Chaim Bentorah > Quotes

“To love God means that we are totally dependent upon Him for everything, like a baby with its mother. Finally, to love God means that no matter what our situation, we will declare it “home,” as God is right there with us.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“David was a man after God’s heart because he was a man who understood God’s heart and sought to protect the heart of God. You cannot protect God’s heart until you intimately understand His heart.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“We also find in 1 Kings 19 that God spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice and right after that in an actual voice. It appears that God has levels of communication that depend on the”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“This psalm is written by a man who cries out to God and hears no answer, ending with “Lover and friend, hast thou put far from me, and my acquaintance into darkness.” This is not a happy ending.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“So the next time you speak out against the sin of our nation, ask yourself why you are speaking out. Is it from fear that you will be swept up in judgment and lose your comfortable lifestyle? Or is it because you feel the heart of God breaking and you want to protect His heart?”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Perhaps a good definition of worship would be God sharing His passion with us as we share our passion with Him. If two lovers share”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Ezra says they “sought God” on this matter. It stands to reason that if God was really behind this move, they did not have to pray for “travelin’ mercies,” as that would be assured. Again, they sought the Lord to confirm that they were only following God’s direction.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“You find yourself running in fear, and finally, when you are sitting under that juniper tree, you sit in despair, not over all your problems, but over your lack of trust in God. You are not only disgusted with yourself; you are feeling badly because you feel you have let God down, you have wounded His heart with your lack of faith. After years and years of seeing God’s”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Perhaps a good definition of worship would be God sharing His passion with us as we share our passion with Him.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Sometimes God does not speak in a whirlwind or an earthquake or in fire. Sometimes He wants to speak to us in a soft, gentle, loving way, and we must be ready to respond appropriately.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Have you ever seen on a package, “Do not open until Christmas?” Well, Psalm 88 is such a package. “Do not open until you are really in despair.” I have read Psalm 88 many times and could never understand what redeeming value it had, as it is filled with despair and without hope.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“would be allowed to work on the temple. That makes sense; you certainly do not want people with their own ideas as to how the tabernacle should look building it, as it needs to be done according to God’s specifications. As a pastor, I have met certain Christians who exercised such control over the church that I am convinced that when they get to heaven they will probably be telling God how to run things.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“This verse teaches that the leader who clings to the wisdom and power of man and makes man’s counsel, power, or influence his source of security, withdrawing from God or perverting the message of God, will be without the power and protection of God.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Keep  “Michtam of David. Keep me, O God; for I have taken refuge in Thee. I have said unto the LORD: ‘Thou art my LORD; I have no good but in Thee’ ” (Psalm 16:1–2).”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“And behold, the Word of the LORD came unto him” (1 Kings 19:9). “And after the fire, a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).  ”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“The rabbi then said, “Once the spiritual part of the man was healed, the physical healing was easy.” So I am back to the old argument. Does raphe (אפר) mean a spiritual healing or a physical healing? I would say both, but let’s not get so focused on the physical healing that we neglect the spiritual healing.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name” (Deuteronomy 10:20).”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Worship  “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14).”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“He has given us the power to abuse and even break His heart. We Christians can be very careless with this heart that God has entrusted to us. It would seem that, according to Exodus 34:14, that heart is easily broken.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Day 16 See Voices  “And all the people were seeing the thunder voices and the torches and the voice of the shofar and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance” (Exodus 20:18).  ”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“The Word Came  “And it came to pass after many days that the Word of the LORD came to Elijah” (1 Kings”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“healing of our sins or a physical healing. When you consider the wide range of usages for the word rapha (אפר), it would be safe to say it means both.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“knowledge of God. A wise-hearted person is someone who knows the heart of God.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“WISH I COULD know God better. While I would love to walk in the garden and converse with God as Adam did, the reality is that our most authoritative source for understanding God is through what is written in the Scriptures that came from the heart of God into a human language and then translated into yet another language I can understand. This book is designed to bring us beyond just reading different translations into discovering the heart of God.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“JEWISH LITERATURE TEACHES THREE ways to approach God in prayer. We can approach God as a child to a parent (“I want you to give to me and provide for me”), which is a basic form of prayer. A more mature approach to God in prayer is as a wife to a husband (“I love you, and I want to attend to your needs”). Yet we often overlook the third approach to God in prayer, and that is as a husband to a wife. In that prayer, we are asking God, “How can I protect your heart?”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“Hedge  “And I sought for a man among them who should make up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“wisdom means “one who is teachable, skillful, and knowing.” Only those with a teachable, skillful, and knowing heart”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“In the past few years, there has been a growing acceptance among Hebrew scholars of the idea that a word found in the Niphal can make it reflexive. In other words, you would render this word as “he wrestled with himself” before a presence that was with him. The Hebrew word ish (ׁשיא), which is often rendered as “man,” could mean a spiritual man or spiritual presence. Jacob was indeed alone with no other corporal being around, but there was a spiritual presence.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God

“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I will be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness” (Psalm 17:15).  ”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher's Search for the Heart of God