Hebrew Voices #122 – The Multitudes Have Spoken

In this episode of Hebrew Voices, The Multitudes Have Spoken!, Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson discuss the results of the Hebrew Gospel Pearls poll, some of the comments they received, and what it all means for this project.

I look forward to reading your comments!

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Hebrew Voices #122 – The Multitudes Have Spoken

You are listening to Hebrew Voices with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Keith: Welcome friends from around the world that have been waiting with great expectation on what would happen with Nehemia and I, regarding if we would go back to work.

Keith: Now, we're gonna bring you into our process. We've been talking about what should we call this. Nehemia, I'm calling it "decision time,” but you've come up with something even better. What are you calling this?

Nehemia: We kind of like on the spot came up with this idea, or rather I did, that we should ask the people to give their input whether they want us to do the Hebrew Gospel Pearls or not. And actually, one of the criticisms I got is, you know, we asked people to come and vote and they could only vote yes, they couldn't vote no. And I said, “Well, we already know there’s seven billion people not interested.”

Keith: Yeah, that’s right.

Nehemia: I want to find out if there's 5,000 people who are interested.

Keith: Yes. Now, before we get into this, so for those who are just catching us this week that didn't get us before, we put out this request for them to vote. And what's interesting about it is we put the voting on nehemiaswall.com. But there were many people who not only voted, but they sent a plethora of answers through Facebook, and through BFA International, and through nehemiaswall.com. And what was the general sense that you got, before we get to this issue?

Nehemia: I think we got four people who said, “Don't do it. We don't want to hear from the New Testament.”

Keith: How many?

Nehemia: Four, but we have 1,912 votes asking us… The question was, “Should Nehemia and Keith do Hebrew Gospel Pearls?” "Yes!" 1,912.

Keith: We have these 1,900 people, and I'm sitting and thinking to myself, “Okay, 5,000, what are we gonna have to do for 5,000?” So, we skipped a week. We didn't meet last week, because what were we doing? We were praying, we were discerning, and something happened. What happened? In the middle of this voting something happened. Would you tell the people what happened?

Nehemia: Actually, before we get to that I want to share an email I got from someone. He wrote, “Nehemia, I'm so glad you and Keith are doing this. Back in 1997, I started getting your new moon reports by email. At some point, a few emails started to come concerning the Hebrew Matthew texts. I was intrigued but skeptical because I didn't know the story behind them. Once I learned more, I hoped that someday you would do the work you are about to embark on, so I've been waiting a long time for this.” Basically, this woman’s saying she's been waiting for not nearly… She's been waiting for two decades. Wow, possibly longer than that.

Keith: Just a minute. She's just like me.

Nehemia: Okay, Fair enough.

Keith: We've been in a long process. But here's why I want people to hone in here, because we are in a place of true discernment, a true prayer. We've gone back and forth. In fact, we even took a time of silence, just to kind of let this sit. And again, we could read a number of responses from social media, from our individual websites. People have been just wonderful in terms of throwing out ideas and thoughts. But the general sense other than those four was, “You’d better do it.”

Nehemia: "Please do it," and "What have you been waiting for?" And I said, we only got 1,900 and some votes, and we were looking for 5,000. But I really feel convicted, or felt convicted, last week when we received an email from a man named James Hewitt. I want to read some of what he wrote, because it's just so powerful. It was like, “Okay, I've been focusing on the wrong thing. I was focusing on the number. I was focusing on quantity, and this letter from James convinced me that I need to focus on quality.” And this one man, James, to me, he's 4,000 votes.

So, when I saw this, Keith, I was moved to tears. James wrote, “I have only months to live. You and Keith have been such a blessing to me that I cannot thank you enough. I truly thank you so much. I hope to live long enough to see the finished work on the Hebrew Matthew”. I read that and I'm like, “Wow, Father, I've been focusing on the wrong thing. I was talking about quantity, and here this is a matter of one man.”

You know, there's this ancient Jewish saying that if you save one man's life, you’ve saved an entire world. And here, one man is saying, “I'm about to die, and I want to be worthy to live long enough to hear this teaching on the Hebrew Matthew.” And that really humbled me. And I realized, “Okay, we might only have 1,000 at that time. This is another 4,000. It's 5,000, we've got to do this.”

Keith: It's so interesting, Nehemia. So basically, what you're saying is that when you read that one, it moved you to tears, and I want to just stop there for a second. What was it that caused the emotional response? Was it him, or was it the fact that you were being molded, shaped, to make a change? What was the thing it made you feel that caused the response?

Nehemia: You know, it's one of these moments where you realize, “I could die later today.” And it was interesting, shortly after this I got a message from someone who was vehemently opposed to us doing this Hebrew Matthew. And the message was, “If you died tomorrow and all of your teachings were lost, would you want this to be the only teaching that survived? You know, life's short, is this really what you want to be spending your time on?” And when I combined that message with what James wrote, I said, “Absolutely, this is what I want to be working on. I feel like it's a calling. I feel like this message has been burning inside of both of us for nearly 20 years at this point. And it's time to go through it and put the information out there.”

Keith: Can I tell you something that happened? Nehemia, when I read that note, I was stopped in my tracks. And I wasn't sure… How can I put this? I didn't know how it would affect you. I wasn't in the counting of the votes. I was really always looking for what we call the “vision.” And if the vision comes, then the Father always brings the provision. But then you said something at that second with James. You said, “Listen, I think we should call him,” and so, we called him. And then, at that point, once we called him, for me it was over. It didn't matter, I was gonna fly to Dallas, we were going to have to do this somehow. So, both of us felt the sense that it was time to do it, but we should bring the people into this, somehow.

Nehemia: But James really has an amazing testimony, and if we can, I'd like to bring him onto the program and share that testimony with the people. Can we do that?

Keith: Yeah, let's do it.

