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Sermons Series 3:105B, 4 August 2007
Cornelius
The Truth About Kashrut, Tongues and Ruach Baptism Revealed
Main Themes:
Minor Themes:
For three consecutive days last week I would pick up different versions of the Bible which are dotted around in practically every room in our house and open them up in search of a word of light. This is a habit I have been into for years now so that I can glean nuggets of truth throughout the day.
However, these three days were different from all the others because every time I picked up a Bible it would always open up on Acts chapter 10 and I would feel constrained by the Ruach to read this chapter and the following one. And each time I read, I knew that Yahweh wanted to impart something important to me. I wasn't quite sure what until the third day when I was in the 'rest room' and was reading the same two chapters for the umpteenth time, though this time in a modern paraphrase version. But it was not until I moved from the 'rest room' to the bathroom in order to shower that the full revelation of what I had been reading suddenly hit me like a thunderbolt and a dilemma that had been haunting me for years suddenly vanished leaving me feeling both relieved and exhilarated. A doctrinal conundrum was suddenly no more! And the moment the Ruach had revealed this truth to me, I suddenly knew what the next steps of this ministry would be. Of the latter I shall speak another time but today I want to share what for me - and I believe for many of you - will be a doctrine of great liberating power that will cut a swathe through the jungle of false doctrine that has infested the Body of Messiah.
The 10th chapter of the Book of Acts relates the story of the first gentile converts to Messianic Israel. It's the story of a Captain in the Roman army regiment known as the 'Italian Regiment', a convert to the faith of Israel and a faithful observer of Torah, known for his charitable acts and loved of Yahweh. You will recall that Yahweh sent a malak or angel to him instructing him how he might find the Apostle Peter to receive the Good News of the Kingdom. His name was Cornelius. Immediately, he despatched a couple of house servants and one of his soldiers to Joppa to the home of Simon the Leatherworker to request Peter's company at his home.
The following day, as the three journeyed to Joppa from Caesarea, Yahweh was preparing Peter for this visit by giving him an extraordinary vision while he was praying on the roof of the house of his host Simon. Lunch was being prepared and one supposes the aroma of the good food wafted up to the roof where Peter was praying and made him feel hungry. Two things are happening to the apostle: He is praising His Elohim whilst at the time his salivary glands are working full time and his stomach complaining in anticipation of the delicious meal being prepared for him downstairs. So Yahweh shows the apostle a vision that couples with the stimulation of his senses and the urge to eat - he shows him a large white sheet dropping down from heaven with all kinds of creatures on it, both kosher and unkosher. This vision, as you know, has been interpreted by millions of Christians to mean that Yahweh was suddenly overturning His kashrut laws in Torah and giving the green light to mankind to eat whatever it wanted, and thereby contradicting Himself and making the original Torah revelation return to Him empty and void ... which is impossible (Is.55:11). In actual fact, this vision - as Yahweh explains twice - has nothing to do with kashrut at all but with Yahweh's acceptability of the gentiles as adopted members of Messianic Israel.
Now the revelation that Yahweh gave me last Yom Rishon (Sunday) had nothing to do with the kashrut laws because I knew all about these and how this passage of scripture is almost universally twisted or misinterpreted by non-Messianics. However, the wording of this is important so that you can see how Yahweh reveals truth about a particular subject embedded in the subject material of something completely different. If Peter's vision had nothing to do with food but was about gentiles being kosher, why use an illustration of food? Let's look at the wording.
"A voice said to him, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat!'" (Ac.10:13, TEV)
Peter immediately assumed that there was a connection between what he was seeing in vision and the kashrut laws and objected strenuously:
"Certainly not, Master! I have never eaten anything considered defiled or unclean" (v.14).
Now think about it. Peter's lunch is cooking downstairs. Simon the leatherworker or his wife was cooking him a kosher meal. Simon Peter sees a vision - a picture, something not physically tangible - and hears a voice say: "Kill and eat!" It doesn't say whose voice it is but we can assume that it is Yah'shua's, Yahweh's or an angel's. So Peter isn't being shown an actual live animal and being told kill and eat it. It's not like the ram provided by Yahweh for Abraham when he was about to offer a sacrifice (Ge.22:13). Yahweh told Abraham to offer the ram because it was physically there. These animals were not physically present so there was no way Peter could have physically killed and eaten one of them. Indeed, was he supposed to kill and eat all of them? However, that aside, you will remember that Yahweh told Abraham to offer his son Isaac in sacrifice, an abomination and contrary to the unwritten Torah given to him and all the patriarchs before Moses. This was a test, as we know, and Yahweh stopped his loyal friend from carrying out the sacrifice and provided a lawful ram in Isaac's place.
Peter's reaction is quite correct. He refuses to disobey Torah. Then the voice speaks again saying:
"Do not consider anything unclean that Elohim has declared clean" (v.15).
The voice spoke the truth. Moreover, Yahweh did not declare the foot in the sheet 'clean', did He? We are not to refuse food that Yahweh has declared kosher or clean. Yahweh told us in Torah was is kosher and what is not and we are under covenant with Him to obey His kashrut law. However, does Yahweh actually tell Peter that these unclean animals are suddenly clean? Does He say: "I now declare these animals fit for consumption. Kill, and eat!" Does Yahweh say this? No! He does not. Neither does He say it anywhere else in the New Testament. Nowhere does He say we can now eat pig, for instance. If He had, the Jews would have condemned the first Christians outright and there would have been some record of it, just as there was over circumcision. There would have been a great controversy over any changes to the kashrut laws but we find none either in the New Testament or in contemporary historical accounts. While this apostle is seeing a vision, and while his kosher lunch is cooking downstairs and its aroma tantalising his taste buds, Yahweh suddenly says: "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!" Kill and eat what? The things he was seeing in vision? Did Yahweh want him to climb down the roof and find a few lizards, snakes and other unkosher beasts, and eat them? Why should he? He wasn't starving. A meal was being prepared downstairs for him. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But then Abraham commanding His servant Abraham to kill his firstborn son in the Messianic line is not only ridiculous but morally outrageous. Critics often point to the passage of scripture where Paul says that all food is clean:
"Do not destroy the work of Elohim for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall" (Rom.14:19-21, NIV).
