Practice reading The Lord’s Prayer in Hebrew (Matthew 6:9-15). Use the transliteration key in BLUE in order to practice reciting the prayer daily. You can incorporate the prayer before, during or after praying the Psalms.
Flow with these prayer strategies during the month of Elul and watch the power of GOD fall on your faithfulness.
The Month of Elul: August 20th – September 18, 2020. -29 Days of Elul
We learned this as children, and it has devolved for some as a “patty cake” type of prayer. It’s been relegated to the place of a nursery rhyme for far too many Christians.
Over the next few months I hope to demonstrate the revelatory power in this sweet, clear, concise, precious message to every believer on how to pray. It’s more than a simplistic pattern of prayer.
Let us press in for a new level through speaking the prayer in the Hebrew tongue and stand the watch.
Note: Click on the Attachment below in order to enlarge the picture. In Hebrew you read from right to left. Begin with… ah-vee-new she-bah-sha-my-eem
For Heather and Renae! Attached is a recording just for you!
If any of you have trouble printing out a copy of the prayer, send me an email to torahbythesea@gmail.com and we will forward you a copy as soon as possible. Thank You.
Recording #1 The Lord’s Prayer read in Hebrew only – very slowly Recording #2 The Lord’s Prayer read in both Hebrew & English – very slowly –all verses
Over the next 33 days, remain faithful to Praying the Psalms with us and rehearse the Lord’s Prayer in your own ears, over your own spirit. Don’t be critical over your pronunciation, don’t be discouraged. GOD rewards your diligence in pursuit of Him and His Holy language.
Understanding will come. You never had to be perfect, we only need to be faithful in the little things.
During this Elul, we are taking a huge step towards GOD, through increased consecration and dedication, and GOD is Faithful!
May revelation and insight abound in you over the next 33 days, like never before! Amen.
Removing the Tradition of Mythology from Our Translations in the Book of Genesis… Part 2 of Adam was not in Agriculture…
In the last post, we saw that every indication of Adam having a relationship with GOD in prayer was translated out of the scriptures. Whether accidentally or intentionally, we may never know. However, the fact remains we just won’t see it with a literal reading of the text of scripture.
The message that I hope came across in these past teachings the most Is, that as a student of scripture we can not afford to trust /assume that we have all the information that we need in front of us via a literal meaning of the text. We have to dig out the details.
Another hurdle (i.e., habit) I hope that I am helping my students and readers to overcome, is one of taking the literal translations provided in our English Bible and Concordances completely at face value. We need to investigate further.
These are our necessary starting places, but they alone are not where we finish.
Virtually all bibles are based on the English version of the bible, so technically, we are all in the same boat.
Hopefully, I have demonstrated to each of you through the previous 30 teachings, that this type of blanket acceptance can be, not only superficial and misleading, it impairs our spiritual understanding and stunts our spiritual growth.
Consider and Evaluate the Specific Word Choices Being Made in Scripture:
Biblehub.com is a good internet source that is available to all 17 nations that view this blog to date.
As you can see from previous teachings and the attached link, translators have provided a myriad of words that are used to translate the Hebrew. The list of translations for the Hebrew word ‘ah-vode’ in Genesis 2:5, is reprinted below as an example, for your review.
become slaves (1), been slaves (1), bondage (2), burdened (2), cultivate (7), cultivated (2), cultivates (1), do (6), do the work (1), enslaved (3), given (1), holding in bondage (1), imposed (1), keep (2), labor (3), laborers* (2), make servant (1), make slaves (2), manufacturers (1), observe (1), perform (9), performed (2), plowed (1), rendered (1), serve (141), served (52), serves (2), serving (5), slave (1), slaves (1), subject (1), till (1), tiller (1), tiller* (1), tills (2), use as slaves (1), used (1), uses services (1), work (7), worked (2), workers (2), working (1), worship (7), worshipers (6).
25-44 variations of ‘ah-vode’ are presented in most concordances. So, the information you see above, is not unusual. Even if we were to accept all of these “definitions” for ah-vode at face value, without an understanding of the original Hebrew meaning behind the word, we would continue to miss the essence of the message.
Another example from scripture appears in the use of the word, ‘ah-vode’ that is translated as ‘dress’, meaning to cultivate or till’ . Deut. 28:38-41 is a good example to use because the word ‘dress’ is selected once more as a translation for the Hebrew, ‘ah-vode’.
38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
Deut. 28:1-14 outlines the blessings to be received for obedience to the commandments of GOD. Beginning with Deut 28:15, all of the curses are enumerated for disobedience to the commandments.
Abeying for now, any disputes of whether believers are under any curses since Jesus, our objective is to stay focused on the use of the word avode and its translation.
The overall context is found in the penalty for disobedience. Deut. 28:38-41 is conveying to us that none of the work that we put our hands to will prosper, when operating in disobedience.
There is no such thing as heart felt devotion without obedience.
39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them…
The use of avode (dress) in this context reveals that while we may delude ourselves into thinking we are walking with the spirit of GOD and service to our utmost for His Highest, the Spirit has departed from us.
The flesh wants to continue, “business as usual” confessing our love of GOD, yet the entire time we are knee deep in disobedience. GOD is not amused.
We can continue with the pretense, but the blessing will not be attached to our labors.
Genesis 28:39 is telling us that we will cultivate the vineyards to no avail.
Disobedience Frustrates the Power of Prayer
In Genesis 4:12, when GOD pronounced punishment on Adam for his disobedience, the KJV reads, “When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength…”
i.e., When you pray, the ground shall not add its strength to yours…
Once again in Gen 4:12, ah-vode is translated as “till”. And once again, GOD could have chosen another word to convey, ‘working in the field’. Instead He uses avode.
In Genesis 2:5, man’s prayer and worship will complete creation, bring down the rain, the trees and plants and herbs will spring forth and the earth will come alive and bear fruit.
In Genesis 4:12, because of disobedience, the earth will no longer add(yasaph)her strength and abilities(koach)to mankind.
The earth has new instructions.
The harmony between mankind and earth is now strained.
Disobedience has blocked the blessing and in prayer and worship, man must now contend with resistance.
Disobedience frustrates the Power of Prayer. Everybody in the Church has dealt with this truth firsthand.
As you just observed the terminology, ‘dress’, although flowery and poetic, does not fully communicate the truth and essence of the kind of work that the Word of GOD is talking about.
Adam had a prayer life. We need one too.
Before Adam (man) was created, GOD had the purpose of prayer in mind.
Before Adam (man) was created, GOD had the purpose of partnership in mind.
Before GOD’s creative plan could be considered complete, man had to o be present in prayer, praise and worship.
Rain was prevented from falling to the ground, as GOD awaited hearing mans voice call back to Him in prayer.
Prayer is our methodology given to partnership with GOD in creation.
Disobedience blocks are Blessings.
Effective with Genesis 4:12, Prayer and worship must combat and contend with resistance due to the sin of disobedience.
Consider This: If we would at the very least, treat prayer as a tithe, we would commit to prayer 16.8 hours per week.
If you learned a new thing from this post or simply enjoyed the presentation of this message, don’t forget to like, follow, share and/or comment!
May GOD send new instructions into the earth, into the atmosphere, and into the heavens to add their strength in response to your prayers!
This teaching is dedicated tomy students.May your spiritual power in prayer multiply ten fold as your prayer life multiplies and grows. May GOD select you for every prayer request of Heaven, every burden of His Heart. May you always awake with prayer on your lips, whenever you ask God to allow your spirit to pray unceasingly while your body rest. May all your prayers be in sync with the Spirit of GOD. Amen.
Man on his knees, photo by: Ben White, Unsplash.com
Woman in Thought, photo by: Sean Kong, Unsplash.com
Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.
NEW Disclosure Added: I am of the belief that any and all teachings on scripture, especially those on prayer should receive prayer before passing them along to others. For this reason, I encourage everyone who reviews these teachings to saturate each one in prayer before sharing, distributing or reproducing them in any fashion.
Anything that we hope to learn and accomplish through the Word of GOD must be born out of a spirit of prayer. Prayer is the root of all our spiritual training. Study without prayer is futile. Without prayer, we learn nothing and we accomplish nothing.
Prayerlessness makes a pretense of piety.
May GOD always send you a confirming word.
