O Say Can You See

When The Most High writes what is basically His Ketubah (marriage contract) with the Children of Israel in stone, with His own finger, it’s evident it was not meant to be changed by anyone.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when people are trying to come up with an idea (be it prose, arithmetic, or a drawing), they’ll write it with a pencil and paper first? It’s because they know they’re still in the drafting phase and that it will likely change or they may discard it and start over. When they get closer to the final version, they may use a pen and write on higher quality paper.

The more important something is, the more people personalize it and use more durable materials (e.g. the paper used for books is different than regular notebook paper). Wedding invitations are sometimes done in calligraphy on special paper, but the date and time can still change. Anyone who planned a wedding after March of 2020 can attest to that.

However, a wedding contract or ketubah, is unlikely to change after the marriage has taken place unless there is a divorce. And therefore, it’s not something that’s typically written in pencil. You wouldn’t want your spouse to arbitrarily go back and make changes to it without your consent.

How would you capture a really important and binding contract, something you don’t want erased or changed? You could have it engraved if it’s short. If you wanted to personalize it, you could write in your own handwriting, thus providing proof that you wrote it.


Did you know that Kings of Israel were required to write out a copy of the Torah in their own handwriting? (Deut. 17:18)


So, when The Most High writes what is basically His ketubah (marriage contract) with the Children of Israel (His bride) in stone with His own finger, it’s evident He did not want the words to be changed by anyone, not even to “honor” Him or His son.

But yet, many people blindly accept the notion that the first century apostles and followers of the Jewish Messiah did exactly that—they started breaking the fourth commandment to honor the Messiah. And if they did it (or at least someone convinces you they did it), then it must be okay. Did your parents ever lecture you about blindly following your friends? Yeshua said:

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides.[a] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” – Matthew 15:13-14

Am I calling the disciples of Yeshua and the Apostle Paul blind guides? No. But if you automatically accept someone else’s explanation or interpretation of scripture and you:

  • Never use a concordance and tools to study the original text (Greek or Hebrew),
  • Don’t investigate the scriptures that people used to justify breaking the fourth commandment,
  • Ignore the historical and political context of a state-adopted religion
  • Ignore the culture of the early pagan converts who were being courted and the culture of the Jews who were being persecuted

Then you are spiritually impaired.

If the Most High writes something on stone with His finger, who are people to erase and then re-write something He wrote? Think about that. Really think about that. And then go back and study the scriptures for yourself.

I think anyone who’s attended a religious service, a funeral or even a conference has heard a speaker go over his or her allotted time. If you grew up in certain Christian denominations, you may have spent all day in church, gone home to eat dinner and then come back. Just because the Apostle Paul often taught and preached on Saturday evening after the Sabbath ended (technically referred to as the first day of the week in Jewish culture) and into the wee hours of the night, that does not mean that he did not keep the Sabbath. It’s a GALACTIC leap to make that claim.

Furthermore, the gospels say that Mary and Martha visited Yeshua’s tomb on Sunday morning and that it was empty. Nowhere in the bible does it say that Yeshua rose from the dead on Sunday morning. It could have happened Saturday evening before sunset (seventh day) or right after sunset (first day) or sometime before midnight (first day). The point is that we don’t actually know on what day Yeshua was resurrected. We only know what day it was that someone observed that his tomb was empty.

What’s the optical Rx for spiritual impairment? The bible also exhorts the followers of the Messiah to:

  • Be Bereans and “[search] the Scriptures daily” – Acts 17:11
  • “Study to show [yourself] approved” — 2 Timothy 2:15
  • “Rightly [divide] the word of truth” — 2 Timothy 2:15

Many followers of the Jewish Messiah have blindly followed and still follow the politically-inspired, anti-Semitic teachings of converted Pagan “bible authorities.” Many continue to follow lazy, blind or spineless theologians who followed them by upholding the transgression of G-d’s law and reinforcing this false teaching.

Don’t be fooled

If someone with a fancy degree from a seminary could find scriptures to convince you that it’s okay to worship a graven image or commit adultery would you believe them?  Why is it okay to break some of the “Ten Commandments” but not others? If God told you to do something a certain way, why would you not believe him? Why would you listen to someone else who contradicts or distorts what God told you? Have you learned nothing from Eve and the Serpent?

Great, Wonderful, Awesome

Isn’t it interesting that the same words we use to describe the most extraordinary characteristics of the one, true, living God, we also use to describe the most common and ordinary nouns?

Having been born in the Midwest, but having grown up in Southern California, I was a “valley girl” before it was even a thing. Yes, I just dated myself. I cringe as I remember the “totallys,” the “likes,” and the “dudes.” And what is “tubular” anyway? I digress.

Slang has a way of seeping into our lives. I don’t know if it starts because we’re lazy or because we’re trying to be clever. Instead of saying someone is skilled, accomplished, adept, or adroit, we say they are “great,” “wonderful,” or “awesome.”

As followers of the Most High, we probably shouldn’t be following the crowd when it comes to our word choices.

Yaakov, the brother of Yeshua wrote:

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

Isn’t it interesting that the same words we use to describe the most extraordinary characteristics of the one, true, living God, we also use to describe the most common and ordinary nouns? I find myself doing it way too often.

Lately, I’m reminded about this when certain songs pop into my head. This morning it was, “How Great is Our God.” Yesterday, it was “Mi Chamocha.” It was the Sabbath, but I was home sick singing it by myself instead of with my congregation.

Another reason I was reminded of “Mi Chamocha” is because I studied the torah portion, “Beshalach” (Exodus 13:17–17:16), three weeks ago. Beshalach is the portion where Moshe was so filled with awe and joy at the deliverance of the Lord from the hands of the Egyptians when they drowned in the Red Sea, he burst into song. This song has now become a beloved prayer and a part of the liturgy for many Jewish and Messianic congregations.

מִי-כָמֹכָה

מִי-כָמֹכָה בָּאֵלִם יְהוָה,
מִי כָּמֹכָה נֶאְדָּר בַּקֹּדֶשׁ;
נוֹרָא תְהִלֹּת, עֹשֵׂה פֶלֶא.

Mi Chamocha

Mi chamocha Ba’elim Adonai?’
Mi kamocha ne’dar bakodesh;
Nora tehillot, oseh pheleh.

Who is like You

Who is like You, Oh Lord, among the gods?
Who is like You?
Lord there is none like You
You are awesome in praise
Doing wonders, oh Lord

What’s the big deal? Isn’t the entire bible translated? Different translations use different words, so why does it matter as long as people aren’t cursing or taking the Lord’s name in vain?

I’m suggesting that as children of God, we give care to words we use casually so that we don’t mix the Holy with the unholy and so that we don’t unintentionally yield the Lord’s glory or praise to something or someone unworthy.

I’ve spent decades listening to and repeating expressions without giving them any thought. And “old habits die hard” as the expression goes. However, there’s one area where I’m making a bit of progress. When someone compliments me using the words “awesome” or “great” (not because I did anything extraordinary but because those words have become a part of American slang), I’m slowly learning to redirect the praise to God.

Isaiah 42:8, says:

I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.

So, it’s not false humility or false modesty or even “word legalism” (I don’t even know if there’s such a thing, but before any tries to accuse me of it, I thought I’d address it.)

It’s just one way to honor God. Even if I’m made in the image of my creator and even if I have a skill, who made me and who gifted me with that skill? He did. So, shouldn’t He get the praise?

Like it says in Psalm 9:1, “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”