Signs of His Return Reference: The Wisdom In The Hebrew Alphabet, by Rabbi Michael L. Munk. The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, Second Addition Numbers in the Bible, by Robert D. Johnston Number in Scripture, by E.W. Bullinger For countless centuries, Jewish expositors have taught that each of the 22 letters in their alphabet is a reflection of God’s creative power. They believe their alphabet is a manifestation of God’s essence and that taken as a whole, it speaks of His attributes. The 22 Chapters of Revelation bear this out. Jesus announces, “I am Alpha and Omega...” in Revelation 1:8. He announces it again in Revelation 22:13. What Jesus is telling us is He is the alphabet-in the Hebrew, literally the aleph and the tahv-the opening and closing letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Naturally, this would include all the letters between. Each chapter in Revelation corresponds to its respective Hebrew Letter. Jews at the time of Jesus and before considered their Scriptures to consist of 22 books! Commentators at that time even stated that the 22 books corresponded to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Flavius Josephus wrote that the Jews had collected 22 books which were considered to be divine. Origen (A.D. 185-254) listed the Old Testament books as 22; Ruth was attached to Judges; I & II Samuel were considered as one book, as were I & II Kings and I & II Chronicles; Ezra and Nehemiah were combined; Lamentations was part of Jeremiah; and the twelve Minor Prophets were considered as one book. Thus, 39 books were reduced to 22. This view continued through at least the third century. The Menorah: Exodus 37:17-24 We are told in the book of Exodus that Moses was instructed to build a golden lamp-stand upon which seven lamps were positioned. The middle ‘lamp’ was called Ner Elohim, the “Lamp of God” as well as Shamash, the “Servant Lamp.” Each morning, a priest would service the lamps, except the two most easterly. If he found any lamps extinguished, he relighted them. The two eastern lamps were left burning until after the morning service. The Servant Lamp was left burning all day and was refilled in the evening. There are stories that the Shamash would continue to burn for as much as a day longer on the same amount of oil. Rabbis called this ‘the miracle of the Menorah.’ In 168 B.C., the Syrian general, Antiochus Epiphanes, sacked Jerusalem and stole the Menorah, along with the rest of the Temple treasury. He then built an altar upon God’s altar and slaughtered swine upon it to desecrate the altar. Three years later, on the 25th of Kislev, 165 B.C., Judas Maccabaeus drove the Syrians out of Jerusalem and proceeded to cleanse the Temple. They replaced the Menorah, altar, table, and other furnishings with new items. Unfortunately they found only one day’s oil supply for the Menorah. It would take eight days to produce another batch of oil. However, the priests serviced the Lamps and lit them anyway. Those lamps burned for eight days on one day’s oil supply! The miracle was looked upon as a special blessing from God. So the priesthood established the festival of Dedication (Hanukkah) to commemorate the miracle. The festival is also called the Feast of Lights. Families celebrate the festival of Hanukkah with small menorahs at home featuring eight candles plus a servant candle for a total of nine. One candle is lit each day during the eight days of Hanukkah, using the fire of the Servant Candle. A strange story is told about the Menorah and its Servant lamp. According to the Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 43:3, the “miracle of the Servant Lamp” ceased about 40 years before the Romans burned the Temple. The Servant Lamp simply refused to burn. The Jewish Encyclopedia says that the Lamp went out upon the death of “Simeon the Righteous, who was high priest in those days.” It is believed that Simeon the Righteous is the Simeon of Luke 2:25-36 who was in the Temple when the one month old Jesus was brought by Joseph and Mary for His “Redemption of the Firstborn” ceremony. Luke 2:26 “And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Note that his death was divinely delayed until he could see the promised Messiah. And in the Jerusalem Talmud account, when Simeon the Righteous died, the Servant Lamp went out. Simeon took the child up in his arms and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). He called Jesus a “light to lighten the Gentiles!” It appears that Jesus was the fulfillment of this mysterious Servant Lamp in the Menorah! The opening chapter of the book of Revelation gives a view of Jesus standing in the middle of a Menorah (the place of the Servant Lamp). John saw Him standing on the Servant Lamp and “His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength” (Rev. 1:16). Genesis 1:1 actually