The psychological makeup of supremacist sentiments, is an over inflated self-image, often mixed with an overbearing self-love and self-loathing.
Self-love and self-loathing often fight each other for supremacy. In need of definitions, and so, too often, this inner war is extended.
Supremacy needs nourishment; supremacist literature, speeches and lectures feed self-love while starving out the self-loathing. To ease this inner turmoil, one redirects and aims at the target one may deem as being inferior, and worthy of punishment.
This Ping-Pong battleground, always seeks to legitimize its actions. One juggles between bad actions versus worse actions, thus a severe action feels justified. Self-pity also plays an important role for it seeks to attract a one-sided sympathy.
A self-invented philosophy creates the twists and turns in order to prevent moral responsibility. By then, morality plays no meaningful role; it is suppressed, and pushed away, and that in turn is from pity, which hates responsibility.
This inner struggle between good and evil, and the worse evil, is very complex, and if not addressed and dealt with; it will bring utter destruction.
This complex psychology enfolds right before us today.
GAZA TODAY
They rejoiced and danced on the streets when Saddam Hussein dropped the SCUD missiles on Tel Aviv. 'An enemy of my enemy is my friend' is the common prevailing mentality.
Under Ariel Sharon the then prime minister, Israel withdrew from Gaza and accords were signed. There was no blockade over Gaza. They build their own International Airport and seaport, but they also agreed to remain demilitarized. Things were going well for them until they elected Hamas. In no time tunnels were built from within private homes first toward Egypt. Through these tunnels weapons were smuggled as well as on board of ships and perhaps even cargo planes. Then tunnels toward Israel were also build; with greater sophistication; as money from oil-rich Arab states kept pouring in.
Hamas was preparing to hit Israel, but got impatient and that's their typical nature (read the Bible about the sons of impatience). Inner hatred cannot boil for too long. Like a pressure cooker it must give vent.
The true nature of a terrorist is to terrorize and that's what they started to do. This indiscriminate shooting of rockets into populated areas of Israel looks to me like a rabid biting dog. Rationality and tactic plays no role, but only sentiments of hatred. Psychologically speaking, this sort of a mindset goes no further than an immediate gratification. It is as addictive as heroin to an addict. A terrorist gets an instant high, and in this weird way appeases the inner turmoil… until the next time.
HAMAS
Today Hamas amassed between 10,000 to 15,000 rockets and some of them are long-range missiles. God forbid they should have chemical or biological weapons, which can always backfire when winds shift their way.
ANTISEMITISM
The sleeping anti-Semitism has awakened and goes out to the streets of Europe and the US spewing its vehement hatred. “Allahu Akbar” chants heating up Islamic religious fervor ridiculing the authors of the Bible saying that the 'Jews will drown in the sea and Moses will not be there to part it for them.' What else can they do? This kind of sickness is like the methane gas; if it is not let out it will poison the swelled up with hate balloon.
Allah and Elohim are at war? Is Satan behind it?
THE BIBLE
We see that in the Bible where the self-loving Egyptians had to be fought. Human self-loving gods were introduced to the Almighty God, whom they did not know nor did they want; what they wanted were His people they kept as slaves. Egyptians did not know that Israelites were God’s chosen. Even the choosing of people (for the world) was too much to bear; and supremacy seeks to invalidate God’s choices by proving to those ‘chosen’ that it is not them who are chosen. Usually, self imagines grandiose things and falls prey to at the same time.
In ancient times the competition was over gods, and in this case it was: our gods versus your ‘imaginary’ God. And this ‘imaginary’ God can only be proven so by defeat on a battleground. Gods’ victory over others (like infidels) was accompanied with sacrifices, etc. These sentiments helped shaping Greek mythology: vicariously, gods fighting their heavenly wars through humans. To a certain extent it was the Israelite mentality also. But the battle was not among gods of air, fire, wind or the sea, but between the Creator and His creature the Homo sapiens.
SUPREMACY
All supremacists’ sentiments are always combative and nothing has changed. A tag of war continues.
In USA this addiction to supremacy is also evident, from KKK to skinheads to white power. These people just let their evil sentiments out publicizing them.
There are countless many who keep it all bottled up inside, but let it out occasionally, particularly in politics.