Nehemia: Okay, there he is. Are you there, James?

Keith: Is that James?

James: Yessir. How y'all doing?

Nehemia: Hey James, Shalom. Thank you for joining us here on the program. We're calling this episode, "The Multitudes Have Spoken.” We’ve asked for 5,000 people to stand up and say they wanted us to do the Hebrew Gospel Pearls. We have 1,900-plus votes, but we've counted your vote as worth 4,000. So, we're over the 5,000. We're now focusing on quantity, not quality.

James: Oh, cool. Cool.

Nehemia: James, tell us a little bit about why is it that you wanted us to do the Hebrew Gospel Pearls. You sent a message to us. Tell us what's going on.

James: I wanted to hear you and Keith do the Gospel Pearls, kind of like the way y'all did the Torah Pearls and the Prophet Pearls, because y’all go into such depth. And it just blessed me no end to hear those things that y'all were talking about in both Prophet Pearls and Torah Pearls. And knowing that y'all had found some Hebrew manuscripts, I kind of wanted that same thing to happen with Matthew, because there's so much more to glean from the Hebrew that we might not have got in the regular translations that have been copied, and copied, and copied.

Nehemia: Where are you calling from today, James?

James: I'm calling from Hartsville, Tennessee. It’s a little town outside of Nashville, probably got about 3,000 or 4,000 people, just an old country town. About a day before yesterday we had some storms come through that knocked out half our telephone poles.

Nehemia: Wow. Yeah, we wanted to do this conversation earlier and it was not possible. So James, tell us a little bit about what you're going through. You mentioned in your message to us that.. I guess that you're terminally ill. What's that about?

James: Yes, I have a vascular ischemic vein disease and regular ischemic vein disease, which causes real bad headaches. The vascular vein disease is a vein that's running through the center part of my brain that feeds my frontal lobe, and it is collapsing. I've been told by my neurosurgeon and my neurologist that there's nothing they could do about it, and that they estimated that the amount of time that I had was just maybe months. And just one day it's just going to collapse, and that'll be lights out.

Keith: James, we both have been moved by your testimony and the fact that you actually are a really important person in both ministries. BFA International you're an ambassador, you're a supporter of Nehemia's Wall at the Makor Hebrew Foundation. You've been able to hold together both the Jewish and Gentile interest in this. Can you talk just a little bit about why you've been able to do that? What interests you by having sort of the Jewish and Gentile aspect coming together?

James: Well, my personal belief is that the Christianity foundation is in the Hebrew faith, in the Torah, and without the foundation of the Jewish faith, Christianity can't stand alone by itself. It can be twisted and made to do things that we aren't supposed to be doing and as such, you know, the history of the Catholic Church in the past. I personally think God came to the Jewish people to spread His message, to set up that foundation so that someday, when Jesus came, that it just built onto the Jewish faith.

And I believe that's the reason why first there were more Jewish converts to Christianity at the beginning. And I think that lends credence to the fact that it was important back then. I'm a little different than most Christians. I believe God made a pact with the Jewish people first and foremost. They made that pact first and foremost. And us Christians were grafted in by God's grace. And my thing is sure, I'd like to see Jewish people come to the faith of Christianity, but He made His deal with the Jewish people first, and I don't think there's anywhere in the Bible that says He's not gonna honor that deal. So, I like it.

As a matter of fact, I think I told y'all the last time I talked to y'all that I don't think I would have started listening to y'all if Nehemia had converted over to Christianity, because he is a Karaite who believes in the Scriptures and the manuscripts, and he is a Jew who… And I don't really like saying Jew, I think it's more Hebrew. He is of the faith. It gives more credence to the things he says. It's not just coming out saying, you know, toeing the party line about Christianity.

But there again, Keith, I like your enthusiasm. I like the way you present the Christian side of our faith, but I also like the way that Nehemia is very critical, and very astute about what is it that's in the manuscripts. What does this mean? What are the things that we can learn from this without having any kind of bias? And to me, that sold me at the beginning and still, that's why I tried to keep up with y'all for as long as I have. And personally, I just hope I live long enough to see y'all get Matthew done. As I know, it's going to be a long process. You know, when I'm here and I'm having real bad headaches and it's hard for me to think, sometimes I just put y'all's Torah programs on and kind of just listen, and try to keep my mind somewhere else other than where I'm at. And y'all just don't know how much y'all have blessed me and taught me, and I've really grown a lot listening to y'all.

Keith: James, you have blessed us, and we believe that you're gonna bless a whole bunch of people around the world because of the fact that you were willing to venture out and let us know this very intimate and important information. Like I said, Nehemia says it moved him to tears right away, and really already your testimony is touching people all over the world. So, we have determined that we're going to go forward. We only hope that you will pray with us that we're able to do honor to the process as we have for God and with people. So, thank you so much for sharing with us.

Nehemia: Yeah, thank you very much, James.

James: Thank you very much. Y'all just keep doing what you're doing. And believe me, I'm there. Anything you need, you just let me know. I'll do what I can to make it happen.

Keith: James, we did it before, but now we're going to ask people that are listening to be in prayer for you. Can you give us your wife's first name?

James: Laura.

Keith: Okay, for James and Laura. Folks that are listening, as we go through the program, we're going to talk about a challenge for prayer, but we want to let you know that the people that are listening, of course, we will continue to pray for you, James. So, thank you very much.

James: Thank you very much, and y'all have a blessed and glorious day.

Nehemia: Shalom.

James: Shalom.

Nehemia: Wow. You know, it's humbling, Keith. I mean, it puts it in perspective. I mean, here's a person who could die tomorrow, or a month from now, or three months from now, and he has these headaches so bad. His wife actually told us in the first conversation we had. She got on the phone, and she said she has to go to work, and she comes home, and he comes to her saying, “You know what Keith and Nehemia said today? You know what they said on the program?”

