CHAPTER 2
IN THE BEGINNING
There is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done …
— Isaiah 46:9-10
The first word of the Hebrew Bible is bereshit (bair uh sheet). It is translated as the well-known phrase “In the beginning.” Would you believe me if I told you that God hid a prophecy within this very first word?
Ancient Hebrew was a pictographic language, composed of 22 pictograms used to form ideas and words. This form of Hebrew was also a numeric language, with each pictogram corresponding to a particular number with an intrinsic meaning. Lastly, ancient Hebrew was a phonetic language, and the modern-day Hebrew it has spawned is the oldest language in the world today. In a way, the Hebrew of the original Torah was much like blending three distinct languages together into one.
It is worth noting that the practice of assigning a numerical value to a Hebrew letter or pictogram is known as gematria. This practice dates from the times long before our present numerals existed and was essential for basic mathematics and economic activity. However, just because Satan and his false teachers have much misused gematria over the centuries does not mean there is no proper biblical approach to these numbers. When used rightly, gematria is not about seeking for some mystical hidden knowledge. Rather, it is simply a way of observing the order and mathematical beauty God has built into the world, and even into the structure of written language.
Now, when I approach the biblical text as a whole, I assume that it is a highly integrated message system, given to us by God, which happens to be composed of 66 books written by more than 40 different authors over a period of around 1,500 years. Given its divinely inspired origin, I believe we can safely conclude that every detail we are given in the Scriptures is there by deliberate design.
With this in mind, I think it is important to note that bereshit was expressly used as the first word in the Tanakh as part of God’s omniscient plan. Hebrew grammar for the sentence of Genesis 1:1 would much prefer the word Elohim be used first. As a secondary option, the verb of the sentence, bara, might also have been placed first. Instead, we find a most unconventional composition and see that bereshit was used to begin the most famous sentence of all time. Surely, this was no coincidence.
The word bereshit is made up of six letters: bet-resh-aleph-shin-yod-tav. And in ancient Hebrew each of these letters has its own distinctive meaning.
Bet’s pictogram is a tent or house. Its number is 2.
Resh’s pictogram is a head and its number is 200. Resh means either head or prince.
Aleph is pictured as the head of an ox and is the first Hebrew letter. Therefore, its gematria value is 1. It is associated with strength and with God the Father.
Shin’s pictogram is of teeth, and it means to crush or destroy. Its number is 300.
Yod is the smallest Hebrew letter and is pictured as a hand. Its gematria value is 10.
Tav is the final Hebrew letter, and its pictogram is a cross. These two crossed sticks represent a covenant made between two people. The gematria value of tav is 400.
If we look at the letters in bereshit, we quickly notice that they can be broken up to form many other nested Hebrew words. Bet and resh (the first two letters) together make up the nested Hebrew word bar, meaning Son. Resh, aleph and shin (letters 2 through 4) form another nested word: rosh. Rosh means head. Shin, yod and tav (letters 4 through 6) form a third word shahyith, meaning thorns. Each nested word is beautifully connected by a shared letter to the word which precedes it, all within bereshit. And the overall meaning is strikingly simple: the Son with his head in thorns.
Was this deliberately placed at the very beginning of the whole story? Or is it just a coincidence?
Alternatively, bet and resh together spell bar, as we’ve seen. However, bar has a second meaning. It also means kernel or seed. If we then take the letters resh through tav, we get the word reshit, meaning firstfruits. The bar, the Son, is the kernel who becomes the firstfruits of the resurrection (I Corinthians 15:20-23).
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
— John 12:24 (ESV)
When we consider that the bet in bereshit was once a pictogram of a tent, new meanings open themselves to us.
Bet can represent a tent or home, and in the old Hebrew texts this opening bet was enlarged. The next three letters spell rosh which, like the letter resh, means head or prince. The last two letters can then be taken at their face value. The Prince leaves his home to place his hand (yod) on a cross (tav). The flow within the word bereshit itself is unmistakable.
This is the gospel of Jesus Christ found in the first word of the Old Testament. I believe this prophetic meaning hidden within bereshit was placed there by God for our benefit.
In fact, the very name of God in the Old Testament has a similar hidden meaning. Yahweh in Hebrew is spelled yod-he-vav-he. Yod, as we have seen, represents a hand. When we add the meaning of the other three letters we end up with this simple message: the hand reveals, the nail reveals.
This is what I mean by deliberate design. The fact that the tetragrammaton (Yahweh in Hebrew) contains this hidden meaning is clearly neither random nor coincidental. Instead, I believe it has been provided to bear witness to the truth that there is none like the one true God, who declares the end from the beginning. He fulfills all his prophecies in their proper time. He can be trusted.
Speaking of timing, there is a timestamp to be found within the gematria of bereshit, pointing to the year of the cross. However, we will explore this in a forthcoming chapter.
If bereshit has the gospel of Jesus Christ hidden within its six simple letters, what other truths might it have to reveal to us?
Ancient Jewish tradition held that the world was created on the Day of Trumpets, which was the first day of the month Tishri. Indeed, the most ancient Israelite calendar began with the month Tishri, which marked the fall harvest. However, after the Exodus, God instituted a new ceremonial calendar in which Tishri became the seventh month of the year.
From the time of Moses, the Israelites celebrated this first day of the seventh month as the Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah. Today, Jews still celebrate Tishri 1, though under the new name of Rosh Hashanah, meaning the head of the year. Could the first word of the Bible confirm this tradition?
The word bereshit has an aleph, meaning first or 1. It has a bet, and bet can also mean of. So, we have “first of” … and then we can simply recombine the remaining four letters to spell Tishri (tav-shin-resh-yod).
It has been hidden in bereshit all along. The first of Tishri. In the beginning.