Wisdom is never superior for it works on the principle of sharing and hence education. It does not mean that only one is wise, while others must sit quietly and listen.
THE CHARACTER OF JESUS
[John 13:12-16] Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.
(Speaking of God the Father who sent His Son.)
Correlate it with [John 14:28] I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
Jesus was very humble and He wanted us to have His glory and the same oneness with the Father (John 17).
He wanted us to do even greater works than He had done (John 14:12).
And finally He said this: [Luke 6:40] a blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
So there comes an arrival and one can even become greater than his or her teacher.
SELF-CRITICISM
When one is actually willing to tear down the old structures and is ready to build new; then that would be indeed a great achievement. However, that can only happen when one recognizes the self-made prison.
Humility is nothing more than making oneself into a hollow empty vessel and in so-doing one prepares to be filled with something better and higher than what one had before.
Correlate it with [John 14:28] I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
Jesus was very humble and He wanted us to have His glory and the same oneness with the Father (John 17).He wanted us to do even greater works than He had done (John 14:12).
And finally He said this: [Luke 6:40] a blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
So there comes an arrival and one can even become greater than his or her teacher.
SELF-CRITICISM
When one is actually willing to tear down the old structures and is ready to build new; then that would be indeed a great achievement. However, that can only happen when one recognizes the self-made prison.
Humility is nothing more than making oneself into a hollow empty vessel and in so-doing one prepares to be filled with something better and higher than what one had before.
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IN THE BEGINNING
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1, ASV)
While this passage may appear to be a clear cut case for Elohim creating the heavens and the earth, the Hebrew text allows for multiple translations. Here is the Hebrew text with a literal letter for letter transliteration below it.
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
B.R.A.Sh.Y.T B.R.A A.L.H.Y.M A.T H.Sh.M.Y.M W.A.T H.A.R.Ts
About 1,000 years ago, the Masorites, a sect within Judaism, added vowel pointings, called nikkudot, to the text to standardize pronunciation and meanings of these words. Here is how this verse appears with the nikkudot along with a transliteration of the passage incorporating the vowel pointings.
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃
b'reshiyt bara Elohim et hashamayim v'et ha'erets.
With the text written in this way, the translation would be "in the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth." But this translation is solely based on the nikkudot that has been inserted into the text.
The wordבראשית (b'reshiyt) is the nounראשית (reshiyt) meaning "beginning" with the prefixב (b) meaning "in"-in [the] beginning. Rashi, a well respected Rabbi in Orthodox Judaism, points out that the wordראשית (reshiyt) is a construct, meaning a noun must follow it and suggests that the verbברא should be pointed asבֶּרֹא (bero, the infinitive form, turning it into a noun of sorts) and notבָּרָא (bara, an active verb). If we now read the beginning of Genesis 1:1 in this way we have "in the beginning of creation."
There is another possible interpretation of this phrase. If the verbברא is pointed as בֹּרֵא (borey, the participle form, also turning it into a noun of sorts) we can now read the beginning of this verse as "in the beginning of creating."
The next word is the word אלהים (Elohim).
ELOHIM
The most common Hebrew word translated as "God" in the Old Testament is the word אלהים (Elohim). This is the plural form of the word elo'ah. If you do a cursory study on this word, you will find that this word is used 2606 times, but it is not always translated as "God." In fact this very word is translated a variety of different ways.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1, ASV)
And Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. (Genesis 30:8, ASV)
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3, ASV)
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever. (Exodus 21:6, KJV)
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. (1 Kings 11:5, ASV)
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. (Psalm 8:5, KJV)
The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. (Psalm 80:10, KJV)
So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey. (Jonah 3:3, ASV)
And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed [literally in the Hebrew: seeking the seed of Elohim]. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. (Malachi 2:15, ASV)
When most people use the word "God" they are implying the creator of heaven and earth, the all powerful, all knowing and all present Supreme Being. But as we can see this is not the meaning of the Hebrew word Elohim from a Biblical perspective. And this is why the word Elohim can be used in such a wide variety of applications. To simply translate Elohim as "God" would be about the same as calling the Bible "a book."
In order to fully comprehend the real meaning of the word Elohim we will need to understand its grammar and use within a sentence. The "iym" at the end is a suffix that identifies this noun as a masculine plural and therefore literally means "ones of power and authority."