And it really is humbling, it puts it in perspective that life’s so short, we could die. What do you want to do with your life? And here's a man who is hoping that what he could do with his life is learn more about this text, about the Gospel of Matthew as it was preserved in the Hebrew. And if that's his dying wish, how can I say, “Well, we only got 1,000 votes, what are you talking about?” If he's the only one who listens to the program, that's all we need. I will have filled the calling here to do it.

Keith: It's interesting, Nehemia. James… August is when I met with him. It was before August that I met with him. And then, he got this terrible news in August, which they said could have been months. So, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March. Now it's April, and he's still here to be able to give us a testimony that's inspired us to keep going. And so, you said something really, really interesting to me. You said, “Keith, okay, it's time to get to work now.” And you said, “For James, we must get to work now.” And so, we are presently, folks, in the process now to be working on this. And there's some exciting things that we're gonna talk about. Permission to bring up one other thing?

Nehemia: Bring it up.

Keith: There were three things that happened for me, Nehemia. The first one was James. The second was that there was an overwhelming response of people both through Makor, nehemiaswall.com and BFA International, of people that were saying, “We want you to do this, we want you to do this.” And part of it, Nehemia, was you saying, “It's gonna take however many hours and resources,” and people just... I don’t know how, they just knew right away. Okay, that would probably mean support.

But something happened really significant. First, we got an email from two people from BFA saying, “Hey, listen, we really think you should do this. We want to send x dollars, we want to support nehemiaswall.com and BFAInternational.com,” and they sent that email with no response from either of us. Really, when they sent it you didn't respond. We haven't had a joint conversation about that email. But then a second witness happened. And here's where I want to put you on the spot.

A second witness happened the following Friday, which would have been the day we would have recorded. You sent me an email from a ministry, and the ministry said, “Hey Nehemia. We heard about the Hebrew Gospel Pearls. Our ministry is going to commit x dollars to the support of this project.” You responded and carboned me, and you said something along these lines, “Dear…” the name of the person, the name of the ministry, “Thank you so much for your support. I'm very excited about it. Would you please do me a favor and split this gift between the nehemiaswall.com, Makor Hebrew Foundation, and BFAInternational.com?”

When I got that email, I went back to the people who sent us that first email and I said, “Listen, this is what Nehemia has just done. The game changes.” Now, Nehemia, let's just be practical. We have two different ministries, two different issues. We have resources, we have programs, we have things that are going on. Who actually says when someone offers them resources, “Hey, can you split that between two ministries?” It was very powerful.

Nehemia: And for those who don't know, I've got Makor Hebrew Foundation, and through that I have Nehemia's Wall and various other projects, but mainly Nehemia's Wall these days and the Hebrew Voices podcast and doing all kinds of things with Makor Hebrew Foundation. You've got your own ministry, BFA International. And I've seen this out in the world that there'll be these clashes between people who are in ministry, because there's this kind of feeling where one person is there and he's holding the pole, and then somebody else comes along and he says, “You're fishing in my pond.” And my view is that there's seven billion people out there who need this message, the pond is big enough. And if this is Yehovah's will, you taught me this, Keith, when God provides vision He always, say, “Always.”

Keith: Always.

Nehemia: Provides provision.

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: And so, I'm not concerned about you fishing in my pond. In fact, I want you to come and join me, because this is a pond of not just seven billion people. I think this is a message that will be available to people for centuries to come, and I don't even know how many billions. And that takes resources to get that going and to launch that.

That was another thing somebody said to me in one of the emails. They said, “Well, you're looking for 5,000, what about all the people in the years to come who will hear this, who don't have the opportunity to vote because they didn't know about it?” And so, when I wrote that to you, what I was thinking is, this is not a matter of redistribution of resources. We need to create more. We need to provide people with information. It has to be supported, and the support will come, and I'm not concerned about it. You know, I'm putting out this appeal. We obviously need financial support, and we need prayer support. But I do believe that to quote an old movie, “If you build it, they will come.” It's not a matter of I've got a little pond. Let's grow the pond. There should be seven billion people in an ocean, not a pond. And then we can all fish together without any problem. This is how I want to do it.

Keith: Here's what's happening. You and I just had this conversation. We are going to acknowledge something pretty exciting between now and a certain period of time. We do want people to go to nehemiaswall.com and bfaInternational.com. And can I just say this, Nehemia? Between now and this future period, if you're going to give to BFA International, would you please consider, as Nehemia said, to split the gift? Can I say that?

Nehemia: Absolutely.

Keith: Can I say that? Just as he said it to this ministry, please continue to split. We're both 501(c)(3), tax deductible, all that. But more than that, we're talking about vision and provision. Now, here's the good news. Nehemia and I are going to go to work on this immediately. However, Nehemia, there's a few things you're gonna have to do to prepare, and there's a few things I'm gonna have to do to prepare.

Nehemia: That's an understatement, but yeah, okay.

Keith: Yeah, there's some time, energy, and resources in terms of studio. We're going to do some things to up our ability to communicate even better in terms of Internet, home studio. We're gonna use this time to really get in and dive into this. So, that was the second thing, was what you said about sharing and giving. And folks, don't get confused by this. Just be led and as you’re led, you'll know what to do. But please put nehemiaswall.com and bfaInternational.com into your prayer process. And if you do feel led to give, do as Nehemia said, split the gift. There was a third thing that happened, can I share it?

Nehemia: Please.

Keith: On the 24th of April, we get this thing from James. We get James who shocks us and at that point you say, “I don't care about the 5,000, I’ve got 5,000.” Then we have the supporter situation from both ministries. BFA, someone’s saying, “I want to give to both and the other ministry,” and you saying, “Split the gift.”

