A Hebrew Understanding of the Difficult Passages in the Bible

A short while ago I found myself in Joplin, Missouri, in the living room of Dr Roy Blizzard, a man who is a genuine pioneer in the study of the Hebrew background of Jesus. I had been looking online at a website entitled biblescholars.org, just reading an article and minding my own business, when I noticed, at the top of the page, an invitation to come and study in a small group with him. I immediately thought to myself, "That can't be true. This is the man who wrote the book that I read years ago when I was exploring the Hebrew background of Yeshua,” and here was an opportunity for me to sit down and study with the man who wrote the book!” Incredible! So there I was.

I was talking to my friend Keith Johnson about this and trying to explain to him what Dr. Roy Blizzard and his colleagues did in trailblazing the study of the Jewish background of Jesus, and he came up with a wonderful and powerful analogy. He said, "You mean he's like Lewis and Clark?" Lewis and Clark had no idea what was west of the Mississippi but they ventured on bringing the Indian guide with them. Dr. Blizzard went to Israel and had his Jewish guides. Now you may say, "What's the big deal? He knows that Jesus was a Jew." This man is Lewis and Clark who blazed the trail that you are now walking on today the trail that seems so easy.

Nehemia Gordon

In this amazing little book Dr. Roy Blizzard answers questions about passages in the Bible that we have pondered for decades, or have perhaps, never even asked. He takes familiar portions of scripture and unfolds their meaning in the context and culture in which they were written, enabling us to understand correctly the words recorded for us in the Bible.

Scriptures like The Sermon on the Mount:

The Sermon on the Mount, which happens to be recorded for us in Mathew chapter 5-7, is the longest of the recorded dialogues or words of Jesus. As you look at this material, what are some of the things that immediately strike you, some of the things that you consider to be the most significant or of most importance? We could say that it’s important because it’s the longest record of the words of Jesus or, it’s important because of the nature of its teaching. Before we even begin to study this discourse, however, we need to take a close look at some of the things that, for want of a better understanding of first century Judaism, we’ve actually overlooked or, in some cases, never been taught…

Or interesting facts about the life of Jesus [Yeshua]…

Did you ever wonder what Jesus did as a young boy? Did you know that in the Biblical text there is a lot mentioned about his birth, but from then until the age of 12, nothing is recorded? There is also very little about his life from the age of 12 until the age of 30 - by the way, did you ever wonder why Jesus began his ministry at the age of 30? Why not 18? Why not 20? Why not 25? What was he doing all of this time? All of a sudden he appears on the scene at the age of 30 out of nowhere. What’s he been doing? We know exactly what he was doing. He was doing what every other young boy of his age would have been doing.

Or have you ever wondered why the writer of Matthew talks about “The Kingdom of Heaven” and the other Gospels call it “The kingdom of God”?

Take for example the different terminology, Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God. Actually, in Hebrew it is the same thing. Kingdom of God was simply the Greek way of saying it because they didn’t have any problems using the name God, but in Hebrew, even to this day, they won’t use the name of God. How many of you have received letters from those who are Jewish and instead of writing ‘God’, they write G-D because they have an aversion to writing and saying or using the name of God. They use a string of euphemisms such as, “the place”, or “the name (Hashem)”, or “Adonai” for Lord or Master. They use Kingdom of Heaven so as to avoid using the word God. So The Kingdom of Heaven and The Kingdom of God are the same thing and it’s important to understand that it is not something out there in the future - it’s right now.