WRITINGS
Theologians often discuss the condition of man in the Garden of Eden before the fall. God is all-knowing, so why did He place the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden if He foreknew that man would eat of it? It would seem that God had a purpose for this primitive condition.
The first Hebrew word in the Bible is Be-reisheet. This word signifies the very act of creation—God brought “being” into existence from “non-being,” something from nothing. In the beginning (Be-reisheet), the Lord God made all things perfect. Each living organism on earth was divinely planned and woven into the most remarkable fabric of creation, a living tapestry of God’s artwork. Every detail, carefully and methodically executed by the wisdom of God, for a creation without wisdom would be chaos.
Scripture is clear regarding God’s Divine purpose in the creation. He is omniscient and knows every detail of humanity and the nations from the beginning through the end. All God’s works are sovereignly governed according to His plans and purposes. As we read: “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne” (Psalm 47:8); “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,' Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it” (Isaiah 46:10-11).
God’s attributes include His self-existence, immutability (unchanging), eternality, omnipresence (everywhere), omniscience (all-knowing), omnipotence (unlimited), and sovereignty (all-ruling power). God’s attributes are one with and in complete unity with Him. While God is limitless, He has chosen to restrain His will, giving humanity a degree of “free will.” This is the great mystery and the seeming paradox of God’s absolute sovereignty versus His limited will.
Christian theology takes on a definite form and system of study, creating the basis for exploring religious doctrines and matters of divinity, specifically the relationship of God with His creation. Theology comes from two Greek words: theos, meaning “God,” and logos, meaning “discourse” or “reason.” Therefore, theology is the discourse or reasoning about God, His existence, nature, names, attributes, works, and His biblical truth. One of the more challenging areas of theological study is that of God’s triune nature—the Trinity.
God created many languages, as it is written: “From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations” (Genesis 10:5). One of those languages was Aramaic. Aramaic is considered a special and unique language. Rabbi Moses Isserlis said that Aramaic has a semi-holiness that dates to Mount Sinai.
I often hear Christians talk about following the Will of God over the Will of man. It’s a strange word, often used to express someone’s futurity about their express desire.[i] Sometimes I feel like I’m in a wrestling match with God— “I want to buy that new sports car. No, you can’t have it.”
In this context, God’s Will appears arbitrary and maybe even selfishly motivated. Is He the grand arbitrator up in the sky? My response to the car question: “Why can’t I have it?” “Because I said so. Next question, please?”
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he talks about the physical resurrection of the body— “[For] Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, NKJV). Paul’s evidence lay in the accounts of more than five-hundred credible witnesses.
It is written, “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [nishmat chaim]; and man became a living being [in Hebrew a living soul—Nefesh Chaya]” (Genesis 2:7). Thus, God created man in His image, male and female He created us. We are therefore complex beings comprised of a body formed by the hand of God and made from the dust of the earth, and a soul, a spirit that God breathed into us. While certain basic instincts and emotions chemically derive from our physical bodies, our God-breathed souls contain the more profound essence of who we are. For this reason, we are not like any other creature.
Yeshua’s disciples came to him one day and asked: “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Yeshua then began to tell His disciples about all the difficult things that would happen at the end of the age, especially to the nation of Israel—deception, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and more. Then He said, “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8), but the end would not come immediately.
The Latin word “Ex Nihilo” (yesh me-ayin in Hebrew), means out of nothing, and is used to describe God’s creation of the universe and His forming of life from nothingness. Let us therefore ask this question: Can something actually be created out of nothing? Rationally, our minds would tell us no. But if we believe—by faith—that God created the universe ex nihilo, which is both irrational and seemingly impossible to comprehend, then we can also conclude that the universe cannot continue to exist apart from the One who created it.
We read, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
The first word in Hebrew is Be-reisheet. This word signifies the very act of creation—God brought “being” into existence from “non-being,” something from nothing. In the beginning (Be’reisheet), the Lord God-YHVH made everything perfect. Each living organism on earth is divinely planned and woven into the most remarkable fabric of creation, a living tapestry of God’s artwork. Every detail is carefully and methodically executed by the wisdom of God, for creation without wisdom would be chaos. But the universe is far from that. It is intelligently designed by God’s hand. Each star and speck of dust moved into place, every planet in our solar system carefully aligned, and the earth itself delicately cloaked in a firmament of water and oxygen, a biosphere capable of sustaining all life.