But then a third thing happens, Nehemia. I get a note from someone saying, “Hey, did you know the Biblical Archaeology Society just released an article?” And he sends it to me. On the 28th of April, they decided to do something on the Canonical Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They went to their archives and picked what they called the “best article” that they could bring forth from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What article did they pick for Matthew? They went to their archives and they picked George Howard, 1987. They put the entire article on the Biblical Archaeology Society. And so, what I want to do, we'll put this on both places at Nehemia's Wall and at bfaInternational.com, they’ve put the entire article, Nehemia. And what they did is, they called it a “Hebrew Gospel of Matthew.” And here's what they said. “Biblical Archaeology Society editors have hand-selected articles from the BAS Library that cast each of the Canonical Gospels in a new light.” Then I add this. They chose to republish an article by George Howard regarding the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew that shook the New Testament scholarly world back in 1987 when he wrote it and is still causing tremors today. Permission to read one sentence from this article from George Howard.

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: Here's what he said. “Although the debate has been extended and widespread, no one has ever claimed, however, to have found an original Canonical Gospel in either Aramaic or Hebrew. I now make that claim, though with some qualification." George Howard, 1987.

Nehemia: Wow, I think that article actually came out in ‘86, no?

Keith: Okay, I'm sorry, I missed it by a year.

Nehemia: Actually, his book came out in ‘87, “The Gospel of Matthew According to a Primitive Hebrew Text,” and this article preceding the book by, I believe, a year. So, it's been now 34 years, wow.

Keith: 34 years. So, you and I on Friday say, “Okay, should we do it?” James comes in, the supporters come in, and then this organization, out of the blue, picks this article for the Gospel of Matthew in terms of important work. They pick this thing that he wrote 30 some years ago? Come on, Nehemia. That's three witnesses.

Nehemia: All right, so we've got to do it.

Keith: We’ve gotta do it. Listen, there's one other exciting thing that you've agreed to that we're gonna talk about. So real quick, if you go to BFA International go to blog on the front page, click it. Nehemia will probably put up the same article at nehemiaswall.com.

Nehemia: You mean the Howard article?

Keith: Yeah, or even if you don't, you can go and read the article, just get this. So, we'll have the article there, but here's the good news. There's something else that happened. Can we do a little quick Bible study in the spirit of Prophet Pearls?

Nehemia: Please, bring the Scripture.

Keith: In the spirit of Prophet Pearls, actually one that we did some time ago, James said he loved Prophet Pearls and Torah Pearls, but this verse came to me through one of our supporters who’s been saying we've gotta be called to prayer. So, I'm going to share 2 Kings 6, and I thought about you ‘cause it's related even to Torah Pearls. 2 Kings 6, can you open up the tap-tap?

Nehemia: I got it open.

Keith: Okay. The Arameans plot to capture Elisha.

Nehemia: What verse are you in?

Keith: 2 Kings 6. What we’re gonna do is, we're gonna focus on verse 17, but the basic context is the Arameans are coming to get Elisha, and Elisha’s with his servant. I'm going to read the key verse and then let's talk about this just a little bit. It says they sent horses and chariots in verse 13. And it says in verse 15, “Now, when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold an army with horses and chariots...” Do you remember us doing this for Prophet Pearls?

Nehemia: It's also in my book, “Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence.”

Keith: So, now we're really talking, we’ve got two witnesses. I gotta tell you something, I want to tell people something. I did not tell you ahead of time what verse I wanted to bring. It was my turn to bring a verse. Last week you brought Matthew 5:19, you did not tell me ahead of time. So, I'm gonna share this verse. So, he says, “The attendant says,” in verse 15, “Behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master, what shall we do?’” Verse 16. “So, he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’” And he could have stopped right there, Nehemia, and made this nice little statement of, “Hey, listen. Don't be afraid. We got more with us than against us,” and it could have been over. But then he does something. He prays. Then Elisha prayed. Say, “Prayed.”

Nehemia: Prayed.

Keith: And he said, “‘Oh Yehovah, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ And Yehovah opened the servant's eyes and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” I could stop there, but can I just give you a couple more verses?

Nehemia: Please.

Keith: So first, we have the servant, he prays, “May his eyes be open.” Then it goes on to say in 18, “And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yehovah and said, ‘Strike the people with blindness.’” So first, he says, “Open the eyes of one, close the eyes of the masses here.” Then Elisha says to them, “This is not the way.” He tells them what happens, and he gets them all the way to the city. And then he says again, he does a third time of prayer. First time, he prays for his servant. Second time, he prays for the men's eyes to be closed. Third time, he says in verse 20, “And it came about when they had come into Samaria, that Elisha said, ‘Oh Yehovah, open the eyes of those men that they may see.’”

And I thought about you this morning. And I thought about me this morning. And I thought about us this morning. And I thought about my friend who said, “Listen, we need to call for prayer, but we need eyes to be open.” And I thought about the prayer that you used to pray all the time during Torah Pearls. But what I love about this, Nehemia, he doesn't just give him the old, “Don't be afraid.” He prays for something spiritual that would happen, and he sees a dimension of the horses and the chariots. And I'm telling you, Nehemia, you by saying, “James represents more than 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000,” you said to me on the phone that the Father, in effect, kind of molded you on this, kind of gave you a little bit of a redirect.

Nehemia: I worded it a little bit differently.

Keith: You put it a little bit differently.

Nehemia: I won't use the exact term, it's a term from wrestling. He slapped me and said, “Nehemia, you're focusing on the wrong thing. Stop focusing on the numbers, focus on the quality. This is people's lives here.”

Keith: Share what you see, but I wanted to tell you, Nehemia, this is an answer to prayer. The eyes have been and will continue to be open. This is exciting. Tell me what you think when you hear this passage. It's in your book, it's what we did in Prophet Pearls. Come on.