GOD Bless You,
Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.
Removing the Tradition of Mythology from Our Translations in the Book of Genesis…
The Book of Genesis sets the tone for understanding all of scripture.
Answers exists in scripture that provide deeper understanding to our questions and resolve unanswered ambiguities that have existed for generations.
Understanding the Book of Genesis, the beginning of GODs sacred text, can promote biblical accuracy, restore spiritual insight and eliminate confusion as we study each and every book of scripture.
Case in Point: Adam was NOT a Farmer.
Despite the fact that this has been taught for generations, because of poor translations at our disposal, should we continue to misunderstand the original message? Is it possible that a blessing exists in the accuracy of a translation?
Is there something more important than ‘farming’ that I could learn and spiritually benefit from, that would cause me to advance spiritually in prayer, understanding, and my calling?
How much can one point of scripture make?
Let’s investigate Genesis 2:4-5
“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”
REFRESHER From Previous Teachings:
At the outset of our journey together one of the most important concepts I communicated, is that Biblical Hebrew is a very meticulous language.
SECOND: The knowledge that GOD placed His Word above His Own Name is paramount in all your study of scripture. Psalm 138:2, Jeremiah 1:12, Mark 16:20, Rev 19:13.
Character is Key. Do we place our word above our own name? Can a person trust our word?
David taught us just how important it was to GOD that His people be able to trust His Word when he said… “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness (chessed) and for thy truth (emet): for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
GOD’s Word is His Bond.
Studying the Word is more important than Reading the Word.
The study of scripture is a sacred duty of everyone who loves the LORD.
Each student of scripture must possess and practicepatience in order to study scripture.
We don’t treat scripture like a fairy tale, a bible story, an ordinary book, or a common piece of literature.
We (servants of GOD) honor scripture with our time, our presence, our interest, our patience, our dedication.
By placing the study of scripture above our own time, and interest, etc., We are placing His Word above our own name, i.e., above our own self–interest.
GOD is careful and deliberate in the selection and use of each Word He uses to communicate with us.
Biblical Hebrew is a Rich and Meticulous Language. Levels of meaning exist.
In English, words also have levels of meaning. Each level of meaning in a word is revealed in context to the overall message or statement.
In Hebrew, context is consistent with and compliments theWord choice.
In Hebrew, Key Words in the verse have to be researched and studied.
Don’t take for granted that the given English translation of the word accurately conveys the original message of GOD in all cases.
The English meanings of words have transitioned through time. In most cases, the meanings that we apply today, have no connection to the original meaning of the word.
We will continue to revisit this point as often as it applies.
ADAM the Agrarian?
“… and there was not a man to till the ground.” Till is from a Hebrew word usually translated, “to work or service”.
Remember, GOD has more than one way to say anything. His Word choices are meticulous.
In the Language of GOD, there are 14+ ways to say, work or service.
This means, GOD is not limited in forms of expression, He can be very specific, very precise in communicating what He wants to say to us.
In English, it is common to lump our terms together. In the Biblical Language of Hebrew, GOD does not lump terms together.
GOD uses a specific word to express “occupational” forms of work (melakah, H4399), deeds of work (mah-a-say, H4639), providential work (4652, miph-la-ah), beam work (meh-qa-rey H4746), cunning or ingeniuos work (khe-shev, H2805), or work that produces an item or thing (mih-fal, H4659) etc, etc.
None of the above were chosen to express the type of Work GOD was looking for to take place in the earth. None of the above are connected with rain.
GOD is quite capable of producing rain in the earth. He does not need man in order to make it rain. The production of rain in the earth is a gift, a part of the creation process that man is given by GOD to participate in partnership.
Man’s partnership with GOD in the creation process, requires a form of ‘work or service’ that is expressed completely different than any of the above examples. Which leads us to two additional words we need to look at.
Thesetwo Hebrew words also appear in Genesis 2:5, teh-rem (before, H2962) and yitz-mah (grew, H6779) so that we can increase our understanding of the message.
teh-remmeans, not yet, or before. yitz-mahmeans to sprout or spring up.
“And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”
i.e., the plants and shrubs and herbs had not yet sprouted in the earth.
Scripture already told us that GOD had spoken the plants, herbs, seeds, etc. into existence (Genesis 1:11-13), butthey had not yet sprouted in the earth(Gen 2:5). Let’s go back and review Genesis 1:11-13 again…
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
Gen 1:12 teaches us that herb yielding seed and the tree yielding fruit after its kind is present in the earth, and Genesis 2:5 further instructs us, that neither had sprouted, or grown up out of the ground quite yet, because… there was not a man to ’till’ the ground.
Everything is prepared, in place, but man has not yet ‘tilled’ the ground.
The command has been spoken into the earth, and the earth is awaiting the presence of man.
Now, here is the customary place where we get into our traditional mode of thinking as we were taught about scripture because we have learned that man needed to ‘cultivate’ the land.
We were not taught that man needed to till the land in order for it to rain. We are taught that man needed to till the ground in order to produce food.
But why would man need to produce his own food? Genesis 2:8-9 GOD planted a garden (eden) and He gave man what he needed for food.
…and there was not a man to till the ground.”
Why does man need to till/cultivate the ground?
lah’ ah-vode (to till, cultivate) et ha’ah’dah’mah (the ground)
Our translation, “to till or cultivate” is taken from the Hebrew word, avod (ah-vode, H5647).
avod appears 289 times in the torah.
Our leading definition in the Strong’s Concordance and the one we traditionally follow is a translation of; to work, to serve.
avod is also translated; to be slaves, held in bondage, to become slaves, laborers, or servants, to keep in bondage or compel.
It is not until we come to the end of our alphabetized list of potential translations, that we find the words; to worship (used 7x), or worshippers (used 6x).
Only 13 of 289 times, has it ever been translated meaning to worship, or be worshippers.
Exodus 10:26, the 3rd timela’ah-vode appears in scripture, the children of Israel are concerned that they take all necessary preparations, including the cattle, to serve the Lord. .
The 4th time we see the word la’avod in scripture, Numbers 3:7 it is when GOD tells Moses to bring the tribe of Levi before the tabernacle of the congregation ‘to do the service’ of the tabernacle.
and we have 27 more…Many Infallible Proofs – that ah’vodemeans worship.
This pattern continues in Numbers 3:8, 4:23, 4:24, 4:30, 4:47, 7:5, 8:11, 8:15, 8:19, 8:22, 16:9, 18:6, etc. etc. etc. (a total of 27 times conjugated la’avode).
In every case except the 1st two times we see la’avode in scripture (Gen 2:5, 3:23) we have taught and translated it in such a way, as to communicate to the world over, that ‘adam’ (man) was needed in order to till the ground, as if he was created to be a farmer of some sort.
That is not what this means…
aleph (A) veit (V) dalet (D) is the root of the Hebrew word, avodah (ahv-vode-dah, H5656) which appears 145 times in scripture. avodah means worship, service of the heart.
Our Strong’s translation says, avodah means labor, or service. This is marginally correct. It’s just not completely accurate.
Avodah is service of the heart, our labor of love toward GOD. To serve GOD with avodah is a spiritual labor of love. Service of the heart has nothing to do with manual labor. in a field. To translate these words in such a way is to make the meaning of our service and labor to GOD common. Plus, we miss the point.
Worse of all, we have taught the known world to read Genesis 2:5 to mean that man’s purpose was to work the land, plow the fields, harvest the crops. Noble secular work indeed. However, GOD had and has something more in mind for mankind.
Avodah is the ‘work’ of clinging to GOD through prayer and worship. Avodah is the hard work we do in service to GOD.
Our Work IS to Worship and to Pray…
Again, the narrow translation of both ‘avode and avodah’ misses the mark, which skews our understanding far too much from the actual truth.
Actually, if prayer was not such ‘work’, perhaps it would be far easier for us to comply. But the fact is, spiritual work is takes as much or more effort than physical work.
In fact, Genesis 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” KJV.
To dress is translated from the Hebrew Word, avodah (5647). To keep, is from the Hebrew Word shamar (8104) meaning to guard and protect.
Adam (man) was charged with the responsibility to worship, pray and protect (guard) the anointing, not cultivate a field.
Man’s First Work is to Pray
The need for prayer, praise and worship did not just mysteriously appear in the “New Testament.”
GOD established the need for prayer and worship in the beginning, as early as Genesis 2:5. But we did not see it or recognize because of our translations…
Living Bible Translation: “…or the Lord God hadn’t sent any rain; nor was there anyone to farm the soil.”
Good News Translation: “…because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land.”
The Voice: “…because the Eternal God had not sent the rains to nourish the soil or anyone to tend it.”
Common English Bible: “…before any wild plants appeared on the earth, and before any field crops grew, because the Lord God hadn’t yet sent rain on the earth and there was still no human being to farm the fertile land.”
The Amplified Bible: “…no shrub or plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground,”
The only way to compensate for a poor translation is study of the original Hebrew Wording.
Scripture was given to strengthen us spiritually.
We always talk about GOD desiring relationship, yet we teach that the first man was put here with farming in mind.
The 1st two times avode appears in scripture, we translate it as ‘cultivate/till’ and the next 25 times we translate it in context to what GOD is actually communicating about prayer and worship, the service of the heart.
If cultivating the land, was the primary objective, don’t you think that scripture would say more about our role as farmers, cultivators, tillers?
Instead, the entire work of scripture has always been and is, to build us up spiritually.
Instead, the entire work of scripture has always been and is, to build us up spiritually. Not to teach us how to “till” the literal soil.
Because of our neglectful translation, the majority of the world has the wrong concept embedded in their minds.
Rather than provide us with a spiritually mature teaching and translation, we have a prelude to a “bible story” which set us up for ‘lack of knowledge’.
Avode is not a common/secular form of work.
Our Work, Our Service is about Prayer and Worship. It was always about our spiritual work.
“…there was no man to worship in the earth.”
“…there was no one here to serve in prayer”
The translator’s forgot GOD was talking about the rain…
for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”
Adam did not just decree and declare the name of all the animals, identifying the essence of each creature by name. Adam understood the essence of his own nature and his role to partner with GOD in creation, fulfilling his call to nourish the earth through prayer.
“But if it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Choose the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But my family and I will serve the Lord.” –Joshua 24:15
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they can worship me.” –Exodus 8:1
Our work is prayer.
Although it will take some time to untangle this in the minds of the world, because we learned it wrong to begin with. But the rewards are well worth it.
My concern today is to untangle it for my students in this supplement to your teaching.
There are 13+ ways to say, ‘work’ in the Greek.
There are 17+ ways to say, ‘work’ in the Hebrew. They all do not mean, Worship”
The 1st Man (adam) understood his assignment to pray.
In like manner, prayer is our first responsibility. GOD spoke 10 utterances into the earth, created man in His image and likeness and waited for man to speak back to Him.
We are His only creation with the gift of speech and prayer is our instrument of communication with GOD.
Aren’t there some cases when avode (work/service) can be understood as just plain work or service?
NO. The type of “work/service” conveyed in the Hebrew word ‘avode’ is spiritual work. Ah-vode is prayer.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve withrigour: 14 and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. –Exodus 1:13-14
Rigour in Hebrew is from the word perek. Which is telling us the the Egyptians were intentionally applying pressures onto the children of Israel in an attempt to break them into pieces. A diabolical form of breaking,
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve withrigour: –Exodus 1:13
The world wants you to serve them like you are supposed to serve GOD. Although we are faithful to do all as unto the LORD… we know the difference.
Adam’s first prayer was for rain…
You can make it rain through the power of your prayers too!
At first the world is dark and empty of GOD’s light, but every believer occupies their share of the world right now, which they have to improve and illuminate.
The way to brighten your share of the world is through learning from GOD’s example “and G‑d said” — speaking into the earth, fulfilling the word of GOD by studying torah and keeping His Commandments. By doing this, we each accomplish our purpose in and bring light into the world— the world becomes illuminated with the light of GOD’s Word.
The entrance of thy Word bringeth light!
How Can This Teaching HELP Your Understanding?
Through the power of prayer, adam became a partner in the creation process.
The Earth and all that is in it, was created to respond to prayer.
The earth had to loose its seed, fruit, plants and hidden riches, when adam (man) prayed and called forth rain.
Adam did more than name the animals and give Eve her name, Adam his true essence as a man of GOD. He understood that his first assignment was prayer.
Adam returned the spoken Word back to GOD.
You now know the first prayer of Adam.
You now know that initially, rain was a product of prayer and still can be a product of prayer (depending upon what you believe possible in prayer).
Man must assist the world in it’s survival through the power of prayer.
Worship Released the Rain…
for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”
There was not a man to worship in the earth… GOD awaits our partnership. Prayer, praise and worship releases the rain over all our situations, be it droughts in marriage, relationships, our communities, etc.
Rain is the sign of blessing.
The scriptures are replete with signs of blessing when the prophets called for rain.
Oftentimes we rebuke the rain. But, rain is the sign of blessing. Why rebuke the sign of blessing?
We often don’t see it, because it’s not taught, but rain was the initial sign of partnership between GOD and main. GOD gave adam (man) power over the elements, to cause it to rain.
GOD prepared the entire earth to receive the prayers of man and to respond with a living sign… to bring forth life, to grow, sprout and flourish. Don’t we want this?
I believe that we can still pray for rain, cause the earth to sprout, to grow and to flourish. I believe that we can still speak an end to drought and famine, in everything that concerns us, our bodies, our minds, our loved ones, our enemies…
Who can you nourish in the earth through prayer?
If you learned a new thing from this post or simply enjoyed the presentation of this message, don’t forget to like, follow, share and/or comment!
I hope you pray for rain,
This teaching is dedicated toEveryone facing a famine or drought in their lives. To everyone who needs the earth to bring forth blessings, to everyone that has seed buried in the earth and needs it to come forth and bear fruit, every promise near the surface that has not yet materialized, may the LORD GOD of Heaven come for my words in prayer and send you rain… Amen.
From Modern English to Biblical Hebrew: The Transition Phase
Keep All of the information/study techniques above in mind as you study and validate the information presented in this lesson (including past teachings).
GOD’s Biblical Language utilizes specific Word choices that differentiate the terms in such a precise manner as to be in agreement with the overall context of the verse. We do not need to infer meaning, because His Word choice is dynamic and specific and clear.
When information is translated into English we automatically apply our definitions. Which of course is a natural reaction. Without a concerted effort, we can get locked into a form of comfort and familiarity, a single-mindedness in our terms, because in this case, English is our first language.
The problem is, terms do not translate well in all cases, in any language. In Biblical Hebrew, we have to cross time, distance, grammatical, lexical and cultural, historical and social barriers between modern English and Biblical languages. Always keep this in mind.
Our challenge today and every day is to overcome these obstacles when applying ourselves to the study of scripture.
Garden of trees photo by: Madison Nickel, Unsplash.com
Cherry Blossom tree photo by: Hunt Han, Unsplash.com
Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.
NEW Disclosure Added: I am of the belief that any and all teachings on scripture, especially those on prayer should receive prayer before passing them along to others. For this reason, I encourage everyone who reviews these teachings to saturate each one in prayer before sharing, distributing or reproducing them in any fashion.
Anything that we hope to learn and accomplish through the Word of GOD must be born out of a spirit of prayer. Prayer is the root of all our spiritual training. Study without prayer is futile. Without prayer, we learn nothing and we accomplish nothing.
May GOD always send you a confirming word.
GOD Bless You,
Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.
If someone called you simple, chances are you would be offended. Being that we are in the 21st Century, who could blame you for being offended. To be called, simple in the 17th century, when the bible was written, was a very nice complement.
The earliest use of the word ‘simple’, meant to be free from guile, innocent; upright, free from vanity, modest; to be of humble origins. These definitions still appear in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.
Of course, time would have it, that another definition emerged for the word, ‘simple’ meaning, lacking in knowledge or expertise; lacking in intelligence; not socially or culturally sophisticated; lowly in condition or rank. Today, I’m sure this is what we all would hear, in a statement of that kind.
The Meaning of Life is so Simple, it’s Practically a Secret
We are not studying to obtain only the literal meaning of the words. God is Prophetic. His Perfect Will, was that His people would all be Prophets, Priest and Kings. To walk in the anointing, in HIS Image and Likeness, we must not be shy of the prophetic.
