God's Spurgeons

Where-in the World is the Ark of the Covenant

Recently, I stumbled upon a FREE Bible Wheel ebook at http://biblewheel.com/Book/eBook.asp, downloadable for FREE!

I have just started reading it and have since been so excited about it that I can't help but share.

The following are extracted from the site with author's blanket permission to share:

A Unified View from a Higher Dimension


On May 12, 1995, I completed the first draft of the Bible Wheel shown below. I placed the Hebrew Letters on the outer rim so there would be room to write their names and listed the numerical position of each Book below its name for easy reference.

The structure consists of a circular matrix of sixty-six Cells on a Wheel of twenty-two Spokes. The sixty-six Cells form three wheels within the Wheel called Cycles. Each Cycle spans a continuous sequence of twenty-two books as follows:




The Meanings of Aleph Tav

We have yet to exhaust the manifold meaning of Aleph and Tav. As mentioned above, they combine to form other words that relate to the structure of the Wheel. The most common, et, is a derivative of ot that functions as a grammatical sign to mark the direct object of a verb. It first appears at the exact center of the seven words of Genesis 1:1 where it marks heaven as the direct object of God's first creative act:




As a grammatical marker, et is peculiar to Hebrew and so is not translated. It appears again as the sixth word to mark the earth as the other direct object of God's creative act. There it is prefixed with the Sixth Letter (Vav) which is how the conjunctive "and" is written in Hebrew (pg 197). A closely related meaning of et is to mark out words for special emphasis with the implication that the essence or totality of the thing is in view. This is common knowledge amongst both Christian and Jewish commentators, as noted by Adam Clarke in his commentary on Genesis 1:1 (1826 AD):

The word eth, which is generally considered as a particle is often understood by the rabbins in a much more extensive sense. "The particle," says Aben Ezra, "signifies the substance of the thing." The like definition is given by Kimchi in his Book of Roots. "This particle," says Mr. Ainsworth, "having the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet in it, is supposed to comprise the sum and substance of all things."

This rabbinic tradition interprets Genesis 1:1 as "In the beginning God created et – Aleph Tav, the Essence of Everything – that is, the heaven and the earth." This further coheres with its etymology, as Ernest Klein explained in his Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language where he traced it back to the ultimate root meaning of ot as "a noun in the sense of 'being, essence, existence'." This means that the Seal of God's Word carries the idea of essential existence. The closing passage of the story of creation exemplifies this meaning:

And God saw everything (et-kol) that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished (kalah), and all the host of them.

Genesis 1:31-2:1

The phrase et-kol is formed by combining et with (kol), the standard Hebrew word meaning the whole or all. It is spelt with the same consonants (vowel points were not added until the 10th century) as ot-kol, the sign of everything, which coheres, of course, with the precise topic of the passage. This then reveals the true essence of the alphabetic core of God's Word. Following the arrow from the center of the figure eight, we pass through the Letters Aleph Tav Kaph Lamed, and see that et-kol is formed by symmetrically interweaving these two diametrically opposed words on the Alphabetic Circle. This means that the Sign of Everything is symmetrically spelt out in the defining alphabetic core of the Bible Wheel, which amplifies yet again its power as a symbol of the all-encompassing Word of God. This is the never-ending wonder of the Theological Art that God has so skillfully engraved in His Capstone.

How can I give with a cheerful and grateful heart?

Would a paradigm shift in mindset be required?

What? A pair of dimes?

No. Paradigm. It is like brushing your teeth with your left hand when you have been doing so with your right all this while.

It sounds awkward!

No. It is awfully uncomfortable! And it takes getting used to. How this always reminds me of repentance: changing the way I think. And how it always makes me wonder if this is what is meant by working out my salvation with fear and trembling. That is, doing things I am not accustomed to doing or in a way so out of line with my habits.

Anyway, as it is with the brushing analogy, so it is with giving.

You know I have always been a giver, albeit selectively. Those who failed to take advantage of me have labeled me mercilessly. But what the heck, I do not owe them a living and neither them, me.

But my giving had thus far been rooted in the pride of having done a good deed; giving something that is of mine out of sympathy for the less fortunate. It does sound like filthy rags as described by our big brother Jesus, doesn’t it?

But is it not that what giving is all about?

If that is true, I can understand the cheerful part because nobody forced me to give. And it makes me happy. But what about the grateful part? Why should I feel grateful for giving? Should it not be the job of the ones receiving?

Well, you should be grateful you have more than enough to give?

That could be one reason. But a thought came to my mind yesterday.

Suppose I have a windfall of $4 million and God asked me to give $1 million to someone in need. Would you struggle with that?

Of course lah! One cool million you know? Not peanuts leh! No way am I going to do that!

But suppose God says that He wants to bless someone with a million dollars through my hands. And He says for doing that for Him, He is giving me $3 million. How does that sound to you? Deal or no deal?

Deal! And what a bloody good deal! How I wish God would ask me to do that all the time!

So that would cause you to give with a cheerful and grateful heart?

I will paint the town red man!

Can you see how a difference in perception can do? The first instance is one of giving what I perceived is mine. The latter is one of being blessed for doing what God wants done.

Hey, I think you are going nuts these days. And I do not really care how I perceive it so long as I get my freaking $3 million!

Then what about the tithing part? Should not we give 10% of the$3 million to God?

Err, God is so rich. He would not need your lousy $300k one lah. Anyway, why not place it in fixed deposit and then tithe 10% of the interest earned?

But did not God say we should not rob Him by not tithing? And did He not say when we tithe He would open the windows of heaven and pour out so many blessings that we would not have enough room to receive them?

Well, with the $3 million, I think I can last quite a while. When I need the blessings then I tithe lah!

And suppose God had given us this money for us to practice tithing, would it not be the same as Him blessing us with $2.7 million for doing what He wants done? Would it not be a bloody good deal too?

But I can do a lot of things with $300k you know? Anyway, this is just hypothetical. We talk about it when it is a reality lah.

Hmm, is this how we can give with a cheerful and grateful heart? I wonder.