by Dr. David L. Cooper<\/p>\n
\u201cCome now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah.\u201d (Isaiah 1:18)<\/p>\n
One day as I was journeying from Los Angeles to Denver I had a most delightful interview with an elderly Jewish man. I was sitting in the day coach reading my Hebrew New Testament when this old man suddenly appeared at my side. \u201cYou cannot read that!\u201d he declared.
\nImmediately I gave him a practical demonstration by reading a passage from the book in hand. With a shrug of the shoulders he asked, \u201cWhere did you learn that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the seminary and university.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cyou don’t know what it means.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again I read it and translated a verse for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm!\u201d he commented, \u201cand you are not a Yid!\u201d<\/p>\n
Moving over, I invited him to a seat beside me and introduced myself. My new acquaintance told me that his name was Baron. Then we settled ourselves for a chat.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you read this, Mr. Baron?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n
At once he read fluently the passage I indicated.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow will you tell me what it means?\u201d He translated with difficulty, although he seemed to understand the substance of what he had read.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Baron, are you acquainted with this book?\u201d I inquired. He turned to the title page at the back of the Hebrew volume and read the words New Testament. He had never seen it. Reaching for my grip, I pulled out my Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) and said: \u201cMr. Baron, I want to ask you a question. What is the meaning of this word elohim?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt means God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut,\u201d I said, \u201cmy teachers have told me that this word means ‚gods‘!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey do not know what they are talking about,\u201d he retorted emphatically.<\/p>\n \u201cBut elohim<\/em> is plural number.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are wrong,\u201d my friend declared. \u201cI went to the Yeshiva (rabbinical school) and I know elohim<\/em> means God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is the meaning of the word Baal<\/em>, Mr. Baron?\u201d I inquired.<\/p>\n \u201cMaster,\u201d was his ready reply.<\/p>\n \u201cBaalim?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMany of them,\u201d he answered.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is the meaning of saraph?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of those angels that has wings,\u201d he replied, uncertain of our English equivalent.<\/p>\n \u201cSeraphim?<\/em>\u201d I questioned.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of them,\u201d he answered.<\/p>\n \u201cThen if Baalim<\/em> and seraphim<\/em> are plural, is not elohim<\/em> the same?\u201d I asked him. My friend began to look puzzled but still maintained that elohim<\/em> in the opening verse of Genesis means God. \u201cLet us turn over to the Ten Commandments,\u201d I suggested. \u201cRead the second command: ‚Thou shalt have no other gods (elohim<\/em>) before me.‘ Now, Mr. Baron, what is the meaning of the third word?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, that means ‚gods‘,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cOne?\u201d I questioned.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, many. It means all of those heathen gods.\u201d<\/p>\n Turning back to the first verse of Genesis I said, \u201cYou admit that elohim<\/em> in the passage we have just seen means ‚gods.’\u201d He nodded and I continued: \u201cThen what about the same word here at the beginning of the Torah<\/em> (Pentateuch)?\u201d For an answer my companion put his hand to his head in a quick gesture of complete surprise and exclaimed, \u201cThe rabbi did not tell us that!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever mind about the rabbi,\u201d I rejoined. \u201cIf the word is plural in the one instance, it certainly must be in the other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds right,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut I wonder why they did not tell us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Baron, what is the meaning of Shema<\/em> (the rabbinical name of the great confession of Deuteronomy 6:4)?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh! you know Shema?<\/em>\u201d His eyes were round with surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cA little about it,\u201d I said smiling. \u201cI want to ask you the meaning of this fourth word elohenu<\/em>. My instructors have taught me that it means ‚our Gods‘.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, they are wrong! It means one God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is the meaning of the word abhothenu?<\/em>\u201d \u201cOur fathers,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cOf cholayenu?<\/em>\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cOur sicknesses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPesha’enu?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur transgressions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd avonothenu?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur sins.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen, Mr. Baron,\u201d I concluded, \u201cif abhothenu<\/em> means ‚our fathers‘, cholayenu<\/em> ‚our sicknesses‘, pesha’enu<\/em> ‚our transgressions‘, and avonathenu<\/em> ‚our sins‘, surely elohenu<\/em> means ‚our Gods‘.\u201d<\/p>\n For answer my Jewish friend threw out both hands in a gesture of helpless perplexity. \u201cBut the rabbis…\u201d he breathed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not interested just now in what they say or do not say,\u201d I told him. \u201cYou admit that this is right, do you not?\u201d He nodded slowly and I continued, \u201cOne other question: What is the meaning of echad?<\/em>\u201d \u201cOne,\u201d he responded promptly.<\/p>\n \u201cMy teachers have told me that it means ‚a unity,’\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you were taught wrong!\u201d he retorted warmly.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Baron,\u201d I replied, \u201cin the first part of Genesis we are told that there was evening and morning, day one. There was darkness and light, two different things, opposites. Yet put them together and they make one. A little farther on we are told (Genesis 2:24) that the man was to leave father and mother and cleave unto his wife and they should become one flesh. You are married, are you not? Was not your wife a person with an intellect, emotions, a will, a body before you got her? Were you not likewise a complete individual before you met her? Yet God says when you two were married that you became one, ‚echad.‘<\/em> God speaks similarly about Himself. The Shema<\/em> really says:<\/p>\n Hear, O Israel, I then took him to various passages of the Old Testament and concluded with the words, \u201cThe Scriptures teach that there is a triune God and that the second person of this triune Godhead came to earth and dwelt among us and gave His life for us.\u201d<\/p>\n During this exposition my friend’s face was a study. By the time I had finished, there were tears in his eyes. \u201cI never heard that before!\u201d he said softly, and then continued, \u201cDr. Cooper, I graduated in Poland, but I have learned more about the Scriptures in this half-hour talk with you than in all my life before.\u201d Shaking his head sadly, he went on, for he understood that I had been talking about the Lord Jesus. \u201cI am an old man now, and sick, and what can I do? If I had met you twenty years ago, I would have changed my religion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Dr. David L. Cooper \u201cCome now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah.\u201d (Isaiah 1:18) An Interesting Conversation One day as I was journeying from Los Angeles to Denver I had a most delightful interview with an elderly Jewish man. I was sitting in the day coach reading my Hebrew New Testament when this … <\/p>\n
\nJehovah our Gods is Jehovah a unity.\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n