CV: That's a very good answer, Lawrence, and I feel the same way. I just hope that if I were in that position I would follow the CREATOR's will and do as He wanted. Whether or not the test that the angels went through was the scenario that we have gone through, I do not know. However, that does explain to me why the CREATOR would even bother to have a prehistoric creation. Because science has shown there were creatures here before humankind—prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs and these hominids. But whether that was the test or not, the Hebrew Scripture shows that there was a test of some sort and that some of the angels failed and even attempted to overthrow the Supreme Being and take control of the universe (Ezekiel 28:15, 18). Some angels passed the test and were obedient (Psalm 103:20). I realize this is an outstanding statement to make, so I want to go back over this with Scripture.
Ezekiel 28:1. 9 “The word of ETERNAL came to me again, saying, ‘Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre...’”
We will see as we go through this that two different types of beings were discussed. One is a mortal physical human being and the other is the chief angel, a spirit being.
...28:2. “Thus says ETERNAL CREATOR: “because your heart is lifted up, and you say, 'I am a g-d, I sit in the seat of ‘g-ds,’ In the midst of the seas,' yet you are a man, and not a g-d. Though you set your heart as the heart of a g-d."
The word “g-d” used here is with a lower case “g” and the prince is specifically referred to as a man. Remember the Pharaoh in Egypt was thought to be the “the g-d” of Egypt. Thus, this physical king, puffed up with pride, claimed to be a “the g-d."
...28:3-10. “Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you! With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself, and gathered gold and silver into your treasuries. By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches." Therefore, thus says ETERNAL CREATOR: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a ‘g-d,’ behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, the most terrible of the nations. And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and defile your splendor. They shall throw you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas. Will you still say before him who slays you, 'I am a ‘g-d’? But you shall be a man, and not a ‘g-d’, In the hand of him who slays you. You shall die the death of the uncircumcised, by the hand of aliens. For I have spoken,” says ETERNAL CREATOR.”
The Chief Angel
Tyre was an island city fortified with high walls and the sea. ETERNAL had said (Ezekiel 26) that its enemies would destroy the city of Tyre and it happened. In 332, BCE after a seventh-month siege, Alexander the Great destroyed it by building an earthen bridge to the island. The next section of verses is obviously speaking of a spirit being because it was in Eden and yet was still alive. This being was addressed as the king of Tyre, whereas the man was the prince of Tyre. This being could not have been Adam because he had long since been dead. Starting in verse 11:
Ezekiel 28:11-13. Moreover the Word of ETERNAL came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says ETERNAL CREATOR, you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of the CREATOR. Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.”
Humans are born, but the being in question here was created. There was a specific day this cherub was created. We know it had the ability to produce music by the mention of musical instruments that were prepared in it.
...28:14-16. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you. You were on the set-apart mountain of CREATOR. You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of CREATOR and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.
This spirit being that rebelled was the anointed chief cherub that covered. In other words, it covered the very throne of the CREATOR with its wings. Thus this being who was the sum total of beauty and perfection was found with iniquity. Notice that from this point the narrative seems to fade back to referring to the prince of Tyre, the man.
...28:17-19. "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading. Therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all whom saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you. You have become a horror, and shall be no more forever".
LW: I am getting a little bit confused. The prince of Tyre is a human being, a man. I assume Ezekiel is talking to him as a man, and then our CREATOR comes to Ezekiel and tells him to go to the king of Tyre. Evidently, the king of Tyre is a spirit being, which would definitely be Lucifer from all accounts. That is a little bit confusing to me. How could the prince be a man and the king be Lucifer?
CV: That's a good question and to answer it let us go back to verse 16 referring to the chief angel.
...28:16. Therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of the CREATOR and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.
The English word "destroyed" comes from the Hebrew word "'abad" (aw-bad') and in Strong's it is #H6 and means to wander away, i.e. lose oneself. It does not mean to destroy so that it will be consumed or vanish. It means that it will not be where it was; it has been removed, but it does not mean destroyed. Referring back to verse 18:
...28:18. You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic. Therefore, I will bring forth a fire from the midst of you, it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold you.
