Complimentary Story
Editor, Wisconsin Christian News:January 2025
As myself, do you believe the Bible is the Word of GOD? Rejecting Darwinian Evolution, or simply put, mouse to monkey to man. It wasn’t long after I earnestly began studying the Scriptures, that I was digging into the Hebrew language. However, it took some time to realize that most scholarship upon Hebrew had a deep but subtle flaw. The general scholarship claims, that Hebrew is but one of many upon the Semitic branch of language. See it? “Branch,” discarding Darwin’s “tree of life” as pure speculation, I had still unwittingly accepted a “tree of language.” Again, simply put, mouse squeaks became monkey shrieks, then man speaks. That view of language evolution is completely unBiblical. Yet many, even believers accept it.
In John’s Gospel, verse 1:1 reads, “In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with GOD, ...”. Taking that literally, let us go back to the book of Genesis. Verse 1:3, “And GOD said, ‘Let there be light.’ ...”. Verse 1:5, “And GOD called ...”. Each day of the creation narrative begins with, “And GOD said, ...”. Thus, language preceded man’s creation and is of Divine origin, not evolutionary. I had also accepted as many other do, that in Genesis 2:19 & 20, GOD was letting Adam name the animals, but was HE really hearing anything new? Who designed all Adam’s speech organs from lungs to lips? Who made his brain? I now see this as GOD checking Adam’s ability to converse with HIM in the Divine (GOD given) language that He had created him to speak. Adam passes with flying colors, later he fails tragically upon “carefully listening,” as do we all.
Genesis 11:1 teaches us that this Divine language was in universal use among all men until the tower of Babel event. Note, even after that, all the myriad of languages we have today originated from GOD’s action.
What about the original Divine language of Adam? Was it obliterated? I contend not and for good reason. To see this, one has to examine a chain of links carefully set out in the Bible. I fear many of the faithful skip over, the “begat” verses. It begins in Genesis 5:1, “This is The Book of The Generations of Adam. ...”, though the first, “begat” is in verse three. Link by link, it leads us to Noah, who begat Shem and two others, Ham and Japheth. This is not so much a genealogy as many assume, but a passing of knowledge from father to son. Not the least of which would be the Divine language. A very important part of which, I will address later. In verses 10: 5, 20 & 31, the separation of languages is touched upon regarding the descendants of Noah’s three sons.
However, in verse 11:10 the narrative again takes up that chain, “These are The Generations of Shem, ...”. Who in verse 11:11, “begat Arphaxad.” Link by link, it continues to Terah, who begat Abram/Abraham. Thus, in the same language GOD spoke with Adam and Eve, He also talked with Abraham. Sound far fetched? True that chain is made up of many links, but when one closely examines the lifespans, between Adam and Abraham there are only Methuselah and Shem. To clarify, Shem in his lifetime, could have conversed with both Methuselah and Abraham; actually Isaac was about fifty when Shem dies. Even though for whatever reason, lifespans were decreasing, there are only a few individuals between Isaac and Moses. Thus I believe, Moses conversed with God in that same “tongue” as well. Biblical Hebrew is not just a twig on the Semitic branch of an evolutionary language tree, it is the Divine language. While Aramaic corruptions had crept in during the Babylonian captivity as verses in Ezra/Nehemiah indicate, they also indicate that at least among the priestly and scholarly classes, that language was preserved. Obviously, Jesus spoke to the multitudes in their common languages, Aramaic, Greek, etc. He also certainly had complete mastery of His Father’s Divine language.
Now, that important part of knowledge, also passed along that chain, “The Hallowed Name,” of The Father. This becomes evident if one uses that chain to connect two verses, Genesis 4:26, “... to call upon The Name of The LORD.” That is The Hallowed Name as written in Hebrew. Transliterate the Hebrew letters as you will, JHVH, YHWH or YHVH as I prefer. “Squeak to speak” thinking has led many scholars to speculate upon The Hallowed Name’s origin, as if God needed man to name HIM. Scholars also question just what that phrase in Genesis 4:26 means. Yet, not long after that link of Abraham, in Genesis 12:8 we read that he, “... called upon The Name of The LORD.” We also read that Abraham first builds, “.... an altar unto The LORD,” tying The Hallowed Name’s usage with correct worship of God. Which brings me to a word still in use today, actually a phrase in Hebrew. In many verses, especially in the Psalms, it is translated, “praise The LORD”, etc.; you should recognize it as “halleluyah.” Unfortunately, it is spoken ignorantly by many as a mere exclamation as “hooray” or “yippee!” Yet, when sung reverently in hymns it is more aligned to Abraham’s usage in Genesis 12:8.
Evolutionists will obviously scoff at this, but not Bible believers, who take God’s Word seriously. I make no claims as a Bible scholar, my Hebrew language knowledge is limited. I simply try to approach my studies as a blank page upon which God may write His Word. HalleluYaH, likely the oldest continuously spoken Word. It was not evolutionarily derived from mouse squeaks. Amen.
-Bill Behringer, Winneconne, Wis.