In Hebrew, a plural does not have to be more than one though, it can mean a "great one." Other words associated with this noun will help to identify if the noun is being used in a singular or plural sense. For instance, in Genesis 1:1 the word Elohim is the subject of the verb ברא (bara, usually translated as "create"). Each verb identifies the gender and number of the subject. In the case of the verb bara identifies the gender as masculine and the number as singular-he created. Therefore, the word Elohim must be understood in a singular sense.
And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-El; because there God [Elohim] was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. (Genesis 35:7, ASV)
In this verse the word God is again the Hebrew Elohim, but this time preceded by the definite article ה (ha, meaning "the") – “the Elohim.” “The Elohim” is the subject of the verb niglu, which identifies the subject as masculine plural. Therefore the correct translation of this verse is "And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-El; because there the gods were revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother."
ELOHIM
PART 2
So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God [Elohim] that judgeth in the earth. (Psalm 58:11, ASV)
Because the verb shophtiym (judges) identifies the subject, which is the word Elohim, as masculine plural, this verse should be translated as "So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there are gods that judgeth in the earth." When the translators ignore the grammar of the sentence and translate the text according to their theology, they are deceiving the readers and preventing them from seeing what the text actually says.
The plural noun Elohim, when used in a singular sense such as we saw in Genesis 1:1, does not always apply to the Elohim of Israel, it can also be used in a singular sense for a god of another nation such as in the passage below.
Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god [Elohim] giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever Jehovah our God [Elohim] hath dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. (Judges 11:24, ASV)
The next word is the wordאת (et). There are several meanings of this word. The first and most common is that it is used as a marker to identify the object of the verb, what is being created, and is therefore untranslatable in English. In the structure of the text, the word שמים (shamayim, heaven) would be the object of the verb, what was being created.
A second meaning of the wordאת (et) is a plowshare, but this has no connection with the context of this verse so we can disregard this meaning in this verse.
The third meaning of the word את (et) is "with." We can see this application of the word being used in Genesis 5:22 where it says that "Enoch walked with God."
The next word isהשמים , which is the noun שמים (shamayim) with the prefixה (ha) meaning "the." While שמים (shamayim) is usually translated as "heaven" or "heavens," it’s more literal and concrete meaning is "sky."
The next word is ואת, which is the word את, the word previously discussed, with the prefixו (ve) meaning "and."
The last word in this verse is הארץ, which is the nounארץ (erets) with the prefixה (ha) meaning "the." Whileארץ (erets) is usually translated as "earth," it’s more literal and concrete meaning is "land."
Now that we have examined this verse in detail from the Hebrew, we find that there are several possible translations into English.
In the beginning Elohim created the sky and the land.
In the beginning of Elohim's creation of the sky and the land.
In the beginning of creating Elohim with the sky and the land.
It is this last possible translation that begins our investigation of Elohim being "a part" of the creation instead of being "apart" from the creation. Remember Elohim has masculine and feminine qualities?
ELOHIM
PART 3
THE MASCULINE AND FEMININE NATURE OF ELOHIM
In our modern culture we tend to view God in masculine terms and imagery. While the word Elohim is a masculine noun, it does not have to imply that the Elohim is masculine. To illustrate this, notice that the word Elohim is used for a female goddess in the following verse.
For Solomon went after Ash'toreth the goddess [Elohim] of the Sido'nians. (1Ki 11:5, RSV)
In the first chapter of Genesis we receive our first glimpse of the nature of Elohim’s gender.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27, KJV)
Notice that in this verse it states that Elohim made humans in his image, but then it defines this image as male and female. From this we can conclude that the attributes of God are both masculine and feminine. We can then surmise that he placed his masculine attributes within the man and his feminine attributes within the woman and when a man and woman come together and become one[1], they together become the image of Elohim.
Another reference to the masculine and feminine nature of God can be found in the following passages.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. (Psalms 24:10, KJV)
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. (Psalms 41:13, KJV)
In the first verse is the phrase “LORD of hosts,” which in Hebrew is Yahweh Tseva’ot. The word tseva’ot is the plural of the word tsava, a feminine noun meaning “force.” When two nouns are placed together they are in the construct state, therefore this phrase would be translated as “Yahweh of the forces.”
