In the Beginning....

Do you ever read a Bible verse, but you don't really process the meaning, significance, or power of what you have just read? Have you ever read the same words so many times that you don't really think about what those words really mean? I do this more often than I would care to admit. Genesis 1:1 is an example of this for me.

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

When I really stop and think about the power and majesty held in this verse, I wonder how I could ever read it without being humbled and awestruck by it. I wonder how I do not fall on my face in praise and worship every time the words wash over my heart and mind. The power, might, majesty, authority, and creativity of God are given in this one little verse. This seemingly simple verse holds a statement of fact, not of persuasion. It is reality, whether we read it deeply and accept it or not. This one little verse claims God's authority over every other word that comes after it in Scripture, and over every aspect of Creation. But there is even more to this awesome verse than what we realize. In reality, this first verse of the Bible makes even more statements of fact than what we realize. Are you ready?! I want to show you some of the beautiful truths held in this one already power-packed verse. This is going to be so much fun. I pray it will inspire in you a sense of awe, reverence, thanksgiving, and praise for our awesome God. If the nuggets in this verse impact you the way they do me, it is going to make you want to shout, "Hallelujah!!!!"

When examining Genesis 1:1 in the Hebrew, there are a couple of grammar puzzles that come to light. The first one is regarding the structure of the verse. In a Hebrew sentence, the most important word usually comes first, and if it is not the most important word placed first, then it will be the verb holding that position. That is not the case with Genesis 1:1. Beginning is placed before the most important word, God, and it is also placed before the verb created. Another puzzle is in the very center of this verse. There are two letters, et, placed in the center of the the words of Genesis 1:1. The puzzle is that these two letters are untranslatable. Let's leave these little letters for now. We will come back to them a bit later. 

When the layers of Genesis 1:1 are pulled back, we find that there is a declaration being made by God, besides the one about Him creating the heavens and the earth. This other declaration is one of a promise and a plan God made before He laid the foundation of the world. The opening two words of the Bible are, "In beginning." The word "the" was added by translators for clarification purposes, but in the original Hebrew, the verse begins with: "In beginning."

In its ancient form, the Hebrew language is made up of twenty-two letters with each letter having three elements attached to it: a picture, a word, and a number. Ancient Hebrew words were meant to be read, seen, and understood. This is how it was designed, to have layers....for each word to be thought about and reflected upon. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that God would open His Word with a power packed statement that goes layers deep and far beyond what we first comprehend in Genesis 1:1.

In Hebrew, "In beginning" is Bereshit and it is composed of the following letters: Bet, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yohd, Tav. Keep in mind, there are no vowels in the Hebrew language. Here are the pictures and meanings associated with Bereshit:

Bet: House, tent

Resh: Head - head person,  highest person, prince

Aleph: Ox - leader strength

Sheen: teeth - eat, consume, destroy

Yod: arm, hand - work, deed

Tav: mark - sign, covenant, cross

When you read the pictures in Bereshit, it says the following: "The head of the House, the strong leader, destroys by His work (or hand) on the cross."  How awesome is that?! And just in case we think this is a coincidence, God goes even further. In ancient Hebrew, the first three letters are seen as the root of a word. This root can be used in other words to bring a deeper understanding of the word's meaning. In Bereshit, the root is: Bet, Resh, Aleph. This spells "bara," which means Creator/Created. This word is also the third word in Genesis 1:1 translated as "created." The word "bara" can only be used of God as creator. It is never used for something man creates. Now to make it even more fun, the first two letters of "Bereshit" are Bet and Resh. In Hebrew this spells Son. So in other words, "The Son, Creator, strong leader destroys by His work on the cross." Praise God! When God says He declares the end from the beginning, He means it. 

Now, lets go back to the puzzles we talked about earlier. Can you see why, "In Beginning"  needed to be the first word In Genesis 1:1? The work of Christ Jesus on the cross is declared in the first word of the Bible. My heart sings, and my soul rejoices as I write these words. I feel full of praise and thanksgiving! 

Now what about the other puzzle? Why did God place the word "et" that cannot be translated right in the center of Genesis 1:1? Are you ready?! The word "et" is spelled with the Hebrew letters Aleph and Tav. These two letters are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The first and the last...

"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me." Isa 44:6

"Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together." Isa 48:12-13

Did you catch that? God is declaring Himself the First and the Last and is claiming His role as Creator.

Then jumping forward to the New Testament.....

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last," Revelation 1:17

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. Revelation 1:8

And just to make sure the connection is clear for us - the Hebrew Bible translates Revelation 1:8: 

 "I am the Alef and the Tav," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, Shaddai." 

 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Revelation 22:13

 This is Jesus speaking in the book of Revelation. Jesus is calling Himself the Aleph and the Tav... the first and the last. His name, this name of God as the Aleph and the Tav, the Alpha and the Omega, is in the first verse of the Bible. But there is even more with these two little letters that cannot spell anything, but are a part of God's opening declaration. The pictures for the Aleph and the Tav are the ox and the mark or sign. Remember Aleph means strong leader. Tav means a sign or a covenant and is in the shape of a cross. The First and the Last.... the strong leader and a cross....

Besides feeling even more humbled and awed by the following verses, I now also find myself chuckling when I read them because I can't help but see God's sense of humor at work. Besides the obvious truth of these verses that we are familiar with, Jesus, the Word, the Son was literally IN Beginning...He is in the words themselves, as is His plan for our redemption.

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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. John 1:1-3 

I am so thankful to our precious Lord and Savior Jesus for all that He has done for us. It is so incredible knowing that we can rest and have peace in Him no matter what is going on in this crazy world. Things seem like they are spinning more and more out of control. It can feel overwhelming and discouraging, to say the least. But there is such awesome comfort in knowing WHO is in control, no matter what things may look like on the surface. God is in control. Period. I am so thankful to our loving God who laid out the end from the beginning and gave us evidence throughout time and history to stand as evidence of the truth and to declare His authority, power, and love. 

No matter what is going on, we can take comfort and have peace in Christ Jesus. He is who He declared Himself to be, the Aleph and the Tav. He is the Alpha and the Omega from Genesis to Revelation. He is the beginning and the end. He is God Almighty, and we get to be in a personal relationship with Him. We can lay our burdens, cares, and fears at His feet. We also get to share the Good News with others who do not know Jesus personally. How precious it is that we can share the joy and freedom of the Gospel with people who are lost! The crazier things seem in our world, the more energized we should be about sharing Who Jesus is and what He has done for anyone who will call on His name, turn to Him, and let Him be Lord of their lives. Lord, I thank you for your redemptive work. I thank you for loving us so much that you were willing to come and take on sin and death for us. Thank you that through Your work on the cross, you destroyed the bonds of sin and death that held us in captivity. You loosed our chains and released us into freedom, eternal life, and relationship with you, and through You, relationship with the Father. 

 

 

One more thing.....

This Nasa photo was taken from the Hubble Telescope in 1992. "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1

"The head of the House, destroys by His work (or hand) on the cross." 

"The Son, Creator, Strong Leader destroys by His work (or hand) on the cross." 

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law (the Torah) or the Prophets (the other books of the OT). I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Matthew 5:17-18