To walk alongside the prophetic is to become simple again…
And Being Simple, is not a bad thing. Simple can become for us, the meaning of Life in GOD.
Watch these 5 Key Words in Psalm 19:7—
The [law] of the LORD is perfect, [restoring] the soul, The testimony of the LORD is [sure], making [wise] the [simple].
I taught earlier, that the use of the word ‘law‘ as a translation for ‘torah‘ is a good example of missing the mark.
In that teaching, numerous examples of this were provided. In Psalm 19:7, once again, we find ‘torah‘ translated as ‘law‘.
Why the translators choose not to translate ‘torah‘ as ‘torah‘, instead of law, I do not know. This approach to scripture, has only served the purpose of putting more distance between the Christian Church and our Hebrew Roots.
Ultimately today, when our brains hear ‘torah‘, it is as if some Christians feel they are being subjected to something forbidden… information barred from the Church. Yet, GOD called His Word torah. It is my sincere hope that more of us can draw closer to Him through torah. Meanwhile…
Let’s restore this verse a bit, to another place and time…
The next word we want to look at in the verse is, teshuv (tah-shoove), translated, ‘restoring‘. teshuv means to return to GOD.
Additionally, ‘aman‘ is translated as ‘sure‘. Which is not wrong, it’s just more poetry than we need. aman means to trust.
Wouldn’t it serve our souls better to build upon the Word from a place of understanding, that the testimony of the LORD is to be trusted?
And finally, ‘wise‘ is from the word, chokmah (hoke-mah), In this case, it means the wisdom of GOD.
‘Simple’ as it was known, before our culture and timesdrained the beauty and anointing out of the word, used to be understood as ‘possessing GOD’s favorite characteristic’… humility,to be free from guile, or innocent.
Now, let’s put this verse and teaching, back into it’s proper place…
The torah of the LORD is perfect, returning the soul [to GOD], The testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise [giving the Wisdom of GOD to] the humble/the innocent.
Once more…
The torah of the LORD is perfect. Studying/learning/abiding in torah, returns the soul to GOD. The testimony of the LORD should always be trusted. When GOD’s testimonies are trusted, The Wisdom of GOD is transferred to the humble.
Torah Returns Our Soul to GOD.
Everyday, our souls desire to return to GOD’s presence. Torah, while NOT a system of laws, is greater than the sum of it’s teachings. Torah is formed from the raw materials of creation, the aleph-bet.
It is said that the torah, (traditionally known asGenesis through Dueteronomy), contains over 600,000 letters. One for each soul that came out of Egypt.
One letter for every soul.
…and when the day of Pentecost (Shavuot) had come, once again, there were tongues of fire above every head, i.e., one letter for every soul.
The Torah Contains The Meaning of Life…
When GOD gave the torah, he was not giving us a bible story, or merely a list of teachings, instructions and commandments.
Every letter, every word, accounted for every soul and every household, every generation and their seed.
The letters themselves contain life and purpose, they are the creative force behind the universe, often referred to as the building blocks of the universe.
The Letter Behind the Letter
Even as these letters are written on this page, the space around the letter allows the black ink to shine forth and be made visible, seen.
In torah study, we learn that the visible shape of the letters (via the black ink) reveals a shape and form in the background, revealing it’s two dimensional form. Think of this as a letter behind the letter.
Our computers allow us to select one color for the background and one color for the ink. There is no point selecting white background with white ink, or black background with black ink. The resulting letter is hidden. Unreadable.
The torah was written in such a way, that in order for any one letter to be made visible, it required another letter behind it. The background being as equally important as the foreground.
Each letter representing another soul. One soul supporting the other. Without each soul working in concert with the other, neither is visible.
Seen another way... when you write on a white canvas using white letters, your message is invisible. The colors compete with one another creating a situation where the message is unreadable, invisible. Nothing is seen, nothing is accomplished. Nothing of value can be communicated.
It’s the contrast that reveals each letter and within the contrast a deeper message can be revealed. For example, the letter aleph reveals two letter yod’s and one letter vav are combined, and together they form the letter aleph!
The vav which represents the firmament (at the heart of the aleph) is connected to the letters yod. The one on the right, pointing to (connected to) the heavens and the one on the right pointing to (connected to) the earth.
Another message is revealed in the form of the Hebrew letter aleph.
What is the message?
The first letter in the Name of GOD, is a physical and symbolic representation of the connection between Heaven and Earth. The aleph (the letter A) is not just a symbol representing a letter of the Hebrew Alephbet. The aleph is symbolic of GOD’s ultimate desire, His “Perfect Will” which is to connect Heaven to Earth.
It’s spelled out for us in the very first letter of His Name, Elohim.
One soul, allows the other to shine.
There are times in everyone’s life, when they feel invisible, unseen, unimportant. But we are never invisible. Each person has been given the creative power, the fire…to shine light on another soul.
Let Your Light So Shine!
God Bless You,
This teaching is dedicated to the Grand-Children. I pray I have imparted something simple to you…something innocent and without guile. I pray you will always receive the Word untangled, so that you never have to start from scratch, relearning the Holy Language of GOD.
Stay humble. Your humility will keep you connected to GOD. Stay in torah. torah, will nurture your soul, everyday. May your lives always be a support to one another, separate but one, harmonious and yet, distinctive…
Your souls allow each other to shine!
In the Volume of the Book that is Written of You, You Are to be a Light, and An Answer to the World.
In my last post, I provided a few scriptures for your review that demonstrated the need for us to go back in time for an understanding of the meaning of words.
When Matthew says go into your closet to pray (Matt 6:6), we have to consider that ‘closets’ may just be a modern convention and not a norm of the 1st century.
This means we do a little homework and find that Matthew is urging us to discover our secret place of prayer, which could be anywhere, as long as it is private and provides the solitude required for prayer.
An inter-linear bible is excellent for this part of our study, or if unavailable, use of an online equivalent like Biblehub.com is suitable to begin practicing.
An online resource to learn about the origin and development of words is etymologyonline.com.
However, my first love is a library! Libraries are the best source for researching words in detail. However, a quick look online can be insightful. I use etymology online for quick reference and when I am out and about!
Yet, nothing can ever replace having a local or university library at your disposal. If you have access to either, I highly recommend it.
Some librarians will even look up information for you over the phone.
Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.
Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2Timothy 3:14-15
Why does this matter and how can this help our spiritual condition?
If we are going to learn anything from the Book of Genesis at all, one of the first things we want to understand is that:
The Spiritual Realm is always created 1st, even in our actions, and especially in our words. Our strategy / tactics must be patterned after the strategy / tactics of GOD.
Reasons for Why We Study From the Hebrew Perspective
What we miss in our English translations, we recover in our reading of the Scriptures from the Hebrew language.
Acquire the tools we need to pull down the man made barriers erected between us, GOD and His WORD.
Dismantle Falsehoods.
Fall in Love with the Language of GOD, the native language of mankind.
Insert GOD back into our understanding of HIS Language.
Make God’s language our 1stlanguage.
Identify Key Words that are common to Christian thought and relearn them from their Hebraic Roots.
Look at word origins further back than our customary Christian thinking.
Train our minds to understand a detailed and mathematically perfect language – that exist in no other language or form.
Torah Teaches us the secrets of how to separate Good from evil, and the sacred from the secular.
There is man’s technology (the secular), and God’s technology (the sacred). Our assignment is to separate the sacred (Holy, clean) from the secular (profane, unclean).
Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Starting from Part 5 of the Message in the Letters of torah, you were provided with an example of the application of gematria in scripture. The 611 of torah, will extend this example by providing insight into three words that connect numerically to torah; daw’ber’rath, daw’ber and dah’ber’rah.
We have leanred that, the letters of torah; tav – vav – reish – hei, equals 611. What other words equal 611 in torah, that you would have not been able to see, without looking at gematria?
For now, let’s see what information we can unlock in the scriptures by connecting the dots in the word for torah itself.
What does torah teach us about the connective fabric that exist between GOD’s Words torah; daw’ber’rath, daw’ber and dah’ber’rah, that shed more light on His Teachings?
Remember: Hebrew Letters are read from Right to Left.
The first word we will look at is ‘daw’bear’rath
dalet (4) beit (2) reish (200) tav (400) =606
dalet – beit – reish – tav; spells daw’bear’rath
daw’bear’rath (Strong’s #1705) appears in the scripture ONLY 3 times. Joshua 19:12, 21:28, and 1 chronicles 6:72.