But what they don't do is define what 'food' is. Are humans food? They're certainly edible and nourishing. What about polar bears? Eat a polar bear liver and you'll die from vitamin poisoning. There are lots of harmful animals. So what is food? Answer: food is what Yahweh says you can eat, and therefore food is what is stated in the kashrut laws. Thus pig is not food - it's something else. So what was Paul telling the Romans? He was saying that if Yahweh says something (like beef) is food, then that's what it is. But if eating a cow will offend someone weak in the faith (say, a new Hindu convert), then abstain from it for his sake so that he does not deny his salvation and return to his false religion. Build him up until his conscience has been retrained in Torah-truth and eating cow will not offend him.
In any case, there are no unclean beasts around for Peter to kill and eat - he's in the middle of a city - and his lawful meal is waiting for him just a few steps away: so why did Yahweh say this to His apostle? Why did Yahweh repeat this instruction: "Do not consider anything unclean that Elohim has declared clean" three times before the sheet was taken back up into heaven (vv.15-16)?
Do you remember how Yah'shua had to ask Peter three times if he loved Him (Jn.21:15-17), and how he denied his Saviour three times during the arrest? (Lk.22:34; Jn.18:25-27) Peter was a little slow in some things. He has lessons in obedience to learn, and not a few in trust. He was told by the Master that he would be taken to a place where he did not want to go and become a martyr (Jn.21:18-19). And do you remember the time when Peter, the chief apostle then, came under the influence of the Talmudists and refused to eat with gentile converts and had to be rebuked by Paul? (Gal.2:11-12) He forgot the lesson that he was supernaturally taught here at Joppa because he feared to be judged by the Talmudist converts and his fellow Jews. We often have to relearn important lessons several times before they sink in and we finally obey without question.
This whole visionary experience took place while Cornelius' men were on their way to him. Prophetic events are moving in parallel. Yahweh did not change His dietary laws and this experience of Peter was not a 'new' food law being given. Why would Yahweh go to all the trouble to give Israel a sound food health code and then suddenly permit them to eat filthy food high in cholesterol and bad for the heart, high in heavy metals (in sea food like crabs and other sea-bottom scavengers), and full of parasites like the tapeworm in pigs? What sort of sense does that make? It makes no sense at all.
But then Yahweh's ways of instruction are not men's. Read through John's Gospel and how the Master says many baffling things like asking us to eat His flesh and drink His blood (Jn.6:53-62 - kashrut forbids the eating of blood - see Lev.3:17), and hating our nearest and dearest (when He has told us to love them - Lk.14:26 cp. Lk.6:27; Mt.5:43). Why does Elohim talk like this? It is to create sharp contrasts and to get us to think about our priorities so that we will make fundamentally important choices (Lk.14:27) that will help us avoid compromising our salvation. And Peter thought all right! He thought: "Eeek! This is crazy! I can't do this!" And he was right but he failed to realise that Yahweh was talking about something completely different. Two events are taking place simultaneously here - messengers from a gentile investigator are on their way to Peter and the message they bring will change the way the new Messianic believers - who are all Jews - will view gentiles after years of false teaching by the Pharisees - and at the same time Peter is being shown a strange and apparently confusing vision.
We read that "Peter wondered to himself about the meaning of this vision he had seen" (v.17) and arrived at no answer until and immediately after the arrival of the messengers. Meanwhile, Cornelius' men were approaching the gate where Peter was staying. The answer to his question lay in the mission of these men. And how many men were there? Yes, you're right, three! It seems Peter needs things to be repeated three times before they sink in. Nothing is accidental in Yahweh's scheme of things. The men arrived as he was pondering.
Now the subject matter switches. We're not told anything more about dietary laws because this vision isn't about diet at all. Yahweh is preparing Peter and the whole Messianic Community for something completely different. Yahweh has stirred Peter's mind up and got him wondering. Now he will be prepared for what is to come. Indeed, what does the Ruach haQodesh say next to Peter?
"Listen, three men are here looking for you. So get yourself ready and go down [off the roof] and do not hesitate to go with them [to Cornelius], for I have sent them" (v.20).
Suddenly his delicious lunch isn't nearly so important!! Isn't that funny? Food is the least important thing right now for this hungry Galilean. Yahweh is about to serve an entirely different kind of 'food', the kind that Yah'shua spoke about many times:
"Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes" (Luke 12:23, NIV).
Yahweh is concerned about providing us with food, making sure we eat healthily so that we can enjoy longevity, but His first concern is with spiritual life. The arrival of the three men is a portent of a HUGE work of the Ruach about to begin. The heavenly manna which has been restricted to tiny little Israel is about to be exported to the whole world. Yah'shua also said:
"'My food,' said Yah'shua, 'is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest" (John 4:34-36, NIV).
It is the unspiritual like Esau who are more interested in bowls of soup than in spiritual inheritance as Jacob was, and it is the unspiritual Christians who see in Peter's vision a perverse overturning of Yahweh's Word about food rather than the stupendous revelation of the Ruach haQodesh which it was really about. Do we really want to get bogged down in the creepy-crawly things of the earth and fill our stomachs with them (anyone for lizard-on-toast?), breaking Yahweh's kashrut laws, or do we want to seize LIFE and get the bigger picture?
The next day Peter accompanies the three men to Caesarea where not only Cornelius was waiting for them but his relatives and close friends as well. Peter is taken to this little assembly and what are the first words he says to them? Mark them well because he has now understood the vision of the unclean foods:
"You yourselves know very well that a Jew is not allowed by his [false talmudic] religion to visit or associate with a Gentile [including eating with him]. But Elohim has shown me that I must not consider any MAN unclean (unkosher) or defiled" (v.28).
