(95) The Secret to Creation

The very first verse in the Bible says so much.  Not only does it show how the whole universe was created, such as universal laws, the physical world, and how all life began, Creation Thoughts and Creation Lessons, it also shows who created it all.  But there is a secret hidden in the verse that many will never see.  In English, the most common translation is of course, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth".  As most sane people would know and understand, the Bible was not written in English.  It's original language for the most (for we have to remember it wasn't all written at once) is Hebrew.  So let's look at the text in Hebrew.  Genesis 1:1

• Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.

Here is a breakdown of this verse:

1. Beresheet means in the beginning.  Time is referenced here.  The beginning of all we know.  And all we know starts at one point...in time.
2. Bara means out of nothing.  Absolute void.  This is referencing the big bang.  All of a sudden out of nothing comes everything.
3. Elohim means God.  But it is a plural noun with a singular (bara) verb.  This is referencing the fact that God is omnipresent but also that God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.  There is a strong meaning here that emphasizes a Trinity.
4. Hashamayim means heavens.  Space is referenced here.  This is a plural noun.  All that is out there beyond our existence is hashamayim.  Yes, that could also mean the place where God dwells.  But in this instance it is talking about creation of a physical universe.
5. Ve'et is translated as "and".  This goes without saying what it means.
6. Ha'aretz means earth.  Matter is being referenced here.  At first the earth did not have a shape and no dry ground was here.  This means earth as in "not space".  Our physical planet.

All of that has been referenced before and written about.  Most Christians would understand all that has been said above, at least understand it.  But there was one word that was skipped over.  No one really ever discusses it.  The word "et" is never talked about.  The reason why is probably because it cannot be translated, until now.  In Hebrew it is never translated in English.  Look at this example:  Genesis in Hebrew.  In all references this word is never translated.   Why?

The letters are et in English letters.  But in Hebrew they are actually alef and tav.  Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and tav is the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet.  So why is it there and what does it mean?  If we understand that this term is not a real word we can figure this out.  Alef tav means the beginning and the end.  Does that sound familiar?  Jesus said in Revelation He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  That is translated from Greek.  In Hebrew it is I am the Alef and the Tav, the beginning and the end.  Jesus is right there in creation.  But even more fascinating is the placement of the word.

If we understand the symbolism in the Bible, numbers are very symbolic.  Such as 3 is unity, 5 is grace, 12 is completion and so forth.  Seven is the number of God, perfection.  That is why Menorahs have seven lamps.  Revelation is filled with signs of sevens.  Jesus told Peter to forgive 70 times 7.  There are many other references to seven.  Now go back and read the passage in Hebrew.  There are seven words.  The word in the middle is Alef Tav.  Jesus is in the middle of creation.   What's even more interesting is that if you go through all of the first chapter, each part that describes a piece of creation--light, animals, and plants, the word Alef Tav is in the middle of each verse!!!!

John 1:3:

• All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

(87) The Ark of the New Covenant

No one really knows where the Ark of the Covenant from the Old Testament is today.  Sure there are theories that it is in Ethiopia and others as well.  Yes, Indiana Jones found it and now it sits in a storage room in some US facility before someone thinks they are funny.  But in reality no one really knows.  But it also probably doesn't really matter since we are under a new covenant.  It is neat to see how the Old Testament and the New Testament coincide with each other so much.  The Old Testament though for the New Testament Christian is only symbolic.  That is not to say that the Old Testament doesn't mean anything or nothing in it ever really happen.  On the contrary it is literal historical events, but we are no longer bound to its rules and punishments for we are under grace and forgiveness.  But after all of this has been said there is an ark for the New.  Sure the easy answer is that Jesus is the New Ark.  But there is a deeper connection between Old and New.  There is an actual physical Ark that happened.   And we can almost still see it today.

Before we go on let's look at the word Ark.  There are a couple of words we have for this word.  One is "tebah" and the other is "aron".  Both are similar and mean chest, box, or coffin.  In other words a place where you store something of value or of major importance that you want to remember.  Noah's Ark is an example.  God placed His most valuable possession in His tebah so that it would be remembered and saved. 364 days later the precious item was let out of the tebah.  But the word coffin could also be used for Noah's Ark.  Man died.  He was placed in a coffin.  But see what God did?  He raised man out of the coffin.  Man was resurrected.  An Old Testament historical event that is now symbolic of what will happen to man if he believes in the Son of God!  We will be resurrected.