The English word "devour" comes from the Hebrew word "'akal" (aw-kal') and in Strong's it is #H398 and means to eat, burn up, consume or literally "to totally destroy". Whereas in verse 16, the spirit being is not destroyed but is removed or driven away. Malachi 4:3 states that the wicked will become ashes under the feet of the righteous. This ties back into verses 18 and 19, speaking again about the prince of Tyre, who is the man, the human being. Turn if you would to Isaiah 14:4 speaking of the king of Babylon.
Isaiah 14:4-8. That you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “how the oppressor has ceased, the golden city ceased! ETERNAL has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, He, who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you were cut down, no woodsman has come up against us.’”
When the king of Babylon is destroyed, the whole world will rejoice saying no one is going to come up against us. Symbolically the trees are saying that we can rejoice because no one is going to come cut us down.
...14:9-10. Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you, “Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?"
"Hell" in the above verse is the Hebrew word Sheol and means: the grave. In reality, there is no ever-burning hell to torture people forever, but we will cover that later.10 In the following verses, Sheol ties in with the pit. Going on, the text begins to fade into the spirit being again.
Isaiah 14:11-12. Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
The word "Lucifer" is a Latin word and means "the bright and morning star." The Hebrew word "heylel" (hay-lale') in Strong's is #H1966 and means "the bright and morning star." There is also a New Testament reference, but we will cover that later except to note now that the brightest morning star is the sun. Originally, it was to be Heylel's job to bring truth and light from our CREATOR.
...14:13-15. For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of the CREATOR. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
After that allegory, speaking of how Lucifer was the bright and morning star, because of its iniquity, Lucifer was cast down to the earth. Now we fade back to the king—the physical human king.
...14:16-17. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?" All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house.
LW: Since the Supreme Being has total control of all energy and matter, it was a stupid decision on the part of the chief angel to rebel and try to overthrow the CREATOR. For ‘It’ and the angels who followed were cast back down to earth and became the adversaries of humankind.
CV: Exactly. That is stated in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 which we have just covered. We will call the chief angel who is our adversary, Heylel. The Hebrew word "Heylel" is the same spelling as the English word "Heylel." It is pronounced in Hebrew as "saw-tawn'," and it simply means: the adversary.
Some of the angels passed the test and are helpful to humankind. An example is the angel that helped Hagar in Genesis 21:17-19.
No angel, whether fallen or otherwise, can control a human being. They can influence humans into making the wrong choices. For example, Eve was influenced into making the wrong choice in Genesis 3:13--and King David in making the wrong choice in I Chronicles 21:1. However, in the final analysis, we human beings, must choose right or wrong. Physical life here on this earth is our test, and the CREATOR has placed before us life and death and has instructed us to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:15-18).
LW: The scriptures state that the chief fallen angel was the sum of perfection and beauty. What would have been its position if it had passed the test?
CV: The original Hebrew name for this fallen chief is "Heylel" but the Latin word "Lucifer" is used and Lucifer both mean "the bright and the morning star" and its job would have been to influence human beings into making the right decisions to obey the CREATOR. Instead, “It” has chosen to be the adversary of human kind. When we refer to Heylel we will use the pronoun "It" and maybe "She." There are indications in the scripture as to the gender of Heylel, but we will cover that later.
LW: If Lucifer is a Latin word, why is it used in the English King James Version of the Hebrew Scripture?
CV: The Supreme Being has allowed our adversary to fool humankind in order to complicate matters and make the test that we must pass more difficult. Our CREATOR wants to see if we will truly Quest and search diligently for Him and for wisdom. As the slogan of the "X-Files" TV program states, "The truth is out there." We just need to find it.
The Hebrew Scripture is absolutely true and is total. What was originally written was inspired by the CREATOR. He will not let Scripture be perverted into total false statements. Yet, He has allowed some small amount of sleight of hand trickery in order to make our search for Him and His wisdom truly a Quest for the untarnished, real truth. It is too bad that Heylel failed the test because it could have been of great help to humankind and still be the chief angel who spread its wings over the throne of the Supreme Being.
