THE BOOK OF LIFE, THE ORIGINAL HEBREW BIBLE

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is solely the opinion of the author and for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

The original Hebrew Bible was much smaller and was called The Book Of Life. It was basically a manual for living. Over the years, it grew larger and larger as more history and other material was added. This is fine, but the basic principles have become obscured and some omitted altogether.

This article is an attempt to bring back the original text, which is found in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manuscripts that have been found recently in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East.

THE ORIGINAL HEBREW BIBLE

The original Bible included the following sections:

THE ONE GOD. This was a new and unfamiliar idea. Most world religions at the time had many gods who loved sex and war, and often cruelly treated each other.

The new God, named Adonai, was also invisible and everywhere, rather than found in a statue or particular place or time. This was a difficult idea for many people to understand.

CREATION. The manual included the familiar creation story. However, the story was simpler and explained that the Garden Of Eden was a nearby place where mankind was seeded and where people lived peacefully for a long time until problems arose.

The early people were not naked, however, and there were many plants and even meats for them to eat. However, they were not allowed eat fruit or any sugary food. These were food for the “gods” only.

The gods. There were gods in those days. God is a Hebrew word that means the wise one. We have a similar word in English – good. However, god means more than just good.

The gods were usually older people who knew more than the others and who had special abilities. For example, some spoke many languages. Others could hear what today is called the Holy Spirit. They counseled the people and guided them.

THE MORAL LAWS. These included the present-day Ten Commandments, The Golden Rule, and The Law Of Cause And Effect (“As you sow, so shall you reap”).

They also included rules forbidding rape, homosexuality, and abortion except in special circumstances that threatened the life of the mother.

Rape. The punishment for rape was death! Some Bible scholars say this was the most important of the all of the Hebrew rules. Rape was common, especially during a war after a battle.

The modern nation of Israel has the strictest laws against rape of any nation. It is one reason to support this nation against all threats and attacks. America and Europe, by contrast, have much lighter punishments for rape – and they have much more rape. For details, read Rape.

Slavery. The Book of Life also included the rules forbidding human sacrifice, sex with animals and cruelty toward anyone for any reason. The laws also forbade mistreating slaves because at that time in the world, slavery was common. It meant servitude to others.

For example, if one owed someone money one might put oneself into the service of the one owed the money in order to pay off the debt. This was one kind of slavery.

Another example is that if a man wanted to marry a woman, he might put himself in the service of the woman’s father or mother for a period of seven years. This is not a bad system! This way her family would get to know him and could decide if he was a suitable mate for her. This was another form of slavery or servitude.

However, sometimes slaves were mistreated and this was prohibited. For example, some women became slaves to pay a debt or for some other reason. In these cases, the laws prohibited rape and mistreatment of her.

THE FOOD LAWS. These were vital because there was junk food at the time of the Hebrew founding. The pig was the main animal eaten for food and it is an unclean animal and almost always infected with parasites, even when the meat is cooked.

So its use was forbidden, as was eating all refined, spoiled and poor quality food. Also, shellfish are quite toxic and to be avoided. Today, sadly, most fish are full of mercury and need to be avoided except for very small fish such as sardines, which are a good food even though they come in a can.

These rules were essential then, and are just as important to observe today.

THE RITUALS. These included four rituals: 1. The ritual of marriage. This is the basis of community and love. It was mandatory if at all possible. In other words, there were no monks or nuns.

Marriage is the blending of male and female, warm and cool forces of nature, power and harmony, linear and circular energy, and much more. It was usually for life. However, divorce was allowed in the case of infidelity that would spread sexually-transmitted disease and it was allowed if there was any cruelty or physical abuse. Emotional abuse was also forbidden.

Children were to have a male and female parent in all cases. If this was not possible, a man and a woman would be assigned as god-parents of the child and would have to spend a certain amount of time with their god-child.

2. Circumcision. This is necessary to protect women from rape. The ritual is slightly bloody. However, when done at the eighth day of life, as is the rule, it is not too hard on the child.

A special tool is used in the Hebrew ritual that makes it quick and fairly painless. Anesthesia is allowed.

