S. below), and the total number of men of military age is 5,550 rather than 603,550. This translates to roughly 20,000 Jews exiting Egypt instead of two million, and internal inconsistencies, both with the numbers in the book of Numbers and the numbers elsewhere in the Bible, are resolved. Humphreys published his amazing work in the leading Old Testament journal Vetus Testamentum (1998, vol. 48, pp. 196-213).

If Humphreys’ work is correct, he will have to figure out how to explain the numbers in Exodus 38:25-26, where the number of men again is mentioned as 603,550, but where the amount of silver given (100 talents and 1,775 shekels, which was given as a half shekel per person) is a far more reasonable match for 603,550 men than for 5,550 men. I will email him and get back to you with his response.

Once again we see that one word can potentially change everything!

P.S.—Professor Humphreys, by the way, has also published a very fascinating book entitled The Miracles of Exodus (2003, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York) in which he presents very sound scientific explanations of all the miraculous things that happened in the Exodus story, including the identification of the real Mount Sinai—a volcano in Saudi Arabia.

P.S.S.—Anticipating some questions about how the numbers of the tribes add up according to Humphreys’ work, let me briefly outline it here: Reuben had 46,500 men or 46 troops and 500 men; Simeon had 59,300 men or 59 troops and 300 men; Gad had 45,650 men or 45 troops and 650 men; Judah had 74,600 men or 74 troops and 600 men; Issachar had 54,400 men or 54 troops and 400 men; Zebulun had 57,400 men or 57 troops and 400 men; Ephraim had 40,500 men or 40 troops and 500 men; Manesseh had 32,200 men or 32 troops and 200 men; Benjamin had 35,400 men or 35 troops and 400 men; Dan had 62,700 men or 62 troops and 700 men; Asher had 41,500 men or 41 troops and 500 men; and Naphtali had 53,400 men or 53 troops and 400 men. Thus, current Bibles record 603,550 men, whereas Humphreys’ numbers add up to 598 troops and 5,550 men. Humphreys suggests that the original readers would have understood that there were 598 “troops” (instead of “thousand”) and 5,550 men, but that at a later date the original meaning of “troop” was lost, and a scribe conflated the numbers and recorded it as 598 “thousand” and 5 “thousand” 550 men (i.e. 598,000 + 5,550 = 603,550).

seed

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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The following is a guest post by Don.

In the Bible one word can change everything. In Galatians 3:16, one letter changes everything. “To Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to the seeseedds,’ as concerning many, but as concerning one: ‘And to your seed,’ who is Christ.”

Here God’s promise was not spoken to a multitude of individuals but to one specific descendent of Abraham, Jesus Christ. Certainly He is qualified to receive God’s promised blessing, but where does the singular word “seed” leave us?

Fortunately Galatians 3:26-29 answers this question: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ….you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are of Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.”

Faith and the reality (not the ritual) of baptism bring us into an organic union with Christ. Thus we become men “of Christ” and hence we are part of the corporate “Abraham’s seed.” As a result, in Christ we inherit God’s promised blessing!

also

07 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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The following is a guest post by Don.

Knowing a person we recently met or have only heard about is a difficult matter. Nevertheless, a number of people in the gospels recognized something special about Jesus. Some called Him a prophet (e.g. Luke 7:16) and others sensed His wisdom despite His apparent lack of education (e.g. Matt. 13:54).

A centurion in the Roman army (Matt. 8:5-13) recognized and spoke something important about the Lord Jesus. For a person in any army to say “I am a man under authority” is trivial. Every soldier is under authority. But this centurion added one word. In speaking to Jesus he said, “I also am a man under authority” (v. 9).

The “also” clearly indicates the centurion recognized Jesus as a man under authority, the authority of the heavens. Because the centurion knew Jesus was under authority, he also knew that Jesus could give orders, as he himself gave orders to his soldiers.

Therefore the centurion asked Jesus to speak a word, to give a command, to heal his servant (v. 8). The Lord spoke the word and the servant was healed (v. 13). The Lord also said that the centurion had great faith (v. 10).

May we be like this centurion in speaking out what we see in Jesus and in exercising faith to trust what we see in Him.

Jesus a serpent

18 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Brass Serpent, Bronze Serpent, Comfort Zone, Eternal Life, Moses, Sin, Truth

Everyone is familiar with JohBronze serpentn 3:16—“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” But, who ever remembers that in the context of this verse Jesus refers to Himself as a serpent?: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that every one who believes into Him may have eternal life” (vv.14-15). What?! Jesus a serpent?! To get the light on this startling statement, we must go back to Numbers 21 and study the account there.