LW: Let me see if I have all of this correct. The Supreme Being controls all energy and matter. He converted or hardened energy into matter that is visible to us because we are created out of matter. Yet, He created angels out of energy into some kind of material that is invisible to us.
CV: Yes that is correct.
LW: Then the CREATOR gave the angels some sort of test which some failed. They were created to be helpful to humans, but now some of them are our adversaries. In addition, the CREATOR has allowed the chief adversary to hide its name and true self from us.
CV: Exactly, and in addition, the CREATOR has allowed Heylel to hide the CREATOR's Name and how it is pronounced.
LW: What is our CREATOR's Name?
CV: The Hebrew letters of His Name are hwhy (Yod He Waw He). The English letters of His Name mean ETERNAL.11
LW: How could Heylel do this and why would it want to?
CV: The Supreme Being has allowed the adversary to have some influence over us by putting thoughts into our minds to do wrong things. Thus, He has allowed Heylel to influence some of the things the scribes and translators wrote in transcribing or translating the He brew Scripture. One thing that the CREATOR allowed was for the adversary to hide its own name—Heylel. Remember the name means "the bright and morning star" (Isaiah 14:12 and Revelation 22:16). This single act has had tremendous effect on all of the religious activities of human kind from the very beginning, but we will cover that point later.
Another thing the CREATOR has allowed Heylel to do is to hide the CREATOR's name. Hebrew is the original language of the Hebrew Scripture. It is written using consonants only without any vowels.
Vowel points are used where the vowels should be. For example, your name Lawrence written without vowels, but using vowel points would be “L.WR.NC." In addition, Heylel has influenced the Jewish scribes to think that it is blasphemy to speak the name of our CREATOR. Therefore, they even left the points out where the vowels should be. The English version of our CREATOR's name is (or means) "ETERNAL" with no indication of how many vowels are needed or where they should be placed. (would you look at that sentence? Does it sound right to you?) The Jewish scribes, under the influence of Heylel, have done a perfect job in hiding the correct pronunciation of our CREATOR's Name. The English word “Lord” is used instead of "ETERNAL." 12
LW: What happened when Heylel tried to take control of the universe and tried to replace the CREATOR?
CV: We cannot say for sure, but the universe gives many clues as to what happened. Since there can only be one Supreme Being who controls all energy and matter, Heylel was doomed from the start and was cast back down to the earth (Isaiah 14:9-12, Ezekiel l 28:17). The second verse in the first chapter of the Hebrew Scripture states...
Genesis 1:2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The English word "void" comes from the Hebrew word "bohuw" (bo-hoo) #H922 in Strong's and means an undistinguishable ruin. The two English words "without form" come from the Hebrew word "tohuw" (to'-hoo) #H8414 in Strong's and means to lie waste, a desolation of surface. Isaiah 45:18 tells us the earth was not created "without form" and again: the only one SOVEREIGN or CREATOR.
Isaiah 45:18. For thus says ETERNAL, who created the heavens, who is CREATOR, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain (tohuw), who formed it to be inhabited. “I am ETERNAL, and there is no other."
Psalms 104:30 tells us that ETERNAL sent forth His Spirit and renewed the face of the earth. It was not created in tohuw, bohuw, an undistinguishable ruin, and without form, but it had become that way. Since it had become an undistinguishable ruin between the prehistoric creation and our present creation, something gigantic must have happened.
LW: Then evidently there was a struggle for control when Heylel rebelled, and the resulting war destroyed the earth in sort of a pre-historic "Star Wars."
CV: Again, we cannot know this for sure because we were not there. However, there are clues that indicate that there was a struggle of mighty proportions that had taken place before the time of Genesis 1:1, when the CREATOR refashioned and reformed the shape of the earth.
LW: What are some of these clues?