Peter doesn't explain how he got this revelation but between the time he was pondering his vision on the roof, the arrival of the three men, and the next day when he set out for Caesarea, and possibly on the journey there too, Yahweh explained the vision to him so that he would enter the gentile's house without a bad conscience. It doesn't say he got the revelation after he had entered it. And this was its interpretation. The content of the vision - the unclean animals - had NOTHING literally to do with what Yahweh wanted to convey to the apostle. The vision was about PEOPLE and how Yahweh views them.
The Talmudic Jews then - as today- regard themselves as a master-race, just like the nazis did, and even regarded gentiles as animals. Ah, now do you see the connection? They were sub-humans, untermenschen, less than humans, like unclean animals. What Peter believed in - and what nearly all Jews of his day believed in - was the false religion of the spiritual leaders which forms the core of modern Judaism and has formed the attitudes that many modern Israelis - both orthodox and secular (and not a few Messianic Jews and Israelites) - have towards Palestinians and others, and which they use to justify land-seizure, torture and murder. The animals in Peter's vision were symbolic of PEOPLE whom the Pharisees regarded as unkosher and inferior. In fact, what was one of the tendencies of the Pharisees, Saducees and Torah-teachers (Scribes) of Yah'shua's day?
"Watch out for the teachers of the Torah (law). They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely" (Mark 12:38-40, NIV; cp. Lk.20:47).
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings" (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV).
Satan, and those filled with his spirit as Judas was, are devourers of people. They eat them up and spit them out. How did Judas treat the woman who was washing and anointing Yah'shua's feet in preparation for His burial? What Peter saw was a vision and it was symbolic. He could not have killed and eaten what he saw with all the will in the world because that was not Yahweh's intent anyway. What the vision was showing him was that the people the religious leaders had declared unkosher was a lie. Yahweh loves all people and accepts them on the same basis, whether Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or freeman (Gal.3:28).
What happened next is actually what this sermon is all about and what Yahweh revealed to me. What follows is a description of our primary mission in the world, and the mission of all Christians and Messianics everywhere. It is an identical mission across the whole Body of Messiah and is the work of the Ruach haRishon - the first of the seven Ruachs - that dissolves all barriers between evangelicals and Messianics in the basic truth and revelation of the Gospel. This was Peter's message upon declaring the interpretation of the vision to Cornelius and his household and this is OUR message to the world which Yahweh vindicated, confirmed and sealed by a spectacular act every bit as great as the parting of the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) under Moses, into whom the nation of Israel had been baptised (1 Cor.10:2). Pay close attention to the message:
"You know the message Elohim sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Yah'shua the Messiah, who is Master of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached - how Elohim anointed Yah'shua of Nazareth with the Ruach haQodesh and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because Elohim was with Him. We are witnesses of everything He did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging Him on a tree, but Elohim raised him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom Elohim had already chosen - by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the one whom Elohim appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name [Yah'shua]" (Acts 10:36-43, NIV).
This is what Peter preached to Cornelius, a Torah-observant Roman, and it is the message that Paul preached to the gentiles everywhere. Whether they have a Torah-observant background or not is irrelevant because this message is the basis on which we are to convert. Teaching converts to observe Torah comes afterwards. This same message must go out to Jews too. It is the basic message of fundamental evangelical Christianity.
Were this to have been the limit of our preaching, and Torah aside, we would become Baptists or something like them. But this was not the end of Peter's witness. Indeed, he himself got quite a surprise when what followed took place because it was a kind of recapitulation for him of what he had earlier experienced himself:
"While Peter was still speaking, the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) came down upon all those who were listening to the message. The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that Elohim had poured out His gift of the Ruach haQodesh on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speaking with strange sounds {glossa - naturally-acquired languages} and praising Elohim's greatness. Peter spoke up: 'These people have received the Ruach haQodesh, just as we also did. Can anyone, then, stop them from being baptised with water? So he ordered them to be baptised (immersed) in the Name of Yah'shua the Messiah" (Ac.10:44-48, TEV - modified).
Now these Jewish converts heard the Gentiles "speaking with strange sounds" (TEV) - or did they? I quickly flipped through a dozen or so Bible translations I have and found numerous renditions for the Greek word glossa - "speaking in tongues" (GNB, ISRV, NIV, RSV, JNT), "speaking with tongues" (NASU, NASB, Knox), "speaking in foreign tongues" (JBP), "speaking in foreign languages" (S&G), "speaking in tongues of ecstasy" (NEB), "speaking unknown languages" (CEV), "talking in ecstasy" (Rieu) and "speaking strange languages" (JB) which are either sometimes vague or just human interpretations. So what is true? Certainly there is no hint of 'ecstatic' tongues in the Greek anywhere and when you look at Hebraic translations, which read, for example, "speaking in different tongues" (HRV) or "speak with other languages" (RSTNE), it's clear that foreign languages is the essential meaning because the Greek glossa means a 'naturally-acquired language'. In those days such a naturally-acquired language would have been Latin, Greek, Aramaic or Hebrew - today they would include English, Japanese, Russian and French. So why the translator biases? Because millions of Christians whom we know variously as 'Pentecostals' or 'charismatics' do speak what they called 'tongues' which are, almost without exception, just babble - they are not naturally-acquired languages, nor languages of any kind.
Now I know that this is a topic that we have exhausted many times before and most of you know our position here. We have always taught that the gift of tongues is, in fact, the supernaturally-acquired ability to speak a known, ordinarily naturally-acquired foreign language for the benefit of unbelievers who, hearing the Gospel preached in their own language by someone who has not acquired it naturally, are thereby convinced of the power of Yahweh and are thereby converted and led to praise Him:
"Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers" (1 Cor.14:22, NIV).
It is quite amazing to me, then, to hear from Pentecostals and charismatics demand that we believe the lie that tongues is for the personal edification of believers! Tongues are for unbelievers whereas prophecy is for believers:
"Prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole assembly comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship Elohim, exclaiming, 'Elohim is really among you!'" (1 Cor.14:22-25, NIV).