Nehemia: Absolutely. I mean, there are different levels here. In other words, part of this is for us to do this project, we need financial support, we need prayer. And to really be successful doing this we need that army of Yehovah with us…

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: … Because this is not easy. There's gonna be people who come out of the woodwork attacking us, and slandering us, and libeling us, and all kinds of challenges. There's going to be people who are on our side but saying, “Nehemia, what are you doing? Why are you talking about the New Testament? This is horrible.” There's gonna be people who come to you and say, “Keith, what are you doing talking with that Karaite Jew about the New Testament?”

Keith: They might come to me again and call you the “antichrist,” are you kidding me?

Nehemia: It wouldn't be the first time.

Keith: We've had so many times where this has happened. So, here's what we're praying. Would you all pray with us that our eyes would be open? ‘Cause there's one more thing I'm looking for, and that's the inspiration that comes when you and I get in that place where He literally opens our eyes to see wonderful things that we're able to bring to people. Amen?

Nehemia: Amen. Amen. Absolutely, yeah.

Keith: I'm not saying it's the end here. Do you remember the prayer you used to pray during Torah Pearls?

Nehemia: Yes, “Gal eynay ve'abita niflaot mitoratekha.” “Uncover my eyes that I may see the wonderful hidden things of your Torah.” It's Psalm 119, and some people might not realize this, but Psalm 119 is laid out according to the alef bet. There's a series of verses with alef, and then a series with bet. Then we get to gimel, and it says, “Uncover my eyes that I may see niflaot mitoratekha, the wonderful things of your Torah.” Niflaot is not just wonderful things. It could be wonderful, difficult things, things that are hidden, in a sense. Things that are difficult to do, even. It could be things that are hidden in some way.

One of the most important verses in Deuteronomy is where it says, “For this commandment, which I'm commanding you today, lo niflet hee mimkha, it is not too difficult for you.” The same word is there. It is not far, it's not across the sea that someone has to go across the sea and get it. It is not up in heaven that somebody needs to go up to heaven and get it. That's in Deuteronomy 30:11 on. And what he's saying here in Psalms is, okay, it's true that the Torah is not too difficult to keep, right? That's in Deuteronomy. However, there are things that are difficult for me to understand. And so, uncover my eyes that I can understand those things. I'm gonna do the best I can today. I won't say I'm not keeping the Torah because it's too hard. But give me that fuller understanding, that I can understand the hidden things of your Torah.

And for King David, or some Prophet in ancient Israel to have prayed these words is astounding. What do you mean? David had the spirit of Yehovah rest upon him, we're told in the Book of Samuel. And we don't know who wrote Psalm 119, right? It could have been David, or one of the prophetic Levites that were described in Chronicles, for example. So, either David or some Prophet of Israel prays those words, “Uncover my eyes that I may see the wonderful hidden things of your Torah.” What do you mean, uncover the wonderful hidden things in the Torah? You have the spirit of Yehovah resting upon you. You're filled with that spirit of Yehovah. You need God to uncover your eyes? And the answer is, yes.

Keith: But here's the thing, what I wanted to say, James, Sarah, the list goes on. Nehemia, people have been doing a wonderful job of connecting with their ministries. They want the information, they want the inspiration, they want the revelation. Now you and I are gonna work on the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. Just to throw out the idea. What do you think we could do as far as gathering people at a specific time to kind of like see where we're at in our process? Could we plan something, maybe, towards the end of the month?

Nehemia: Memorial Day?

Keith: How about Shavuot?

Nehemia: Let's do it for Shavuot. It’s a perfect time.

Keith: Here's the deal. What's the only holiday, holy day, where both the Gentile and Jewish folks come together around the same time? What is it called?

Nehemia: Shavuot.

Keith: Shavuot. They call it “Pentecost” in the old tradition I'm from. It's Shavuot. But guess what? You have brought up a really good idea. And I don't know how far I should go on this, but you got me excited. It's not just the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, there's other New Testament manuscripts that maybe, we could look at possibly.

Nehemia: I think we can.

Keith: Maybe Hebrew Acts? I won't go too far. You guys, he's got a whole vault. I'm telling you he's got stuff in a vault. Let's start with Hebrew Matthew.

Nehemia: It's a vault on my computer, but yeah. It’s on microfilm.

Keith: So, what if between now and then everyone prays? We're calling people to pray. Pray for us. We do need time, we need resources, we need prayer. We are going to dive in now into the Hebrew Gospel Pearls. Nehemia and I have agreed, we're going to put our studios together.

Nehemia: I think what we have to do is a pilot. We'll do like five sections or something.

Keith: Yeah, we're proceeding by faith.

Nehemia: Absolutely, walk on faith.

Keith: And hopefully, our eyes will be open, your eyes will be open, people's eyes will be open and then on Shavuot, maybe we could share in some creative way what we found in some of the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. Is that a fair way of thinking about it?

Nehemia: We've got a whole month until then. Let's pray about it and see how this develops.

Keith: We're going to pray about it and see how this develops.

Nehemia: Awesome. And we want to continue to hear from the people. Send us messages. They can still vote.

Keith: Where do they vote?

Nehemia: They vote on nehemiaswall.com. Every page now has a little thing, what we call a widget on the side where they could vote. You can only vote once, so if you try to do it again it says, “Oh, you're the same person.” You don’t have to log in, but you vote once on nehemiaswall.com.

Keith: I tell you what, you got to nehemiaswall.com to vote. If you'd like a little preparatory reading, you can go to BFA International. Go to blog, and you'll see this article from George Howard, 1986. He wrote it but they published it in 1987. That's available. Voting…

Nehemia: Hey, before we jump in, I had an idea that just came to me. You said Howard's article from 1986 or whenever is up there. Can we both read that article and come back next week and discuss it?

Keith: Are you serious?

Nehemia: Can we do that? Yeah.

Keith: Okay, so here’s what we’re gonna do.

Nehemia: This is like a university seminar, right? The Professor gives you this article, you read it, and you come back and discuss it.

