**BIBLE STUDY** Mandela Effect, Moses' "Horns" and Other Details I Missed

 There are a lot of benefits to studying the Bible regularly. I am fast learning that. Personally, I am getting some relief from my chronic depression and anxiety. Focusing on the Word of God is a reminder of His promises. That is pure medicine. But there are a lot of wider practical benefits. 

Have any of you been hearing about the Mandela Effect (ME) For some, it's thought of as a sort of false memory syndrome. For others (including myself) it will sometimes cause confusion and stress. Without getting into specifics, some examples of what the Mandela Effect affects changes/supposed changes in re:

• Song lyrics changed or parts omitted
• Names of people - spellings or variations, products, TV shows, and movies.
• Lines from popular movies and shows 
• Iconic emblems for vehicles 
• Dates of various events - Nelson Mandela's death being one of the most famous

It goes on and on. People remember Mandela's being much earlier than others remember it. The same goes for Billy Graham. In some cases, people who are alive are remembered as having died long ago.

I myself have gotten caught up in this confusion more than once. I remember very clearly certain things being one way when, obviously they are not - or at least no longer are that way. I don't want to send anyone down the rabbit hole of links to various ME but there are several out there. 

At first, I found the ME to be kind of curious and mildly amusing. Then one day, it touched close to home and I saw examples of where parts of the Bible were supposedly Mandela-effected. This is before I had started to seriously do any regular Bible study and I have to admit that I was shook. To my core.

The first 2 MEs that scared me were that one, Moses suddenly had horns and, two, the "lion and the lamb" lying down together was now "the wolf and the lamb". 

What?

For a couple of days, I walked around feeling very concerned and upset. Confusion, fear, anxiety. That really should have been a red flag to me but I was too busy being freaked out to stop and think clearly.

I called a few people and emailed a few people, telling them about these 2 strange things. They reacted much as I had:  with disbelief, then with confusion.

Eventually, it dawned on me that I was not as fully familiar with the Bible as I should be. Thankfully, I was familiar with warnings about who could be the source of my confusion. Bible Reasons sums it up like this:

Satan is the author of confusion.

Satan seeks to cause chaos, disorder, death, and destruction.

B.R. goes further, pointing out specific:

 1. 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

2. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

3. 2 Corinthians 2:11 “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

I always struggled with certain books of the Bible, wondering why I needed to read or study them. Well, what I ran across while studying chapters 33-35 in Exodus reaffirms that every word of the Bible is useful and details matter.

The reason that some artworks portray Moses with horns is because of the translation of certain words. If you check the Strong's Number H7160 you see this given for the word "shone" in Exodus 34:29

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

This is what the page looks like in the KJV+ of eSword:

Source: eSword's KJV+ Bible on my computer

 

Source 

I got the above image from the wonderful Study Bible site. Please do check out Study Bible where you can search Strong's from within the text. Truly a wonderful source.

By the way, I never did know before now how to use Strong's but there's a KJV with Strong's numbers included with the incredibly useful eSword I've told you about. I highly recommend learning to check Strong's just as much as you refer to commentaries. 

Once I figured out where the idea of horns came from, I was relieved. I should know better by now than to get so easily caught up in foolishness. Had I not been studying the Bible and if I had not been checking the underlying lexicon, I might still be confused and anxious.

Another way this round of Bible study is blessing me is with greater attention to detail. I have real problems with focus and concentration but I am keeping detailed notes of everything I learn as I read - especially when I start going deeper into commentaries, dictionaries, and word studies. 

One detail that I have picked up on is that many names in the Bible include God in them. The angels Michael and Gabriel, for example, both have "el" included. Micha-el and Gabri-el. I knew that but never knew that, if you get what I mean.

Chuck Missler once pointed out that when God changed Abram's and Sarai's names he added breath to them. Abraham and Sarah. I forgot to take notes on that one but it has something to do with the sound of the letter? I will find out and get back with better information.

My point is that there is so much detail and complexity to the Word of God. It's simple but deep. And I am learning that when I get anxious or confused, there is an answer in the Word. 

Not to beat you over the head with him, but something else Chuck Missler once said comes back to me now. He mentioned that when we find something in the Bible that we don't understand, we should make a note of it. When we get our answer or understanding, we will have something else to be thankful for. I

I am going to get back to my reading and, in the meantime, let's all remember our source of blessings.

Peace

--Free

SUMMARY of sources used here:

eSword Bible from which you can:  "study the Bible in an enjoyable and enriching manner. All Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, … everything is just a click away!" (And, I would add, FREE)

Study Bible (online). As mentioned on their site, this is what you can use it for:

• Read and Search the Bible in Greek, Hebrew, English, Latin, and other parallel versions.
• Study online Hebrew and Greek interlinear translations and Bibles with Strong's Greek and Hebrew Lexicon numbers attached.
• Easily lookup 340,000 hyperlinked cross references in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
• View scripture in the original languages of Greek and Hebrew as well as ancient translations such as the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.
• Compare the KJV with Old English, Wycliffe, Tyndale, Coverdale, Bishop's, Geneva, Doughy-Rheims, and American Standard Bibles.
• Find the meanings of Greek and Hebrew words in Strong's Lexicon, Thayer's Lexicon, Brown-Driver-Briggs' Lexicon, Vine's Expository Dictionary, Berry's New Testament Synonyms, and Trench's New Testament Synonyms.