Hebrew text is written from right to left. Why is that? The way language is written and read, or its “directionality,” was apparently established when those languages began to be inscribed and the first alphabets were created. Languages originating in the Middle East, such as Hebrew and Arabic, were first written where people used stone and clay tablets. Presumably, a right-to-left directionality made more sense for this method, assuming most people are right-handed (an estimated 90% of the world’s population). For stone, those early writers would have held the mallet with their left hand while chiseling letters with their right…
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” – Corrie ten Boom In our last study, we explored the peculiar Hebraic concept of “past” and “future.” The perspective in Hebrew is that the “past” is “in front”—we walk, in essence, backward with our eyes facing the PAST. All you really can see and KNOW for sure is what has already happened. But, in contrast, the FUTURE is “behind the back.” No one, but God, can see the FUTURE, unless you have eyes in the back of your head. In fact, attempting to “see” or predict what…
God’s appointments cannot be cancelled—only postponed. The book of Nehemiah provides a beautiful chronicle of the reconstruction of the nation of Israel after the exile—the rebuilding of the walls and the people. We read in Chapter 9 that the Levites led the reformed citizens of Israel, cloaked in sackcloth and ashes, as they together repented and recalled the faithfulness of God. The first fifteen verses of that chapter are a prayer of thanksgiving as they praised God with a loud voice, reciting the awesome accounts of Creation, their forefathers’ Exodus out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and God’s miraculous…