This is what I have taught for years. And it is confirmed by this passage in Acts 10 which tells us that the Gentiles in Cornelius' house were speaking in the same way that the Jewish onlookers had experienced themselves on the day of Pentecost or Shavu'ot: for Peter, a fellow Jew, testified: "These people have received the Ruach haQodesh, just as we also did". So what was the "just as we did?" How did Peter and the other Jews receive the Ruach haQodesh? I shan't recall the whole story here - you can read it up in the second chapter of the Book of Acts - suffice to say that these first Hebrew believers spoke in naturally-acquired languages by supernatural means, and not your modern gibberish. The response of the onlookers proves that:
"Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs - hear them declaring the wonders of Elohim in our own tongues!'" (Acts 2:6-11, NIV).
This proves that the 'gift of tongues' given to the first believers was not babble or gibberish but intelligible naturally-acquired and recognisable languages currently in use. These languages may have been 'unknown' to some who were there just as I wouldn't know how to recognise Swahili or Mongolian if I heard it - these would be 'unknown tongues' to me; whereas had I heard German, French, Norwegian or Swedish, I would have recognised them and they would be 'known tongues' to me. The first Christians were not Pentecostals or charismatics as we understand these terms today because these first believers spoke KNOWN LANGUAGES whereas your modern babbler does not. In fact, it is quite wrong for 'Pentecostals' to call themselves by that label because they are not doing what the first Christians did at Pentecost. Not at all. Azuza Street was not a true restoration.
However, this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about today - this is old material, though important to repeat to remind our newer people of the deceptions and delusions that are in the Body of Christ today. Last Yom haRishon Yahweh showed me something that I was in denial over because I could not explain it: for it is very clear - undeniably clear, just as Pentecostals and charismatics teach, namely, that the first believers - whether Jews or Gentiles - received the gift of the Ruach haQodesh (in this example, and in the example of Pentecost) without any laying-on of hands (though it can happen that way too) which was accompanied by two things:
1. Speaking in tongues; and
I repeat, a sign of the new birth is always "speaking in tongues". The question is - what does that mean? One thing that it does not mean is that the person thus filled with the Ruach haQodesh starts speaking gibberish, as I have consistently taught over the years of my ministry and as the Scriptures prove. The glossa they spoke were naturally-acquired human languages like English or Hebrew.
As Peter preached to Cornelius' household, the Ruach fell upon them and they praised Yahweh. To the Jews present, it reminded them of what had happened to them in Jerusalem at Shavu'ot. First, they all spoke languages not their own but which could be recognised by others, and then they praised Yahweh. Back in Jerusalem, as in Caesarea, Peter had preached (Ac.2:14-36). After he had finished, those assembled were "cut to the heart" (v.37) and wanted to know what to do, to which Peter replied:
"Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Yah'shua the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Ruach haQodesh. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom Yahweh our Elohim will call" (Acts 2:38-39, NIV).
There is no evidence that those who heard their own languages being supernaturally spoken in Jerusalem - Parthian, Median, Cappadocian, Phrygian, or whatever, themselves spoke in tongues - that ability seems to have been restricted to those Jews who already believed - but they could well have done. Certainly in Caesarea the Ruach fell upon all of Cornelius' family and guests though whether they all spoke in tongues or not, is open to debate. The witness of Paul later was that the gift to supernaturally speak in foreign languages was - and is - not for everyone for he says:
"Now you are the body of Messiah, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the Messianic Community (church) Elohim has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?" (1 Cor .2:27-31, NIV).
The answer is, no, not everyone speaks in tongues and not everyone interprets. This is a gift for a few. But the actual baptism of the Ruach haQodesh - the actual filling of the Ruach haQodesh at the point of true faith very clearly involves two things - things which identify one who has been born again - and these two signs are that they (1) speak in languages, and (2) praise Yahweh. Up until last Yom haRishon, though, I was baffled, because when I was born of the Ruach and was on my knees praising Yahweh with all the fervour of my being, I was not supernaturally speaking in a foreign language. Why not?
The answer is ludicrously simple. The word glossa which we translate as 'tongues' does not have to be a foreign language - it's simply a naturally-acquired language and may just as well be ones own native language. There would have been no point in my speaking another language when I was born again anyway because I was alone and was not witnessing to others as the apostles were in Jerusalem. At Shavu'ot or Pentecost they were performing two functions - or rather Yahweh was: (1) They were being born again; and (2) they were witnessing to unbelievers who were converted as a result of their experience. Two important things to mention here:
Firstly, like Cornelius' assembly, they were "cut to the heart" and were as a result "praising Yahweh". When you are born of the Ruach, you can't not praise Him! Your praise is supernaturally induced. It's not mere animation of the tongue - to speak your native tongue or someone else's language - it is transformation of the heart which responds in the only way it knows how. When I spoke in tongues, I spoke in English, but it was not 'natural English' but Ruach-filled English because I was praising Yahweh in a way I had never done before. These were not mere 'English words' which even an unbeliever could have spoken but they were words spoken through a 'cut' and supernaturally-filled heart.
The apostles who spoke in tongues in the upper room in Jerusalem were both being born again and operating in the gift of tongues. Paul said he spoke in tongues more than anyone else (1 Cor.14:18) which means, because of his missionary journeys through many countries where many languages and dialects were spoken, there was need for him to be multi-lingual so that he could witness. Doubtless he spoke several languages naturally which he had acquired by the normal painstaking method of learning, but additionally it is plain that the other languages which he acquired - as they were needed in situ - came supernaturally, so that when he was not preaching he could not speak those foreign languages naturally. Thus the GIFT of tongues, which is given to some people whom Yahweh calls to use in order to witness, is the gift to supernaturally speak a natural language not of one's own, but the speaking in tongues when one is born again for the first and only time, can either be your own natural tongue or foreign languages for the benefit of other unregenerated believers or unbelievers. Cornelius' gathering doubtless included people who spoke many languages. He was a soldier and men from many nations and languages served in the Roman Armed Forces who would have been stationed in Israel. So it would be quite understandable that the same thing that happened in Jerusalem at Pentecost also happened in Caesarea, but this time with non-Hebrew Gentiles. This means that the gift of the Ruach haQodesh and the gift of speaking in tongues are not the same thing but can occur simultaneously, as happened in Caesarea.
