Two Amazing Hebrew Women that Faced the King of Egypt

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Sandwiched between two giants in the Bible -- Joseph and Moses – is the story of Shiphrah (beautiful) and Puah (groaning). Puah’s name is related to an account of woman giving birth. They are “the Hebrew midwives” in this story.

Exodus opens with a reference the “children of Israel” and Joseph, but in Exodus 1:13, under a king that had not known Joseph, the children of Israel are enslaved and forced to labor in the service of the new king. At that point, the Bible refers to them as the “Hebrews” – meaning aliens and foreigners. Shiphrah and Puah are only referred to as Hebrews, so that means that are to serve the king. Something that makes their story even more remarkable is that the king of Egypt was revered as a semi-divine being by Egyptians.

And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,

of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah (beautiful),

and the name of the second Puah (groaning). (v. 15)

What do you think the women thought when they were told the king wanted to speak to them? Usually tribal leaders were called by the king, not women like the midwives. The king intentionally circumvented tribal authorities. By the way, the author of Exodus made an important point by not naming the king and naming the midwives. History would remember their names, but not his!

And the king said:

“When you serve as a midwife to the Hebrew women,

you ^plural two shall look upon the birth-stool --

if it is a son you ^plural shall kill him;

but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” (v. 16)

The “birth-stool” was the seat a woman about to give birth was customarily placed on. Therefore, a midwife was the first one to see the baby as it came forth. They were to kill male babies at that critical point before anyone else saw it.

But the midwives feared the unnamed God,

and they did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them –

they preserved the lives of the male children. (v. 17)

Someone, most likely their parents, had taught Shiphrah and Puah the Creation Story of the unnamed God in Genesis 1:1-2:4a. They “feared” the Creator more than they “feared” the king of Egypt. Notice that the king specifically commanded them “to look upon the birth-stool” – but they simply did not look until after the mother, father and probably other relatives saw the baby first! After they saw the baby it would have been impossible to secretly kill it.

And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said unto them,

“Why have you done this?

Why have you preserved the lives of the male children?” (v.18)

And the midwives said unto Pharaoh:

“Because Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women,

they are more vigorous;

before the midwife comes unto them they have already delivered.” (v. 19)

We now discover that someone else watching what the midwives too!

And the unnamed God did TOV to the midwives;

and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

And it came to pass, because the midwives feared the unnamed God,

he made them houses. (vv. 20-21)

The Creator in the story in Genesis 1 looked at the results of the things he had done to see if they were “TOV.” It is translated “good” in our translations, but “good to the Creator” meant that “what had been done protected and preserved lives, made lives more functional and increased them quality of life.” The Creator rewarded the midwives for what they had done by doing something “good” (TOV) for them – and their people! First, the children of Israel continued to be fruitful and multiply – and grew very mighty. Second, the families of Shiphrah and Puah also grew and were blessed.

And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying:

“Every son that is born (to a Hebrew) you shall cast into the river (Nile),

but let every daughter (born to a Hebrew) you shall let live.” (v. 22)

The author of the story notes an important change in the actions of the king. He is now called “Pharaoh” -- the title of the king’s divine role. A pharaoh was a semi-divine being who mediated between men and gods. He now spoke, “as a semi-divine being” to his people – not to Hebrews. He commanded them to present all Hebrew males that are born as offerings to Hapi, the ancient Egyptian god of the Nile.

Sacrifice them to Hapi would increase your fertility and

ensure that Hapi will nourish our land with the Nile's annual floods.

This story is very similar to Noah’s story for ancient readers.

Because Noah had been taught about

the Creator and his Blessing, his actions saved mankind!

Because Shiphrah and Puah had been taught about

the Creator and his Blessing, their actions saved the children of Israel!

This is the lesson for readers of their story:

Be like Noah, Shiphrah and Puah in your generation --

and teach your children about the Creator and his Blessing too!

I hope you found this informative and thank you for reading it.

Shalom,

Jim Myers

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Adam Destroyed the Law But Jesus Didn’t

This is one of the worst mistranslations in the Bible of the teaching of Yeshua, the Jewish Jesus (Matthew 5:17-18):

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

For verily I say unto you,

Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle

shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

I was taught that this meant “Jesus fulfilled all of the law, did away with it and we are under grace.” Christians were under grace, while Jews were under the law. The belief systems of over a billion Christians are constructed on that mistranslation. Interestingly, Yeshua’s words reminded his Jewish audience of something Adam did in the Garden of Eden. You will know what I mean when you understand the correct meanings of his words.

● The Torah or the Prophets were two sections of Jewish Scriptures at the time of Yeshua – and still are today.

