BIBLE REVIEWS

Hebrew & English

So here's the irony. I'm all about helping people read the Bible Jesus read, the Hebrew Bible. But can you guess what the number one question I get asked is? "Izzy, which translation should I read?" AAAHHH!!! Lol. After several years of facepalming I considered the possibility that this wasn't an either/or issue. Obviously I'm passionate about teaching Hebrew, but of course translations are immensely helpful too and I consult them on a regular basis myself. Maybe my students really did need me to talk about the pros and cons of the different Bibles out there, especially Jewish versions and these new Messianic Bibles. There were two things that finally pushed me over the edge. One was the chance I'd get to springboard into all sorts of related topics, historical stories, and Hebrew blurbs. The other was seeing people getting messed up by Sacred Name Bibles. So I took the plunge!

Emotional Story

Early in 2017 I released my first video introducing the Bible Review series. I talked about why translations are good and bad and why I recommend Hebrew study. I shared the biggest secret of Bible reading in any language and then told my story and why this is such an emotional topic for me. I finished by listing the twenty questions I'd try to answer in each review and announced the Bibles I was planning to look at. In hindsight I may have used too many memes in that first video, but the response I received was overwhelmingly positive so I guess my weird sense of humour was appreciated...or just overlooked. (You see that video as soon as you tap that 'Bible Reviews' button, by the way.)

Heavy Teasers

Shortly after that I came out with the first review introducing my favourite Hebrew/English Bible from an Orthodox Jewish publishing company. The written summary was 7 pages long and the video went for 1.5 hours. In that one I springboarded into how the Messianic prophecies are interpreted in Jewish tradition. Next in line was a popular Messianic Jewish Bible, which took 10 pages and two 1.5 hour videos. I took that opportunity to talk about the Messianic Jewish movement, Hebrew keywords in the New Testament, and how the 'difficult words of Paul' were interpreted. After that I showcased the first Israeli Tanach, told the stories of several early Jewish Bible translators, and discussed the technical specifications of how Torah scrolls are laid out, all of which took 12 pages and three 1 hour videos. And those were just the first three reviews! I could list more but hopefully that gives you a sense of the breadth and depth of this series.

Emergency

So back to our story. In the fall of 2017 I went on the war path. The Sacred Name movement was coming out with "Bibles" that were nothing short of bizarre. They all claimed to use the "true names" of the Father and Son but couldn't agree on what they were. Some included non-Canonical books. Others avoided words like "God" because they were supposedly pagan. Still others had weird versions of Messiah's name like "Yahawashi" and "Yahusha". I was torn. I didn't want these Sacred Name versions in my series because they weren't even real Bibles and deserved zero attention, but when I saw how they were being confused with real Bibles and doing substantial damage I knew it was time to clear the air. 

Firestorm

I prepared an ironclad case from Scripture and historical sources and reinforced it with memes. I then presented that as ten short talks addressing the lies behind Sacred Name teachings and exposing their ugly fruits. Those talks caused a firestorm, but they also proved enormously helpful to thousands of people and have become an invaluable resource whenever Sacred Name questions come up. The fight was worth it. And by the way, if you know anyone who'd find those talks helpful they're on the Sacred Name Bibles page.

In Process!

If you'd like to see the Bible Reviews for yourself, here they are. I should warn you though that you won't be able to find all the reviews there because I haven't done them yet! So if you haven't already done so, sign up for texts or emails from me on the home page and I'll tell you as soon as they come out.