CV: If you look at the surface pictures of the moon or Mars, for example, you see their surfaces are full of potholes and scattered debris. The only thing that could have caused these craters and strewn boulders would be to have been struck with meteors of various sizes, which could have been the result of a gigantic prehistoric struggle.
LW: Yes, I have seen some of the pictures that NASA has sent back from the surface of both the moon and Mars. The surfaces are filled with craters, and there are many sizes of rocks scattered all around. In fact, there are many large craters on earth such as Crater Lake. What could have caused these things?
CV: Well, let me say again that no one can say for sure, but there had to have been a source for the materials that pock-marked the surfaces of the moon, earth, and Mars. I have read scientific speculation that there was originally another planet in our solar system. If that is true, then it was destroyed in a prehistoric struggle for power when Heylel tried to overthrow the one Supreme Being. That would account for a lot of things that took place in our solar system.
LW: What are some of the other things?
CV: Something was destroyed, whether it was another planet or not; who is to say. However, whatever it was left a trail of destruction. This would account for all of the craters on the surfaces of the earth, the moon, and Mars. It would also account for the strewn rocks and boulders on the moon and Mars. In addition, the asteroid belt around the sun seems to be the remains of something; also, the rings of Saturn appeared as the gravity of that planet pulled some of the debris toward itself. It could also account for some of the moons around Jupiter and the comets that circle the sun. It would certainly account for the sudden destruction of the prehistoric creatures, of the dinosaurs and hominids.
LW: That could also account for the fact that the book of Genesis begins with the earth in utter confusion and disarray and covered with water. Nevertheless, where would the water come from?
CV: That is hinted at in Scripture, but we will cover that at another time. We will continue with the earth being refashioned by our CREATOR and the creation of the life forms that we know of today. The Hebrew Scripture states that humankind began with the creation of Adam and Eve and that Heylel, the adversary, influenced them into disobedience. Heylel has been influencing humans ever since into making wrong decisions. Humans became so corrupt with evil and sin that the CREATOR had to destroy them with water—an earth-covering flood called "The Deluge."
LW: Was Heylel able to influence all of humankind or human beings?
CV: No. There were a few that walked and talked with the ETERNAL and obeyed His Ways.
LW: I thought you said spirit-beings were invisible, so how could He walk and talk with human kind? (human kind also means civilization)
CV: Spirit-beings are invisible. However, by whatever process, they can manifest themselves so that we can see them. Somehow, they can change themselves into matter so that we can react with them with our five senses. For example, Abraham, when he saw the CREATOR and two angels (Genesis 18:1-2), and Jacob when he wrestled with the CREATOR all night (Genesis 32:1-2; 32:24-29).
LW: Who are some others who walked and talked with the ETERNAL our CREATOR and followed His ways?
CV: Before the flood, there was Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and his son was Methuselah, whose son was Lamech, whose son was Noah. Noah found grace in the sight of ETERNAL (Genesis 6:8). Since Enoch and his great-grandson Noah followed the one ETERNAL CREATOR, then Enoch must have been the patriarch of a family line of people who followed our CREATOR's Ways. The civil statutes of the city or cities that this clan lived in would have been based on the ways of life CREATOR told (or taught) their patriarch. Thus, if any cuneiform tablets of civil laws were found that predated the deluge; their contents would naturally follow the instructions of the way of life ETERNAL gave Enoch, and later Moses. Whatever the CREATOR told Enoch was the exact same thing that He later told Moses because He is ETERNAL and cannot change.
LW: So even though the CREATOR had not yet given His laws and statutes to Moses, that does not mean that the civil codes of earlier cities would not have been based on the CREATOR's Word. ETERNAL explained His Ways to Enoch, who explained them to his clan and so forth. Therefore, the civil statutes that were found on cuneiform tablets in the remains of earlier cities would naturally have been based on the Ten Commandments.
CV: Bingo! You have it.
LW: That explains why the civil codes on any cuneiform tablets found in the ruins of cities from before the deluge were based on the Ten Commandments. But what about any cities after the flood?
