Bibles and Rocks

Hey all,

Some fun things this weekend. First, you should all know that I got in 3 hours of basketball yesterday!!! Yeah, it was awesome, and yeah, I am sore:-)

Today I learned some cool things:
1) When G-d gave the Israelites water from the rock, a tradition developed that said the rock followed them while they were in the wilderness. (Now, some of you have already heard this, but for the benefit of those who haven't....) Before you throw this tradition out as crazy, know that someone very important in the New Testament agreed with that tradition. Don't believe me? Then check out I Corinthians 10:4. I know it blows your mind, but Paul himself seems to ascribe to that tradition.

2) Sacrifices were still important after Jesus' death. I know, I know. BUT, check out Acts 21:17-32. Saul or Paul not only joined but he PAID for the purification. Now, check out Numbers 6:13-20. Multiply that by 4 and you've got a WHOLE lot of sacrifices Paul himself paid for, which incidently comes out to a whole lot of money (a Biblical shekel is 11.5 grams - free, no charge;-). If you look at Numbers closely, you can see that these served as sin offerings and burnt offerings, as well as a...hair offering. Nazirite vows were much more frequent than they are today.

3) There are 6000-7000 languages in the world today. 2000 of these have a Gospel account. Less than a 1000 have the whole NT, and only 420 (I think) have the whole Bible. Considering how much importance Paul places on the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible; see Romans 15:4, and I Cor 10:6), who wants to be a translator!?! Also remember that Jesus' Bible was the Hebrew Bible. Don't get me wrong, I think the Gospel accounts and the whole NT are vital, but I also would argue that you can't have the NT without the Hebrew Bible. Otherwise, one doesn't know what Jesus or Paul are talking about! What Bible did they use!?!

Well, I hope you enjoyed these fun little things. I'm still digging...which reminds me;-) The Greek text says 10s of 1000s, not 1000s in Acts 21:20. OK, I'm done;-) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Shalom,

Geoff