In contrast, doing it later, as is done in the Islamic world today, is extremely traumatic. They do not allow anesthetic, which is also horrible.

Other rituals involving cutting the clitoris, rape of any kind, ritual murder such as “honor killing”, are strictly forbidden.

3. Death and burial. Bodies must not be allowed to lay around and rot. This is really a cleanliness rule. The Hebrew idea of “sitting shiva” for seven days was the rule. This is period of mourning and grieving the loss of a friend or relative that helps a person come to terms with the loss and then move on. One does not go to work and friends bring in food and whatever else the person needs to live.

4. The Rite Of Puberty. This was the holiest ritual of all. It is in the present Hebrew religion as the Bar Mitzvah for boys and Bas Mitzvah for girls. However, today, the Bar Mitzvah and Bat or Bas mitzvah has been hollowed out to the point that it is worthless.

The real Bar mitzvah. The words mean “one who is subject to the laws and commandments”. It has been mistranslated to mean “son or or daughter of joy or gooness”. This is absolutely wrong. Read about it in Wikipedia, for example!

The ritual has to do with becoming accountable for one’s speech and actions. It is a solemn, serious moment in a child’s life, not a “party atmosphere”, as it is today in most Jewish congregations.

The ritual must occur when a child shows signs of reaching puberty. This is embarrassing for some children who develop early or late. However, it is important that it be done this way.

It was not a public ritual, as it is today, and it is not about joining the community, as it is today in Jewish tradition. It is largely private, within the family. Joining the community of adults occurred later, around the age of 17 or 18, with what we know of today in Jewish and Catholic life as confirmation. This is a separate phenomenon.

THE HOLIDAYS. In the early days of the Hebrew religion, there were only two major holidays. This is important because today there are dozens of Hebrew holidays that take up a lot of people’s time. For a while, it seemed like every unusual battle ended up as a holiday! The originally ordained holidays are:

1. The New Year, called Rosh Ha Shanah (literally, the head of the year). Rosh means head in Hebrew. Ha means the. Shanah means the year).

2. Passover, called Pesa in ancient Hebrew (not Pesach, which is a more modern spelling and pronunciation). Related modern words in Spanish are peso and pesado. These mean money and intensity or heaviness.

In English, we have the words pesary and pestilence. A pesary is a weight placed in the vagina to keep it in the proper position. Pestilence is a plague that is intense. The words means intense and important in ancient Hebrew.

This holiday celebrates the exodus from slavery in Egypt and the birth of the Hebrews as mature people. Slaves are not fully mature people.

This holiday also includes celebrating the giving of the Ten Commandments in the desert of Sinai. This was a monumental achievement on earth, one whose importance is still not known by most of the people of earth.

RULES ABOUT DAILY LIVING. These included:

- Rules about cleanliness, such as when to wash the hands and the body, how to wash clothing and how to keep one’s home clean.

- Sexual rules. These included the rules prohibiting sex during a woman’s menstrual period and during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

- Rules about going to bed early, avoiding alchoholic beverages except in a few situations, rules against loud music and loud voices, and more.

RULES FOR RAISING CHILDREN. These included the requirement that all children be breastfed for three (3) years.

Children were never to be beaten for any reason. Mild spanking was permitted, but that was all!

Children were viewed as young adults, and nothing less. They had rights and parents would lose custody of their children if they ignored, abused, beat or otherwise did not treat their children well. Children had to be fed the correct food even if they objected. This was also very important.

RULES ABOUT MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE, AND LEGAL MATTERS IN THE CASE OF DEATH OF A SPOUSE, DEATH OF A CHILD, AND DEATH OF A RELATIVE.

RULES OF INHERITANCE AND RULES FOR ACTION DURING A WAR SUCH AS THE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS TO PREVENT RAPE AND OTHER STANDARD HORRORS OF WAR.

RULES ABOUT STRANGERS, INNKEEPERS, HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS.

THE MESSIAH IDEA. This was in the original Bible or Torah, which means a scroll. The messiahs were advanced gods who would come when mankind was ready for more instruction or in the event of a catastrophe that required his intervention. However, the messiahs were not God, who was invisible and does not have a human body.

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