- Jul 22, 2014
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Props to him for using Linux as an OS. (I'm a computer scientist) I don't have time to try and evaluate his teaching right now. My first impression of it is that it is just finding patterns that we like in the Bible. (both the pope and martin luther accused the other having the value of 666 in their name or title somewhere) I think these are interesting and fun I just don't think they can be used to prove anything about scripture. It reminds me of part of a novel I read a while back:
Listen. In gematriya, the words "this world" come out one hundred sixtythree, and the words "the-world-to-come" come out one hundred fifty-four. The difference between "this world" and the "the world-tocom,' comes out to nine. Nine is half of eighteen. Eighteen is chai, life. In this world there is only half of chai. We are only half alive in this world! Only half alive!' A whisper went through the crowd at the tables, and I could see heads nod and lips smile. They had been waiting for this apparently, the gematriya, and they strained forward to listen. One of my teachers in school had told me about gematriya. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet is also a number, so that every Hebrew word has a numerical value. The words for 'this world' in Hebrew is 'olam hazeh', and by adding the numerical value of each letter, the total numerical value of the word becomes one hundred and sixty-three. I had heard others do this before, and I enjoyed listening because sometimes they were quite clever and ingenious. I was beginning to feel relaxed again, and I listened carefully. 'Hear me now. Listen. How can we make our lives full? How can we fill our lives so that we are eighteen, chai, and not nine, not half chai? Rabbi Joshua son of Levi teaches us, "Whoever does not labor in the Torah is said to be under the divine censure." He is a nozuf, a person whom the Master of the Universe hates! A righteous man, a tzaddik, studies Torah, for it is written, "For his delight is in the Torah of God, and over His Torah doth he meditate day and night." In gematriya, "nozuf" comes out one hundred forty-three, and "tzaddik" comes out two hundred and four. What is the difference between "nozuf" and "tzaddik"? Sixty-one. To whom does a tzaddik dedicate his life? To the Master of the Universe! La-el, to God! The word, "La-el" in gematriya is sixty-one! It is a life dedicated to God that makes the difference between the nozuf and the tzaddik!' Another murmur of approval went through the crowd. Reb Saunders was very good at gematriya, I thought. I was really enjoying myself now. 'And now listen to me further. In gematriya, the letter of the word "traklin,” hall, the hall that refers to the world-to-come comes out three hundred ninety-nine, and "prozdor," the vestibule, the vestibule that is this world, comes out five hundred thirteen. Take "prozdor" from "traklin," and we have one hundred fourteen. Now listen to me. A righteous man, we said, is two hundred four. A righteous man lives by Torah. Torah is mayim, water; the great and holy rabbis always compare Torah to water. The word "mayim" in gematriya is ninety. Take "mayim" from" tzaddik" and we also have one hundred fourteen. From this we learn that the righteous man who removes himself from Torah also removes himself from the world-to-come! ' The whisper of delight was loud this time, and men nodded their heads and smiled. Some of them were even poking each other with their elbows to indicate their pleasure. That one had really been clever. I started to go over it again in my mind. 'We see that without Torah there is only half a life. We see that without Torah we are dust. We see that without Torah we are abominations.' He was saying this quietly, almost as if it were a litany. His eyes were still open, and he was looking directly at Danny now. 'When we study Torah, then the Master of the Universe listens. Then he hears our words. Then He will fulfill our wishes. For the Master of the Universe promises strength to them who preoccupy themselves in Torah, as it is written, "So ye may be strong", and He promises length of days, as it is written. "So that your days may be lengthened." May Torah be a fountain of waters to all who drink from it, and may it bring to us the Messiah speedily and in our day. Amen!' A chorus of loud and scattered amens answered. http://www.mpsaz.org/mtnview/staff/...ature9r/persepolis/files/the_chosen_novel.pdf
There are no powers in the numbers in the Bible. They are not there to solve our problems or to tell the future. The numbers in God's Word are merely there to show us that God's Word is divine in origin. It is to make us in even more awe in God's Word. The numbers are not invented by the minds of men, but the numbers are defined as to how the Word of God defines them. There is a pattern of meaning associated with the numbers in the Bible that one cannot ignore.
For example: Take the number 40 in the Bible. Noah was in the Ark for 40 days and 40 nights while it was raining (or while there was a storm). Noah was in a trial of sorts inside the Ark with all those animals as the storm raged outside the Ark. Jesus fasted in the wilderness (desert) for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus was under a trial by the fact that he was fasting. So there is a meaning ascribed to the numbers in the Bible (that is defined by the Bible itself). This is what Pastor Mike teaches. He will show you these kinds of facts in the Bible and it up to you to decide in what to do with them. For me: It makes me in awe of God's Word and I am thankful to God that He would show me such wonderful things within His Word. All glory goes to the Lord.
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