A Historical, Linguistic, and Prophetic Case for Re-examining the Hebrew Bible

Bart Ehrman is one of the most influential biblical scholars in America today. Through his books, lectures, and paid online courses, he has guided hundreds of thousands of former believers to the conclusion that the Christian Bible is unreliable — a human document full of contradictions and later edits. Many who started with strong faith walked away as agnostics or atheists.

I wrote my book, The Ten Sayings, specifically for that audience.

Before you conclude that the Bible is not factual, I invite you to examine the original Hebrew Tanakh through the lens the Jewish people have used for over 3,000 years — not as ancient literature, but as a precise, multi-layered code containing the blueprint of creation.

A Secular Historian’s Astonishing Discovery

Francisco Gil-White, a secular anthropologist and historian with a PhD from UCLA, made a striking observation while studying the history of the ordinary world. A tiny, seemingly insignificant people appeared in the ancient Near East, and their ideas — monotheism, justice, human dignity, and moral compassion — ultimately reshaped Western civilization. Gil-White calls the Jewish people “the most successful system ever created for changing humanity.”

This is not a religious claim. It is a historian’s evidence-based conclusion.

The Unique Power of the Hebrew Language

At the foundation of this system lies the Hebrew language. Jewish children begin their education with the Aleph-Bet. In Hebrew, the word דָּבָר (davar) means both “word” and “physical thing.” The sages understood this to mean God’s spoken words are the actual building blocks of reality — functioning like chemical elements.

How Traditional Jewish Scholars Read the Torah

We do not read the Torah like a novel or a collection of moral stories. We study it as a precise code in which every letter, spelling variation, dot, and numerical value carries intentional meaning.

The Baal HaTurim: Reading the Code

Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (Baal HaTurim, 1269–1343) was a master of this approach. Here are three examples:

1. Genesis 1:1 – בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ The verse contains exactly 28 letters. The word כֹּחַ (koach – strength) has a gematria value of 28. The Baal HaTurim teaches that God created the universe with His full creative strength.
2. Genesis 33:4 – וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ (vayishakehu – “and he kissed him”). This word has 11 unusual dots above every letter. The Baal HaTurim explains that the dots reveal Esau’s kiss was insincere — his descendants would wage an eternal ideological war against Jacob’s descendants.
3. Exodus 32:6 – The word “to play” (לְצַחֵק – l’tzachek) is spelled with an extra י (yud) only in the golden calf story. That single added letter transforms the meaning from innocent play to immorality and corruption.

Professor Chaim Shore: Hebrew as Scientific Blueprint

Professor Chaim Shore, an Israeli engineer, used statistical analysis on Hebrew gematria. He showed that the numerical values of Eretz (Earth = 291), Yareach (Moon = 218), and Shemesh (Sun = 640) align almost perfectly with their actual physical diameters. The probability of this occurring by chance is extremely low. He has documented dozens of similar patterns.

Ten Specific Prophecies Fulfilled in History

The Tanakh made detailed, testable predictions about the Jewish people that have unfolded with remarkable precision:

1. Scattered among all nations (Deut. 28:64)
2. Persecuted and few in number
3. Preserved as a distinct people for millennia
4. Hated without a rational cause
5. Regathered from the four corners of the earth in the last days
6. The land of Israel was left desolate while they were in exile
7. Jerusalem was trampled by Gentiles until their time was fulfilled
8. The Torah going forth from Zion again
9. Every empire that tried to destroy them collapsed
10. A final return greater than the Exodus from Egypt (Jeremiah 16:14-15)

The Ongoing Conflict Between Esau and Jacob

Efraim Palvanov’s five-part series “Understanding Edom” traces how Esau’s descendants became Rome and later shaped aspects of Christianity. This may explain why Glenn Beck recently said Western Christianity is falling apart and he doesn’t understand why. The Torah gave the reason long ago through the dotted letters above Esau’s kiss.

My Personal Journey

My grandfather, Luz Ramirez Diaz, passed away in December 1988. I was very young and knew nothing about being Jewish. As he was dying, he told my mother he must be buried within 24 hours. She asked me, “Junior, what does he mean?” I had no answer.

I barely knew my uncle, Joseph Diaz. From age 18, he walked the streets for the Baptist church, devoting his life to bringing people to Jesus. He was a dedicated Christian who knew Jesus deeply — but he never knew he was Jewish, and he never knew he carried Aaron’s DNA.

Eight years ago, my uncle Joseph took the Big Y DNA test through FamilyTreeDNA. The results showed that he carries the Cohen Modal Haplotype — the genetic marker indicating direct descent from Aaron, the High Priest.

Only then did the pieces begin to come together.

A Final Invitation to Truth-Seekers

If you are someone who once believed in the Bible but lost faith after encountering modern academic criticism, I urge you to give the original Hebrew Tanakh a fresh look. Study it not as ancient literature, but as the living code it has always been.

You may discover that what you thought was an unreliable myth is actually the most sophisticated operating system humanity has ever received.

The Ten Sayings was written for exactly this purpose.

---

Footnotes

[1] Francisco Gil-White, writings on The Management of Reality (managementofreality.com) [2] Based on classical rabbinic interpretation of the word davar. [3] Baal HaTurim commentary on the respective verses. [4] Baal HaTurim on Genesis 33:4. [5] Professor Chaim Shore, Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew.