An Alternate Order For the Books of the Greek Text???

As has been previously proposed on this blog (Was Mom Right After All? – March 2013), the inspired books of the Bible have a hierarchy of authority, as Jesus said, “Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,” (Luke 24:44).  The hierarchy is based on the nearness of the author to the Creator; Moses “face to face” (Ex 33:11), while to the Lord made Himself known to the prophets “in a vision…in a dream,” (Num 12:6).  As a general principle, the words of the Prophets cannot take precedence over the words of Moses.  Therefore, all of the Hebrew text must be viewed through the eyes of the Moses, the highest authority. 

In the book order of the original Hebrew canon, which preceded the order of the Hebrew canon in the Christian Bible by 200-300 years, the Hebrew Sages arranged the books in order of authority, highest to lowest.  Compare this order to the arrangement of the modern Christian Bible.

The Tanakh (Common Hebrew Order)	Old Testament (Common Gentile Order)
Law of Moses (Torah): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy	Law of Moses (Torah): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
The Prophets (Neviim): Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malichi	History and Major Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel,
The Writings (Ketuvim): Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles	Minor Prophets: Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malichi

The English translators did not adopt the order of the Hebrew Sages, but elected to rearrange the Hebrew canon in chronological (historical) order following the pattern common to Greek thought.  As a result, the Hebrew text of the Christian Bible often reads more like a history book, which emphasizes people, places and events, rather than the living and abiding word of God, “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work,” (2 Tim 3:16-17).  

If Jesus is a prophet after the pattern of Moses (Duet 18:15), Who beheld the very form of God, (Num 12:8)(John 1:18, 6:46), and Whose face was illuminated from being in the presence of God (Ex 34:29)(Matt 17:12), than the words of Jesus should be elevated to a higher level of authority than words of the apostles who beheld the LORD in dreams and visions (Acts 2:17), not “face to face” (1 Cor 13:12), but on a level like the prophets of old, (Num 12:6-7).  In this hierarchy of authority, the Greek text should be read through the eyes of Jesus, where all the words of the apostles are consistent with the original words spoken by Jesus. 

Unlike the Hebrew text of the Christian Bible, the Greek text is not entirely arranged in chronological order.  Further, the words of the apostles are sometimes seen as superior to the words of Jesus because they come later.  Finally, the epistles of Paul, arranged from longest to shortest, appear before the epistles of all other authors.  So the other day, I was contemplating how the Greek text would be ordered if arranged on the basis of authority, like the Hebrew text is ordered in the Tanak.  Here’s my pass to provoke your thoughts.

The Greek Text (Common Gentile Order)	The Greek Text (If Ordered by Authority)
Words of Jesus (Torah): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John	Words of Jesus (Torah): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
Acts and Paul: Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians  2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon,	The Prophets (Neviim): Galatians, James, 1 Thessalonians  2 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, Philemon, Colossians, Philippians, 1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation
The Other Apostles and Revelation: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation	The Writings (Ketuvim): Acts, Hebrews

I am not arguing for a reordering of the Christian New Testament.  I am only suggesting a rethinking of how we read the text.  The New Testament should always be read through the eyes of Jesus and not the typical approach of many believers, who read the New Testament through our own culture and the eyes of Paul.  In other words, make our lives and the words of Paul consistent with the words of Jesus, not the reverse.  For scripture says, “Walk in the same manner as He (Jesus) walked,” (1 John 2:6).

It was great seeing everyone.  May God bless you in the coming days,  Scott

The Downfall of Dan

On Tuesday (8/18/15), I read Judges 18:1-31, a story I did not remember, which tells of the “tribe of Danites” who sought an inheritance in the land like the other sons of Jacob.  The Danites secured an inheritance with the assistance of a Levite name Micah, who was a priest, but also a person who possessed, “household idols and the molten image,” (Jud 18:17).  This week’s (8/8/15) Parashah reading specifically addresses this issue.

“If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as you own soul, entice  you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other god’s’…you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him…So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery.  Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.” (Deut 13: 6-11)

Rather than destroy all these idols and the people in accordance with this week’s Parashah reading, the “sons of Dan” instead robbed and then “set up for themselves the graven image,” (Jud 18:30).

These events seemed to be the beginning of the apostasy and downfall of the tribe of Dan.  With apparently little resistance, Jeroboam later set up “the golden calves…at Dan,” (2 Kings 10:29).  Ultimately, the tribe of Dan failed to make the list of tribes among the 144,000 in Revelation 7:4-8, possibly because of their apostasy. 

All this happened because the tribe of Dan did not follow the commandments of the Lord.  Yet, even in this condition, there remains a pathway back to God called “repentance.”  As Rabbi Heshy Kleinman encourages the reader in his book The Power of Teshuvah (Repentance,

“While other mitzvos must be performed in their entirety to accomplish their particular spiritual function, teshuvah is different.  That is because it is, at its core, a healing process…each improvement is valuable…In fact, incremental progress in teshuvah is an important source of motivation for further advances.  Once we begin to feel an increased sense of God’s closeness, our desire to sin becomes commensurately weaker.”

Please remember to devote some time each day to repentance leading up to the “Days of Awe” and Yom Kippur.  All the best, Scott