#How the Book of Abraham complements Genesis

[mindfulldsliving]

Creation and Controversy: Responding to Paul Gee on Genesis 1:1-5 and Abraham 4:1-5

Paul Gee’s critique of Genesis 1:1-5 compared to Abraham 4:1-5 has sparked strong reactions, especially regarding the concept of “God” versus “the Gods.” Mormons who believe the Book of Abraham are denying what is written in Genesis. They are accepting a belief in a plurality of Gods instead of a one true God which the Bible teaches. As for Joseph Smith, who wrote this false Book of Abraham,…

[rdcoc]

“And the Word became Flesh” The birth of Jesus as told by John

The Word became flesh; (Jn.1:14) what a profound statement for a people longing to witness the mighty acts of the God who made his presence known through Abraham, Moses, King David and spoke to the people through the prophets of a time past. It happened somewhere between my ministry training and my own searching of scripture when a voice from a colleague helped me link what I was reading.  John’s introduction to Jesus is a birth narrative not set in a time or place but rather it looks heavenward. The focus of John’s reflection of the birth narrative points us to where Jesus came from. To comprehend the significance of this statement, “The Word became Flesh,” is to tie a link to how Moses introduces us to God in the book of Genesis, “In the beginning God…” Both writers emphasis the eternal existence of God to include the eternal existence of Jesus and let me add the eternal presence of the Holy Spirit (a Blog subject for a later date).  

This is the time when Christians reflect on the story of the birth of Jesus as told in Sunday-school and from the pulpit. To use John’s gospel witness to tell the story of the birth of Jesus might not be your first choice however, there is something unique as to how John introduces us to the coming of Jesus. John’s gospel witness is his expression of this great wonder as to the significance of the birth of Jesus. John’s gift is not to recount the historical events surrounding the birth of Jesus but to point us to the truth of who really is entering into creation through the birth of Jesus. Jesus is the incarnation of God, in the person of Jesus all that is God is revealed in human form. To read the opening verses of John’s gospel witness is not to devalue the birth narratives of Matthew’s Gospel or Luke’s historical recollection but to complement our understanding of just who it was that the angels sang their praises of when they appeared to the shepherds proclaiming and singing “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to all humankind on whom his favour rests.”(Lk.2:14)

The reality that Christ Jesus dwelt among us means he lived, he hungered, and he thirsted, just like the rest of humankind. When he stubbed his toe on his journey through Galilee did it not hurt? The contrast “he made is dwelling among us,” reflects back to the Ancient Near East world. Consider the god’s of the Greeks and Romans, their gods were of myth; stories were told of their gods descending to the people but their interaction was manipulative. Never longing to dwell with humans and definitely never to the interest or betterment of humankind.

When remembering the birth of Jesus I often reflect on the Christian reformist Martin Luther who wrote, “Take hold of Jesus as a man and you will discover that he is God.” This is how I read John’s introduction to Jesus in his gospel witness; “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We (the apostles) have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn. 1:14) To see in Jesus that this ‘Word’ which became flesh is wholly God and wholly man is how John sets out to introduce us to the coming of Jesus. So that, as you journey along with John in his eyewitness account of Jesus you discover God in the person of Jesus through his life and ministry and most important through his resurrection. Later at the end of John’s gospel witness we encounter one of the most profound confession ever recorded about Jesus and it comes from the one most remembered as the doubter, Thomas called Didymus; “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side I will not believe.” (Jn. 20:25). When Jesus presents himself before Thomas, Thomas falls before Jesus and proclaims, “My Lord and my God.” (Jn. 20:28) In the words of Thomas you are my sovereign and my God. The Story of Christmas is more than the story of the birth of a King, it is the story that reminds us just how far God will reach to show his love for the whole of creation.

[dfroza]

A good point of spiritual Hebraic History

that reflects upon renewal (and of rewinding time to the beginning) shared in this set of posts by John Parsons:

In the Torah it is written: “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you, but to revere the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 10:12). Abraham Heschel wrote, "Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme. Awe is a sense for transcendence, for the mystery beyond all things. It is "the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10). We start with awe and that leads us to wisdom. First we must learn to properly revere the LORD and only then will we be able to walk (לָלֶכֶת) in His ways, to love (לְאַהֲבָה) Him, and to serve (לַעֲבד) Him with all our heart and soul. The awesome love of God for us is the end or goal of Torah as revealed in our Messiah. We were both created and redeemed in order to know, love, and worship God forever.

