John 5:44 “How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that [cometh] from God only?”

Last night I was sort of feeling sorry for myself so I decided to cheer myself up a little and go to Amazon.com and look up the reviews on my books which total over 150. With very few exceptions these reviews speak some wonderful approving words about my writings.  I just sat back and basked in all the glory of the approval of all my readers. It was then I noticed a dollar bill lying on the floor. How it got there I do not know as I live alone and no one else has been in my apartment. But I just shrugged and picked it up to put it in my wallet when my eyes fell upon the Great Seal of the United States on the back of that bill.

If you look on the back of your dollar bill you will see the Great Seal of the United States.  On the reverse side of the seal is a picture of an unfinished pyramid with thirteen steps topped by the Eye of Providence.  The Latin words Annuit Coeptis and Novus Ordo Seclorum are found above and below the seal. Annuit Coeptis is Latin from the word Annuo – nod, approval and coeptum – undertakings.  It literally means He approves our undertakings.  Novus Ordo Seclorum means the new order of the ages.   I am not about to get into a discussion of the conspiracy theorist except to say that I believe the thirteen steps represent the thirteen colonies and not the thirteen blood lines of the Illuminati nor does the Eye of Providence represent the symbol of the Masons.  Actually the Masons did not accept the Eye of Providence as their symbol until fourteen years after the Great Seal was adopted.  The Eye of Providence can be found as far back as the Ancient Egyptians who used the symbol for the Eye of Horus.  It became a popular Christian symbol during the Medieval Renaissance and a popular symbol of European Christian iconography.  The eye represented the all seeing eye of God surrounded by a pyramid which symbolized the Trinity.  It was first used by the Italian Florentine mannerist artist Jacopo Carucci in his painting the Supper in Emmaus in 1525.

Anyway, the original committee for the Great Seal was made up of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.  Franklin and Jefferson wanted an Old Testament symbol on the Seal, Franklin wanted the crossing of the Red Sea and Jefferson wanted some depiction of the wanderings in the wilderness. The final form of the Great Seal was presented by the Secretary of the Congress, Charles Thompson a devotedly religious man who was a professor of Latin.  Latin was and still is a core language used in the legal system and it would have been only natural that lawyers framing the structure of our new government would use Latin phrases.  What I am saying is that after going through three committees and a vote of Congress, all wanted to have the picture of the Eye of Providence  symbolizing God looking down and giving his annuit coeptis nod of approval on the founding of this nation. It was very important to our founding fathers that they recognized that God was honored and giving his approval to the founding of this nation.

People in the colonial period studied the Word of God far more than we do today.  They made more reference to the Word of God than we do today and every time we hold a dollar bill with the Great Seal on the back, we are reminded that God must approval all our endeavors.  This is clearly taught by Jesus Christ Himself in John 5:44 where he says that we cannot believe if we seek the honor of men rather than the honor of God.  That word honor is often rendered by many of our modern translations as glory or praise. The word used in the Greek is doxan which means glory or praise and is often used by the Septuagint for the Hebrew word kabod which means glory of heaviness.  However, I believe Jesus spoke these words in Aramaic and the Aramaic Bible uses the Aramaic word shuvak which means approval.

If you stop to think about it the word approval is very close to the word praise.  In fact that word describes praise.  When you praise someone, you are giving them your approval or even seeking their approval. Jesus is really saying in John 5:44 that we cannot believe if we seek the approval of man and not the approval of God.

How easy it is when you are in a leadership position to bask in the glory and praise that others bring upon you.  For a pastor, many times that praise comes from people seeking only the approval of the pastor so that he might assign that person to some position in the church where they can receive more annuit coeptis – nods of approval in their undertakings. Christians like to be in the limelight, they long to give their little testimonies, sing their songs, show off their knowledge of the Bible so they can wow the brethren and receive their annuit coeptis.

As I stared at the Eye of Providence, the all Seeing Eye of God on my dollar bill I considered the words of a rabbi who questioned me as to why I wanted to study Hebrew.  When I told him it was to help me in preparing my sermons when I entered the ministry he asked.  “Do you wish to study Torah so people can say, ‘Oy, what a learned man we have, come, come, we must sit under his teaching.  Or do you wish to embrace the Torah, hold it close to heart and receive its life and power?”

Our founding fathers reminded me of John 5:44 and that if my studies in the Word of God were only for the annuit coeptis – nods of approval for my undertakings from my readers, then I cannot really believe in God. Anything I share in my writings comes under the Eye of Providence or the all seeing eye of God.  I took another look at the reviews on my books, many simply thanked me for reminding them of the love of God and ended with praise to God and not to me.  Charles Thomas in his Latin words reminded me of the words of Jesus that it is the annuit coeptis nod of approval of my undertakings from God that brings me comfort, not the annuit coeptis of man.  Knowing I brought pleasure to God’s heart by reminding others of His Great Love, is what really brings me out of my funk.

P.S. However, we are so very grateful to each and every person who took the time to rate and comment on the books. Those ratings have been so helpful to us and such a blessing…thank you!

Chaim & Laura