forms a Menorah in the Hebrew text: Bereshit (In the beginning) barah (created) Elohim (God) eht (aleph/tahv) hashamayim (the heavens) vaeht (and) haeretz (the earth). The fourth word, eht (pronounced as an eight), represents a Servant Lamp. It contains the two Hebrew letters aleph and tahv-the first and last letters of the Aleph-beit. They correspond to the Greek letters-Alpha and Omega. Rabbinic scholars call the aleph and tahv “the word of creation.” One rabbi wrote that in the beginning God created the aleph and tahv with all the letters in between-and with this Aleph-beit then created all things. In the opening chapter of the book of Revelation Jesus is implying that he is the aleph and the tahv. He is claiming the position of “the word of creation” featured in Genesis 1:1! Seven Days of Creation Have you ever wondered why God made the sun on the fourth day instead of the first day? It must be because the sun speaks of the Servant Lamp depicted in the Menorah. The First Seven Books Genesis through Judges also form a menorah with the fourth book, Numbers, serving as the Shamash or Servant Lamp. It is remarkable to note that they also correspond to seven millennia of human history. Genesis corresponds to the first millennium. Its subject is “death by sin.” Even the very last verse of Genesis says, “So Joseph died.” Exodus corresponds to the second millennium. Its subject involves crossing a body of water. The story of the Red Sea follows the same general theme as the story of Noah’s flood. Leviticus corresponds to the third millennium. Its subject deals with praising God in the House of God. In like manner, the Tabernacle and the Temple were built in the third millennium. Numbers corresponds to the fourth millennium. Its subject concerns the 40 year exile of the Chosen People from their Promised Land. In like manner, the fourth millennium witnessed the Assyrian captivity in 722 B.C. and the Babylonian captivity in 606 B.C. Deuteronomy corresponds to the fifth millennium. Its subject concerns the establishment of the government of God. In the opening chapter of Deuteronomy, Joshua (Yehoshua, whose name just happens to be practically the same as Jesus) is introduced and his message for Israel to take the kingdom is rejected. Moses then reminds the people, “But Joshua the son of Num, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it” (Deut. 1:38). That incident appears to correspond to the fifth millennium and the rejection of Jesus’ message that the “kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is that same Jesus, however, who will ultimately “cause Israel to inherit it.” Joshua, the sixth book of the Bible, corresponds to the sixth millennium. Its theme tells the story about the rejected Joshua becoming the accepted leader and fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that his seed will inherit the Promised Land. The last tribe is given the last parcel of land in Joshua 19:48! Coincidence? It appears to be a cloaked prophecy that the rejected Jesus will return to establish the long awaited kingdom. Judges, the seventh book, represents the seventh millennium. Its theme corresponds with the time when Christ will reign over the earth with a “rod of iron” during the great Sabbath rest - the Seventh Day. The book of Judges is followed by Ruth, which tells the story of a Gentile bride. Until the third century, Ruth was attached as an appendix to Judges and, therefore, corresponds to events at the close of the seventh millennium. We can see that theme in Revelation 21 as the holy city, New Jerusalem, comes down from heaven “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” What we have in the five books of Moses and the succeeding books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth are a comprehensive view of seven thousand years of human history-God’s great plan of the ages. And they are structured as a series of menorahs layered upon menorahs. God’s plan for humanity covers a period of 7,000 years-itself forming the framework of another menorah, with the fourth millennium representing the Servant Lamp and its conflict between good and evil. The fourth millennium witnessed the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. The seem to correspond with stories about the light of the Servant Lamp going out. Seven Last Sayings of Jesus While hanging on the cross, Jesus made seven last statements. Each of the seven sayings appears to represent a theme that corresponds with each of the seven millennia of human history. First, as He was nailed upon the cross at about 9:00 in the morning, He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). That prayer takes us all the way back to the first millennium and the guilty pair in the Garden of Eden. Second, He said, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), which reminds us of the second