Bible Terms (From Pentecost to Yeshua)

I haven’t posted for awhile, but it’s on my mind everyday. If you are a Christian or know someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, these terms are important to know what you believe.

1. Pentecost – Is a Jewish holiday celebrated approximately 50 days after Passover and is one of 3 days requiring all Jewish men to come to Jerusalem. Christians remember Pentecost because on the first Pentecost after Jesus’ ascension, the Holy Spirit came to His followers as He had promised. This event marked the beginning of the Christian Church. (See John 14:16-17 and Acts 2)

2. Pharisees – Jews who tried to obey every part to Jewish law. Jesus commended them for what they taught, but scolded them for what they did. Jesus said they were, “clean on the outside, but filthy on the inside.” John the Baptist, referred to them as a brood of vipers. Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee who believed that he was doing the right thing by persecuting followers of Jesus. He had an encounter with Jesus while on the road to Damascus to round up Christians. After becoming a follower of Jesus, he became Paul, the apostle, and dedicated his life to spreading the gospel. He is credited with writing 13 of 27 books in the New Testament.

3. Sabbath – The 3rd commandment (Exodus 20:8) instructs all people to “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.” In the Old Testament, this is the 7th day (Saturday) and began at sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. Because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, most Christians set aside Sunday as a day of rest and worship (Acts 20:7).

4. Salvation – In the New Testament, salvation means to be rescued from the guilt and power of sin. By his death and resurrection, Jesus brings salvation to people who believe and follow Him.

5. Second Coming – The promised return of Jesus Christ to rule the earth at the end of this present age (Revelation 1:7).

6. Son of man – A name for Jesus. Jesus called Himself the Son of Man many times. The name means that Jesus is a real man and that He is the One God promised to send in Daniel 7:13. Son of Man is also the title by which God called the prophet Ezekiel.

7. Ten Commandments – A commandment is a rule or teaching that we are to follow. In the book of Exodus, God gave the commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. Although there is agreement about what the commandments say, there is some dispute about the number assigned.

• I am the Lord thy God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before me. Do not make any graven (carved out of stone, wood or metal) image.

• Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

• Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

• Honor your father and mother

• Do not Kill (murder)

• Do not commit adultery

• Do not steal

• Do not bear false witness against your neighbor

• Do not covet (envy what belongs to another), including your neighbor's wife, servants, animals or anything else.

1. Testament – A document that the author has sworn to be true. It can also mean an agreement or covenant.

2. Old Testament – The 39 books of the Hebrew Bible; also, called the original covenant. Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into four sections:

3. First five books or Pentateuch (Torah)

4. The history books telling the history of the Israelites, from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon

5. The poetic and Wisdom books dealing with questions of good and evil in the world

6. Books of the biblical prophets, warning of the consequences of turning away from God.

7. New Testament – the 27 books deal with the covenant of grace that came through Jesus Christ. They are all written by an eye-witness to the life and resurrection of Jesus or was told to the author by an eye-witness. They were written between 60 and 90 A.D. which places them within the generation that witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus.

8. Trinity - Used as a synonym for God, in order to call attention to the three distinct persons which share the single divine nature or essence. They are traditionally referred to as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although, the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, the concept is clear throughout the New Testament, specifically 1 John 5:7-8, Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14. In the Old Testament God is referred using a plural noun used with a singular verb. A hint of the doctrine of the Trinity can be found in the first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. The Hebrew word for God is Elohim. Elohim is a plural noun but it is used here with a singular verb bara. In the remainder of the Old Testament, when Elohim speaks of the true God, it is always used with a singular verb. The conclusion to be drawn is that in some sense God is both singular and plural. The doctrine of the Trinity states this - within the nature of the one God there are three eternal persons.

9. Yeshua - spelled יֵשׁוּעַ in Hebrew, a common name among Jews of the Second Temple Period, and known to be the name used for Jesus by Messianic Jews and Hebrew Christians. The name comes to us from the Greek spelling Iesous, from which, through the Latin Iesus, comes the English spelling Jesus. Why Greek then Latin into English? The New Testament books were all written in the common international language of the day, Greek. After the church was established in Rome, Pope Damasus I commissioned St. Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin. The work was completed in the 4th century and was widely adopted. The first English translation of the Bible was produced by John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor, scholar, and theologian.