CV: Coming through the deluge were Noah and his son, Shem. They would be the patriarchs of the first cities after the flood. Noah, Shem, and their clan would have written the civil structure of these cities. These civil structures would have been based on what Noah and Shem learned from Enoch's clan and would be reinforced with words from the CREATOR as He spoke with Noah (Genesis 7:1; 8:15).
LW: Was Shem also close to our ETERNAL CREATOR?
CV: Yes, he was. Genesis 9:26 states: "Blessed be the 'Lord, The Sovereign' of Shem." Or better stated it would be: "Blessed be ETERNAL, the SOVEREIGN of Shem." Nowhere does Scripture state that ETERNAL was the SOVEREIGN of Noah's other sons, Ham and Japheth.
LW: Okay. You seem to make a distinction and set apart Noah and Shem as a clan distinct and separate from Ham, Japheth, and their clans.
CV: That distinction is made by the Hebrew Scripture and not by me. I am only stating what is written. Noah is described as being perfect in his generations (Genesis 6:9). The English word "perfect" comes from the Hebrew word "tamiym" (taw-meem) which is #H8549 in Strong's and means "entire, integrity, and without blemish." The English word "generations" comes from the Hebrew word "towledah" (to-led-aw') which is #H8435 in Strong's and it means "descent or family history." In other words, Noah had a pure, single bloodline, which can easily be traced back to Adam's third son Seth (Genesis 5:4-32).
Obviously, Ham and Japheth had interracial marriages before the flood because the first time the word "gentile" is used in the Hebrew Scripture it is referring to the descendants of Ham and Japheth (Genesis 10:5). Let us look at that verse in Scripture (but you, the reader, need to check the context).
Genesis 10:5. 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.
LW: If the descendants of Ham and Japheth are called "Gentiles", what about the descendants of Shem? What are they called?
CV: Let us look at Genesis.
Genesis 10:21-24. Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. The children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begot Salah; and Salah begot Eber."
The word Eber is interesting and we will use its meaning later in referring to Abraham. It is the same as the Hebrew word "Eber" (ay'-ber) and in Strong's is #H5676 and means a region across; on the opposite side (especially of the Jordan; usually means the east). However, to answer the question, Shem's descendants are called Semites in AHD.13
- Semite: A member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Near East and northern Africa, including the Arabs, Arameans, Babylonians, Carthaginians, Ethiopians, Hebrews, and Phoenicians.
- Bible: A descendant of Shem.
- A Jew. [This is what Semite means today, but we want the Scriptural definition.]
- Compton's 14 adds Assyrians to the list of Semites.
As time passed, the Semites became a large river of many clans speaking many languages and following different religions but the original clan lived in Mesha (Genesis 10:30) and Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:28). Notice that Shem and Noah's descendants formed these cities:
Genesis 10:30-11:1. And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations. These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these, the nations were divided on the earth after the flood. Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
...11:28. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
LW: From Noah descended the two general classifications of people. If they were descendants of Shem, they were Semites and if they were descendants of Ham and Japheth, they were Gentiles. In addition, everyone from Adam until the tower of Babel all spoke the same language.
CV: Yes that is what the Hebrew Scripture states.
LW: Where does Abraham fit into this river of Semites who descended from Shem?
CV: Picking up where we left off with Eber...
Genesis 11:16-31. Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.... [who]... begot Reu.... [who]... begot Serug.... [who] begot Nahor.... [who] begot Terah.... [who] begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. [who] begot Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ... Then Abram and Nahor took wives ... the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, ... But Sarai was barren; she had no child. And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, ... and his daughter-in-law Sarai ... and they went out ... from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.
It is interesting to note here that Terah had set out for Canaan. Since Shem15 later ended up being the Priest of the Almighty in Salem (Genesis 14:18) which later became Jerusalem, Shem and his clan must have been informed by the CREATOR that He would set up a sub-group of Semites in Canaan. The first time the word Hebrew is used is in Genesis.
