Monthly Archives: March 2010

Some Bible scholars argue that the Hebrew word translated as “virgin” in Isaiah 7: 14 can also mean “a young girl or a young, recently married woman”, so they believe Yahweh was simply saying that a “maiden” would have a child. But the Hebrew word translated as virgin, “almah,” is used seven times in the Old Testament (Genesis 24: 43, Exodus 2: 8, Proverbs 30: 18, Psalm 68: 25, Isaiah 7: 14, and Song of Songs 1: 3 and 6: 8). Each time it refers to a virgin as we understand the meaning of the word. Also, the 70 rabbis who translated the Greek Septuagint Tanach in the third century B.C. used the Greek word “parthenos” which means “virgin” as we use the term today.

Old Posts

“For here we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” (Thomas Jefferson)

____________________

Facebook Group His Name is Yahweh:

I use the Facebook group His Name is Yahweh to notify people when I post a new SnyderTalk.  If you are not already a fan, you should consider signing up.  Click here to visit the site.

____________________

Email Distribution List:

I have created an email distribution list that I use to notify people when I post a new SnyderTalk.  If you would like to be on that list, send your email address to nhsny@yahoo.com.  If you know others who are interested in SnyderTalk content, tell them to send me their email address, and I’ll put them on the list.

____________________

Websites you need to see:

____________________

The Book of Isaiah:

I am now showing you the book of Isaiah from the New American Standard Bible with one significant change.  I am including Yahweh’s Name where it belongs.  Each day I will post one chapter of Isaiah until I have posted the entire book.

Isaiah 5

  1. Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.  My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
  2. He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine.  And He built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones.
  3. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard.
  4. “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?  Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
  5. “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
  6. “I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up.  I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
  7. For the vineyard of Yahweh Sabaoth is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His delightful plant.  Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
  8. Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, until there is no more room, so that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!
  9. In my ears Yahweh Sabaoth has sworn, “Surely, many houses shall become desolate, even great and fine ones, without occupants.
  10. “For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, and a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain.”
  11. Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!
  12. Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of Yahweh, nor do they consider the work of His hands.
  13. Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude is parched with thirst.
  14. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; and Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.
  15. So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased, the eyes of the proud also will be abased.
  16. But Yahweh Sabaoth will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
  17. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.
  18. Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and sin as if with cart ropes;
  19. Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come to pass, that we may know it!”
  20. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
  21. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!
  22. Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
  23. Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
  24. Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of Yahweh Sabaoth and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
  25. On this account the anger of Yahweh has burned against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.  And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.  For all this His anger is not spent, but His hand is still stretched out.
  26. He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, and will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; and behold, it will come with speed swiftly.
  27. No one in it is weary or stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps; nor is the belt at its waist undone, nor its sandal strap broken.
  28. Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; the hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
  29. Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; it growls as it seizes the prey and carries it off with no one to deliver it.
  30. And it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea.  If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
    even the light is darkened by its clouds.

____________________

SnyderTalk® Commentary:

Currently, I am putting up bite sized pieces of His Name is Yahweh in SnyderTalk Commentary.  If you haven’t read it, it will be a treat for you.  If you have read it, you will probably enjoy reading it again.  Don’t hesitate to share it with your friends.  You can download the entire manuscript for free at His Name is Yahweh, or you can buy it in Kindle format from Amazon for just $5.

I have left out several footnotes.  Please go to the website His Name is Yahweh and download the manuscript.  It has all the footnotes, and it’s free.

A Virgin Will Bear This Child

Jeffrey didn’t mention the most unlikely prophecy about the Messiah.  It’s found in Isaiah 7: 14—“a virgin will be with Child.”  I can only guess the reasons why he decided not to include this prophecy, but it adds great weight to his argument.  The probability of a virgin having a child in Isaiah’s day was almost zero (if not zero), and it could not have happened at all until the late twentieth century except under very rare circumstances.  Even today virgins cannot bear children without the aid of sophisticated medical technology, and at great cost, unless they have an incredibly rare medical condition.  Including this prophecy in his list would have provided convincing proof that the Messiah’s birth was a miracle from Yahweh that will never be repeated.

Some Bible scholars argue that the Hebrew word translated as “virgin” in Isaiah 7: 14 can also mean “a young girl or a young, recently married woman”, so they believe Yahweh was simply saying that a “maiden” would have a child.  But the Hebrew word translated as virgin, “almah,” is used seven times in the Old Testament (Genesis 24: 43, Exodus 2: 8, Proverbs 30: 18, Psalm 68: 25, Isaiah 7: 14, and Song of Songs 1: 3 and 6: 8).  Each time it refers to a virgin as we understand the meaning of the word.  Also, the 70 rabbis who translated the Greek Septuagint Tanach in the third century B.C. used the Greek word “parthenos” which means “virgin” as we use the term today.