In the second verse is the phrase “LORD God,” which in Hebrew is Yahweh Elohim.” The word Elohim , as we have already identified, means “one[s] of power and authority,” or simply “powers.” Again, this phrase consists of two nouns put together to form a construct and should be translated as “Yahweh of the powers.”[2]
Notice that these two phrases are synonyms, one using a feminine plural word meaning “forces,” the other a masculine plural word meaning “powers.”
Also note that Yahweh is not the tseva’ot but a part of it, Yahweh is a part of the “forces.” In the same manner, Yahweh is not the Elohim, but a part of it, a part of the powers.
The idea of a single male deity is unique to our modern era. In all the ancient cultures, the Elohim was a male and female. In Egypt it was Osiris (masculine) and Isis (feminine). In Canaan it was El and Elat (also known as Asherah). To the Greeks it was Zeus and Hera. To the Romans it was Jupiter and Juno. To the Germans it was Odin and Frigg. I am not necessarily trying to make the claim that the Elohim of the bible are a god and goddess, just that the attributes of Elohim are both masculine and feminine.
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[1] Genesis 2:24
[2] For the translators to translate this phrase as “LORD God,” not only ignores the word “Yahweh,” which does not mean “lord,” but also the construct nature of the phrase.
We see this very same concept in this verse as the Hebrew word for sky is masculine and the Hebrew word for land is feminine, and Elohim was created with both, the feminine sky and the masculine land.
ELOHIM
PART 4
LET US MAKE MAN
With this interpretation we find that Elohim is made up of sky and land, which will help to explain who the "us" is in Genesis 1:26 that "made" man. But before we can understand this verse, we need to look at another verse.
And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11-12, ASV)
It is easy for us to grasp the idea that the "earth" brings forth grass as we see grass coming out of the earth. However, we find it a little more difficult to conceive of the "earth" bringing forth animals, but this is exactly what we read in the following verse.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so. (Genesis 1:24, ASV)
In the next verse we read that Elohim made the animals, which only makes sense if Elohim is the earth.
And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:25, ASV)
Now let's take a look at Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image... (Genesis 1:26, ASV)
Just as the earth, who is Elohim, brought forth the animals, the earth also brings forth man. But this still does not explain the "us," unless the "us" is the land and the sky.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27, ASV)
Something that is often overlooked in this verse is that it identifies the "image” of Elohim as "male and female" and as we have already found, earth is a feminine word and the sky is a masculine word. We can also see this masculine and feminine attributes of Elohim at work in Genesis 2:7 where Elohim formed the man with the land and sky.
And the Elohim Formed the man of dust [masculine] from the ground [feminine], And he breathed into His nostrils [masculine] the breath [feminine] of life, And the Man [masculine] became a living soul [feminine] (Genesis 2:7, LT)
There is one other verse that we will want to look at.
And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Genesis 2:1, ASV)
ELOHIM
PART 5
This is of course the monotheist translator's opinion of how this verse should be translated. The Hebrew verb translated "finished" literally means "to accomplish a task." In light of this, along with the grammar of the verse, this verse would better be translated as;
And the sky and the land and all their forces (tseva’ot) accomplished their task. (Genesis 2:1, LT)
What was the task of the sky and the land? The task of the sky was to bring forth the sun and the moon and the task of the land was to bring forth the plants and animals. Uniquely however, both the sky and the land brought forth the man with body (the land) and breath (the sky).
It is also interesting to note that in very ancient Greek mythology, probably an evolved form of ancient Semitic mythology, Uranus (the father sky) and Gaia (the mother land) were the ancestors of the Greek gods.
There is another aspect of Elohim, as being a part of the creation that we need to explore. If the sky and the land are in fact Elohim, then in order to learn about Elohim, we should be able to learn about him through the creation and this is precisely what the book of Job states.
But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7-10)
He teaches us from the beasts of the land, and from the birds of the sky he makes us wise. (Job 35:11)
Isn't it interesting that whenever man wanted to commune with Elohim, they went out into the wilderness to do so? Isaac went out of the camp and into the field to meditate (Genesis 24:63). Abraham came out of the city of Ur to live as a nomad in the wilderness. Moses brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt into the Wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16:1).
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