Genesis 14:13.. "And there came one that had escaped [as Lot was taken captive], and told Abram the Hebrew; who dwelt in the plains of Mamre."
The English word "Hebrew" comes from the Hebrew word "'Ibriy" (ib-ree') #H5680 in Strong's and means a descent of Eber or an Eberite. Remember the word Eber means a region across or the other side. To quote the note for Genesis 14:1316 from the Stone Edition:
"Abraham was called the Ivri from the word: the other side. Literally, this means that he came from the other side of the Euphrates. Figuratively, he was on the other side of a moral and spiritual divide from the rest of the world. Alternatively, the name means that he was a descendant of Eber. Only Abraham's descendants are called ‘Ivrim’ for they alone spoke Hebrew, Eber's language.”
Now keep that point in mind. But before we go any further, we in United Hebrew Congregations—are just like Abraham. We are on the other side of a moral and spiritual divide from the rest of the world. We are not Christian, Jewish, or Islamic—we are Hebrews. We are Questing for the faith of the Hebrew Scripture which I believe is the single faith of the clan of the patriarchs, the Abrahamic Hebrew faith. This same belief as our Hebrew fathers has our ETERNAL CREATOR as ONE being, the Supreme Being who created the heavens and the earth.
The reason religious groups are different from us, is because they all have other books that they claim to be holy to them and supersede the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures as I prefer to say. The Jews have two books, the "Talmud" and the "Midrash." The Muslims have a book called the "Koran." The Christians have a book called the "New Testament." The Mormons have a book called the "Book of Mormon." All of these books supposedly supersede, override, and bear more reverence than the Hebrew Scripture. So we, just like Abraham, are on the other side of a moral and spiritual divide from the rest of the world.
LW: Since Eber was of Shem's clan and spoke Hebrew, then Shem must have spoken Hebrew because the entire world spoke the same language after the Deluge until the tower of Babel.
CV: That is true. I am just beginning to study the Hebrew language. I cannot speak it yet, but I can recognize some of the letters and there is something that is a question in my mind. Looking at the Hebrew in The Jerusalem Bible, by Corinth Publishers in Jerusalem, 1997, the first three words translated into English are: "Beginning created ELOHIM," then separated by a space come two Hebrew letters: “aleph and tau” however they are not translated. Then the next translated words are: “the heavens” then after a space there are three Hebrew letters: “vav, aleph, and tau” which also are not translated. Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon states that: "vav” is copulative (adj. coupled or joined) and serves in connecting both words. I would guess that the original creation of the Hebrew alphabet is being emphasized. Then the next translated words are: “the earth."
I checked with someone who speaks Hebrew and when I pointed this out to him, he was amazed just as I was. He had not realized Genesis 1:1 was written that way either. He told me that aleph and tau usually refers to the Hebrew alphabet. So putting that all together in a new sentence, I believe it means...
Genesis 1:1. In the beginning created ELOHIM the Hebrew alphabet, the heavens, the Hebrew alphabet (emphasized meaning He spoke it to create), and the earth.
I am not a Hebrew scholar, but it seems to me, this Scripture is stating that, in the beginning ELOHIM created the Hebrew language, a physical language, then spoke it and created the heavens and the earth. I realize by saying that, I am going out on a limb. However, those letters are there and they are not translated in all of the fifteen or so translations that I have. In thinking about it, Heylel would not want the world to know that Hebrew was the original language.
My Hebrew speaking friend also said, "The English word 'heavens' actually should be translated 'waters,’” but we will cover that later. Another point that I want to bring out is from the Encyclopedia Britannica17 in an article about the Hebrew language...
"The Aramaic hand in use in Babylon was adopted by the Jews about the fifth century 'BCE.' Another form of the same hand allowing the differences of material is found in the Egyptian Aramaic papyri of the fifth and fourth centuries 'BCE.' From these were developed the square character used in the missals of the Bible."
The square characters are used today in the Hebrew Scriptures. The square modern Hebrew letters used for "ETERNAL" are h w h y (Yod He Waw He).
