Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The End is Declared From the Beginning - Part 4

This is part four of seven parts studying the seven Hebrew words of the first verse of Genesis. Each of the seven words shows the Messiah and together are a picture of God’s redemption plan for man.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ (NKJV)

Everything was created through Messiah and for the sake of Messiah, as it is written in the Gospel of John:

Joh 1:1-3 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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (NKJV)

Messiah is in each word of the very first verse in the Bible.

Ge 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

There are seven words in Genesis 1:1 in the original Hebrew which is read right to left. Seven is the number of spiritual completion. The act of creation took six days and on the seventh day God rested.

בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The Fourth Word

There is something very interesting about the fourth word. It is not translated into English. In fact it is rarely ever translated because there is no real equivalent in English. Strong’s Dictionary and Concordance defines it as follows:

Strongs # 853. את ‘eth. In the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).

It is a word that emphasizes the object of the verb. In this case, the verb is “created” and the object is the "heavens and the earth". The composition of the word, את ‘eth, consists of the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet the א Aleph and the ת Tav and is generally taken to represent all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. According to the Jewish Sages, the use of the word את in this verse emphasizes that the entire creation was created at this time by the hand of God. We see the emphasis again of the object of the verb the heavens and the earth.

The Gospel of John in chapter 1 verse 1 also emphasizes this point.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (NKJV)

Again we are talking about the entirety of creation. Yeshua identifies Himself with the את in the Revelation to John.

Re 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (NKJV)

The Alpha and Omega is the Greek for the Aleph and the Tav. So את is the Messiah who was there from the beginning and through Him all things were made!

We know that God spoke creation into existence. Look at the third verse of the first chapter John again in a different translation.

Joh 1:1-3 All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. (MKJV)

Remember, there are seven Hebrew words in Genesis 1:1. The placement of את as the fourth word places Messiah as the “centerpiece” of creation, the Aleph and the Tav, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end!

The seven words of Genesis 1:1 are reflected in the seven lamps of the Menorah that lit the Tabernacle of God. The middle lamp of the Menorah was always kept lit.

Le 24:1-3 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. 3 "Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations. (NKJV)

The Jewish Encyclopedia calls this lamp the western Lamp because it was next to the branches on the east side. It was refilled in the evening and was used to light the other lamps. In 1 Samuel it is referred to as the “lamp of God.” In Samuels conversation with Eli, the time is pinpointed by referring to the lamp of God.

1Sa 3:2-3 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, 3 and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, (NKJV)

It is the lamp of God in the Tabernacle of God. Morning had not yet come; the lamp was still lit.

The sun was created on the fourth day to bring light to the world and to separate light from the darkness.

Ge 1:16-19 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (NKJV)

Yeshua is the light of the world shining into the darkness. When the New heavens and the new earth are created, there will be no need for the sun because Yeshua is the light.

Joh 1:4-9 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (NKJV)

Again, we have that fourth lamp, the lamp of God which is Yeshua. And he is the aleph and the tav את the fourth word.

Re 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. (NKJV)

In the new creation, the light from Yeshua is so bright that the light of the sun and moon are not needed.

שלום ברוך
Shalom and Be Blessed

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