millennium, when God washed away the human race in the flood and gave Noah and his family a new opportunity to serve God. Third, Jesus said, “Woman, behold they son!” (John 19:26), which reminds us of the third millennium when the LORD took Israel into His care. God brought Israel to Sinai and established the Mosaic covenant. Both the woman and the son were used as metaphors for Israel. From the burning bush God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Israel is my son, my firstborn” (Exodus 4:22). At Sinai, Israel became the wife of God. Fourth: According to the narrative of the crucifixion, at twelve noon the sun went out. The great Servant Lamp of our solar system refused to shine for three hours. Out of the darkness came the fourth saying of Jesus, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). This fourth saying represents the Servant Lamp gone out! The great battle with evil took Jesus all the way from the throne of God in heaven, to the place of being forsaken by God! Those three hours also seem to represent three thousand years of darkness for Israel, beginning with the splitting of the kingdom after the death of Solomon (about a thousand years B.C.) and will conclude with Jacob’s trouble at the end of six thousand years. At 3:00 p.m., the sun once again shone forth. Christian theologians believe it was a prophecy that at the beginning of the seventh millennium, Jesus, who is the Shamash-the light of the world, will return. Fifth: Jesus said, “I thirst” (John 19:28), which reflects the cry of a lost soul. Since the beginning of the fifth millennium the Gospel has provided the “water of life” to all who will believe. Sixth: This saying came just after the sun began to shine again, being the sixth hour (3:00 p.m.). He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). It is the cry of triumph and is believed to indicate the Second Coming of Jesus at the close of the sixth millennium. Finally, His seventh saying represents the conclusion of the seventh millennium, when he returns the kingdom to God, his father: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). These seven sayings of Jesus once again depict a menorah that not only shows us He had knowledge of all seven thousand years of human history, but that He, as the light of the world, the great Servant Lamp, was willing to suffer that much for us. The Hebrew Aleph-beit For centuries, Jewish sages have taught that the Hebrew Aleph-beit is descended from the original letters given by God to man. As such, they are not merely accidental shapes, but conform to a system of wisdom. Rabbi Michael L. Munk says, “The twenty-two sacred letters are profound, primal spiritual forces. They are in effect, the raw material of Creation. When God combined them into words, phrases, commands, they brought about Creation, translating His will into reality, as it were.... Just as the ‘word of God’ gave being to heaven, so it is His word that gives being to everything.” As Christians we know the “Word” is more than a mere collection of letters: He is a person who incorporates the power of God’s creation into the whole of His character: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3). From the Jewish perspective, minus its personhood, the “Word” is an Alphabet that has a kind of power of its own, since God used it to command creation. Rabbinic teaching says that the Word not only created everything, but continues to hold it together. Rabbi Munk writes: “The heaven continues to exist because not an instant goes by without God continuing to say, in effect, ‘let there be a firmament’-otherwise they would return to the status that prevailed before God’s will was uttered. So it is with every aspect of Creation. God’s original Ten Utterances are repeated constantly in the sense that the divine will of the original six days remains in force. Otherwise, everything would revert to the nothingness of before Creation.” Scientists have found under the micron microscope that every strand of human DNA has embedded within it the ancient Hebrew Aleph-beit! Hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus is “upholding all things by the word of his power.” Here, the “Word,” in addition to being the force of creation, is also the energy of continuance for that creation. The Abecedary of the 22 Chapters of Revelation An abecedary is a literary structure in which sections of the writing are connected with the letters of the alphabet in their regular order. An example would be, “A is for Apple, B is for Ball, C is for Cat....etc.” In like manner, the Hebrew Aleph-beit appears to offer a similar literary structure. Jewish teaching holds that each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew Aleph-beit carries with it a certain complex of meanings. That’s why it is extremely curious that the symbolism given by Jewish