LW: What did the Hebrew writings before the fifth century look like?
CV: In Gesenius' comparative table of ancient alphabets, the ancient Hebrew characters look exactly like the cuneiform script of the ancient Phoenician, Samaritans, and Greeks.
LW: What is a cuneiform script?
CV: American Heritage Electronic Dictionary states:
“Cuneiform - 1. Wedge-shaped.
2. Writing typified by the use a character of characters formed by the arrangement of small wedge-shaped elements and used in ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian writing.”
The Hebrew language is one of the Semitic languages of the Middle East. In the ancient Hebrew script, the letters for "ETERNAL" are hwhy (Yod He Vav He) and it was originally used to record the Hebrew Scriptures. The table in Gesenius' shows that the ancient Hebrews also used a cuneiform writing script.
LW: Then the scholars are wrong in saying that the ancient Hebrews could not write and that the Hebrew Scriptures were copied from ancient Gentile writings.
CV: Yes that appears to be true because Enoch's clan before the Deluge, and Shem's after it, were the people who started the first cities. Babylon was not the first city and we will cover Babylon on Part II of this series. Remember the American Heritage Electronic Dictionary stated that the ancient Sumerians also used cuneiform script.
LW: Who were the Sumerians?
CV: American Heritage states for "Sumerian:
1. Of or relating to ancient Sumer or its people, language, or culture
2. A member of an ancient people, probably of non-Semitic origin, who established a nation
of city-states in Sumer in the fourth millennium [BCE] that is one of the earliest known historic civilizations.”
American Heritage's usage of the word "probably" means they do not know or will not reveal if the Sumerians were Semitic or Gentile. However, Zecharia Sitchin18 states Sumer was:
"The first great civilization known to man." He states, "the early name for southern Mesopotamia, just as the Book of Genesis had clearly stated [Genesis 10:10]: 'The royal cities of Babylon, Akkad, and Erech were in 'the land of Shin'ar.' (Shinar is the Biblical name for Sumer.)" With the exception that, "in 1869 Jules Oppert mispronounced the name to the French Society of Archaeology, it should have been 'Shumer' and not Sumer."
Babel was built in the ancient land of Shinar, so the Scriptural word Shinar has come to be associated with Babylon. The early Sumerians (p23): "stylized wedge writing on soft clay tablets to become the cuneiform writing that was [later] adopted by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other nations of the ancient Near East."
Sitchin then discussed medical practice and states, (p33) "A Sumerian tablet excavated in Ur, nearly 5,000 years old, names a medical practitioner as the doctor." The point being, that Sitchin indicates that the Sumerians lived in Ur and we already saw that the forefathers of Abraham lived in Ur. Therefore, I suggest to you that the cuneiform writings of Ur prove that the ancient Sumerians are the clan of Shem and thus the forefathers of Abraham and the Hebrews.
All languages were the same until the tower of Babel which was established after the Shemites established Ur. After the tower of Babel was destroyed, only the Hebrews retained the ancient Hebrew cuneiform which must have been the original language.
In summary, we have seen that:
- There is a single Supreme Being and He created the cosmos and all that is in it.
- He created a chief angel with the total sum of perfection and beauty. Its name is "Heylel" which means "the bright and morning star."
- Human kind was created a little lower than the angels.
- This chief angel rebelled and became our chief adversary.
- It was purposed by the CREATOR that Heylel was to help and teach human kind.
- The word Lucifer, a Latin word, was used to hide the adversary's original purpose.
- The clans of Enoch and Shem followed the way of ETERNAL and they built the first cities.
- The Sumerians were the first to use the cuneiform alphabet on clay tablets.
- Since the ancient Hebrew script is cuneiform, it could have been the original language.
- The Sumerians began the city of Ur from which the ancestry of Abraham began.
- The descendants of Shem are Semites and the descendants of Ham and Japheth are Gentiles.
LW: Thank you Charles, and we will be with you all again on the UHC forum, "In the Beginning – Part II."
[ In the Beginning Part 2 ]