I do not have the gift of tongues - at least not as of yet - but when I was born again I most certainly did 'speak in tongues' only this time I spoke English in the language of the Ruach as opposed to the language of the psyche. When believers speak prophetically they are also speaking in tongues because their own language is being animated to speak the words of Yahweh. When a soul is born again, the language that one speaks, additional to one's natural tongue, is the language of Ruach-animated PRAISE. This means that there is a difference between one who cries 'Hallelu-Yah!' in the power of his own psyche and one who cries 'Hallelu-Yah!' in the power of the Ruach haQodesh. This should be obvious by just looking at many of the demonically-filled charismatics who use all the right 'praise words' but whose works are unscriptural and evil.
We have now discussed the 10th chapter of Acts. In the first half of the 11th, Peter reports to the central Assembly at Jerusalem what happened at Cornelius' household. A dispute arose amongst the Talmud-influenced Jewish believers who were demanding that the Gentiles be circumcised - you will remember, the only physical ordinance that Peter demanded of them was water baptism by immersion. Peter related what had happened, adding a few things not mentioned in the 10th chapter:
"And when I began to speak, the Ruach haQodesh came down on them just as on us at the beginning (Pentecost/Shavu'ot). Then I remembered what the Master had said: 'John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Ruach haQodesh'. It is clear that Elohim gave those Gentiles the same gift that He gave us when we believed in the Master Yah'shua the Messiah; who was I, then, to try to stop Elohim!' When they heard this, they stopped their criticism and praised Elohim, saying, 'Then Elohim has given to the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live!'" (Ac.11:15-18, TEV).
The sign that we have repented - allowed guilt for sin to cut our hearts - comes when we start supernaturally speaking in the tongues of praise - whether in our own language or - if others are present who are unbelievers and who do not speak our natural language - in a foreign language like Cantonese, Spanish, Urdu or whatever - as Yahweh wills. Intellectual assent to the Gospel is never enough - there has to be a heart-penetration by the Ruach which leads to spontaneous and joyous praise. You don't have to force it - it'll just happen.
The reason, I suspect, that there is such disagreement between translators on how to translate glossa is because they are reading into this word other actions of the Ruach. Thus the TEV (1966 NT edition) translator says the gentiles spoke "with strange sounds" (Ac.10:46), probably remembering what Paul would later say:
"Thus also, She the Ruach (Spirit) aids our infirmity, for we do not know what is right to pray for. But She the Ruach (Spirit) prays on our behalf with groans that are not describable" (Rom.8:26, HRV).
These "groans" are not the crazy animal sounds like wolves howling that some charismatics make but stenagmos or "sighs" that reflects the grief and heaviness that Yahweh feels for the sins and bondage of unrepentant men and women (cp. 2 Cor.5:2-4; Rom.8:22-23). This has nothing to do with the new birth which is a time of great joy and praise - this is a different ministry of the Ruach haQodesh, that or burden-bearing and of looking forward to and yearning for the Millennial Age of Peace to come.
Likewise, some translators assume that glossa means 'ecstatic utterances' (i.e. gibberish or babble) in part because millions of charismatic Christians do this sort of thing (just as millions of pagans do too, incidentally) but also because anciently this was done in pre-New Testament times by the heathen. Thus you will find many assuming that when Saul prophesied that he was involved in some sort of ecstatic behaviour like the Muslim dervishes (1 Sam.10:11-12). So we see how preconceived ideas get their way into translations and corrupt our Bibles and thinking.
There is no more important event in the believer's life than the new birth. It's a supernatural experience that utterly transforms the soul and which is indispensable to the Christian's life and, I dare say, his spiritual safety. There have been numerous times in my life when my testimony has been challenged and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that had I not been born again as I was on 30 March 1997 that I probably would have succumbed to the philosophy of men. Interestingly enough, on the morning of Yom haRishon before I got up and went to the 'rest room', Yahweh audibly told me to turn to John 3:3 in the Amplified Version of the Bible which I keep at my bedside always. What I read only doubly reinforced the three days of 'Acts 10' immersions that I had been having - and would have one more time when I left the bedroom. Here is the passage of Scripture, very familiar to all evangelicals:
"Yah'shua answered [Nicodemus], I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see - know, be acquainted with [and experience] - the kingdom of Elohim" (Jn.3:3; AmpV).
An intellectual or scholarly knowledge is not enough to become a believer. To see, know, understand and be persuaded in your whole being of the existence of Yahweh, the love of Yah'shua, and the invisible reality of the Kingdom of Elohim as a tangible force or power, can ONLY be accomplished by the new birth - an anointing of the Ruach haQodesh which fills your heart, causes you to speak in tongues and to spontaneously praise Yahweh with your whole might, mind and strength. This happened to me - it has happened to hundreds of thousands of others - I know of what I am speaking.
But this is my testimony. If you have not thus been blessed, then you too must approach the Throne of Grace, believe the Good News that Peter preached at Cornelius' home, open your heart, and submit to the Most High El Elyon. Trust in Yah'shua. Repent of your sins. Give your life to Him.
My testimony - or the testimony of others - is not enough for you to believe - all we can do is encourage you to do what every living soul must do to enter the Kingdom and make it a living reality in your heart. You will speak in tongues, but it won't be the babble or gibberish you hear in charismatic churches, and it won't necessarily be in a foreign language given to you supernaturally, but you will be utterly changed inside and start your life anew, like a new-born child. And it doesn't matter if you're a Torah expert like the Scribes were because knowledge won't get you into heaven, my friend, but only active trust that transfers sovereignty of your life over to Yahweh so that you cease to be 'I' but become 'I, but not I' as I told you about last week.
