John 14:6, the Theology of the Cross
Greek: εγο ειμι η
οδος και η
αληθεια και η ζηω
Greek
Transliteration: ego eimi ay hodos kai ay h'aleitheia kai ay
zoe
English: I AM -- the Way and the Truth and the (living)
eternal Life:
Greek: ουδεις ερχεται
προς τον πατερα
ει μη δι
εμου.
Greek Translit.: oudeis
erchetai pros ton patera ei may dee emou.
English: no one comes up
to/ alongside the Father except through Me.
“
Jesus saith unto him,
I am
the Way, and the Truth, and the Life:
no
man cometh unto the Father, but by Me”
John 14:6 (King James Version).
The Way
Jesus said, I Am
the Way:
In the
Greek above, we see the word used for “way” is “hodos”. “Hodos” is that “path”, “way”, or “road”
which leads one to an acknowledgeable end-destination. For example, at Beth Shean, if you were to
follow the caravan route north, you would traverse into the “hodos” of the Sea
of Galilee. The “hodos” of the Sea will
then lead you directly to Capernaum. If,
from Beth Shean, you were to take the “hodos” through the western Valley, it
would eventually round over to the north and into Galilee. That “hodos” would be more direct in relation
to attaining Nazareth, Sepphoris, and Cana.
If you left Beth
Shean and took the “hodos” south, you
would attain Jericho, and then from Jericho, take the winding “hodos” up to
Jerusalem. Like modern travel, “hodos”
may simply be a collection of paths that get you from here to there; yet, it is
reflected back upon as a whole, or as a singular path, a singular journey.
When we
find Christ, we find that the goal and attainment of the person and the
destination are one and the same. Yet,
we all start off from different vantage points: physically, emotionally,
intellectually, and spiritually. The
“hodos” upon which we travel is nothing we can ever really call tangible in
this life; but rather, it is an intangible grappling with the finer points of
what is and what is not the true and greater reality before us. We are called to stay true to a course that
is beyond sight and other sensory perceptions.
So when we read that Christ calls Himself the “hodos”, “The Way”, we can
know and appreciate that regardless of this life’s outcome, our destination and
our hope is in Him: in YHVeH Messiah -- Jesus Christ.
And Jesus said: I Am the BA
If
we were to translate this verse into Hebrew, the most appropriate translation
of “hodos” would be
בא,
“BA”. Now, let us for the moment,
accept without question that Christ is the
בא, “ba”.
If we reverse these two letters of Beth and Alef, we see then what He is
the “Way” to אב , “AB”, which means “the Father”. By proclaiming Himself as “the Way”, Christ
claims exclusively, only through Him -- through His own person -- lays “the
Way”
בא, to “the
Father”
אב .
Jesus is the ikone , the exact image - reflection -representation (Colossians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 4:4) of GOD the Father. We can express Jesus as the BA of the AB as not just the Way of the Father, but the ONLY direct face to
face begotten person in the image or reflection of G-D the Father, who
pros, up alongside and with, pros ton Theon, up alongside and with G-D the Father in John 1:1, who also stands or sits next to the Father in His Bosom or most closest presence (John 1:18), even as Moses stood next to the
Angel of YHVeH and spake as one would speak "face to face" in the Torah.
The Gospels state of Christ:
Mat. 11:27 - All things, including principalities, are delivered unto Him
Mat. 28:18 - All power on Earth is given to Christ
Luke 10:22, John 3:35 - The Father entrusts all power and dominion as part of the "all things" into Christ.
John 17:2 - Jesus has power over all flesh, hence authority as only G-D has
In Colossians 1:15-17, we read of Jesus:
"
Who is (the) image [
eikon] of G-D the Invisible before the birth [prototokos] of all Creation, because in Him
were created all things:
-- the things in the heavens; --
and
those upon the Earth: those visible and invisible -- whether thrones,
whether lord-ships, whether rulers, whether authorities, -- all things
through Him, and for Him, have been created; and He is prior to all
things, and all things in Him stand-together-with/stand-because-of [
sunesteke]
(Him)."This last word,
sunesteke, is the perfect indicative active of
sunistemi;
and tells us that Jesus "completes" or "fulfills the action" of causing
the Earth and the Universe and the very concept of "law" to stand
together, whether on Earth or in the Heavens.
