Biblical Heritage Center Blog

Even though the Torah begins with the creation account, the history of the Torah itself began in the 6th century BCE Babylon. Judea had been conquered by the Babylonians and the First Temple destroyed in 586 BCE. Thousands of Judeans were forced to walk from Judea to Babylon and live there as captives. It  wouldn't take them long to discover that their new home was the “Gateway of the Gods” – which is what the word “Babylon” means. Read the complete article at -- http://biblicalheritage.org/DTB/0114_DTB_The_Mystery_of_the_Beginnings.pdf

I receive many inquiries asking about which Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible I would recommend. For a list of Bible Study Tools I recommend for the Hebrew Bible click on --   http://bhcbiblestudies.blogspot.com/2014/01/basic-tools-for-studying-hebrew-bible.html  

In the ancient world, a culture’s “wisdom of the beginnings” was one of its most valuable treasures. It revealed the origin of its god(s), who belonged, who didn’t belong; it defined relationships of the god(s) to each other, the god(s) to people, and people to those inside and outside the group. The Bible’s Wisdom of the Beginnings is recorded in the Book of Genesis. My focus in this article is on the standards, principles and core values it has preserved for over 2,500 years. Read the complete article at -- http://biblicalheritage.org/DTB/1213DTB_Seeing_Through_The_Creators_Eyes_02.pdf  

Many of the political and religious conflicts that we are engaged in now, and in the past, have been promoted as battles against evil. Our beliefs about the origin of evil define what evil is and explain why it happens. They influence the way we live as individuals and a nation, and how we respond when “bad” things happen. For Christians and Jews, the Bible plays an important role in understanding evil. What the Bible actually says about the origin of evil, however, may be a surprise to many of its readers. Read the complete article at – http://biblicalheritage.org/DTB/1113DTB_When_Man_Created_Evil.pdf

The tablet records a Mesopotamian god's instructions for building a giant vessel - two-thirds the size of a soccer field in area - made of rope, reinforced with wooden ribs and coated in bitumen. Etched in the clay is one of the story's key elements: It describes how the animals must enter "two by two". See pictures and read the complete story at -- http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/a-4000yearold-tablet-from-ancient-mesopotamia-contains-the-specifications-for-an-ark-predating-the-story-of-noah/story-fnjwl1aw-1226810293590

Today, I received an email with the following question: In the Hebrew Bible, what is the difference between   hesed  and   rahamim ? These are two very important biblical words that are translated by the same English words often, but they have very important differences. Read the complete article at -- http://bhcbiblestudies.blogspot.com/2014/01/different-types-of-biblical-love-hesed.html

The names of places change – even in the Bible -- and unless you are aware of those changes you may not know that different names ion the Bible are references to the same place. A good example is a very well-known body of water in the Bible. Read the complete article by clicking on -- http://bhcbiblestudies.blogspot.com/2014/01/sea-of-chinnereth-sea-of-tiberias-lake.html

It is probably one of the greatest finds of all time and, by the bizarre rules of biblical archeology, it’s also one of the least reported. Basically, in 1967, in Deir Alla, Jordan, Dutch archeologists discovered some kind of pagan house of worship or seminary. On its walls, there was a 2,800-year-old inscription in black ink. Key phrases are highlighted in red ink and the whole writing is framed in red. First of all, this is the oldest Aramaic inscription every found. But if that’s not enough to make it a world-headline, the inscription is 600-800 years older than the Dead-Sea Scrolls. And if that’s not enough to merit international attention, the inscription mentions a prophet, or “seer”, named “Balaam son of Beor”. This is the exact name mentioned in the Torah/Bible (Numbers 22:2–24:25). This is the only instance where a specific individual mentioned in the story of the biblical Exodus can be pointed to in archeology. Read the complete article at -- http://www.simchajtv.com/pr...

And God created   mankind   in His own image , in the image of God  H e created them; male and female  H e created them. (Genesis 1:27) This is one of the most famous verses in the Bible because it contains one of the most powerful memes in the history of mankind – humans are created in the image of God . What does that mean? Is it accurate or is there a much more accurate translation for the ancient Hebrew words of the Book of Genesis? Read the complete Bible study at -- http://bhcbiblestudies.blogspot.com/2014/01/is-in-image-of-god-inaccurate.html

There are some things that must be understood about the early years of the Jesus Movement. (1) Jesus lived in Galilee and taught in Samaria and Judea. (2) His message was directed to Jews, not Gentiles. (3) He never left those lands to take his message to non-Jews. (4) He was crucified by the order of the Roman governor by Roman soldiers. (5) The apostles remained in Jerusalem after the crucifixion. (6) The apostles led an exclusively Jewish movement. (7) The apostles never called themselves Christians. (8) Christianity did not exist during the life of Jesus or immediately following the crucifixion. (9) Neither Jesus nor the apostles authorized Paul to be an apostle. The primary biblical source of the above information is the Book of the Acts of the Apostles . The answers to questions posed by the title of this blog -- when and why the post-Jesus Jesus Moment began to spread – are linked to a Jewish man from the Diaspora, who was also a Roman citizen, named Sau...

This is a study of Genesis 33:17-20 and it has some very interesting transliterations in it.  Look at how translators chose to translate verse 20: (1) King James Version : And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel . (2) American Standard Version : And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-israel . (3) Bible in Basic English : And there he put up an altar, naming it El, the God of Israel . (4) Darby's English Translation : And there he set up an altar, and called it El-Elohe-Israel . (5) Douay Rheims Bible : And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty God of Israel . (6) Noah Webster Bible : And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel . (7) World English Bible : He erected an altar there, and called it El-Elohe-Israel . (8) Young's Literal Translation : and he setteth up there an altar, and proclaimeth at it God -- the God of Israel . Why are there so many differences? The answ...

Watch this amazing video of a major archaeological discovery in Jerusalem --  http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/they-set-out-to-discover-something-amazing-in-jerusalem-what-they-found-was-miraculous  

Would you log on the internet without a firewall on your computer? If you did, it probably  wouldn't  be very long before you acquired new adware, malware, viruses and who knows what else. A firewall protects your computer by checking incoming data and blocking things that do not measure up to its standard.   Do you have BS (Belief System) Firewall for your mind? We are bombarded with an endless flow of information from the moment we get up until we go to bed every day. A lot of people are trying to get their info in our minds today, mostly because they want us to buy or believe something.  When it comes to religious “truths” we need to turn on a BS Firewall before accept them. All we need to do is ask one question about what we are being told: Is it an opinion, a belief or a fact? Make sure you understand the differences between the three options: (1) Opinion - A view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular ma...