Jos 19:12 = The demarcation points of the Territory of Zebulun are being outlined in detail.
D’bear’rath, a Levitical City
Jos 21:28, 1 Chron. 6:72, daberath, a Levitical City that bordered the City of Refuge at Kedesh, out of the Tribe of Issachar. The City of Refuge was a place the children of Israel, or the stranger that dwelt among them, could go for safe haven, in the event of causing the accidental death of another person.
In the event of causing the accidental death of someone, you would dwell in the City of Refuge until the death of the High Priest, which made atonement for your sin. This is a prefiguring of the atonement our High Priest, Yeshua has made for us.
A BRIEF INSIGHT:Kedesh means to sanctify, set apart, or to consecrate, which makes someone or something holy. kuf – dalet – shin;
kuf bears a strong resemblance to the English letter, P. Kuf is the Hebrew letter that represents Holiness of GOD and man. kuf is formed by combining 2 other Hebrew letters, the vav and the kaf; which also equate to 26, the same as the 4 letter name of GOD, YHVH [yud (10) -hei (5) -vav (6)-hei(5)].
There were a total of 6 Cities of Refuge, 3 on each side of the Jordan, 3 East and 3 West, surrounded by 42 Levitical Cities. Each City of Refuge bears a Characteristic of Christ, the Messiach. Kedesh, (holiness), Shechem (burden bearer), Hebron (to Join/Fellowship), Ramoth (to be High/Exalted, Golan (Remove, Deliver).
History tells us that the surrounding Levitical cities became cities of refuge in their own right, more so, in a supporting role.
Daberath was one of those Levitical cities.
Today, we will focus on it’s name and discover another layer of truth and purpose symbolized by the torah.
dalet (4)
dah-let = Door, path, pathway, access, The WORD,
dat (dalet/tav) in Hebrew means religion/decree. Read in it’s Hebrew Pictograph form, it reads, “door to the cross”. The Levitical city of d’ber’rath, begins with the dalet and ends with the tav, which shows us a path from, “the door to the cross”.
However, before you can arrive at the door of the cross, you have to pass through the tabernacle, (the beit) to become a Leader (the reish), only then can you access the cross/covenant.
beit (2)
Tent, Tabernacle, House, Sanctuary. The tabernacle is the dwelling place of GOD requested, the meeting place between GOD and man.
reish (200)
Headship, First, Head, Leader. The reish conquers their passions. Should reish reject their birthright, they become like the wicked who turns away from GOD and abandons the torah, an intentional non-believer. It is our faithful devotion to GOD, that makes You the rosh, i.e. the Head (Deut 28:13). However, Our disobedience to GOD’s Word, will have the devastating effect of making our enemies the rosh, instead (Deut. 28:44).
REPEAT: Our disobedience to GOD, will elevate our enemies above us. Our behavior elevates the enemy. Obedience is our most powerful weapon of choice.
tav (400)
Covenant, Cross, Truth (emet, as in Truth stands firm and prevails), Mark, Sign, Seal of GOD, is a guarantee that can never be nullified. Malachi 2:6, Torah is Truth. tav is the symbol of repentance and perfection.
Let’s put all the letters together again…
Remember: Hebrew Letters are read from Right to Left.
dalet, beit, reish, tav = d’ber’rath = 606
d’ber’rath is a Levitical City, bordering a city of Refuge, whose name is equivalent to ….torah
Let’s read Joshua 19:12 while inserting the meaning of each cities name…
12 And turned from Sarid (survivor), eastward toward the sun rise unto the border of Chislothtabor (foolishness), and then goeth out to Daberath (Word of torah), and goeth up to Japhia (to shine forth, or cause to shine).
12 And turned from being a survivor, eastward toward the sun rise unto the border of mountains of foolishness, and then goeth out to receive the Word of torah (ha d’bear’rath), and goeth up to shine forth, or to cause someone else to shine.
POINT BEING: The Names of these cities and places have meaning…
Remember: Hebrew Letters are read from Right to Left.
With hei, added before the word daber, you have…
The letter hei, when prefixed to a Hebrew word, means “the’. When the letter hei, “the” is added before the word, ‘d-bear-reth’ we have “The d-bear-rath” meaning, The WORD of the Covenant.
Jos 19:12 And turned from being a survivor, eastward toward the sun rise unto the border of mountains of foolishness, and then goeth out to receive the Word of torah or the WORD of the Covenant (ha d’bear’rath), and goeth up to shine forth, or to cause someone else to shine.
What message are you seeing between the lines?
There’s More…
the ROOT word in daberath, is d-b-r, daw-ber.
Remember: Hebrew Letters are read from Right to Left.
dalet (4) beit (2) reish (200)
Every word in Hebrew is formed from a 3 or 4 letter root word. The root word in d’ber’rath is d’ber; and dalet – beit – reish, which means, ‘WORD’ in Hebrew.
In order to say, ‘WORD’ in Hebrew, (d-b-r, da’ber [1696]) – it must be formed with, and begin at, the Door (Messiach), lead to – the tabernacle (the Sanctuary, Dwelling Place of GOD & His People) and produce/develop the reish(Christ our High Priest and You).
ha daw’bear or ha daw’bar means, ‘The WORD’
Remember: Hebrew Letters are read from Right to Left.
The Word
hei (5) –dalet (4) beit (2) reish (200)
ha daw’bear’rath means, ‘The WORD of The Covenant’
hei (The) dalet-beit-reish (WORD) tav (Covenant)
Remember: Hebrew Letters are read from Right to Left.
When hei, added to and precedes, d’ber’rath, it’s numerical equivalency shifts/moves from 606 to 611, torah.
ha daw’bear’rath reads, The WORD of the Covenant. It’s not just an innocuous name of a city. In Hebrew, names convey messages about the character and nature of a place, person, or a thing. Names reveal a great deal of information about the spiritual condition of the people and places identified in scripture. We have been reading over this type of information forever, almost as if we didn’t need any further revelation or information.
(The) ha
(WORD) dalet, beit, reish
(COVENANT) tav
ha d’ber’rath, is a place where the WORD of GOD Dwells.
The WORD, begins with recognition of Messiach, who stands at the Door. Anything that we say, repeat or honor in the WORD of GOD, begins with Messiach.
Look at the scripture again…
Plot out the boundaries / borders of the territory of Zebulun…
Jos 19:12 And turned from being a survivor, eastward toward the sun rise unto the border of mountains of foolishness, and then goeth out to receive the Word of torah or the WORD of the Covenant (ha d’bear’rath), and goeth up to shine forth, or to cause someone else to shine.
Between Survival and Foolishness and the Covenant and the Light.
Summary:
Every letter in torah has a corresponding numerical value. You have seen that torah is equivalent to 611.
611 is also the numerical value of ha d’ber’rath, one of the Levitical cities that lies between the borders of Zebulun and Issachar.
ha d’ber’rath is not just a physical place, it is a spiritual place. A place of torah, a place where the WORD of the Covenant resides. ha d’ber’rath is the alternative, between two destinations; survival and foolishness, a place that allows you to shine or to cause someone else to shine.
The root of d’ber’rath is da’ber, meaning WORD. ha d’ber’rath is founded upon the WORD. ha ‘ber’rath is a place where the WORD of GOD can be found. A place of Covenantal relationship.
There are no superfluous words in scripture. Every word, letter, jot, title, oilve, fish, tent, jar of wine, and piece of bread, is divinely placed into the torah. GOD was not writing a fairy tale, bedtime story, nor sprinkling words around like abstract decoupage. Every word has purpose and intention and deserves more than anyone’s literal and superficial focus and attention.
Torah teachings are not about learning a bible story. torah contains the meat of the Word of GOD.
“And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us…full of Grace and Truth.” John 1:14
“In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD and the WORD was GOD.” John 1:1
(Word in Greek is Logos. Word in Hebrew is da’ber).
BRIEF TORAH INSIGHT:
Deborah, is spelled dalet-beit-reish-hei
Deborah, a Prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth (Judges 4-5), is one way to read the preface to this teaching. There is another translation from the Hebrew.
Judges 4:4 Deborah, a woman, a seer (a prophetess), a woman of fire!
ish’shah appears twice in this verse; once as woman and the second time as wife.