"Yah'shua answered [Nicodemus who couldn't understand how a person could be born twice], I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Except a man be born of water and the Ruach, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of Elohim" (v.5).
Do we now hear in these words of the Master the echo of Yahweh across the centuries when He spoke to Ezekiel?
"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Ruach in you and move you to follow My decrees (mishpatim - judgements, right-rulings that make perfect sense) and be careful to keep (guard and do) my laws (mishpatim)" (Ezek.36:25-27, NIV).
You cannot truly "guard", "do" or "follow" Yahweh's Torah until you have "a new heart and ... a new spirit" in you anymore than you can truly praise Yahweh until the Ruach haQodesh has fallen on you and causes you to speak in tongues of praise! There will always be two kinds of Torah-observance and two kinds of praise in this world - the one animated by the human psyche and /or demons (in which case the worship will be of self or of Satan, in spite of the usage of scriptural terminology) and the other animated by the Ruach haQodesh and only those who have been truly born again can distinguish between them! Indeed, those who have not been born again will, at best, be confounded, or at worst come to hate those who have received this New Birth of which Nicodemus enquired.
There is nothing more important than being born again. It's the beginning an end of your whole meaning down here on earth, the Alpha and Omega, and Alef and Tav. This is - and always will be - the first and most important witness of this ministry (OB 263:2-4). It is the beginning of every man and woman's journey into All Truth. Amen.
Author: Lev-Tsiyon
Glossary of MLT Hebraic, Greek and English Terms For other terms and full details please see the Micropedia
A
Adon(ai) = Master, a pagan fertility god, Adonis; used by many Messianics but not MLT
(a)eon(ian) = 7 dispensation- or age-long time periods, not forever (see le-olam-va-ed)
Alef-Tav = Alpha-Omega, A-Z, first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet = Yah'shua
Amen = truly, let it be so, written Amein by some Messianics
Apocrypha = Hebraic Scriptures not a part of the Protestant canon (e.g. Baruch)
Anti-Messiah = Hebraic term for the end-time Antichrist or anyone opposed to the Messiah
antinomian = lawless Christian who disregards all or part of Torah/commandments
Ashkenazi Jew = East European Jew descended from the Turkic-Japhethite Khazars
Assembly = church, congregation, ekklesia, community, fellowship, koinonia, gathering
Azazel = the Yom Kippur scapegoat
B
Baal, Ba'al = any other master than Yahweh, usually demonic in MLT terminology
Bachor(im) = firstborn son(s)
Bar/Bat Mitzvah = Son/Daughter of Commandment, covenant to obey Torah at age 12
being = soul, the whole person (spirit and body), e.g. "my whole being"
Beit, bet, beth = house, e.g. Beit Yisrael (House of Israel), Beth Lechem (House of Bread)
Beit haMikdash = Yahweh's Temple in Yerushalayim
B'rit Chadashah = the New Covenant; B'rit Chadashah Scriptures = New Testament
B'rit Milah = circumcision - abolished in the B'rit Chadashah, replaced by Mikvah
C
canon = authoritative Scripture (Heb. qaneh, Gk. kanôn = measuring instrument)
Catechumen = a serious, covenanted investigator seeking Mikvah or Baptism in MLT
Chag haMatzah = Feast of Unleavened Bread, second of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Chavurat Bekorot = MLT's Priesthood Order, Holy Order and Assembly of the Firstborn
Cohen = priest; Cohen Gadol = High Priest (also spelled Kohen)
Council of Yah's elohim = the heavenly Assembly of the Firstborn or Chavurat Bekorot
D
demon = fallen malek or angel in rebellion against Yahweh (Heb. shad; see Êl-Shaddai)
derech = the Way, Path or Road - Yah'shua and the Gospel are the Way
Drash = moral or homiletic interpretation of Scripture - see PaRDeS
E
Echad = One, Union of two or more in one (as opposed to Yachid) - see Elohim
Echad Godhead Doctrine = Father Yahweh, Son Yah'shua and Sevenfold Ruach (Mother)
Êl, Eloah, Elah = God the Father, Yahweh
Êl-Elyon = Most High God, Yahweh
Êl-Shaddai = Master/Lord over all shads or demons
Elohim = God, the Godhead (Father, Son & Holy Spirit), lit. 'Mighty One(s)', 'Ruler(s)'
elohim = Israelite judges, rulers, angels or gods (false deities, idols, demons)
emunah = faith, actively trusting, clinging or adhering to (especially Yahweh or Yah'shua)
emet = truth, Yah'shua is the Emet
Ephraimite = descendant of the patriarch Ephraim and head of Messsianic Israel
F
Feasts of Yahweh = the 7 annual Moedim (Pesach, Chag haMatzah, Yom haBikkurim, Shavu'ot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot)
G
Gan-Eden = Garden of Eden, Paradise and state of the purified heart in Messiah
goy(im) = nation(s), Israelites or gentiles not born in or converted to the Covenant
H
hallelu-Yah = praise Yah(weh)!
