B’resheet (Genesis 1:1-6:8)
Chapter One--
The Aleph/Tav Story-Introducing The God-Head
Among Torah authorities, the question has been asked. “If the Torah (law) begins with Exodus and ends with Deuteronomy, why did Moshe begin the Torah with the book of Genesis?” Why not just “lay down the law”, so to speak, and then “sign the document”?
Actually, setting the order of the writing, as suggested by the above questions, would be Greek-minded thinking. It would be like Picasso or Rembrandt creating a beautiful masterpiece and then signing it. It would be like a renown author writing a book and then putting his name on the cover.
I believe Elohim wanted to introduce Himself to us before any instructions were given. According to Hebraic thinking, the “signing” of Elohim comes first. In this portion alone, His signature is found in different forms nearly 900 times.
His signature is seen in the Hebrew letters, “Aleph and Tav”. Hebrew is a language in which each letter in its alephbet have a different and distinct meaning. In the ancient Hebrew, the letter “Aleph” was a picture of an ox and carried the meaning of “strength”. “Tav” bore the picture of a cross and carried the meaning of “covenant”. Hence, the phrase, “strength of the covenant, or cross”.
Rather than inspire His holy men to write the whole of the Scriptures and then affix His signature, He signs His name in the very first verse of Genesis. As the Scripture says:
“In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth”
Genesis 1: 1 (The Scriptures 1998)
Unfortunately, the English language, in any translation, leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not a pictorial language with letters having individual meanings. With exception of “one” letter words, meaning is not attached to letters until they are combined with other letters to make a word that is , even so, inferior, sometimes grossly, in expressing an adequate meaning to its Hebrew counterpart. Consider the Hebrew rendition of this same verse.
“B’reishit bara Elohim et hashamyem v’et haeretz”
Genesis 1: 1
From the first two words, “b’reishit bara”, we derive the English words, “In the beginning created”. Of course, “Elohim” translates to the English word, “God”. Without going into detail, the grammatical construction of this phrase is not like English. We would say, “In the beginning Elohim”. Hebrew is like Spanish, in that they place the action verb “created” before the noun “Elohim”. Hebrew renders the statement, “In the beginning created Elohim”.
The translation I commonly use is “The Scriptures 1998”, as I do for all quotes herein. It replaces English names with their Hebrew counterpart. Hence, in this case, “God” becomes “Elohim”. Other popular English translations use the name, “God”. Hence, one of those “grossly” inferior renderings of the Hebrew.
Use of the “singular” name, “God”, takes away from the “plural” character of “Elohim”. If Moshe had wanted to express the concept of “God” as singular in nature, he would have used the word, “Eloa”. This is a major example of the gross short-coming of access of wisdom through English translations.
With the use of “Elohim”, we clearly see the concept of a “God” that is plural in nature. With that understanding, I must offer this disclaimer. The concept of the trinity, three Gods in one, is total and complete heresy spawned by mainline Christianity. The true concept is as according to Moshe in Deuteronomy. He is Elohim (Father), Elohim (Son), and Elohim (Holy Spirit), a plural Elohim being a “Unified” ONE (echad). Consider the words of Moshe.
“Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one!
Deuteronomy 6: 4
Again, if He were singular, or an "absolute one" as Judaism claims, Moshe would have used "Eloa" rather than "Elohim". The meaning is clearly "unified".
With the Father succinctly introduced, consider the second manifestation of this “Unified” Elohim. Moshe follows “Elohim” with the “Aleph/Tav”. He says, “Elohim et”. This is clearly the introduction of the “Son”, Yeshua our Messiah. The third manifestation of this Unified One is found in verse 2.
“And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters…”
Genisis 1: 2
To give support to the concept of Messiah in verse one, consider the very similar introduction of John in his Gospel.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim, He was in the beginning with Elohim. All came to be through Him, and without Him not even one came to be that came to be.” John 1: 1-3
Scripture teaches implicitly that truth is established upon the witness of two or three. In light of this, consider the same apostle in the book of Revelation. In consideration of this second, we actually double it with four additional witnesses, as Yeshua speaks to John.
“I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav, Beginning and End,” says יהוה “Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelaton 1: 8
“I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of יהוה, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav’, the First and the Last,”
Revelation 1: 10-11
“And He said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav’, the Beginning and the End.”
Revelation 21: 6
“I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav’, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Revelation 22: 13
Keep in mind the above renderings in most Bibles are in Greek. In the Greek alphabet, the “alpha” and “omega” truly are the first and last. However, I find it very difficult to accept the concept of a Hebrew Elohim speaking to a Hebrew apostle words of comfort for a Hebrew people…in Greek? I don’t think so. He obviously spoke Hebrew--"the Aleph and the Tav”.
The placement together of “Elohim et” clearly shows the Father as “First” (strength) and “et”, Messiah, as “Last” (Covenant). When appearing together in Scripture, Elohim or YHVH always appears first. In the spirit of John’s introductory comments in his Gospel, the Father and the Son are unified, with the Father working with and through Messiah the Son. They truly are One--"The Word was Elohim”. Consider the following witnesses to this understanding.
“Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, יהוה, am the First, and with the Last I am He.’ ” Isaiah 41: 4
David speaks prophetically of the Messiah.
“Then I said, “See, I have come; in the scroll of the Book it is prescribed for Me. I have delighted to do Your pleasure, O my Elohim, And Your Torah is within my heart.”
Psalms 40: 7-8
Yeshua claims the above statement of David as His own, and accomplishes what sacrifice could not--redemption together with Torah obedience, all from the heart.
“Then I said, ‘See, I come – in the roll of the book it has been written concerning Me – to do Your desire, O Elohim.’ ” Hebrews 10: 7
Yeshua is the extension by Whom we have our redemption and eventual salvation.
“Who has believed our report? And to whom was the arm of יהוה revealed?”
Isaiah 53: 1
Not every “Aleph/Tav” symbol reflects the Person of Yeshua, as clearly and succinctly it does in this verse. In this first chapter alone, there are about twenty additional injections of the “Aleph/Tav” symbol. Placed before terms and names, they refer to ownership of Elohim, expressed solidarity of harmony and purpose in creation, and covenant relationship with His people. Consider David, the Psalmist.
“The earth belongs to יהוה, And all that fills it – The world and those who dwell in it.”
Psalms 24: 1
Divine Purpose
In a writing of any size--book or short article--a stated purpose is usually given. Elohim is no different. In the very first two words, He eloquently states His purpose. Remember that each letter in the Hebrew alephbet has its own specific meaning. Consider each letter, as they are presented individually and together in the word, “b‘resheet“. The letters used are “bet, resh, aleph, shin, yod, and tav”.
As we do in English, the first letter of any sentence is capitalized. Not necessarily so in Hebrew. The first letter of verse 1 is a “bet”, which means, “house”. In this case, the scribes enlarge and embolden this letter to call attention to and elevate its meaning to the highest level. Hence, the subject of purpose is the “House of Elohim”.
If we take away the letter “Bet”, the remaining letters together mean “first born”. If we take just the first two letters, “bet and resh”, we have the word, “bar”, which means “son’. If we take together the next two letters, “aleph and shin”, we have the word, “ash”, which is a “consuming fire”. Of course, the “aleph/tav” together means “strength of the cross or covenant”.
Take the “shin” alone and we see destruction and consummation. Hence, a meaning of “destroyer of the door, or mighty”. The “yod” means “closed hand”, hence a fist, and appears next to “shin”, or Almighty Elohim.
All put together, the message is, “I will bring forth My first born Son Who will build the House of Elohim. He will be a consuming fire, the strength of the cross according to the covenant made with Avraham. At the same time, He is the Almighty Elohim and sits at the right hand of Elohim”.
Harmony of Creation
When Elohim does something, the finished product is just as perfect as is He. The problem arises when man tinkers with what Elohim has created and injects his own ideas, understandings or desires into creation. The end result is ultimate disaster.
There is a repetitive phrase in the daily description of creation, “after its own kind”. It doesn’t take “rocket science” to grasp the concept that apple trees don’t produce oranges, nor are plums found on a pear tree. Horses will only beget horses, etc.
When human thinking enters into the mix, things get scary. Mate a horse with a donkey and a mule is produced. Only problem with that mix is the mule can’t reproduce a mule. To get another mule, one needs to repeat the process. Simply put, it’s like Sherlock Holmes said, “Elementary, my dear Watson”.
In conclusion to the first chapter, consider the observation of Elohim at the conclusion of each day, “and it was good”. The word for “good” is “tov” and carries a meaning of “created for its purpose”. At the conclusion of the sixth day, the same phrase is amplified to “very good”, or “me’ode tov”, which strongly affirms a creation according to its specific purpose. With the implication of “completeness and wholeness”, Father is saying, “Don’t mess with it! It’s perfect as it is! I‘m smarter than you!”
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