● Destroy means “to add words to or remove words from the Torah or the Prophets” – or “to incorrectly interpret the words of the Torah or the Prophets.”

● Fulfill means “to correctly interpret the words of the Torah or the Prophets.”

● Verily should have been translated “Amen.”

● Jot should have been translated “Yod,” which is the name of the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet (see graphic above).

● Tittle should have been translated “thorn,” which was the name of the small tip scribes placed on certain letters.

● “in no wise pass from” is another way of saying “destroy.”

Now let’s put the pieces together and reconstruct what Yeshua actually taught:

Do not think that I have come to add words to,

take words from, or misinterpret the Torah or the Prophets.

I have not come to do that.

I have come to correctly interpret them!

Amen!

Make sure you understand this. Until heaven and earth pass away,

not one yod or one thorn on any letter of the Torah will be changed

until all of the words of the Torah has been correctly interpreted.

So what does this have to do with Adam? Below is the commandment Yahweh gave Adam in the Garden (Genesis 2:16-17):

And Yahweh the god commanded the man, saying,

"From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;

but from the Tree of the Knowledge of TOV (good) and RA (evil)

you shall not eat,

for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."

Neither the animals nor Eve had been created when Adam was given this commandment. Here is the commandment Adam gave Eve (Genesis 3:2-3):

"From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden,

the god has said, 'Y’all shall not eat from it

and y’all shall not touch it,

lest y’all die.'"

How many words of the original commandment are different from the commandment Adam gave Eve? Did you notice Adam also added a new commandment of own – “y’all shall not touch it.” 

Since this was the only law at that time,

Adam destroyed “all of the law”!

But, there are some important factor we need to keep consider before we condemn Adam. No one interpreted the words of the commandment for him and helped him know what they meant. No one was there to mentor and help him keep it. No one told him whether the commandment applied to Eve.

And no one told him that the tree next to the forbidden one

was the Tree of Life and eating its fruit would make him live forever!

I hope you found this informative and thank you for reading it.

Shalom,

Jim Myers

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Make Sure You Know What The Jewish Jesus Means

I use the phrase “Yeshua, the Jewish Jesus” to distinguish between the person that lived in the first century who was named “Yeshua” and the person they read about in the New Testament called “Jesus” and “Jesus Christ” and “beliefs about Jesus” that were created centuries after the Romans executed him.

I think there are a lot of people, Christian and Jewish, that have a “Pre-K understanding,” like I used to have, about what “Christian and Jewish” mean. I was an ordained minister and I viewed 2,500 years of history as the histories of two religions – Judaism and Christianity. Back then I viewed “Jesus as the founder of Christianity” and “the Jews as the people that opposed Jesus.” In other words, my whole reality was built around “my beliefs about Jesus.”

In order to know what “The Jewish Jesus” means we have to view Yeshua in the context of the world in which he lived and know what “Christianity” was like in the second and third centuries CE.

The World of Yeshua

Based on our research, Yeshua was born in 6 BCE and was executed around 27 CE. He was a resident of the village of Nazareth in the Galilee for almost his entire life. Around 24 CE he founded a movement and preached “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.” In Yeshua’s world there were other groups that were much older and larger than his – and some preached a “Kingdom of God” message too. They included the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Hellenists and Herodians. They were all “Jewish” too.

Understanding what “Jewish” means in relationship to Yeshua,

requires knowing what distinguished Yeshua’s group from

the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Hellenists and Herodians –

and what Yeshua’s group shared with them.

Yeshua had attended the synagogue in Nazareth all of his life. He had gone with his family to Jerusalem to celebrate the major festivals at the Temple all of his life. Two things members of the above groups shared were God’s covenant with Abraham and a commitment to the Torah. Yeshua became a part of God’s covenant with Abraham when he was circumcised and he made it very clear that he was totally committed to the Torah.

Yeshua clearly worshiped the same God as the members of the above groups and the Temple in Jerusalem was the closest place a person could come to His presence. He kept many of the same Jewish customs as members of the other groups, and just like them, he had his unique interpretations of words of the Torah. All of the apostles were “Jewish” like him. His teachings were about Jewish things that his Jewish audiences understood.

Early Christianity

A lot is known today about Christianity during the second and third centuries. It was a period of rich theological diversity that surprises most Christians today.

● Christian Beliefs About God -- Some Christians believed that there was only one God, the Creator of all there is. Other Christians insisted that there were two different gods — a God of wrath and a God of love and mercy. These were not simply two different facets of the same God, they are two different gods. And there were other Christians that insisted that there were twelve gods -- others said there were thirty gods – and still others said there were 365 gods! All these groups claimed to be Christian, insisting that their views were true and had been taught by Jesus and his followers.