In other words, Jesus indeed acts as the exact mirror-reflection (
eikon) of G-D the Invisible (2 Corinthians 4:4, John 1:18), as G-D. His existence precedes (
proto) any birth or manifestation (
tokos, from
'tikto' - to bear and/or bring forth) of Creation...whether in Heaven, or upon the Earth.
In a
closer examination of the Greek, often the word “hodos” projects the
word-picture ‘of that path or way which leads to the DOOR of a house or
Temple.’ This Greek word differs from
the Hebrew counterpart of “Ba” in this respect:
whereas “hodos” is inclusive of an entire journey from point A to its
end-destination of point B, the Hebraic “Ba” is simply inclusive only of ‘the
immediate path or road that leads to the end-destination’ of the door at point
B. This is because, technically, “Ba”
means a path that traverse through a Door-way.
Because of this, most translators tend to utilize “DeReK”, דרך,
the “wide course” or “wide way”, instead
of the path that leads you to a specific end destination. This translation easily contradicts both
Jesus teachings and clear intent. Derek
is like arriving at a great metropolis, yet still having no clue how to locate
a person living there, and having no other address for the person whom you are
seeking.
As
for “DeReK”,
דרך I reject this translation as used by some Messianics in translating
John
14:6, because it neither fits the teachings or intent of Christ. [
1]
Further, in Gematria, “ba” is the ideal to what Christ teaches; “natib”
would be secondary. Even “Mecillah” מסלה, “the raised or exalted highway” of Isaiah and
John the Baptist’s usage, would still be far more preferable in translating
“hodos” in John 14:6, rather than using “DeReK’: “the wide course or
way”.
Jesus said, “Enter you in the Strait Gate:
for wide is the gate, and broad is
the Way that leads to destruction,
and many are they who go in thereat:
because the gate which leads to LIFE is
Strait, and the Way is narrow,
and there are few who find it.”
(Matthew
7:13-14) KJV
The word that Jesus uses for “broad”, in Matthew
7:13, is “euruchoros” (ευρυχωρος) in the Greek. This word conveys the picture of a wide and
vastly open countryside. Imagine
yourself on a flat plain of a wilderness, and that your 360 degree field of
vision is literally nothing but hundreds of square miles of barren wasteland. Furthermore, the only reason you don’t see
more barren land is because it slopes out of view upon the horizons on all
sides of you. This is “the Broad Way” of
euruchoros, where you can choose any which and every way, what ever is right in
your own eyes, and still be assured of your own demise and destruction. This is similar to the Hebraic דרך “Derek”. For example, in Genesis 16:7’s “the
Way to Shur”, and in Isaiah 9:1’s
“the Way of the Sea”, both use “Derek” after the sense of a broadly
sweeping plain or valley. In Exodus
13:17, even the entire land mass and width of Sinai between the
Mediterranean and Red Sea is implied in its use of “Derek”. Christ, on the
other hand, wishes to identify Himself and the way to Life as narrow, pressed
in, and constricted.
The Course of the Mecillah
“The
Voice of one crying in the Wilderness of the Desert:
Prepare you the Course -- the Route --
of YHVeH! [“Course” - Derek]
Make His exalted and embanked Road
straight!” [“Road” - Mecillah]
(Isaiah
40:3, translation mine)
The
Hebraic “Mecillah”
מסלה is likened to a levee wall along a riverbank. In
Numbers 20:19, “mecillah” is used
to the effect of being a high plain or plateau passage between mountains in the
border regions of Edom (cf.
Numbers 20:23). In
2 Chronicles 9:11, “mecillah”
מסלה is translated in English as
“steps” in some translations;
however, the application should render it as
“a high or exalted way”. The word picture is of the pier of algum
trees in the outer Temple Court, the which stretched from near the Eastern Gate
to near the Beautiful Gate in Solomon’s Temple.