In another place it is written: "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD ask of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8), which again presupposes that we fear the LORD. Indeed, "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה)." Without awe of God, you will walk in darkness and be unable to turn away from evil (Psalm 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 10:27; etc.), as it says: "the fear of the LORD leads to life" (יִרְאַת יְהוָה לְחַיִּים, lit. "is for life"). Shabbat Shalom, chaverim! [Hebrew for Christians]

The concluding portion of the Torah -- the very last section of the Book of Deuteronomy -- is called "v’zot HaBerakhah" (וְזאת הַבְּרָכָה) which records Moses’ final words to the people just before his death. It is always read just after the festival of Sukkot on the holiday called “Simchat Torah” (i.e., “Celebration of the Torah”). After reading this portion, we will “rewind the scroll” back to Parashat Bereshit to begin reading the Torah all over again. We do this every year because Talmud Torah - the study of Torah - never ends! A true student of Scripture cannot claim to have completed the study of the Torah, for the implications of such study extend forever. And so the cycle continues, over and over in a continuous chain of study, ever widening, and all encompassing.

The phrase v’zot haberakhah (וְזאת הַבְּרָכָה) means “and this is the blessing,” and it seems fitting that Moses concluded his life with a blessing of the people. The patriarchal practice of a father imparting his blessing before departing from this world goes back to Noah (Gen. 9:25-27), Isaac (Gen. 27:4) and Jacob (Gen. 49), and many of the sages note that Moses’ blessing here extends or complements Jacob’s earlier blessing given in Egypt (may we likewise finish our lives with a blessing on our lips, friends).

At the end of the Torah portion Moses was instructed to ascend Mount Nebo where God revealed to him all of the Promised Land – from the territory of Dan in the north to the Negev in the south. After receiving this great vision, Moses died on Adar 7 (his birthday) at the age of 120, at an unknown burial site. After a 30 day period of national mourning, Joshua assumed leadership over the people of Israel.

The portion (as well as the Torah itself) ends with the statement that no prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses, “who knew the LORD panim el-panim, “face to face.” He did all the signs and wonders the LORD had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, all his servants, and the whole land, and he displayed great power and awesome might in view of all Israel” (Deut. 34:10-12). Chazak, chazak chaverim! [Hebrew for Christians]

10.18.19 • Facebook

and from Today’s email sent out by The Temple Institute in Jerusalem we see a further reflection upon “the 8th day” of which begins tonight (Sunday, October 20th) at sundown:

Shemini Atzeret: "On the eighth day"

(Numbers 29:35)

Tishrei 21, 5780/October 20, 2019

There is a magical moment (one of many) which occurs on Shemini Atzeret (the Eighth Day Assembly), also known as Simchat Torah, (the Rejoicing of the Torah): Following the morning service in synagogue, three sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) are taken out of the ark and placed before the congregation. From the first Torah scroll is read the final Torah reading of the book of Deuteronomy, that is, the concluding verses of the Torah, itself, known as V'Zot Habracha - "And this is the blessing with which Moshe, the man of G-d, blessed the children of Israel just before his death." (Deuteronomy 33:1) The concluding verses of Torah are then united with the opening verses of Bereshith (Genesis), the first book of Torah, as the second Torah scroll is opened, and from it is read the account of the six days of creation, followed by the description of Shabbat: "And G-d completed on the seventh day His work that He did, and He abstained on the seventh day from all His work that He did. And G-d blessed the seventh day and He hallowed it, for thereon He abstained from all His work that G-d created to do." (Genesis 2:2-3) And then the third Torah scroll is opened and read from, beginning with, "On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall not perform any mundane work. You shall offer up a burnt offering, a fire offering for a spirit of satisfaction to HaShem: one bull, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year, all unblemished... " (Numbers 29:35-36) The verses are, of course, referring to the special offerings performed on Shemini Atzeret, but the magical moment occurs when the reading of the six days of creation, followed by Shabbat, the seventh day, is then followed by "the eighth day!" It is as if an eighth day is being created, right now, just for us, a window into another world, another reality!

This eighth day on which we gather to celebrate our life with the Torah, is, of course, the eighth day following the seven days of Sukkot, an eighth additional day which Torah appointed, on G-d's request, as it were, for one more day of celebration with Israel. Rosh HaShana, which begins the holiday cycle of the month of Tishrei, is about the entire world standing before G-d and recognizing His sovereignty over all creation. Yom Kippur is about about every soul standing before G-d and making amends.

(end quote from email)

and how the Temple relates to us as Children of God in the New Covenant revealed by the grace of the Son is that we have become the Temple of the Spirit by welcoming the entrance of Light by which we pure & simply “believe...” and speak, to read and conserve the True illumination of the Scriptures, the Word of God (who is the Son) who leads us to choose a baptism of both the heart & body in water. for the old sacrifices of the law that included animals is obsolete, being completed by the eternal sacrifice of the Cross. everything in Hebraic History points to this, although some have yet to see it clear.