Logic doesn’t support that conclusion either.  At the time, King Ahaz of Judah was afraid that his kingdom would be attacked and conquered by two allied kings from the north—Razon King of Aram and Pekah King of Israel.  Yahweh assured him that they would not succeed, and He instructed Isaiah to tell Ahaz to ask Him for a sign—any sign—to prove the truth of His Word: “Ask a sign for yourself from Yahweh your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” (Isaiah 7: 11)

Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test Yahweh.” (Isaiah 7: 12)

The king’s reply infuriated Isaiah.  He said, “Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?” (Isaiah 7: 13)  Then Isaiah said, “Therefore Yahweh Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with Child and bear a Son, and she will call His Name Immanuel.” ((Isaiah 7: 14)

If a young girl or a young, recently married woman has a child, would anyone consider it to be a sign from Yahweh that is “deep as Sheol or high as heaven?”  No, absolutely not.  That would be an ordinary childbirth, and no one would interpret it as a great sign.  But if a virgin had a Child, everyone would believe it was a sign from Yahweh.

But there’s more.  This Child’s Name would be Immanuel—literally “God who is with us.”  Isaiah 9: 1-6 tells about Him:

  • He will come out of Galilee. (Isaiah 9: 1)
  • He is a light blazing forth in a dark land. (Isaiah 9: 2)
  • He will remove His people’s yoke or burden. (Isaiah 9: 3)
  • He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9: 6)

Isaiah 11: 1-9 provides more details about this Child:

  • He will come from the stock of Jessie (David’s father). (Isaiah 11: 1)
  • The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on Him. (Isaiah 11: 2)
  • He will be the Righteous Judge. (Isaiah 11: 3-4)
  • “He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” (Isaiah 11: 4)

In other words, this Child speaks, and it is done.  This is reminiscent of Yahweh at the creation.  Obviously, this Child is no ordinary child, and it would be preposterous to conclude that He would come into the world in the usual way.  Isaiah was telling Ahaz that this would be the sign of signs from Yahweh.  A virgin would bear this Child, and He is God who is with us.

Ironically, rabbis have known for thousands of years that the names of Isaiah’s children are “divinely ordained signs for events that will befall the people of Israel” (Scherman, Rabbi Nosson, The Stone Edition Tanach, The ArtScroll Series, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, New York, 1996, p. 968), and the Bible says as much explicitly. (Isaiah 8: 18)

Below are the names of Isaiah’s children and the meanings of their names:

  • Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz—Plunder hastens and spoil quickens.
  • Shear-Jashub—A remainder will return.
  • Immanuel—God who is with us.

The names of Isaiah’s children reveal that Israel will be plundered and exiled.  A remnant will return to the Promised Land.  Then Yahweh will be with us.  These things have happened already.  We are not awaiting the fulfillment of this prophecy.  Yahweh has done it already.

____________________

An Important Request:

Tomorrow’s SnyderTalk deals with the difference between Passover and Easter.  If Yahweh has already shown you the significance of this issue, you are blessed, but you’re probably concerned about your family and friends who don’t get it.  I urge you to tell them that they need to read tomorrow’s SnyderTalk.  No matter how hard you try, you can’t make them take hold of this message and neither can I, but we can do our job and tell them.

____________________

News Items of Interest:

Commonsense: Bashar al Assad is a brutal dictator.  He subjugates his people through fear and intimidation.  He’s taking full advantage of President Obama’s inexperience and arrogance by trying to foment trouble in the Middle East at Israel’s expense.  His noxious remarks are just what you would expect in the wake of President Obama’s slap at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this past week.  Unfortunately, there is more violence on the way as a direct result of our president’s reckless decision to snub the Israeli prime minister.  Israel will suffer because of Mr. Obama’s foolishness.  On the positive side, November 2010 is right around the corner, and then comes November 2012.

Commonsense: A quote from the article above—“The head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said that ‘he gave the Zionist enemy a slap in the face,’ when he canceled the inauguration of a restored Cairo synagogue two weeks ago, Army Radio reported on Sunday.  ‘Israel is the Zionist enemy, and I gave this enemy a strong slap in the face,’ said Doctor Zahi Hawass.”

If you enjoy watching The History Channel, you have probably seen Dr. Zahi Hawass gallivanting around Egypt as the front man for Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.  He’s on the rotund side and he comes across as a jovial sort of fellow with a perpetual smile on his face, but his television persona doesn’t reveal his true character.  Perhaps he’s been so busy digging in the sand, or possibly burying his head in it, that the peace treaty Egypt and Israel signed more than 30 years ago escaped his notice.  Be that as it may, for his haughty attitude and his prideful remarks about slapping Israel in the face, I’m giving Zahi Hawass a well-deserved Dunce Award.

Zahi Hawass

____________________

His Name is Yahweh:

There is a wealth of material available for free download on www.hisnameisyahweh.org including the book His Name is Yahweh.  His Name is Yahweh is also available at Amazon on Kindle for just $5.  If you haven’t read His Name is Yahweh, you should.  The importance of Yahweh’s Name is becoming more apparent with each passing day.

Available on Amazon Kindle and it can be downloaded at www.hisnameisyahweh.org