● The Christian New Testament -- Why didn’t the groups above simply read their New Testaments to see whose views were wrong? It is because the New Testament Christians read today did not exist. All the books of the modern New Testament had been written by this time, but there were also lots of other books that claimed to be written by Jesus’ own apostles — other gospels, acts, epistles, and apocalypses.  They had very different perspectives from those found in the books that eventually came to be called the New Testament. The New Testament itself emerged out of these conflicts over God (or the gods), as one group of believers acquired more converts than all the others. That group decided which books should be included in the canon of scripture.

● No Centralized Theology -- During the second and third centuries, there was no agreed-upon canon of New Testament books and no agreed-upon theology. There was a wide range of diversity: diverse groups asserting diverse theologies based on diverse written texts, all claiming to be written by the apostles of Jesus.

● Some Christians Celebrated Passover – As late as 170 CE the Christians in Asia continued to observe the Passover.

But everything changed with “the conversion” of Constantine the Great, Emperor of the Roman Empire. The event that changed everything was the Council of Nicea in 325 CE, a meeting called by Emperor Constantine. He invited all Christian bishops of the Roman Empire to attend. However, because Christians had witnessed many persecutions in the first three centuries – some by officials of the Roman Empire and others by pagan mobs – many bishops chose not to attend.

By the end the fourth century, the Roman Catholic Church emerged as a religion backed by the authority of Roman Emperors and institutions and it gave Christians a theology and a New Testament. It also made Christianity and Judaism two separate mutually exclusive religions.

I hope you found this informative and thank you for reading it.

Shalom,

Jim Myers

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SOURCES

● Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why By Bart D. Ehrman © 2005; HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY; pp. 152, 187.

● https://www.historytoday.com/archive/causes-early-persecutions

Torah Means Much More Than Law

The word Hebrew word above that is transliterated "Torah" in English is derived from the root ירה, which in the hif'il conjugation means “to guide” or “to teach” (cf. Lev 10:11). Its meaning, therefore, is "teaching", "doctrine", or "instruction".

In its earliest use, Torah (meaning “instruction” or “guidebook”) refers to the

central text of Judaism -- the scroll that contains the first five books of the Bible.

However, as time passed, the meaning of the word “Torah” expanded. Continue reading at -- http://www.biblicalheritage.org/torah.html

Do You Really Want Accurate Beliefs?

Do You Really Want Accurate Beliefs?

Are You Committed Enough to Take the Pledge?

Click below to learn more:

http://www.biblicalheritage.org/guidelines.html

Exploring Biblical Heritages or Blind Faith in Unexamined Beliefs?

The Bible is one of the most important books in the world because people of every nation, people of every color and race, and people that speak thousands of languages read it, believe in it and used it to learn about God and what God wants them to do. But, Bible readers also go to war against other Bible readers. Why?

We call finding an answer to that question -- Exploring Our Biblical Heritages.  It is a science based approach to discovering the histories of the Bible and Bible based institutions. It is the journey described on the above graphic, which introduces people to twelve important factors.

#1. Prioritizing facts before unexamined beliefs.

#2. Incorporating the roles DNA and the brain play in belief systems and human actions.

#3. Learning about the roles three Persian Kings – Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great and Artaxerxes I – played in the creation of Second Temple Judaism [6] (building the Second Temple [#4] and creating the first Torah scroll [#5]).

#7. Translating the Jewish Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek (the Septuagint), which created Hellenistic Judaism and provided future gentile Christians with the Greek Old Testament.

#8. Yeshua, the Jewish Jesus, created a Jewish movement he called “The Kingdom of Heaven.” It was not a new non-Jewish religion.

#9. Roman authorities governed the Jewish homeland, crucified Yeshua, and executed Peter, Paul and Yeshua’s brother Jacob (called James in modern Bibles). A Roman citizen from Tarsus created the movement in which members were first called “Christians.”

#10. Roman Emperors -- specifically Constantine the Great, Flavius Claudius Julianus, Valentinian I and Theodosius the Great -- played major roles in the creation of the Roman Catholic Church and Rabbinic Judaism.

#11. Decisions about which books are in the Christian Bible were made Roman Catholic bishops and councils.

#12. Without the biblical based phrases – “all men are created equal” and “they are endowed by their Creator” – the United States of America as we know it would not exist.

I was an ordained minister and I was unaware of any of the factors above. My professional education taught me how to persuade people to believe my church’s doctrines (listed in our statement of faith) and defend them against people who attacked them.

I believed that people had to believe the right things

to go to Heaven so they would spend eternity with God

instead of spending eternity in Hell with the Devil!