Keith: And this is an example of sharing back and forth that we've been doing. Last week, everybody went to Nehemia's Wall to vote. This week, everyone's gonna go to BFA International to read the article, the blog. Push blog, and there's the article, you read it. It's not a short article, it's a long article. We will come back together next week to discuss the article. Can I just say, this is a part of the preparation for us in doing the Hebrew Gospel Pearls.

Nehemia: Absolutely.

Keith: And I want to say for BFA International, we have a number of people right now that are doing the “Red Letter series.” It's a free series. It's what I call preparatory work, also, in terms of the work that Nehemia shared with me so many years ago, that I just knew we had to keep getting this information to people. There's a powerful tool that he shared with us. It's available for each lesson. It's an interlinear, where you have the pointed Hebrew with English words. There's some flexibility on what some of those words are. But you can go to bfaInternational.com. Front page, click “Red Letter series,” become a free member.

Nehemia: Can you tell people why you call it “Biblical Foundations Academy?”

Keith: Absolutely. That was a life changing situation in 2002, when I went to Israel. I told the story many times. I go to Israel. I was invited for the time of Shavuot. Uh-oh, I was invited at the time of Shavuot. We're going to do this at Shavuot.

Nehemia: Did you just realize that? I just realized that.

Keith: No, but when I was there, you and I met in the Old City of Jerusalem. We were sharing the Bible, we were sitting across from the Western Wall. And you took me down below the actual wall, down in the Western Wall tunnels, they call them. Now they made it a whole lot different. I mean, I don't know if they've made it a bit modernized, I think, down there.

Nehemia: Probably from when we were there in 2002. But I've been there so many times, it kind of draws me there.

Keith: We come in front of this wall, how many metric tons?

Nehemia: 600 metric tons. It is the largest building stone, as far as I know, in the world from any period. And the purpose there, they believe… why do you need a stone that big, was to stabilize the structure above. ‘Cause the Temple itself, that is the retaining wall of the Temple, was built without mortar. It was stone upon stone, so it was the massive size and weight of the stones that held it up.

Keith: So, you and I are there together. And I will just tell people what happened for me, spiritually. The Father said, “What would it be like if people's faith was like that stone?” And that was Biblical Foundation Academy, inspiring people around the world to build a biblical foundation of faith. Now, can I bring context to this thing that's happening in the world, and why you called me for what's called “Live from Quarantine?”

Our friend in Switzerland says, “I've been listening to you and Nehemia talking about Live from Quarantine, how that's changing things.” It's happening around the world. Nehemia, during this time, is it not interesting that this situation, some people would see on the negative? There is a positive that's come as a result. You and I have been forced…

Nehemia: Forced.

Keith: Forced into these Zoom meetings, in a sense. And now out of that birth, from that is the ability for us to study back together after how many years, 1997?

Nehemia: You mean Howard’s article? ’86 or ’87.

Keith: No, no. How many years did we… When did we start studying?

Nehemia: 2001, ’02.

Keith: 2002. So, how many years is that?

Nehemia: 18 years

Keith: 18 years, awesome.

Nehemia: And you know what 18 is in Hebrew gematria? It's yud khet, which is khay, which is life. So, now this has come back to life. We’re gonna be learning the Hebrew Matthew.

Keith: Here's what's beautiful about what we're going to invite people to do. You're gonna study with us. So next week, the assignment. Go to the blog, push it, read the article from Howard.

Nehemia: I love this idea. So, guys out there, read Howard's article that’s linked to from Keith's website. And if you have questions about that article or comments on that article, send them into BFA International, send them into nehemiaswall.com using the contact form. And maybe we might get to some of those questions and comments. I love that.

Keith: That's good, because we're gonna read this article. This is great. Now, in the meantime, we've also got to get to working on that pilot of Hebrew Matthew.

Nehemia: Good luck with that.

Keith: Well, we gotta pray, Nehemia. It's a call for prayer for people around the world to pray with us, to join with us. Some people are in major struggle. Those that are in financial struggle, please, whatever you do, don't walk away from this time saying, “Well, it's just become about something other than...” No, this is all about purpose. We are in purpose, and we’ve found ourselves in a situation where we have an opportunity to do something that, short of intervention from heaven, we wouldn't do. Nehemia, you've been very, very busy. I can't even talk about all the things you're working on.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: Very, very busy. I've been very, very busy. And I have to say one last thing. Two years ago, the Father's like, “No, you need to prepare this more online ability.” What are you talking about? Trains, planes and automobiles. Guess what, there ain't no trains, there ain't no planes, there ain't no automobiles.

Nehemia: There are automobiles, yeah.

Keith: You go around the world through this audio-video written material. So, I'm excited about it. Let's get back to work, my friend. Shall we pray?

Nehemia: Absolutely. Yehovah, Avinu Shebashamayim. Yehovah, please be with James and comfort him. And Yehovah, give us the strength, and the perseverance, and ability, and resources to be able to put out this message so that James can hear the entire thing along with the millions of other people who, according to your will, if it is Your will, will hear this as well. Yehovah, make this Your will. Yehovah, we couldn't live a single more day without You.

Keith: Yes, Father.

Nehemia: Please be with us and give us the strength and Yehovah, be with our leaders, and medical professionals, and give them wisdom how to deal with this pandemic. And Yehovah, be with all those who are in quarantine, and lockdown, and shutdown and they're struggling with their finances, because their businesses have been shut down by the government. Yehovah, please be with those people and give them comfort, and give them strength, and give them what they need to continue to worship You, and love You, and act out that love for You and call upon Your name. Amen.

Keith: And Father, thank You so much. I'm reminded as we pray for the team of people that work with Nehemia, his team of people, the people that do editing, the people that do audio, and video. The people that do administration, the people that make sure that he can continue to do what he's doing. And Father, for the team of people that work with me, they're just wonderful people. We lift up our editors in audio and video, and administrative people that have just been so faithful. Even as Nehemia and I sometimes do these crazy things, they've been so supportive and been behind us and helping that to work.

