On Creation

27 11 2007

In my earlier post, In the beginning, I described how Jesus and his redemptive work on the cross was depicted in the ancient Hebrew pictographs that make up the first word in the Bible, the Hebrew word barasheet (translated most frequently as “In the beginning”). This, of course, echoes Isaiah 46:10 “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come…”

In fact, this confirmation in scripture is found throughout the ancient Hebrew. It is almost as if each Hebrew word is itself a scriptural reference. I have attempted in my previous posts to show several of these.

For example, the first sentence in most English bibles is translated: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I have previously shown In the beginning, God (The Lord is My Shepherd), and I have given a little taste of “the heavens” (see Oh, My Heavens! Part 1 and Part 2.

Now let’s look at the word “created”. In the Hebrew sentence structure, “created” is actually the second word in the Bible. It would more literally be translated, “In the beginning created Elohim the heavens and the earth.” The word translated as “created” is the Hebrew word bara, from the same root as barasheet (”In the beginning”) and barak (”bless”, see God’s Blessing).

Before I get into the ancient Hebrew pictographs, I want to emphasize the way in which each word is a scriptural reference in itself. For “created”, let’s look at two scriptures:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.; and

Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Okay, now the Hebrew pictographs. The Hebrew word bara is spelled BET (the equivalent of our letter “B”)(pictured as a house or a tent, and meaning house/lineage), RESH (R)(pictured as a man’s head, meaning the first or highest person), and ALEPH (A) (pictured as an ox head, meaning strength or God, as in “the Lord is my strength”). Recall from earlier posts that the Hebrew/Aramaic word bar (spelled BET RESH) is the word for “son”. So, bara (”created”, more literally “to create”) is actually depicted as the SON of GOD.


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Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Bible, Christianity, Creation, Faith, Genesis, God, Hebrew, Jesus, Old Testament, Religion

God Speaks: The Origin of the Alphabet

21 11 2007

We take for granted that when we call someone on the phone, send an email, text or IM someone, or write a blog, they will understand what are trying to communicate (assuming we share a common language).

Obviously, this was not always the case. The other night, I was watching The Naked Archaeologist on television and he traced the origin of the alphabet out of Egypt, across the Sinai peninsula, up through modern day Israel and north and eastward (to the Greeks, then Romans, etc.). Essentially, he claimed the spread of the alphabet tracked the exodus of the Bible. The time frames, archeology, and ancient writings all seemed to match.

Now, this archaeological discovery did not claim that hieroglyphics or other ancient types of picture writing were traced to the same alphabet, only that the alphabet as we know it (symbolic pictures or letters that can be arranged to form words, not just a picture of a bird to show a bird, but the ability to spell B-I-R-D) seems to trace its origins to the time and location of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt.

While this is a really cool discovery, I cannot say that it came as a big surprise to me. I believe this truth is also revealed in the ancient Hebrew/Semitic alphabet. In fact, the Roman Alpha and Beta are derived from the ancient Hebrew ALEPH and BET, thus, the word “alphabet” is actually the Hebrew aleph-bet.

As I have discussed in earlier posts, the ancient Hebrew alphabet is made up of 22 letters or pictographs. The first letter of the alphabet is the ALEPH (similar to our letter “A”). The ALEPH is pictured as an ox head, and symbolically means strength or God, as in “the Lord is my strength”. The word ALEPH is spelled ALEPH (A)(ox head, God); LAMED (L)(pictured as a shepherd staff or ox goad, meaning to shepherd or lead); and PEY (Ph)(pictured as a mouth, meaning to speak).

The Hebrew word El (spelled ALEPH LAMED) is a common Hebrew word for God. Actually, many of the ancient Hebrew pictographs discovered by archaeologists are of the Hebrew word El (an ox head and shepherd staff). So, every time anyone says the name El, they are saying, “the Lord is my shepherd”. If you missed it, see the discussion of Elohim (the longer version of El, as prophetic of Psalm 23) in the post The Lord is My Shepherd.

So, for the origin of the alphabet, all you have to do is look to the first letter of the ancient Hebrew aleph-bet: the letter ALEPH, which is actually GOD (EL) SPEAKS. The creation of an alphabet occurred when God first spoke.


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Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Bible, Christianity, Faith, Genesis, God, Hebrew, Religion

God’s Blessing

19 11 2007

I want to take this opportunity to share with all of you what I was able to share this Sunday.

Pastor Eric von Atzigen of Emmanuel Fellowship Church in Sweetwater, TX is preaching a sermon series on the blessings of God, and he asked if I would present what is revealed in the ancient Hebrew pictographs that make up the word “bless”, more specifically “to bless”. This is the blog version of that presentation.

The word bless in Hebrew is barak, and is comprised of the Hebrew letters BET (the equivalent of our letter “B”, and represented in the ancient Hebrew pictographs as a house or tent, meaning house, as in lineage - e.g. “the house of David”). RESH (R)(pictured as the head of a man, and meaning the first or highest person). KAPH (K) (pictured as the palm of a hand, meaning to bow or bless).