Heylel = proper name of Satan or haSatan = the Adversary, the devil
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Hochmah = Wisdom, title of the 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
I
IDL = International Date Line, false man-made time division in Pacific Ocean
IDL Zone = Area between the true Divine Date Line (Lake Van/Eden) and the false one
Israeli = citizen of the modern Edomite-Khazar Republic of Israel (not Biblical Israel)
Israelite = citizen of biblical state of Israel or a modern follower of the Messiah
J
Jew = post-biblical term describing descendants of Edomite and Khazar converts to Judaism
Johannine = pertaining to the Apostle Yochanan (e.g. Gospel of John)
Josephite = descendant of the patriarch Joseph, the head of Messianic Israel
Judahite = a person in direct descent from the patriarch Judah, forefather of the Messiah
Judaism = a Talmudic-based religion rejecting Yah'shua the Messiah
Judean = a citizen of the Kingdom or Province of Judah until the 2nd Century diaspora
K
Kadosh la Yahweh = set-apart or dedicated to Yahweh, 'Holiness to the Lord', MLT motto
Karaites = Jews (from 700 AD) who reject the Talmud and accept only the Tanakh
kashrut = keeping kosher, food laws of Yahweh and correspinding lifestyle
Ketuvim = Writings or Hagiographa of the Tanakh
Khazar = a Turkic convert to Judaism ~700 AD forming the Ashkenazi Jewish community
kosher = clean foods authorised by Yahweh for human consumption
L
Lashon Hara = evil-speaking, gossip or slander
legalism = false route to salvation through works (self-salvation)
le-olam-va-ed = dispensation- or age-long, aeonian, not eternal, forever or for eternity
Lev = heart, as in Lev-Tsiyon = heart of Zion
Lev-Tsiyon = Heart of the Fortress [of Yahweh], Hebrew name of MLT's founder
M
Master = Lord, Sir, Adon(ai) - (one in authority, a ruler - a king, husband, prophet, judge)
Malak(im) = Angel(s), heavenly supernatural messenger(s)
manna = wafers of honey, bread from heaven (lit. 'what is this?')
matzah = unleavened bread, see Chag haMatzah
Menorah = 7-armed candlearbra = the 7 annual Moedim and 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
Messiah = Christ; Anti-Messiah = Antichrist
Messianic Community = Body of Christ, sum total of all true believers; all true fellowships
Messianic Israel = all who worship Yahweh, trust in Yah'shua, obey Torah and overcome
Messianic Jew = Messianic convert from Judaism still clinging to Talmudic traditions
Midrash = aggadic interpretation of scripture viâ Drash, a scriptural discussion
Mikvah = baptism by immersion of convert into Yah'shua or of wife into husband
Mishpachah = family: nuclear, congregational, tribal or the whole of Messianic Israel
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon = family of the heart of the fortress [of Yahweh]
Mishpat = right-ruling or judgement
mitzvah/mitzvot = commandment(s)
moed(im) = appointment(s) of Yahweh, 7 Annual Feasts, Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh
N
Nefilim, Nephilim = giant offspring of materialised demons and human women
Nevi'im = prophetic writings of the Old Testament or Tanakh
New Birth = spiritual conversion in the Ruach haRishon, being 'born again' with new heart
Nidah = a woman's menstruation period during which no intercourse is permitted
O
Olive Branch = collection of revelations, prophecies and visions published by MLT
P
Paraclete = Comforter, Advocate (NEB), Counsellor, Ruach haQodesh (Gk. paraklêtos)
PaRDeS = method of textual interpretation (homiletics) - see P'shat, Remez, Drash, Sod
Patriarch = a father who is head of his family, clan or tribe (lit. 'father-ruler')
Pentateuch = first five books of the Tanakh (Genesis-Deuteronomy), also called Torah
peribolaion = headcovering worn by daughters/wives in submission to fathers/husbands
Pesach = Passover, first of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Peshitta = an Aramaic version of the Bible
Prototrinitarianism = early, simplified MLT formulation of the Echad Godhead Doctrine
Prush(im) = Pharisee(s)
Pseudepigrapha = Non-canonical Hebrew writings additional to the Apocrypha
P'shat = literal, contextual, philological, exoteric, outer meaning of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Q
Qadosh Qadoshim = Holy of Holies, most sacred set-apart room of the Beit haMikdash
Qodesh, Kodesh = set-apart, holy (see Ruach haQodesh)
R
Rabbi = Teacher, term used by Messianic Jews and some Messianic Israelites = Pastor
Refuge, the 12 Cities of = divinely protected MLT fortresses during the 7-year Tribulation
Remez = hint or allegorical level of Hebraic understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Rosh Chodesh = monthly New Moon appointment of Yahweh
ruach = spirit of a person (lit.'breath')
Ruach Elohim = Spirit of God (the Spirit of the collective Godhead or Elohim)
Ruach haChamashee = 5th Ruach presides over Yom Teruah and Yom Chamashee
Ruach haQodesh = the Sevenfold Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (lit. 'Set-Apart Breath')
Ruach haRevee = 4th Ruach presides over Shavu'ot, Yom Revee and Bar Mitzvah
Ruach haRishon = 1st Ruach presides over Pesach, Yom Rishon and the New Birth
Ruach haShanee = 2nd Ruach presides over Chag haMatzah and Yom Shanee
Ruach haSheshi = 6th Ruach presides over Yom Kippur and Yom Sheshi
Ruach haShleshi = 3rd Ruach presides over Yom haBikkurim, Yom Shleshi and Mikvah
S
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Satan = rebel archangel Heylel, father of lies, devil, chief demon (lit.'Adversary')
Sephardic Jew = West European Jew of mixed blood containing many Judahites
Septuagint = Greek translation of the Tanakh, LXX
Shegal haShabbat = 7th Ruach (Sabbath Queen) presides over Sukkot and Yom Shabbat
Shekinah = Divine Presence and Glory of Yahweh-Elohim
Set-apart = holy, sanctified, consecrated, dedicated, separated (to and by Yahweh)
Shabbat-Shabbaton = High Sabbath (e.g. Yom Kippur)
Shalom = heavenly peace, standard Hebraic greeting invoking Yahweh's peace
Shamash(im) = servant(s), deacon(s), attendant(s)
Shavu'ot = Pentecost or Weeks, fourth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Sheol = grave or pit, euphamism for Hades or hell - also see Tartarus
