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A review by okiecozyreader
TheGod of the Way: A Journey into the Stories, People, and Faith That Changed the World Forever by Kathie Lee Gifford, Jason Sobel
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I really enjoy Rabbi Sobel’s thoughts and his background how Jewish people might see and know these people in the Bible.
I read the first section of this book: The God of the How and When (which is featured in a Bible study I completed with Faith Gateway). It focuses on the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joshua and Mary
There will be future studies/videos for the next sections that release this year (The God of His Word, The God Who Sees, The God of the Other Side).
Several of my favorite highlights from this book are sections where Sobel mentions God changing people’s names - Sarai and Hosua, by adding specific Hebrew characters.
“He changed their names from Abram to Abraham, from Sarai to Sarah. He added the same letter to their names—the Hebrew letter hei (ה). In Jewish thought, the letter hei signifies the creative power and potential to conceive children or give birth to any promise of God. This single letter was a game changer! It was after God added the letter hei to their names that the miracle of conception occurred.
Adding the letter hei to both of their names is also symbolic of the letter of the divine breath (Genesis 2:4) and the letter of the divine promises (Psalm 33:6).”
(Sarai)
“Moses changed Joshua’s name from Hoshea to Yehoshua by adding the Hebrew letter yud (י) to the beginning of his name. Why was this particular letter added?
The letter yud represents the divine name Jehovah, which in Hebrew is spelled yud-hei-vav-hei (יהוה). It is common not to write the full name of God out of respect. Instead the four-letter name of God, known as the Tetragrammaton (meaning “four letters”), is abbreviated by writing two letter yuds together.”
…
“But of course, there is more. The yud also represents God’s hand.”
(Moses)
My word for the year is joyful and I loved seeing references to that:
“A key part of God’s beauty is to give us a radiant joy that rises from within our core, despite our outward circumstance. …
For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honor.
…
If we want to be light and attractive and beautiful, then we must live our lives with a contagious, infectious joy.”
(Sarai)
“Oh, God of the How and When, only You know how, only You know when.” (Mary)
—- the God who Sees
I really loved looking at these people who God saw:
Hagar, Ruth, David and Mary of Magdala
“And if we want to live a life in the overflow, it comes down to trusting in God and relying on the reality that He will show up in every circumstance. He’s the God Who Sees.” (End of chapter on David)
I loved the book for this chapter - esp Hagar and the good eye vs the evil eye.
“There is the good eye, known in Hebrew as the ayin tov, and the bad eye, referred to as the ayin ra. Jesus talked about this when He said,
“The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22–23)
When we see things from the perspective of the good eye, we can perceive the positive, the good, and, most importantly, the hand of God in all things. When we view things through the “bad eye,” we see problems, pain, and the bad in everything.”
“It will all make sense. We need to let the God Who Sees transform our sight as He did for Hagar, Ruth, David, and others whose stories we will explore more in this section, for when we do, we will never be the same.”
In Mary of Magdala we see that, “Casting the demons out of Mary Magdalene and others demonstrates that the God Who Sees has compassion for His creation and that He cares for you too!”
I read the first section of this book: The God of the How and When (which is featured in a Bible study I completed with Faith Gateway). It focuses on the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joshua and Mary
There will be future studies/videos for the next sections that release this year (The God of His Word, The God Who Sees, The God of the Other Side).
Several of my favorite highlights from this book are sections where Sobel mentions God changing people’s names - Sarai and Hosua, by adding specific Hebrew characters.
“He changed their names from Abram to Abraham, from Sarai to Sarah. He added the same letter to their names—the Hebrew letter hei (ה). In Jewish thought, the letter hei signifies the creative power and potential to conceive children or give birth to any promise of God. This single letter was a game changer! It was after God added the letter hei to their names that the miracle of conception occurred.
Adding the letter hei to both of their names is also symbolic of the letter of the divine breath (Genesis 2:4) and the letter of the divine promises (Psalm 33:6).”
(Sarai)
“Moses changed Joshua’s name from Hoshea to Yehoshua by adding the Hebrew letter yud (י) to the beginning of his name. Why was this particular letter added?
The letter yud represents the divine name Jehovah, which in Hebrew is spelled yud-hei-vav-hei (יהוה). It is common not to write the full name of God out of respect. Instead the four-letter name of God, known as the Tetragrammaton (meaning “four letters”), is abbreviated by writing two letter yuds together.”
…
“But of course, there is more. The yud also represents God’s hand.”
(Moses)
My word for the year is joyful and I loved seeing references to that:
“A key part of God’s beauty is to give us a radiant joy that rises from within our core, despite our outward circumstance. …
For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honor.
…
If we want to be light and attractive and beautiful, then we must live our lives with a contagious, infectious joy.”
(Sarai)
“Oh, God of the How and When, only You know how, only You know when.” (Mary)
—- the God who Sees
I really loved looking at these people who God saw:
Hagar, Ruth, David and Mary of Magdala
“And if we want to live a life in the overflow, it comes down to trusting in God and relying on the reality that He will show up in every circumstance. He’s the God Who Sees.” (End of chapter on David)
I loved the book for this chapter - esp Hagar and the good eye vs the evil eye.
“There is the good eye, known in Hebrew as the ayin tov, and the bad eye, referred to as the ayin ra. Jesus talked about this when He said,
“The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22–23)
When we see things from the perspective of the good eye, we can perceive the positive, the good, and, most importantly, the hand of God in all things. When we view things through the “bad eye,” we see problems, pain, and the bad in everything.”
“It will all make sense. We need to let the God Who Sees transform our sight as He did for Hagar, Ruth, David, and others whose stories we will explore more in this section, for when we do, we will never be the same.”
In Mary of Magdala we see that, “Casting the demons out of Mary Magdalene and others demonstrates that the God Who Sees has compassion for His creation and that He cares for you too!”