After the children of Israel had been led by Moses out of bondage in Egypt, it says that they became impatient on the way and spoke against God and against Moses. God’s reaction was to send fiery serpents among the people, which bit the people so that many people of Israel died. Realizing they had sinned, the people repented to Moses and asked him to pray for them that God would take away the serpents. God then instructed Moses to fashion a serpent out of bronze and set it on a pole so that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Now, in John 3:14, Jesus indicated that Moses’ bronze serpent was actually a figure of Himself. In the same way that the bronze serpent had the likeness of a poisonous snake but not the poison, Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Romans 8:3), yet He did not have the sin nature (Hebrews 4:15). And as the bronze serpent was lifted up on a pole, so Christ was lifted up on the cross. All who look upon Him, believing and thus receiving God’s way of redemption, shall live!

It is amazing how one word can shake us out of our comfort zone (or what we think we know) and propel us into the depths of the truth.

signs

17 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Born Again, Death, Divine life, Jesus, Miracle, Recovery Version, Regeneration, Water into Wine, Wedding in Cana

WineIn the Gospel of John, chapter 2, one finds the famous story of Jesus changing water into wine. It was during a wedding in Cana of Galilee, when the original wine had run out, that Jesus performed this miracle. Interestingly, the Bible does not refer to this wondrous event as a miracle, but, rather, as a sign. Verse 11 says, “This beginning of signs Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee.” If it were just a miracle, then we could quickly dispense with that story and move on to the next chapter. But, because the Bible refers to this as a sign, we are compelled to slow down and consider. That one word causes us to linger and ponder over the SIGNificance of this event. And, in so doing, we come to realize that nearly every word or phrase in this story is full of meaning.

A very brief explanation of the significance of this story, found in the footnotes of the Recovery Version Bible, goes something like this:

Jesus comes in resurrection (the third day) to weak and fragile people (signified by the name Cana, which means a land of reeds and refers to a place of weak and fragile people). The people are in the enjoyment of their human life (wedding feast). Wine, signifying the human life (which is the source of man’s enjoyment), runs out. This means that human life comes to an end as man, signified by the number six (man being created on the 6th day) and stone water pots (pointing to man being a vessel), gets filled up with death (filled to the brim with water—stagnant water in the Bible signifies death). Then Jesus changes the water (the death which fills man) into wine, the best wine, signifying the new life, the divine, eternal life.

Indeed, we discover that the life we receive through regeneration is much better than our natural life. Such is the man (or woman) who is born again!

whosoever

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Cup of Salvation, Receive Christ, Salvation

Because the last two months have been so demanding and hectic, I was not able to post anything for July and August. But a 21-hour transit back to Texas from South Africa provided opportunity to consider a series of posts inspired by a recent reading through the Gospel of John.

Crowd in IcelandJohn chapter 1 is the introduction to the biography of Christ that shows Him to be the very God Himself incarnate. Our human, religious concept concerning approaching the Almighty God of the universe and being accepted by Him may be one fraught with trepidation or anxious hesitation. Thus, when our eyes come to verse 12 and read the word “as many as received Him,” we may be taken aback with bewilderment. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name” (John 1:12). “As many as received Him” means “anyone who received Him” or “whosoever received Him.” This is absolutely astounding! One need not climb the highest mountain, or accomplish some nearly impossible feat, or be better than all the rest. One need only receive Him! It is as though He has done everything and is simply waiting for us to receive. And the rest of the Scriptures do unveil that, indeed, Christ has done everything, and He is, in fact, waiting for us and even prompting us to turn and take Him as the cup prepared for our salvation (Psa. 116:12-13).

mansion

25 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Abraham, Body of Christ, Church, Hades, Heaven, John 14, King David, King James Version, Paradise, Recovery Version

The King James Version of the Bible (which was translated in 1611) renders John 14:2 as follows: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Today, many pastors use this verse to helpMansions in John 14 describe to their congregations what heaven will be like when they die. Well, what if you discovered that, according to the revelation in the Bible, the believers do not go to heaven when they die? What if that one word “mansion” should not be translated as mansion after all (at least in the way we think of mansion)? Indeed, one word could change everything!

Firstly, the Bible reveals that there is only one Man in heaven right now, and that is Jesus (Acts 1:11; 7:56)! Peter tells us in Acts 2:34 that not even King David, who was a man according to God’s heart, has ascended into heaven, but that he still remains in Hades, which is somewhere in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40; Acts 2:31). And consider the parable in Luke 16:19-31 which indicates that Abraham is there in Hades right now, and two others who died in Luke 16 also ended up in Hades—one in torment and the other in Paradise with Abraham (c.f. Luke 23:43 with Acts 2:31).

Secondly, the term “My Father’s house” has already been used by the Lord in the Gospel of John to refer to the temple of His body (v. 2:14-22), which was raised from the dead after three days as the mystical Body of Christ—the church—having all the believers as members of this Body (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 2:6).