Recall from earlier posts that the Hebrew/Aramaic word bar (BET RESH) is “son”. So, the ancient Hebrew pictographs show that “to bless” is for the SON (Jesus) to extend the PALM OF THE HAND to, or to lay his hand on, you. TO BLESS you. Here is the visual of barak. Please note that this post continues below.

The portion of the sermon to which this applied was Gen. 1:28: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’” The Hebrew word translated “blessed” is v’ibarak, which is more appropriately translated “He will bless” or “He is blessing”, suggests an ongoing and future blessing, rather than a past blessing.

To form v’ibarak, two letters are added to the word barak shown above, the letter VAV (similar to our letters V or W)(pictured as a tent peg or nail, and meaning a nail or hook), and YOD (Y)(pictured as the arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or my works).

Therefore, v’ibarak, or God’s first blessing to humanity is prophetic of God’s ultimate blessing to humanity: the NAIL in the HAND of the SON is God’s BLESSING. Here it is.


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Categories : Bible, Blessing, Christianity, Genesis, God, Grace, Hebrew, Jesus, New Testament, Old Testament, Religion

Oh, My Heavens! Part 2

16 11 2007

In Oh, My Heavens! Part 1, I tried to show how the story of Noah and the flood is revealed in the Hebrew word for “the heavens” in Gen. 1:1. Now, I will show how Moses and the parting of the Red Sea is also revealed in hashamayim (the Hebrew word for “the heavens”).

I will not go over all of the spelling and ancient Hebrew pictographs that make up “the heavens” again, if you want to review those please read Part 1. However, so that you see Moses clearly, I need to give a quick recap. Hashamayim is spelled HEY (H), SHIN (Sh), MEM (M), YOD (Y) and MEM (M).

Moses, in Hebrew, is Moshe. Moshe is spelled MEM (M), SHIN (Sh) and HEY (H). When Pharoh’s daughter finds Moses in the river, “[S]he named him Moses, saying, ‘I drew him out of the water.’” Gen. 2:10. Hashamayim is also a visual representation of Moses being drawn out of the water. Here is the picture, notice the arm extending into the water and drawing Moses out.

While I believe the story of Moses is represented in hashamayim in other ways, the other most notable is Moses’ dramatic parting of the Red Sea. Quickly, let us look at Exodus 14:21-22, “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”

Though it might not have been necessary, I have made some alterations to the graphic representation for visual effect. Here is Moses stretching out his hand and the waters being divided.


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Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Bible, Christianity, Faith, Genesis, God, Hebrew, Jesus, Old Testament, Religion

Oh, My Heavens! Part 1

15 11 2007

If we assume God is good (or, better yet, greater than we could ever imagine), then the heavens must be just glorious. Indeed, they are.

Most English translations of the Bible render the first sentence of Genesis, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word for heaven is shamayim; the Hebrew word for “the heavens” in Genesis is hashamayim.

As with previous posts, I will explore the ancient Hebrew alphabet pictographs that make up the word “the heavens” and attempt to explain what might be contained therein.

I numbered this post “Part 1″ because it will be but one of several posts about “the heavens”. I wish I could say how many there will be, but I simply cannot. I know I will post on Noah and the flood, Moses and the parting of the Red Sea, and Abraham as they are all contained in “the heavens”, but I’m not sure exactly how far this will go. It could just be the entire story of the Old Testament. Just as God is infinite, so too may be “the heavens”.

“The heavens” is comprised of the Hebrew letters HEY (similar to our letter “H”, and represented in the ancient Hebrew pictographs as a man standing with open arms, and meaning grace or to behold). SHIN (Sh)(pictured as two teeth, and meaning to consume or destroy). MEM (M)(pictured as waves of water, and meaning waters or peoples or nations). YOD (Y)(pictured as the arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or works). MEM (M)(pictured as waves of water, and meaning waters or peoples or nations).

The word mayim (spelled in Hebrew MEM YOD MEM) is the Hebrew word for water. Therefore, we see in “the heavens” BEHOLD (HEY), DESTRUCTION (SHIN) by WATER (MEM YOD MEM). More specifically: BEHOLD, the WORKS (deeds) of your HAND will be CONSUMED/DESTROYED by WATER. I have provided a visual representation of hashamayim below. Please note, this post continues below the graphic, so keep reading about Noah and God’s covenant below.

Okay, so Noah…The name Noah in Hebrew is pretty cool, too. In Hebrew, the word for Noah is essentially the same with a little more throatiness involved, it is Noach. The Hebrew letters are NUN (N)(pictured as the seed of life or sometimes a fish, meaning seed or life). Just an aside, when you see the pictograph of NUN below, you have to wonder how in the world the ancients knew what a “seed” looked like so long ago (without a microscope), I did anyway. And CHET (Ch)(pictured as a wall or fence, meaning to cut off). So, the name Noah in the ancient Hebrew pictographs is LIFE will be CUT OFF.

Curiously, Noah spelled backwards in Hebrew is the Hebrew word for grace, chen. Regarding Noah and the flood, I cannot help but to think of the word chen (grace) like I am looking in the rear view mirror of a car: grace looking forward, Noah and the destruction of the flood looking backward. LIFE will be CUT OFF, but after LIFE is CUT OFF then GRACE.

