An evangelist whose work I appreciate studies Jewish histories and commentaries. He then ties it to Scripture, giving us a fuller understanding of the world Jesus lived in.
For instance, as this evangelist tells it, when Moses had the tabernacle in the wilderness, the people could tell when the Lord was present. The curtain to the Holy Place would move in and out like someone breathing behind it and the people would gather to hear what God had to say. The word for "breath" is "ruach" which is the same word for "spirit". Ruach haKodesh is the Holy Spirit or Holy Breath. You can read it either way.
How does that tie in with our faith? "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind...And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together..." Acts 2:1, 2a, 6a The people gathered together because they knew what the sound meant - that the Lord had come down to tell them something important.
Doesn't that help you understand the events more fully? I love learning things like that.
I asked my mother-in-law where I could find this kind of good information in Jewish writings. She hadn't heard of this story, but pointed me toward commentaries by Rashi. I have only started and already found that God blessed the 5th day animals but not the sixth day animals. Then He blessed the humans He created. Why not the sixth day animals? Rashi conjectures that if God had blessed the sixth day animals, the serpent would have been blessed too. God never takes back a blessing, so He didn't give one on that day.
Interesting, I think.
Kathi
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