That was my top priority. Today I know when those beliefs originated, who created them, why they were created and how they evolved over the centuries. I also know that simply giving people a new list of “the right things to believe” doesn’t work.

In order to effectively change long-held trusted beliefs

fact based stories about those beliefs get the best results.

Exploring Our Biblical Heritages educational emails are designed to connect readers to those stories, provide additional information and pose questions for explorers to consider and discuss. Thank you for being an explorer and reading this email.

May your explorations make your life safer, more fulfilled and happier.
Jim Myers

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The Jewish Jesus and the Salvation of Gentiles

Did the Jewish Jesus require gentiles to convert to Judaism in order to be saved? That is a question I hear a lot and the answer is “No.” When the Creator created the Heavens and the Earth he also created a kingdom – he did not create a religion.

● The Heavens and the Earth are the Creator’s Temple in the first story in Genesis. (Click here to learn more.)

● The Creator’s Kingdom is a kingdom of creatures “created in his image.” (Click here to learn more.)

The Jewish Jesus was a member of and practiced Late Second Period Temple Judaism. The Jerusalem Temple and the Laws of Moses played major roles in his life. His movement was a Jewish Movement. But his primary message was about the “Kingdom of God (Heaven)” and he preached it to Jewish audiences, but it wasn’t a message that was exclusively for Jews. Pay close attention to his words below:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him,

then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him.

(Matthew 25:31-32a)

This is the judgment of all of the nations of the earth. Connected to his Kingdom of God message, was an urgent warning that the Great Day of Judgment will come soon. He believed it would happen in his lifetime. The Great Day of Judgment will be a repeat of what happened when God caused the Great Flood – the earth would be cleansed of people that did violent and evil things! For the Jewish Jesus, only those in the Kingdom of God will be saved from the fire that God is going to use to cleanse the earth this time (Malachi 4:1).

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven,
and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts.”

God saved Noah and his family because Noah was the only man of integrity -- a tzadiq – that God saw on earth. A tzadiq is a man that does acts of tzedaqah. In English translations, tzadiq is translated as “righteous” and “tzedaqah” is translated as “righteousness,” but the English words do not reflect the Hebrew meanings. I encourage you to incorporate the Hebrew words in your vocabulary. The Jewish Jesus taught that those who did acts of tzadaqah will be the ones that will be saved from the fires – just like Noah was saved from the waters. (Matthew 25:34, 37a).

Then the King will say to those on his right hand

(those who did tzedaqah) “Come, you blessed of my father,

inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

God does not judge the nations of the earth by Jewish laws. He uses the standard that existed long before the Jewish nation existed. It will be the standard the Creator uses to judge his actions -- the TOV Standard:

Acts that are TOV protect and preserve lives,

make lives more functional and increase the quality of life.

Now pay close attention to the type of acts the people had done, which Jesus said would be saved:

They gave food to the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty,

brought a stranger into their homes, gave clothes to the naked,

visited the sick, and went to those in prison.

(Matthew 25:35-36)

They are acts are TOV. They affected lives in good ways – and, interestingly, Jesus was quoting Isaiah (58:6-8):

● Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?

● Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out, when you see the naked cover him, and do not hide from your own flesh?

● Then (after you do the things above) your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, your acts of tzedaqah shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall gather you.

Tzedaqah was one of the most important words in the Jewish vocabulary in the Late Second Temple Period – and it still is in Rabbinic Judaism.

● Tzedaqah is greater than all sacrifices.

● Tzedaqah hastens the redemption.

● Tzedaquah atones for sins.

● Tzedaqah saves one from death.

The view of the Kingdom of God (Heaven) the Jewish Jesus taught was not the only view that existed. Some groups taught that the Kingdom was only for Jews, others taught the Kingdom was only for Jews that followed their interpretations of the Laws of Moses, still others taught the Kingdom was for Jews and Gentiles that did tzedaqah – and there were other Jewish views too.

But there is one thing that no Jewish group taught, including the Jewish Jesus and even the Roman Catholic Church:

The salvation of individuals.

You can credit Martin Luther with the creation of individual salvation. In the Jewish Scriptures and the teachings of the Jewish Jesus – salvation is a group thing. When Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church -- he lost the only way of salvation. Luther had to come up with “a new way to be saved” – and he did it!

No Christian group before the 16^th century taught that belief!

How important is that information? We believe it should be of great interest to any Christian and that is one of the reasons we Explore Our Biblical Heritages. We want to identify the origins of our beliefs!  Please share and discuss this with others. Thank you for reading this.

May your life be blessed with an abundance of TOV,
Jim Myers

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