shofar = ram's horn, blown during Yahweh's Moedim
simcha = joy, keynote of Sukkot
Sod = mystical, anagogic, inner or esoteric understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Sukkot = Tabernacles or Booths, seventh of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Synagogue = Greek word used by Jews and Messianics (but not MLT) for a meeting house
T
talmid(a) = male/female disciple or student
Talmud = scriptures, teachings and commentaries belonging to non-Messianic Judaism
Tanakh = acronym for Old Testament Scriptures - Torah, Nevi'im & Ketuvim
Tartarus = place of imprisonment under the earth for rebellious angels and Nephilim
teshuvah = repentance, remorse and contrition leading back to Torah obedience
Torah = Yahweh's teachings or Law; New Covenant Torah includes Yah'shua's teachings
Tribulation, the Great = the final 7 years of the present aeon when Anti-Messiah rules
Trinity = Catholic Godhead formula - see Echad Godhead Doctrine and Prototrinitarianism
Tsiyon = Zion, a fortress, a name of Jerusalem and a prominent hill
Tzitzit/Tizitziyot = tassel(s) worn by men in remembrance of Torah
U
Universalism = salvation of all at the cosmic Yovel, with different rewards and punishments
Y
Yachid = one, single person or item, as opposed to Echad (many in one, unity)
Yah'shua the Messiah = Jesus Christ (the Son)
Yahudah = Judah - see Judahite
Yahweh, Yah, YHWH = the true Name of our Heavenly Father, also carried by Yah'shua
Yahweh-Elohim = LORD God (the Father, Yahweh as Head of the Godhead or Elohim)
Yahweh haQatan = the sent Yahweh = Yah(weh)'shua, Malak of Yahweh's Presence
Yam Suf = Sea of Reeds, the true Israelite Exodus water crossing, not the Red Sea
Yarden = Jordan River (lit. 'meanderer')
Yerushalayim = Jerusalem
Yisrael = Israel (lit. 'ruling with Êl') = true believers under the New Covenant
Yom Chamashee = 5th day of the week (Thursday, Friday in IDL Zone)
Yom Din, Yom haDin = (the) Day of Judgement
Yom haBikkurim = Feast of Firstfruits, third of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Revee = 4th day of the week (Wednesday, Thursday in IDL Zone)
Yom Rishon = 1st day of the week (Sunday, Monday in IDL Zone)
Yom Kippur = Day of Atonement, sixth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Shabbat = 7th day of the week and Sabbath Rest (Saturday, Sunday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shanee = 2nd day of the week (Monday, Tuesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Sheshi = 6th day of the week (Friday, Saturday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shleshi = 3rd day of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Teruah = Day of Trumpets, fifth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yosef = Joseph - see Josephite
Yovel = Jubilee or Year of Jubilee
Z
Zaqen(im) = elder(s) of an assembly or congregation, or senior members of a community
Zoë Life = Greek term for spiritual life in the Messiah
Commonly Used MLT Abbreviations
For additional abbreviations and explanations, please see the Micropedia
A
Amp.V(er). = Amplified Version of the Bible
Aram. = Aramaic
AV = Authorised Version of the Bible - see KJV
B
BCAY = B'rit Chadashah Assembly of Yahweh - see NCCG
BoA = Books of Abraham (e.g. 1Abr., 2Abr., etc.)
C
cp, cf = compare with
CB(Q) = Chavurat Bekorot
CEV = Contemporary English Version of the Bible
ch. = chapter
CJB = Complete Jewish Bible
CLNT = Concordant Literal New Testament
CYe = Council of Yah's elohim
E
Eng. = English
F
ff. = and onwards/forwards
fn = footnote
G
Gk. = Greek
GNB = Good News Bible - see TEV
H
Heb. = Hebrew, Hebraic
HEM = Holy Echad Marriage, eternal marriage
HO = Holy Order - see Chavurat Bekorot
HOC = Holy Order Collection of revelations - see OB
HRV = Hebraic-Roots Version of the Bible
I
ibid. = ibidem (lit. 'in the same place'), referring to a book previously cited
ICJC = Independent Church of Jesus Christ, earlier name of NCCF
ISRV = Institute for Scripture Research Version of the Bible
J
JB = Jerusalem Bible
JBP/Phillips = J.B.Phillips translation of the New Testament
JNT = Jewish New Testament
K
KJV = King James Version of the Bible - see AV
L
LB = Living Bible
lit. = literally or literature
LXX = Septuagint, Greek translation of the OT
M
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon
Moff. = Moffatt translation of the Bible
MRC = Messianic Renewed Covenant Version of the NT
MS(S) = Manuscript(s)
N
NASB, NASV = New American Standard Bible/Version
NC&C = New Covenants & Commandments - see OB
NCCF = New Covenant Christian Fellowship, earlier name of NCCG
NCCG = New Covenant Church of God, earlier name of MLT - see BCAY
NCP = New Covenant Press, publishing arm of MLT
NCW = New Covenant Witness, MLT magazine
NEB = New English Bible
NIV = New International Version of the Bible
NKJV = New King James Version of the Bible
Nor. = Norwegian
NT = New Testament, B'rit Chadashah
NWT = New World Translation of the Bible, unreliable Jehovah's Witness version
O
OB = Olive Branch - see NC&C
op.cit. = opere citato (lit. in the work cited)
OT = Old Testament, Tanakh
P
p(p). = page(s)
pl. = plural - see s.
PWNC = Prophetic Words of the New Covenant, revelation cataloging system - see OB
Q
QED = quod erat demonstrandum (lit. which was shown to be proved)
R
RCF = Restoration Christian Fellowship, earlier name of ICJC
RhQ = Ruach haQodesh, Holy Spirit
RSTNE = Restoration Scriptures True Name Edition of the Bible
RSV = Revised Standard Version of the Bible
RV = Revised Version of the Bible
S
s. = singular - see pl.
S&G = Smith & Goodspeed Version of the Bible
T
TEV = Today's English Version of the Bible - see GNB
V
Vulg. = Biblia Vulgata, Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible
W
WEB = World English Bible
Glossary Copyright ©2007 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
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This page was first created on 30 July 2007
Last updated on 30 July 2007
Copyright ©2007 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
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