Father, for the people that are listening right now, open their eyes that they might see the chariots of fire, the horses, the army that you have, Father, that even in the middle of a pandemic, it would look as though we are outnumbered. But really, if they would have a spiritual dimension, they would see that there are more for us than against us. Father, thank You so much for the gift of these Hebrew manuscripts. I want to thank you, Father, for Nehemia's diligence, for the way that he has searched and scoured the world, and now has access to manuscripts that for the people who are concerned about it, don't know how to read, and for the people who would read aren't concerned.

That You have crafted him to be in a position to bring this information now is just a blessing. Father, thank You so much for this time. Thank You for your blessing, and the peace that You've given us that passes all understanding. We thank You in advance for what will happen as we go forward, continuing to do Your work in Your name. Amen.

Nehemia: Amen. Shabbat Shalom.

You have been listening to Hebrew Voices with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon’s Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

We hope the above transcript has proven to be a helpful resource in your study. While much effort has been taken to provide you with this transcript, it should be noted that the text has not been reviewed by the speakers and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. If you would like to support our efforts to transcribe the teachings on NehemiasWall.com, please visit our support page. All donations are tax-deductible (501c3) and help us empower people around the world with the Hebrew sources of their faith!


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Related Posts:
Back to Work!
Hebrew Matthew Q&A
My Search for Hebrew New Testament Manuscripts
Hebrew Voices Episodes
Support Team Studies
Nehemia Gordon's Teachings on the Name of God

Verses Mentioned:
2 Kings 6:15-20
Psalm 119:18
Deuteronomy 30:11-20
1 Samuel 16:13

  • Roberta Page says:

    You have to be a BAS member to read the entire article. 🙁

  • Roberta Page says:

    UGH. I posted my comments on last week’s episode instead of this week’s. Just know that I am beyond excited that you’re going to do this!! Heard it here first. I intend to increase my monthly support. Yay!!

  • Bob Searle says:

    George Howard, in Matthew 1:23 mentions properly ‘young woman’ as ‘Alma’ appears. I have seen other texts which use ‘virgin’ keeping with translations of Isaiah 7:14.
    Isaiah did not use ‘Alma’ again. However, he did use ‘Btul’ four times specifically referring to virgins.
    Isaiah Word Strongs
    7:14 Alma 5959
    23:12 Btulat 1330
    37:22 Btulat 1330
    47:1 Btulat 1330
    62:5 Btule 1330

    If you can glance at the spoiler alert given when Yeshua chooses the twelve.
    Matthew 10:4, where the author mentions the end of the story regarding Judas, that he will later betray. The other writings, Mark, Luke and John also do the same spoiler to the reader.

  • donald murphy says:

    no Christian stuff please. I may have to stop following you guys.

  • christopher david scallio says:

    A question for Nehemiah. In view of the 434 years prophesied in Daniel 9:25-26. “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. Who do you say was the historical Person that was the Anointed One who was killed? Clue: The very Month & Day was given to count from.

  • Bridget Scott says:

    I DON’T HAVE A QUESTION. I HAVE A COMMENT IF I MAY, PLEASE. I MENTIONED A COUPLE WEEKS BACK THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT SHOWED ME ONE MORNING IN PRAYER THAT ‘THE PURE WORD’ (THAT WHICH YEHOVAH SPOKE TO MOSES) WOULD BE REVEALED.

    THE HOLY SPIRIT TOLD ME LAST WEEK; “THE PURE WORD WILL BE FOUND WRITTEN ON A CAVE’S WALL.”

  • kbrink1154@gmail.com says:

    I look forward to your teachings. Both you and Keith make a great team.

  • Julie says:

    Yeah!!! I join with the others in cheering you on.

    Interesting what goes together here- foundation, wall. Biblical FOUNDATIONS Academy, Makor Hebrew FOUNDATION and Nehemia’s WALL

  • daniel says:

    OK, after reading the article several times (it really is good, considering a number of things), I can now comment; We’re fortunate Howard didn’t take someone else’s word that the Shem Tov he looked at was from a similar ancestry as the Munster and Du Tillet manuscripts, and took the time to check. With all the witnesses he mentions from the 2nd and 3rd centuries (like Papias of Hieropolis) he can’t completely agree with them that it’s a Hebrew original, but possibly a model alongside the Greek. I suppose it might be possible Papias meant Aramaic when he said ‘Hebrew’, but I never say ‘Spanish’ when I mean French. I like the puns he brought forth, but could’ve added a couple more interesting ones – such as the Yeshua/yoshia connection, and the 5 x shalem wordplay. The Elijah exaltation seems very important. Also, the fact that our protagonist in the Hebrew version isn’t ascribed the Messiah identity until the 16th chapter somehow makes it a much more interesting read and gives it more credibility (Imagine if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave away the solution in chapter one). Although Professor Howard probably had tenure, there’s a little thing called ‘funding’ and also ‘ostracization’ he no doubt had looming over his head. I also understand there were nine extant mss when he wrote this, and an additional 19 have been found in this century (hat tip Nehemia), and these things must be considered. Lo’ these many years have passed and this article is still being discussed. Now for a question – I understand that two of the oldest mss at chapter 1:16 have “Yosef avi Miriam” – Joseph the FATHER of Mary ?? If this is true, they finally fit the mathematical puzzle (14 generations,14 generations and 14 generations) that the original author created within the text! Heretofore every extant translation has 14, 14 and 13 generations. No amount of explanation can refute that Luke’s list has the stepfather descending from David thru his son Nathan, whereas Matthew’s list carries the list of Kings from David via his son Solomon. I’m hoping Hebrew Gospel Pearls will touch on this (Even Bohan wordplay intended). Thanks, dm

  • Christy Watson says:

    I haven’t had a chance to comment. You doing a Hebrew gospel Matthew series may help me get through the struggles I have and will have this year.