teachers to each letter seems to relate-sometimes with amazing clarity-to its corresponding chapter in the book of Revelation. These 22 chapters may, in fact, be a sort of abecedary in which the “Word” is separated into His component letters. Revelation, Chapter One: The aleph, first letter of the Hebrew Aleph-beit, represents the number one. Aleph symbolizes the “One and Only, the Eternal, the Omnipotent God.” It is said to be the master letter, proclaiming both the name of God and His divinity. It is the link between heaven and earth; between God and the finite physical creation. For Christians, the number one has always had a similar meaning. Ephesians 4:4-6 says it best, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Revelation 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” The ascended Lord is revealed in verse 8 as the Lord God Almighty. He is One and Eternal. He is the link between heaven and earth. In verse 18, He declares, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen.” This is an astounding statement-especially in light of the meaning of aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew Aleph-beit. Revelation, Chapter Two: The letter beit is said to be the number of blessing and creation-of beginning. Baruch, the Hebrew word for blessing, begins with beit. The first two Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1 also begin with this letter. Bereshit barah Elohim ... are translated into English as, “Bereshit [In the beginning]; barah [created]; Elohim [God] ...” The beit, having the value of “two,” is also said to be the letter of duality; good versus evil and right versus wrong, the curse of disobedience that accompanies the blessing of obedience. Many Christian expositors have also taught that two is the number of division, opposition, or enmity. Significantly, Jews declare beit to be the number of the home, the house of meeting, or the Holy Temple, since the very pronunciation of this letter forms the Hebrew word that means “house.” Interestingly we observe that the second chapter of Revelation is addressed to the first four of seven churches in Asia Minor. Each of them is a house of meeting. Perfectly matching the declared meaning of beit, the Lord pronounces a blessing for obedience and a curse for disobedience upon each of these houses of meeting. Note that the four churches mentioned in this chapter picture the beginning of the Church Age. Beit is the letter of beginning. Revelation, Chapter Three: The gimel, third letter of the Hebrew Aleph-beit, is also used as the number three. It is said to be the “symbol of kindness and culmination.” The gimel “is cognate to gamol, which means to nourish until completely ripe.” We can see both “kindness” (as in Philadelphia) and “culmination” (as in Laodicea) depicted in Revelation, chapter 3. Revelation, Chapter Four: The letter dalet is the number four. It is cognate with the Hebrew, delet, “door.” “The dalet also alludes to dahl, pauper, who knocks on doors begging for alms.” Revelation 4:1 “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 3 ended with Jesus knocking on a door. Chapter 4 opens with the forceful image of a door that allows access to heaven. The number 4 (dalet) represents the material creation with its four divisions of the day, four seasons, four tides, four cardinal directions and four phases of the moon, as well as the attributes of God’s creativity. Revelation, Chapter Five: To the Jews, the hay, with its numerical value of five, is symbolic of the divine name of God. In Hebrew writings hay is an abbreviation for God. It is associated with repentance and mercy. The Hebrew word teshuvah, meaning “repentance,” can be separated into two parts: teshuv, followed by hay. In this case, the rabbis say it becomes, teshuv (return to) hay (God). This “return to God” is a prominent feature of Revelation, chapter 5, where the drama begins. Revelation, Chapter Six: The vav has a gematria (numerical value) of six. According to rabbinic commentary, it denotes physical completion, redemption, and transformation: “The physical world was completed in six days and a complete self-contained object consists of six dimensions: above and below, right and left, before and behind. The Jewish nation, too, is complete, self-contained, unique; that is why the number six is so prominent in the story of its growth to nationhood.” It is generally believed that the six days of creation represent a prophecy that all things will be completed, redeemed, and transformed at the close of six thousand years. The apocalyptic events of completion, redemption, and transformation begin in Revelation, chapter 6 with the breaking of the seals and the opening of the scroll-title deed to the earth.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 04:50:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015