For consistency sake, let’s translate it with the same each time; We could read this as, Deborah was a woman, a seer, a woman of lappidoth or, Deborah was a wife, a seer, a wife of Lappidoth.
Which sounds more reasonable?
Lapidoth is from the root word, lappid meaning torches. Some versions report that Deborah was married to a man that provided torches/candles for the sanctuary and was called by the name of her husbands trade.
Alternatively, we have the option of reading the text to understand that Deborah was a woman on fire for GOD. The actual letters of her name read, ‘what comes out of the Word”, ‘What comes out of torah!’, [hei = ‘what comes out of’]. Ref: The Message In The Letters of Torah, Part 4 for information on the letter hei.
Deborah has become a common name in the English language. So when we hear, Deborah, we think of a woman. However, being that deber means WORD, and deberah means, ‘What comes out of the WORD’, the scripture might be placing greater emphasis on the fact that Deborah is a woman, more so, than her marital status.
It is my personal belief, that what comes out of torah, is Fire for the WORD of GOD!
What came out of a life spent in the WORD, was a woman, a seer, a prophetess, a woman of fire.
Deborah’s name means WORD, which she taught and judged the land and people of Israel with. She is the living embodiment of what comes out of a life of torah… Deborah is a Judge of Israel, a teacher, leader, the spiritual guide to the Children of Israel. She is what comes out of the WORD, she is a product of the WORD.
Deborah’s name is prophetically and intentionally given. On the pages of scripture, GOD is doing more than just calling her Deborah (d-b-r-h). He could have called her by any other name. Even with GOD providing such a huge distinction, to provide us with clear evidence of her importance in scripture, we still miss this crucial piece of information, because we do not know that GOD is even calling her the WORD.
In addition, notice that Barak refused to go to battle unless Deborah went with him/them. Barak, God’s General, was not like-minded with the world, i.e., as the world is about women standing in the place of authority/leadership in the Church. Barak understood the dangers inherent of going into battle without a WORD (Deborah). He took his Word with him… Barak took da’ber, and da’ber was a woman.
GOD calls her Deborah, intentionally. But, without the benefit of any knowledge of Hebrew, we will miss the message, completely and be unable to connects the dots as we should.
Deborah is one of those rare individuals on the pages of scripture, whose name prefigures Christ. The character and nature of Deborah bears a clear connection to the Messiach, by virtue of her name.
Who has ever pointed out the women in scripture who were a prefiguring of Christ? To date, ONLY GOD.
Her name clearly identifies her as personification of the WORD. (As mankind should exemplify themselves to strive to become, to this very day). She is called the WORD. More specifically, she is what comes out of a life in the WORD. Deborah is a product of the WORD of GOD.
By any other name, her role would be and has been questionable. As a spiritual leader of Israel, as a Judge, Counselor or Teacher, even warrior of GOD, her role bearing the headship and leadership of the House of GOD has been diminished.
For generations, we have taught that Deborah was just a small once in a lifetime, exception to the role of women in the Church. The entire time, being oblivious to the force, effect and import of her name, Deborah, which places her at the forefront of the list of all those whose ministry and service to GOD was a prefiguring of Christ, the Messiach.
In no uncertain terms, GOD calls her the WORD. A foreshadowing that GOD knew of the entire time, but man has yet to perceive, acknowledge, address, respond, and per his usual customs and traditions, attempt to refute.
In Hebrew, the meaning is obvious. In English, we can’t even see it.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness“–2 Tim 3:16
All scripture, down to the shapes and forms of the letters, to the letters used to form words, phrases, including the very words and names themselves, are designed to tell us something.
If all scripture is given by inspiration of GOD, then ALL scripture is profitable… end of story. Everything in the scripture is relevant and pertinent for our teaching and instruction, reproof and correction.
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now” John 16:12
So my original question stands…When will we be able to bear the meat of the Word?
It’s very true that the women of GOD do not dominate the pages of scripture. GOD lifts up the names of the women sparingly. This has caused people for centuries to teach, preach or even feel, that women are insignificant or ignored in the totality of scripture.
But that is not the case. I hope to demonstrate this to my readers numerous times through our studies together, that Women are like a secret weapon of Heaven. Arguably, women appear to be kept on the backside of the mountain, but their entrance is decisively powerful whenever GOD calls them forth to intervene on the stage of human destiny.
GOD has never watered down the role of women in scripture. The role of women has been critical to divine history, legacy and prophecy.
The information we are accustomed to reading right past, contains manna we need. But even if we aren’t there yet, and can’t see Deborah as a WORD carrying Prophetess who judged the people of Israel, and who was a spiritual and military leader, just remember this… Understanding will come. In the meantime…
Never go to battle, without the WORD.
Notation:
Spiritual Notation: tav is the 22nd Letter in the Hebrew Alephbet, The Last and Final Letter of the Hebrew Alephbet. “Esther is the last of 22 GODLY Women in Scripture who took decisive steps to heighten the spiritual level of the Jewish People”. Talmud, Yoma 29a. The WORD of GOD is connecting One Woman, One Matriarch for every letter in the aleph-bet.
God Bless You,
This teaching is dedicated to Adrian “The Tzaddik”… who knows that GOD’s plans for us are revealed to us by the spirit…and covets earnestly the best gifts… 1 Cor 12:10, 14).
NOTE: There is NO WRONG WAY TO SPELL A HEBREW WORD IN ENGLISH. By that I mean, the process of transliteration requires that we use one of our English letters to represent the sound that a letter/word makes in Hebrew. Example: The Hebrew letter tav for instance, is equivalent to the sound that the letter ‘T’ makes in English.
Because we are using the English letters to substitute for the Hebrew letters as we transition from Hebrew to English, the goal is to convey the sound that the letters make. The primary goal is to reproduce the sound corectly.
For instance, stated another way, let’s say the word pony was a Hebrew word. If I wanted the English speaking world to say, ‘pony’ properly in Hebrew, I would attempt to reproduce the sound using English letters by spelling it out, ‘poe – knee’. In this way, the English speaking community would know how to best replicate the sound of the word ‘pony’ in Hebrew.
It is understood, that ‘poe-knee’ is not an English word, so it is not possible to spell it wrong in English. The object is to convey the proper pronunication.
As you continue learning a little Hebrew, remember this important point. You will see slightly differing spellings/transliterations of the words as you read and research further in your studies.
It is OK to Spell the Hebrew word using English letters, how ever you want to, as long as your goal is to duplicate the sound, it is fine. There are nuances in how we each will transmit the spelling, and that is alright. Our primary goal, is to ensure that you can say the word properly when speaking out loud!
Cover by Rev. S. Madison
Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.
Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Isaiah 35:3-4
Today, we will continue with our exploration of the meaning of the letters that form the word, torah.
Today we examine the spiritual meaning of the reish, (pronounced ray’sh).
We are getting into the deeper things of GOD. At the deeper end of the pool you have to let go and float. If you start thinking too hard and begin to struggle with the physicality of it all, you will drown yourself. Nobody has to drown you. You can do it all by yourself.
I need to give you a disclosure here, before we continue…
The Bible is not directed to our physical nature. It was never meant to communicate with the flesh. The flesh can’t comprehend it anyway. For all intents and purposes, the only help we need with the flesh, is to tame it with the spirit.
The Bible was NOT given for the purpose of helping us to figure out, how to maneuver in the physical realm.
The Bible/torah was given to teach us how to maneuver in the spiritual realm, to teach us spiritual matters.
The Bible/torah was given to strengthen the weak hands. To teach us torah. Isaiah 35:3-4
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
We are studying torah, so that we can wield both hands with equal strength and power, in the spirit. The power of what we learned from our Christian Heritage and what we are learning from our Hebrew Heritage, will make us a triple threat!
I pray that you become Mightier Men and Women of Valor through your torah heritage!
RECAP:
Above are the 4 Hebrew consonants that create the word, torah. The modern Hebrew letters lay directly beneath the Paleo Hebrew Letters that give the impression of a halo above.
Torah is spelled with the, tav (t), vav (v), reish (r), hei (h).