The Ark of the Covenant is another example of this word.  God placed His valuable possession, His promise, and other items of value in His aron.  This chest or coffin was made of acacia wood, gold, and other items.  It was topped with a lid and on the lid is called the Mercy Seat.  On each side a cherub is sitting with its wings spread out.  Blood for sacrifices was poured out onto the left side of the Mercy Seat (symbolic of where Jesus sits compared to God the Father).  Blood is poured for the forgiveness of all our sins.  It provides the mercy we need to keep our relation with God.  Again, historic event but now symbolic for the Christian.  For Jesus still sits on the mercy seat and our sins our forgiven because of His blood that He poured our for us.

**But there is another symbolic yet real event that makes this even more of a great connection.  When Jesus was laid in the tomb of Joseph there had to be some blood that was left on the shroud that they covered him with.  Then on the day of resurrection Mary was there and saw the place where the shroud was left, empty.  But when she looked up she saw...two angels on both sides of the "coffin" or the ARK!**

The ark of the New Testament is surely Jesus but the symbol behind this is that the Ark of the New Covenant, or promise, is that because of Him we will be resurrected.  His blood was poured on the Mercy Seat once for all and now He sits at God's right hand (on the left).

**Inspired by Joseph Prince Ministries.

(80) YHWH, What's in a name?

The first name in the Bible that is used to describe God is Elohim, the arm of God, the Creator and that is in Genesis 1:1.  There are many other names/titles/roles, what have you, that we use to describe God or use to talk to Him.  But Moses perhaps is the first person that got to actually hear the name of God or maybe just something close to a personal name for the name of God was unpronounceable to mankind.  The passage below is from the CJB to show how complicated the sound of His name can be from Exodus 3:13-15.  Try other versions and it will all still mean the same.

• Moshe said to God, “Look, when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
• God said to Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],” and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Isra’el: ‘Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.’”
• God said further to Moshe, “Say this to the people of Isra’el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation".

The name that God gave Moses to tell His people who sent him to save them all in the closest English translation was I AM.  This means in essence that God aways has been and always will be.  From Him all was made.  Then God goes on and adds more to His name and sounds it out so it seems for Moses; Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh.  These are letters in the Hebrew alphabet and each has a story with them.  Jewish people use the name Adonai when referring to the name of God, which is also translated as LORD.  But here we see what is also called a tetragrammaton at work.  Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh can be written also as YHVH or YHVH, hence Yahweh with the added vowel sounds.  In Latin and English it has been translated as to what we know as Jehovah.  Through Moses God would save His people from the hands of the Egyptians, a foreshadow of something greater of what was to come.  Below is how it would look in Hebrew writing.

Each letter though has its own purpose.  Hebrew writing is read from right to left.  What you see here is the tertagrammaton Y-H-V-H.  In Hebrew schools children are taught that each letter not only has a sound but also has a meaning and a symbol with it.  Such as in English we would say A is for Apple although in English there really is no such thing.   But A does not have any meaning to it.  In Hebrew each letter has three purposes for the language.  This is probably what Jesus was doing in the Temple when He was 12 and lost and found by His parents.  He was teaching the elders and scribes what the letters really meant.  This is also what makes Matthew 5:18 all the more important when Jesus said not the least stroke of the pen would disappear from the Law until all is fulfilled.  Below you can see a chart that gives examples of what each letter's symbol and meanings are.  If you look the tetragrammaton for Y-H-V-H actually is I-E-U-E on the chart because of the sound the letter makes and not the order of the letters.  When put together the letters make a different sound and that is how we get the name we know as Yahweh.  The letter Y or Yud's translation is symbolically an arm or open hand and means to work or worship.  The H or Heh's translation is symbolically man with arms raised and has a meaning of breath or to reveal.   And the V or Vav's symbolically is a tent peg and means to add, secure or hook.  You can see where this is going.  We worship a God whose hand was pierced with a tent peg and whose arms were raised and when this happens He will be revealed to the world who He is.  There is undoubtedly more to this translation.  But He who is revealed is Jesus.

When Jesus was crucified the Pharisees were upset with the sign that Pilate hung above His head.  He wrote a sign in three languages (Latin, Greek, and Aramaic/Hebrew) that said Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.  The Pharisees told Pilate to take down the sign because they did not want people to think they said what was written but that Jesus claimed the charge against Him.  But a closer look and we see that the Pharisees were not angry about the sign itself but about what they saw in the sign.  In Hebrew the sign read Yeshua HaNazarei V'Melech HaYehudim.  Did you see it?  Notice the first letter in each word that Pilate wrote.  Y-H-V-H.  Jesus was revealed as God when He was crucified and saved His people.  Just as God's people were saved from the hand of the Egyptians, a symbol of oppression or sin, Jesus came and saved God's people from all sin.

A sign of God's ultimate story of grace and connection with His people.