Why Study Hebrew Language and Culture?

by Kenneth R. Mullican, Jr.

Why should I be interested in the Jewish roots of my Christian faith? My

faith has served me well for many years just as it is. My salvation is
secure; I'm heaven-bound; I'm working for the Lord. Besides, I'm a
medical microbiologist, not a theologian. Why study Hebrew language
and culture when I'm not even Jewish?
I believe the answer can be summed up in just one word--Jesus. Yes,
Jesus who came as the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, whose very name
means "salvation." God, in His infinite wisdom, made the plan of
salvation so simple that it can be understood in any language, in any
culture, at any time in history. Yes, of course I know Jesus in an
experiential way--He's my personal savior. And yet, how much better
can I know Him if I can relate to Him in the context of the language and
culture of the time period and place he walked on earth. To know Jesus
even more intimately, I must meet Him in the context of Jerusalem,
rather than in the context of Athens or Rome. That is, I must somehow
reach behind the centuries that separate me from the first century body of
believers in Jesus. I must strip away the accretions of western thought,
interpretation, and practice, and attempt to think like the people thought
who wrote the Book--or at least to understand how they thought. What
did the text mean to those who read it and who practiced its precepts?
Jesus was born a Jew in a Jewish culture, received a Jewish education,
studied and lived by a Jewish Holy Book--the Old Testament portion of
our present Bible. He kept the Jewish feasts and gave added meaning to
them through His own life. When He taught, He used Jewish methods,
and used Jewish idioms when He spoke. He expressed Jewish humor. He
trained Jewish disciples who became the leaders of His body of believers
on earth. The first church, established in Jerusalem during the Feast of
Pentecost, was Jewish. The first missionaries who carried the gospel to
both Jew and non-Jew were Jewish. So, right away I can see that a lot of
Jewish effort went into bringing salvation to me. In light of this
knowledge, how could I choose other than to study the language and
culture of my Lord, the language and culture of most of the Bible? How
could I harbor even the slightest amount of antisemitism in light of my
debt to Jewish people?
Since I have begun my quest for the Jewish roots of my faith, the Bible
has literally come alive. Names of people and places which were once
glossed over now have meaning as I discover their Hebrew derivation
and pronunciation. The Lord's Supper, or Communion, which Jesus
instituted as a memorial to Himself, has clearer meaning since I
discovered that Jesus chose a portion of the feast of Passover to which
He gave special meaning. Biblical passages have become clearer with
the understanding of Jewish customs and methods of teaching. And one
of the most exciting things I have discovered is that many of the walls of
partition that separate believers come down when we view Jesus and His
Church in its first century context, devoid of the accumulated burden of
western thought and customs.
Am I suggesting that most believers today don't really know Jesus and
are not engaged in a meaningful relationship with Him? Am I suggesting
that our churches have become so cluttered with pagan ritual that they
are devoid of meaning and offer no pleasure to God? Of course not! I am
simply suggesting that we take a long, hard look at the religious
condition of ourselves and our churches in the light of the Jewish origins
of our faith. What was the Church that Jesus established really like?
How do we measure up? Are we willing to examine our traditions in the
light of Jewish language and culture, or do we feel threatened when we
consider the potential loss of our comfortable traditions?
Finally, we must consider whether we are content with our present
religious experience, or do we dare to consider Jesus and His Church in
their original Jewish context? Choosing not to study Hebrew language
and culture certainly won't keep you out of heaven and certainly doesn't
make you a second-class church member. But please consider the
possibility that you could be missing an opportunity to experience our
Lord and the biblical message in a fresh and meaningful way. May we
never become complacent in our attitude and thereby limit our
understanding of biblical truth. Rather, may we keep an open mind in
our pursuit of biblical understanding that we may fulfill the imperative
of 2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a
workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth."

Ken was reared in Oklahoma and holds a BS in Zoology and an MA in

Medical Microbiology, both from the University of Oklahoma. Ken and
Lenore attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary prior to
appointment to the Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip, where they served
five years. Ken now works full-time with HaKesher.
Lenore was reared in Israel, daughter of former Jerusalem pastor, the
late Dr. Robert L. and Margaret Lindsey. She holds a BS in Nursing
from the University of Oklahoma, an MA in Biblical Literature and an
MA in Advanced Biblical Languages, both from Oral Roberts
University. She teaches Modern Hebrew at Oral Roberts University as
Assistant Professor of Modern Languages.

Yavo Digest, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1987