    Your Torah and Prophet pearls are my source of shalom many nights when I I struggle with all that is on my plate.

  • Maurice J Manley Sr says:

    I really love and enjoy the teaching of both Nehemiah and Keith!

  • daniel says:

    Ditto what James said, and Hallelujah! Bless you, James. I don’t know how much time I have yet, either. And did I mention that I’m originally from Missouri? My younger siblings are not, and they don’t have that “you gotta show me” mentality that I have. If you can ‘show me’ something, I’ve got it. I’m not always doubtful, but rather seeing something like an ancient manuscript with an explanation makes it concrete and more memorable. So excited to be part of this and so very thankful for you and Keith. One of the first things I saw Nehemia do was ‘The Hebrew Yeshua vs. The Greek Jesus’ video, and that was so powerful when you expounded on the miracles recorded in Matthew as blatant violation of Talmudic ‘law’, and yet never violated Torah at all. They don’t teach Talmud in seminaries, so we would never know what Yeshua was really doing if it weren’t for this Wandering Karaite Teacher weighing in on matters found in the Gospel of Matthew! Can’t thank you enough – and more donations as soon as I’m able.

  • Rae Lloyd-Jones says:

    Nehemia & Keith, also of interest in the Hebrew Matthew 11:11, with there being no addition of “notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” in reference to John the Baptist – it would make sense to me that these words may have been added by a Greek scribe to lend support to the translation of 5:17 as “he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
    To my understanding, this “least/greatest in the kingdom” thinking, is interpolating a Greco-Roman class structure or social hierarchy into the world to come of Hebrew expectation, which seems foreign to the Teaching & Instruction of the Father in Torah and the Prophets.

    Thank you both again for making the Hebrew texts accessible.

    In Yah’s service,

    Rae L-J
    Australia

  • Steve Starr says:

    This is meant for that young man who has a rare cardiovascular disorder. My suggestion may be useless but at 72 years old and with multiple health problems I have found something that does help me. I have started drinking cherry favored powdered beet root juice. It has raised my blood oxygen level by 2 to 4 % and it should not shrink your vessels(?). I use Bountiful Beets by Country Farms purchased at Walmart. You might at least read the contents of it. I drink two servings spread out during the day. May Yehovah bless you with a solution to your problem!

  • Matt Gee says:

    Zechariah 14:16-19 is a foundational scripture for what James is talking about. And the King no doubt in verse 16 is Yeshua. I will certainly pray for James!

  • Richard G Gutknecht says:

    Do we have any evidence that there are manuscripts that exist of Matthew or other gospels that have been preserved from the original Netzrim and not developed as Anit-Christian treatise with of course the anti-Christian biases injected? How can one tell the difference?

  • paulettegray says:

    Nehemia
    In one of your prophet pearls podcasts (unfortunately I can;t remember which one because they seem to come down in random order rather than sequentially.) you referred to the word ‘gin’ (quoting KJV I think) and said you didn’t know what it was. It is a trap – the sort of trap that is triggered by stepping on it and it releases claws or jaws that grab your ankle. (anyone of Job 18:9, Ps 140:5;Ps 141:9 or Is 8:14)

  • paulettegray says:

    When you originally asked for votes for the Matthew Project I decided to pray only – and what a wonderful way God has of giving you His answer (and making us see that His answer won’t be what we expect or given in the way we expect). I have been one of the lucky people whose cash in hand has not dropped whereas I’m sure that some of your supporters have not been so fortunate. This made me re-evaluate my decision to pray only, but as the exchange rate with USD/ Australia has dropped to its lowest for some time I am relatively poorer. As I say to my daughter when I send her a parcel to the UK.’remember the value of the gift includes the cost of postage’. In the case the value of the gift includes the prayer that God will multiply your support and the support to BFA so that you can proceed with the project and James and Laura can be blessed by it.
    Shalom

  • paulettegray says:

    I am hoping that you will identify clearly which version (the Shem-Tob Type text of Matthew or the Shem-Tob Hebrew Matthew) is the source for the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew and is the one referred to in your book. And when Howard refers to “our only representative of it” he means that he had found only one source document and now you have found many more.

  • Donna Elder says:

    Please do Mathew . I feel bless from hearing the Hebrew explained on ! Came out of legalism a cult to boot but was raised keepingHolly days and Sabbath similar to Jewish but also came to see my Savior. After church learn we were in error we came into New Coveant believes! I felt like I understood when the curtain was ripe off the holy of holy. In to grace and hope . Your program is like in com-binding of both! Law foundation and the Saving grace of the Savior . Or as I learn the New is in the Old Testament concealed and the New Testament is I the Old Testament Revealed ! So very true . The Holy Spirt reveal to me but I learn the quote from watching Chuck Missler.

  • Mike says:

    Shabbat shalom!

  • Doyle Millington says:

    Toda raba:

    It is a great blessing to hear teachers such and Mr. Gordon and Mr. Johnson who seek the truth. So many “teachers” nowdays just blindly repeat what they heard someone else say. We are supposed to study the Word continually, pray for discernment, and think for ourselves.

    Keep up the good work. Omein.

  • I just read “Was The Gospel of Matthew Originally Written In Hebrew?” By George Howard and man, was that super disappointing that we can’t say it was originally written in Hebrew then translated into Greek. It was super informative though. I did like learning the differences. It does make more sense that it would have been written in Hebrew because the translation just from the examples given are more consistent with the Old Testament and would prove the words of Yeshua who said He came to speak the Father’s words so it should be consistent with the Old Testament. So while it can’t be proven through literary evidence, the Hebrew makes the most logical sense.