THE VAV FUNCTIONS AS A CONSONANT AND A VOWEL:
The vav represents a consonant and the sound of 2 vowels in Hebrew, the ‘o’ as in doe, and the ‘u’ as in blue. The vav in torah has the ‘o’ sound. That little dot above the vav is our indication that the vav is pronounced with the ‘o’ sound as well. That little dot is called a nikkud.
The 3rd letter in Torah, is the reish, (pronounced ray’sh –roll the ‘r’ a little)
In the Ancient Paleo Hebrew , the letter reish takes the shape of the head, the back of a man’s head. It is acceptable to pronounce it reish or rosh. Both pronunciations refer to the ‘R’ in Hebrew. But, why does the Hebrew Language use the back of a man’s head to express the ‘R’ sound?
There are many ways to see this. The curve at the back of the head symbolizes turning your back to the word of GOD, fighting against the things of GOD. With your back to GOD, there’s a willingness to accommodate the world, allowing one’s evil inclinations to run rampant and unrestrained. In this mode, man bends toward idolatrous values, he becomes a reish – dalet. (Remember: dalet is a Door, and the Door represents access in and out /in or out).
Seeing RED in Scripture
The reish – dalet (pronounced ‘red’) is an actual word in Hebrew. (Ref: Strongs #3381, yaw-rad). ‘red’ in Hebrew means, to go down, to descend.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves“
“Get thee down” is the word, ‘red’ in Hebrew. Red, is when your evil inclinations have taken over and man has succumbed to his baser instincts. Red, is a spiritual descent into a lower level. A descent from greatness.
Turning Your Back to GOD
Do you remember when Orpah showed Naomi the “back of her head”? (Ruth 1:14, 16) [This has also been referred to as ‘the back of her neck’]. Verse 16 employs the word, shuv, which means to turn back, or return. Orpah returned back to her country, her kindred and her fathers house, back to the ways of Moab. Ruth, on the other hand, implored Naomi to let her stay with her. Ruth attached herself to GOD and rejected the ways of Moab.
Going back to Moab was a spiritual descent. Staying connected to the GOD of Heaven, The GOD of Ruth, was a spiritual ascent. The word ‘red’ in Hebrew indicates that spiritual descent.
While speaking of this, I can’t help but think of that expression we have , “He/She was seeing red.” It just connects with what is going on spiritually with an angry person...seeing red. I think most of us have known this place, and for the most part, nothing good is happening spiritually! Clearly, seeing red, is a spiritual descent into darkness.
ROSH is the Head
Symbolically, Rosh represents the head, a person, being first. Reish is the Highest, the Repentant Man, The Beginning, a moral choice, Right or Wrong/ or Wickedness.
Remember, the word is a 2 edged sword. We make choices. Reish is a choice between greatness or degradation. Between, standing before GOD as the Head, the Leader, or being comfortable in compromise.
In the Ancient Hebrew, the reish asks the question, “What is the Highest?, What is the Most Important?” The scripture asks, that we do more than it is our duty to do! “If it is in your power to do good, do it!” (Ref: Eph 3:20, behavior in the image and likeness of GOD, Micah 6:8, Prov 3:27). This is the duty of the reish. Lead.
When reish is operating in it’s authority and headship, the reish draws strength from the covenant. The covenant has your back! (look at the word picture). The reish is the 20th letter of the aleph-bet and as you are learning, the letters carry numerical value, i.e., in this case, a gematria of 20.
Earlier, I said that the reish means beginning. Reish understands and thrives in beginnings and knows how to begin again. The reish is going to bring torah to the world. The 1st word in scripture is beh’rey’sheet, Genesis 1:1, In the Beginning. The word ‘Rey-sheet’ contains the reish. (reish is the root word in rey-sheet).
TORAH BEGINS WITH THE LETTER BEIT –b
Look closely and see, that GOD began the torah with the letter beit (B), which is the Hebrew word for ‘In’. (In (beh) – rey-sheet, = in the beginning).
GOD could have begun the torah with any word He wanted, any letter. He could have began the torah with an Aleph, representing who He is. Nevertheless, He chose a beit and GOD stands outside of the beit, before it, but hidden. In Hebrew, the beit represents the tabernacle. Let’s see what GOD is doing here behind the scenes.
GOD begins the very 1st teaching with the letter beit, with the tabernacle. If we are looking at this with our spiritual eyes, we see all of torah beginning with the tabernacle. And the beginnings of everything, the rey-sheet, flowing out of the tabernacle. (In (beh) – rey-sheet, = in the beginning).
GOD, THE TABERNACLE AND THE REISH
The rey-sheet is born by the Tabernacle. The rey-sheet is formed by the tabernacle. Only a reish can step out of the tabernacle. When we look back at the word torah, we see a similar pattern.
tav – vav- reish – hei
THE COVENANT, THE MESSIAH AND THE REISH
The vav is symbolic of the man, who steps out into the earth, in covenant with GOD and becomes the reish, the leader, the Head and not the tail, the Repentant Man, who is no longer willing to accommodate the world or his/her evil inclinations. The reish takes his/her position of authority and headship, and the reish leads us to…. the hei.
Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.
Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.
Today, we will continue with our exploration of the meaning of the letters that form the word, torah. Today we examine the spiritual meaning of the vav.
RECAP:
Above are the 4 Hebrew consonants that create the word, torah. The modern Hebrew letters lay directly beneath the Paleo Hebrew Letters that give the impression of a halo above.
Torah is spelled with the, tav (t), vav (v), reish (r), hei (h).
THE VAV FUNCTIONS AS A CONSONANT AND A VOWEL:
The vav represents a consonant and the sound of 2 vowels in Hebrew, the ‘o’ as in doe, and the ‘u’ as in blue. The vav in torah has the ‘o’ sound. That little dot above the vav is our indication that the vav is pronounced with the ‘o’ sound as well. That little dot is called a nikkud.
The 2nd letter in Torah, is the vav (V). In this instance, in the word ‘torah’, the vav carries the ‘O’ sound.
The Hebrew letter vav takes the shape of the tent peg or hook. In it’s Ancient Paleo Hebrew form, it resembles our letter Y. Although, I believe it is more accurate to say, that our letter ‘Y’, took the form of the Ancient Hebrew Letter vav.
If you were to visually, connect the two upper stems of the Y with a straight horizontal line, you would create a very nice picture of an ancient tent peg!
Symbolic Meaning of the vav
Vav is the word, ‘AND’ in Hebrew. The vav is a symbol of connection, a nail used to join something together. The vav means continuation; to add, to secure. The vav connects Divinity to Humanity, and our connection to God and each other.
The vav is a symbol of conjunction, completeness and timelessness. As you learn more about each Hebrew letter, you will see that the vav unites opposing concepts, people and ideas.
You will recall, the Aleph, the first letter in Adam is made of a vav (the slanted bar in the center with two yod’s on either side). Both yod’s are connected to the vav. One yod reaches upward toward the Heavens, and the other reaches downward towards the earth.
In the picture of the aleph, you see the work of the vav, connecting Heaven and Earth, the spiritual realm to the physical realm.
The vav connects the upper heavens to the lower heavens, connecting Heaven to Earth. In the aleph, we can see that the vav connects the spiritual realm to the physical realm.
Vav is the 6th letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet…
…and carries the Gematria of 6, (numerical equivalency of 6). Man’s connection to the number 6 is very important in the Hebrew. (See the list below)
God ceased His work of creation on the 6th day
Man was created on the 6th day.
When the Children of Israel left Egypt, they were six hundred thousand in number (Ex 12:37)
Christ hung on the cross for 6 hours (Mark 15:25, Luke 23:44)
The 600 thousand letters in the torah equivalent to the 600K children of Israel leaving Egypt. A letter of torah for each person delivered out of bondage.
The above examples reveal physical completion, redemption and transformation.
Many Infallible Proofs of the Significance of vav
The absence or presence of the vav determines the meaning of the verse. Ref Ex 18:1, Jether becomes Jethro when a vav is added at the end of his name, creating the ‘o’ sound.
Absence of the vav can signify a lack of virtue, character faults, etc.
The Addition of the vav can indicate pleasing character traits, indicate virtue and overcoming personal trials/tests.
There are 5 times in scripture when Jacob’s name is spelled with an extra vav. (Lev 26:42, Jer 30:18, 33:25-26, 46:27, 51:19) In each instance, Israel/Jacob is being redeemed.
