Rabbi Daniel K Thomson at Max Lucado’s church. There's a lot of good, thought provoking information in this YouTube video!

Orthodox Rabbi at Christian Church

Posted on May 19, 2010

Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, [and] perfect in his generation: Noah walked with God.

Noah is said to have been "perfect in his generation." Hebrew scholars point out that this is not necessarily a great compliment. The phrase "... in his generation" qualifies his "perfection" in that had Noah lived alongside someone like Abraham or Moses, he would not have been considered very righteous. However in Noah's generation the world had become so corrupt that a reasonably righteous man (such as Noah) would seem like a gem among coals. This teaches us that God takes two things into account with each person; a) what they were given (spiritually) at birth, and b) their environment. This parallels Paul's teachings in Romans where he speaks of the advantage Jews have since birth (having the Torah), yet stating that even those in the pagan world "are without excuse" as God will judge them according to what they have been given. Reference: Noah
Posted on November 7, 2009

Deuteronomy 2:30 But King Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us pass through it, for Hashem, your God, hardened his spirit and made his heart stubborn, in order to give him into your hand, like this very day.

Notes: God removed Sihon's freedom of choice, just as He did to Pharaoh. Sometimes evildoers accumulate so much sin that they forfeit the right to repent.
Posted on July 19, 2009

I really enjoy reading my Stone Edition Chumash, the Rabbinical commentaries are really interesting since they are hundreds or thousands of years old! They really give you a different perspective on the meaning of scripture. There is a chart that is really groovy, it's called "Chronology / Time Line — Adam to Jacob". When you read the Bible it's easy to link of it as linear... this happened and then this happened. This chart gives you more of an idea of time and who is alive and when. For example, Abraham and Noah must of known each other since Abraham was 58 years old when Noah died. Interesting to note, that both Abraham and Noah were 'alive' when the Tower of Babel was built and the people were dispersed.

As I was looking at the chart, there was one thing that really caught my eye. Abraham was born one-thousand, nine-hundred and forty eight years after creation, that would be the year 1948 after creation. Israel became a nation in the year 1948! After the Messiah's death and resurrection, of course. What does it mean? Well, let me tell you... I have no idea! I just thought it was really interesting. You may ask "When did he die?" Abraham died in 2123 at 175 years old. You can read at Chabad.org more about Abraham's Early Life.
Posted on January 26, 2008

I was listening to a teaching from the Lion and Lamb Ministries and Monte Judah said something about Abraham that caught my attention. He said that Abraham was a symbol for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and by this he meant: Abraham (then Abram) was promised that he was going to be the father of many nations, (this represents the Father). He was promised a son (this represents the Son) and he was given a new name, Abraham (this represents the Holy Spirit).
Posted on January 26, 2008