Here's a brief diversion from Matthew 24: Two of the most common actions in today's world are violence and cursing.

Two of the most common actions we see on the news today are associated with the words curse and violence.

Have you ever wondered where those two words originated?

Well, the word curse comes from the Hebrew word 'âlâh, and yes, it sounds just like the name of the Islamic god, Allah.

It is NOT a name but a verb that describes, in this case, a state of being, and yes, 'âlâh is a state of being.

The word  'âlâh, according to the Word Study Dictionary, is described as “A verb meaning to curse, or to put under oath. It is used in many cases of persons bringing curses on themselves if they are guilty of doing wrong.” (As a side note, 1/3 of the angels who followed Satan in his rebellion brought curses upon themselves.)

Brown, Driver, and Briggs Hebrew Dictionaries add that the word 'âlâh can mean to be put under oath or to be put under a curse.

The King James concordance shows 42 instances of the word 'âlâh, six under Strong's number H422 and 36 under Strong's number H423. I can't tell what the differences are.

Some interpretation options are oath, swear, swearing, adjured, and curse. Webster's dictionary tells us that adjured means to plead, charge, press, entreat, and beseech.

In the KJV, the translators used the word oath instead of curse to represent 'âlâh. The Literal Translation of the Bible states that “an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear.”

The other word I mentioned was violence.

Violence, in my mind, is much more dramatic as it is a word that we see in the news daily, and it has its roots in Hebrew.

An online post from The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle conveys this,

“Language is a strange commodity. Sometimes there is within it a “play on words,” but at others there is no “play” but rather a mysterious, unexplained truth."

Let us take the example of Hamas, which, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York City research center, is “the largest, most influential political fundamentalist movement” in the Muslim world.

By one means or another, Hamas aims to convince the world of its deep desire to eliminate Israel and establish there instead the 23rd religious Muslim state.

Hamas is an Arabic acronym for “Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya,” which means “The Islamic Resistance Movement.” But “hamas” is also an Arabic word that means “zeal.”

Although Arabic and Hebrew are sister languages, the Hebrew meaning of “chamas” is “violence,” according to the Hebrew-English volume of Reuben Alcalay’s Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew dictionary. “Cruelty” and “injustice” are additional definitions, but not “zeal.”

Truth is thus stranger than fiction. For Israel and for Jews everywhere, "chamas indeed means violence, in its terrorist form."

I recently started listening to Pastor Mark Driscoll as he preached for almost an hour about how violence/Hamas has permeated our very existence since sin has come into our lives.

Want proof?

Genesis 6:11 NKJV:  “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Hamas.)”

Sin was then passed along genetically through human interaction, and this change happened the moment Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. We see the results of that sin when Cain kills Abel.

Genesis 4:8 NKJV  Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

His actions demonstrated that the offspring of Adam was filled with châmâs – (Hamas- violence).

The Strong's concordance details this in the KJV.

Genesis 6:11KJV+  The earthH776 also was corruptH7843 beforeH6440 God, H430 and the earthH776 was filledH4390 with violence. H2555

From the Strong's Concordance.

H2555חָמָסchâmâsFrom H2554; violence; by implication wrong; by metonymy unjust gain: - cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, X oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong.

H2554 חמס châmas.BDB Definition: 1)to wrong, do violence to, treat violently, do wrongly, 1a) (Qal) to treat violently,

The point of this “teaching” is to make us aware that Allah and violence are infiltrated into our mindsets to the point that we think nothing of its impact on our lives.

My son-in-law cannot accept the possibility that Islam, a violent ideology, can be the religion of the world shortly. Oh, it will not be voted in by reasonable people, but it will be forced down our throats by violent followers of Islam.

A video was recently posted about a confrontation on a subway in a European country. The Muslim said to a person, off camera, that we cannot see, “You are an Israeli journalist! My Quran tells me that I should hit you in the head.” In many cases, they do not restrain themselves, and you will not just be hit; you will be killed. 

If you don't think that is true, then I suggest that you pay attention to the Northern African nations, like Nigeria, where they slaughter people in the most heinous ways merely because they are Christians.