In the Hebrew Bible (written in All Hebrew Letters) at the very center of the torah, called the belly (gachon), there is an enlarged vav. Lev 11:42. Appropriately enough, the word found in the very center of the torah is the word, gachon, (which means belly). The vav, which translates to our ‘o’ in English, is the letter in the center of the torah. Let me repeat that another way: At the belly of the torah, is the word gachon, which means belly and the ‘o’ in gachon marks the center of torah.
i.e. the first half and the last half of the torah is connected by a vav!
tav – vav- reish – hei
Torah begins with the tav, covenant. The 2nd letter, vav stands for connection.
The covenant which is connected to man by the nail. The man who bears the nail, He is the One that connects Heaven to Earth, the spiritual realm to the physical realm.
The vav is the symbol of the man that connects Heaven to Earth, whether that be Christ, by Himself… or Christ in you, the Hope of Glory!
Every believer, has the power to bring God’s Glory down into the Earth Realm. The vav is the symbol of mankind’s power to draw what we need from the Heavens and deposit it into the Earth. That’s torah.
Copyright 2019, Rev. S. Madison, torahisteaching.blog All Rights Reserved.
Students/Subscribers have permission to print and share this information provided you do not use any of the teachings for profit or monetary gain of any kind. Please do not alter the material in any way. These conditions are subject to the additional term of giving full credit to torahisteaching.blog or Rev. S. Madison. Just send me an email to advise of your use of this material: torahbythesea@gmail.com Thank You.
In English, our letters have no meaning beyond the role they play to indicate the specific sounds that we apply to our language and to build and form our words. In Hebrew, the letters retain a history and legacy of sound, ideas, concepts, thoughts and symbols, even number.
Today, we will explore the meaning of the letters that form the word, torah.
Above are the 4 Hebrew consonants that create the word, torah. The modern Hebrew letters lay directly beneath the Paleo Hebrew Letters that give the impression of a halo above.
Remember, we move from right to left when reading in Hebrew.
Torah is spelled with the, tav (t), vav (v), reish (r), hei (h). The vav is represents the sound of 2 vowels in Hebrew, the ‘o’ as in doe, and the ‘u’ as in blue. The vav in torah of course, takes the ‘o’ sound. That little dot above the vav is our indication that the vav is pronounced with the ‘o’ sound as well. That little dot is called a nikkud.
For those that are a bit more curious about the Hebrew letters, you may be asking yourself what that little dot is inside the letter tav. That dot is called a dagesh and it tells us that the tav is to be pronounced with a hard ‘T’ sound. Yes! tav has 2 sounds, one hard and one soft. The soft ‘T’ is similar to our ‘Th’ in English. The little dash underneath the reish is also a nikkud, which represents the ‘a’ sound.
IMPORTANT: You don’t need to memorize any of the rules of grammar/diacritics, and I am being very generic in transmitting them because I feel it’s more important to reveal the concepts about the letters themselves, than it is right now, to speak in terms of rules of grammar. You will hear me repeat this type of information so often, that you will absorb it by relationship rather than rigid teaching methods. Let’s just have fun learning about the letters!
The slide below, has been adapted to retain the names of the letters, to make it easier for those who are new to Hebrew to follow along.
Let’s begin with the letter tav on the far right. As you can see, the tav originated in the form of a cross. The tav in Hebrew represents the covenant and the cross.
The cross you see there above the modern Hebrew letter for tav, also carries the meaning of,mark, sign, and seal. Torah begins with a ‘tav’, because torah is about keeping covenant with GOD. Even the word in Hebrew for truth, emet (which we must examine as well), begins with the aleph and ends with the tav.
There is your truth, my truth and GOD’s Truth. If the truth we tell, does not begin and end with GOD, and His Covenant, then that truth is incomplete, imperfect and flawed, like us. So, you see the truth as we define it in our dictionary and how GOD even spells it with His aleph-bet, are 2 completely different things.
I Am the Aleph and the Tav…
The tav is also the LAST Letter in the Hebrew aleph-bet. You will recall, the Aleph is the FIRST.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.–Rev 22:13
When Christ made this statement He was bearing witness/testifying that He was indeed, the messiah. This is one of the primary reasons a great majority of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes, so vehemently came against Him. He was claiming to be the one spoken of in the torah, in the Book of Isaiah.
The Book of Isaiah:
Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.–Isaiah 41:4
Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.–Isaiah 44:6
Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. –Isaiah 48:12
Additional Testimony Recorded by John
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. –Rev 1:11
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last.–Rev 1:17
And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;–Rev 2:8
Also Note:That the acts of the Kings as listed in the book of Chronicles, are listed from first to last.
A Greek/Western Mindset vs. Torah Mindset
From reading our KJV Bibles, naturally, we have learned this verse from the Greek perspective. Although I am aware that we have been taught for generations, that the New Testament was written only in Greek, I want you to bear with me a moment. I am also completely aware, that we were also taught for generations, that the Jews had lost their native language by the first century. This has been proven false as well, but I know the understanding is still out there, and that it is very difficult to shed false teachings.
With that in mind, let us just acknowledge and agree with documented history, which confirms that Jesus was a Jew. I have no doubt that He spoke both Aramaic and Hebrew. That being the case, it is not logical to assume that He abandoned His native language completely when He spoke. After all, He is born to Jewish parents, lived as a Jew, His ministry was to the Jews and He taught the torah from torah scrolls. He was not Roman or Greek, this we know as well.
I have studied and spoke many different languages over the years, but I still think in English. It is natural and instinctive to speak in your native language, even when you are in the presence of those who speak another language. It is particularly natural, to speak English when you are with the English, and Hebrew when you are with Hebrews.
Shifting from Alpha/Omega to aleph and tav
Jesus is speaking to His own people here, so it’s important for us to know, that He did not say that He was the, “Alpha and Omega”. Jesus was Jewish. What He said was, “I am the aleph and the tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
What we wrote down was the opposite, or rather a piece of the truth of what He said.
Our Alphabet runs from A to Z. The Hebrew Aleph-Bet runs from aleph to tav. Allow me to pause a moment and explain, why I have a tendency NOT TO capitalize when transliterating the Hebrew. There are no capital letters in Biblical/Modern Hebrew. All the letters are written in block format and there are no form of the letters that would be considered capital. In Modern Hebrew script, the same situation exist.
I like to think, that since the entire foundation of the Biblical Hebrew Language that was given to us by GOD, that every letter has equal footing and significance. Considering that character refinement, i.e., humility, is one of the foundational principles of GOD’s message, I don’t think that I am far off. Character is key and humility is the Essence of GOD.
Having said that, let’s add to the understanding that, the Hebrew language flows from aleph (ELOHIM) to tav (the CROSS). Every letter in between, reveals our prophetic journey that begins with GOD and ends at the Cross, by way of the Covenant. So, when Christ says, He is the aleph and the tav… He is identifying Himself (in the first century)as He is identified throughout the pages of the scriptures (Book of Isaiah), as the beginning and the end, the aleph and the tav.
To say, torah… the word must begin with a tav, as the covenant is the beginning and end of the torah. Torah is about Covenant. Torah is teaching us how to gain access to the Covenant. Torah must begin with the tav, because there is no access to GOD, His Thoughts, His Ways, His Wisdom, His Knowledge, His Son, without the Covenant.
Acceptance of the Covenant is our sign and seal that GOD is with us. “And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you…” –Gen 9:9
Suffice it to say, the even the word covenant in Hebrew (ber-eeth; 1285), begins with the letter beit (B) and ends with the tav (T). You can’t even say the word ‘covenant’ in Hebrew, the Language of GOD, without ending with the tav on the tip of your tongue!,
The Letter Behind the Letter
kuf bears a strong resemblance to the English letter, P. Kuf is the Hebrew letter that represents Holiness of GOD and man. kuf is formed by combining 2 other Hebrew letters, the vav and the kaf; which also equate to 26, the same as the 4 letter name of GOD, YHVH [yud (10) -hei (5) -vav (6)-hei(5)]. 
beit (2)
reish (200)
tav (400)
This teaching is dedicated to Adrian “The Tzaddik”… who knows that GOD’s plans for us are revealed to us by the spirit…and covets earnestly the best gifts… 1 Cor 12:10, 14).
You must be logged in to post a comment.