Thirdly, a more accurate translation of John 14:2 renders the KJV word “mansions” as “abodes”: “In My Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you” (Recovery Version). This translation is consistent with the rest of the revelation in John 14 and 15—that through His death and resurrection Jesus would prepare a place for us to abide in God. In John 14 Jesus said that He was going to the Father (v.12) as He was about to be crucified. And in verse 20 He said, “In that day [(the day of His resurrection)] you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”  In 15:4 the Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you….” If the believers are in Christ, and Christ is in God the Father, then surely the believers are in God!

The abiding place (not mansion in the sky) that Christ prepared for us through His death and resurrection is in God. God, of course, is a heavenly Being, and through regeneration (divine birth) the believers now abide in God and have a citizenship in the heavens from which they eagerly await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20), though they are physically on the earth. But what a huge difference one word can make in our understanding—talk about paradigm shift! To say the least, the destiny of the believers in Christ is far more profound than the stereotypical view of going to heaven!

rise

16 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Dead, Impotency, Life supply, Pray-reading, Sin, Son of God

Rise, take up your mat, and walkIn the Gospel of John chapter five there is the story of a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. He thought he knew what he needed to do to get healed, but he surely could not do it himself, and nobody would or could help him. Thus, he remained in his pitiful condition. The text indicates that his impotency was due to sin (v.14), and further, we find that actually this man was dead in his sin (v.25), for death is the ultimate consummation of sin. Actually, this man represents all mankind—all of us (for we all begin as dead in our sins and offenses which we inherited from the fall of that first man Adam). At this juncture, the Lord Jesus came to him and asked one question: “Do you want to get well?” Although only a simple yes or no was required to answer the question, the man began instead to explain his situation and how he could not do what he thought he needed to do in order to get well. Before the man could finish, the Lord Jesus spoke one word that changed this man for the rest of his life and into eternity—“Rise, take up your mat and walk.” That one word from the Lord actually enlivened and energized the man. Verse 25 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, An hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” Indeed, one word from the Lord is worth more than a million words of advice from anyone else. His one word is full of life supply! His words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63).

The Bible is the Word of the Lord. It was breathed out from Him (2 Tim. 3:16). When we exercise to breath in His word through prayerful reading, we experience the same supply of divine life experienced by that sick man back in John chapter 5. Besides pray-reading the Word of God to get life, we can also listen to the other believers of Christ, who are members of Christ. When they speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord, again, life is supplied to us, even imparted into us, through the speaking of the saints. May we all position ourselves in front of the Word of God and in the midst of the believers in Christ where we can have the speaking of the Lord imparting life into us!

inadvertent

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Accident, Devil, Garden of Eden, Jesus Christ, Negligence, Satan

accidentMy uncle used to work for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) as a civil engineer. Before he retired he moved into a position of public relations, doing things like holding town meetings to convince the citizens why a new highway should be built in their back yards, and testifying for the State in lawsuits pertaining to motor vehicle accidents on the roads and highways of Pennsylvania. I learned from him that the word “inadvertent” is a word that should never be used when taking a defensive position in a court of law, for that word carries the meaning of negligence. And for PennDOT to admit negligence nullifies their whole defense—they lose the case and fork over millions of dollars in settlement. As a defendant, PennDOT may have constructed some roads, or bridges, or intersections, etc., in such a way that the design attributed to an accident, but nothing about their design is ever done inadvertently! Thus, be careful in the words you choose, for one word can change everthing!

Question: Did God inadvertently place Adam in the Garden of Eden where the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil happened to be?

Answer: Absolutely not! Satan fell for the bait, got himself trapped in the flesh of man, and that flesh was taken to the cross by the Lord Jesus and judged by God, thus initiating the end of God’s enemy forever!

Hebrews 2:14—Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil,

no

23 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Paul Joseph in Bible study

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Apostle Paul, Europe, God's Leading, Kingdom of God

Years ago there was aGod says non anti-drug campaign whose slogan was “just say no!” Kids who are offered drugs were encouraged to just say “no.” “No” is a word that we all understand. Even a dog understands the word “no.” It should not be surprising, then, that “no” is a word that the Lord often speaks to us as He is leading us in our daily life to express Him. The word “no” can make us feel uncomfortable and uneasy inside. In 2 Corinthians 2:12-14 the Apostle Paul was headed in a certain direction to preach the gospel when, all of a sudden, he had no rest in his spirit. In verse 14 he attributed that uneasy feeling in his spirit to God’s leading. Although there was nothing inherently wrong with Paul’s original plan to preach the gospel in Troas, that “no” from the Lord in his spirit changed everything. At that juncture the spreading of the Lord’s kingdom made a turn to another continent—Europe.

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