Therefore, I believe we can also see hashamayim as BEHOLD, God’s GRACE is that there will never again be DESTRUCTION by WATER, just as God says to Noah in Gen. 9:11 “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” In light of the Noah/Grace connection, take another look at “the heavens” graphic above and read Gen. 9:11 one more time.

As additional evidence of my rear view mirror example, look at the covenant God makes with Noah. God says, “I have set my bow…” God’s seal on the covenant is the bow, or rainbow. The Hebrew word translated bow is queshet, spelled QUPH (Q)(pictured as the sun on the horizon, meaning time, new/old, beginning/end, etc.); SHIN (Sh) (pictured as two teeth, meaning to consume or destroy); and TAV (T)(pictured as 2 crossed sticks, meaning mark or covenant).

So, God’s covenant, the bow (queshet) is: look to the HORIZON after the DESTRUCTION and you will see God’s COVENANT. See bow below.

“The heavens”. Five letters, five pictures, yet so rich, so deep. But, there’s more. I’ll explore that in Part 2.


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Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Bible, Christianity, Faith, God, Hebrew, Jesus, New Testament, Old Testament, Religion

The Lord is My Shepherd

14 11 2007

The first of the many names God gives himself is Elohim. In the first sentence of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the Hebrew word translated God is Elohim.

I have read numerous translations or interpretations of Elohim: the Lord is my strength, the plural nature of the word Elohim for one God, the powerful one, it seems the discussion is endless…and perhaps justifiably so. The subjects of God, the nature of God, the word of God, etc. are endless, why should one of the names of God be any less so.

And while I certainly do not intend to resolve any of the discussions mentioned above in this post, I do want to suggest another alternative (not necessarily in place of, but in addition to, all the above).

As before, let’s look at what the ancient Hebrew pictographs show us about the name Elohim. Elohim is spelled in Hebrew ALEPH (the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and similar to our letter “A”)(in the ancient Hebrew pictographs, ALEPH is pictured as an ox head, and it signifies strength, or God - as in the Lord is my strength). LAMED (L)(pictured as a shepherd’s staff, meaning to shepherd or lead). HEY (H)(pictured as a man with outstretched or open arms, meaning God’s grace or to behold). YOD (Y)(pictured as the arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or works). MEM (M)(pictured as waves of water, meaning waters or peoples/nations).

In other words, the LORD is my SHEPHERD by his GRACE he provides for MY needs (I SHALL NOT WANT), he takes me by MY HAND and LEADS me by still WATERS. Sounding familiar? That’s right, Psalm 23. So, while the Lord is definitely our strength, I think He primarily wants to be our shepherd.

Approximately 400 years after Moses is given the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible), and writes “In the beginning God (Elohim)…”, David writes perhaps the most memorable and most quoted Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd…” I wonder if Moses knew…

Here is the visual depiction of Elohim:


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Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Bible, Christianity, God, Hebrew, Jesus, New Testament, Old Testament, Religion

The Language of God

12 11 2007

This is the third in a series of posts on the revelation of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross in the ancient Hebrew/Semitic pictographs that make up key words and phrases in the Bible.

In the first post, My Covenant, I showed where Jesus is revealed the first time God uses the phrase “My covenant” when speaking to Noah. The second showed how Jesus was revealed in the first Hebrew word in the Bible, “Barasheet” (In the beginning). In this post, I will explore the word “Hebrew” (or, “Ibrit“).

As discussed previously, the Hebrew alphabet is derived from an ancient Hebrew/Semitic alphabet made up of a series of pictographs. The word Hebrew (Ibrit) is comprised of the Hebrew letters AYIN (similar to, though not the exact equivalent of, our letter “E”, “I”, or “O”)(the ancient pictograph for AYIN is an eye, and its meaning is to see). BET (B)(pictured as a tent or house, meaning house, as in a lineage). RESH (R)(pictured as a man’s head, meaning the first or highest person). YOD (Y)(pictured as an arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand/works). TAV (T)(pictured as two crossed sticks, meaning a covenant or mark).

Recall from My Covenant that the Hebrew word b’rit (spelled BET, RESH, YOD, TAV) is “covenant”. So, the word Hebrew (or Ibrit) can be read TO SEE the COVENANT. Moreover, covenant (b’rit) is pictured as the SON (recall that the Hebrew/Aramaic word “bar” spelled BET RESH is “son”) with his HANDS on the CROSS.

In short, within the very word Hebrew (Ibrit), God has shown that we will SEE the SON with his HANDS on the CROSS, and SEE that as His COVENANT. Whether in the first word of the Bible (also the “word” or “covenant” of God), or the first time God speaks the word covenant, or within the very name of the language originally used to give God’s word, the message is the same: Jesus is God’s covenant.

Here is the word Hebrew (Ibrit) in the ancient Hebrew pictographs.


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Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Bible, Christianity, God, Hebrew, Jesus, New Testament, Old Testament

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