This pier, probably being only several feet high, was supposed to be
traversed only by the coming Messiah. We
are called to the word picture of such an exalted path in
Proverbs 16:17,
and to keep and maintain a higher code of conduct. Yet, even as the thoughts and ways of GOD are higher than man’s ways (
Isaiah55:8-9), so also is His “mecillah” higher than our “mecillah”. In the last Days, we shall see that the Path
of YHVeH lies across the spectrum of the heavens, and that the war in Heaven
will be fought along this road above (
Judges 5:20, Revelation 12:7a).
In
Matthew 3:3, John the Baptist declared, in regards to the “Mecillah” of
YHVeH, “Straight make the paths of Him.” (Literal translation from Greek)
John preached
this at Bethabara on the Jordan River.
Bethabara was the location through which, in
1511 B.C., Joshua
and the children of Israel entered into the Promised Land. It was from here that, through the command of
Joshua (i.e. ‘Jesus’), that the waters rolled up and receded north (and back
upon itself) past the city of Adam. The Israelis then took memorial stones from the dry riverbed from which the water
receded, and placed them on the west bank of the Jordan, to make this location
as a place of remembrance (
Joshua 3:15 - 4:9). These were stones that were as though dead
and buried: forgotten. They were lifted
up out of an allegory of being dead in trespasses and sins, and elevated into
the Promised Land as “living stones” that would ever be alive in remembrance to
the Children of Israel, generation after generation after generation. These stones, in and of themselves, were not
level and perfectly formed; but they brought forth into remembrance, into the
mind of the people, of He who is
“straight”, or
“level and true” (
ישר
- “YaSHaR, of
Isaiah 40:3). These
stones, in a
“living way”, pointed the people to the remembrance of YHVeH their
GOD and Deliverer through Joshua (who in the Greek is “Jesus”).
In
respects to the teachings of Gematria and of
“Mecillah” being “straight and true”, or “YaSHaR” ישר ,
if we make the first letter (the yod, י, which represents
GOD’s NAME of YHVeH ), and make it (and YHVeH our
GOD) last (as unbelievers do in their lives); then we read of man’s sinful nature as being - ShaRaY שרי: of being
hostile, the desiring to take over and exercise dominion.
It is the call of GOD’s prophet, John the
Baptist, to be straight, level, and true, in a call to humility before our GOD
and Savior. If we seek the
“Righteousness” ש
(the Shin) --of “YH”
י (the Yod)
-- before our own mind or
“Head”
ר (the
Rosh): then we are given SHiYR
שיר --
“the ability to sing
in our circumstances”. But if we place
our own “mind” or “head” ahead of YH and His Righteousness, the we end up with
RiYSH
ריש : “
a poverty of the soul”.
Jesus tells us to seek ye first the
Kingdom of YHVeH and His Righteousness, that all the good that He
mentions, might be added unto the one
seeking such things as He mentions
(Matthew 6:33; cf. Matthew 5:3
ff.) In fact, if we secure the mind
which is like Christ and following GOD’s will, (the Yod before the Rosh), then
it seems natural that the fruit, which follows, is righteousness (the
Shin). Thus, YaReSH
ירש
(even after the Gematriac test), means that: “righteousness”. This, therefore, is the path of GOD -- the BA
(the Way) which leads on up to AB (the Father):
it is through the means of the Cross, which is the act of grace -mercy -
and love by the person of YHVeH Messiah,
Jesus Christ. Christ is the only source
to which reconciliation between Holy GOD and unholy mankind can be made.
In
Genesis 6:9, Noah is called a righteous
(Tsaddiq צדיק) man. This word is a variant of Tsedaqah צדקה,
which means “to make straight.”
In Leviticus 19:15, we see Tsaddiq as the straightness of a scale
(with the emphasis on the rod), and its ability to weigh evenly and fairly in
judgment for all, be they rich or poor, small or great. Thus, the implication of a narrowness along
the lines of Matthew 7:13’s stenos στενής as Messiah taught. In Leviticus 19:36, Tsaddiq is
translated as “honest(y)” in the act of measuring, of being free from the
predisposition to defraud one’s neighbor. In Psalm 145:17, we read of
YHVeH being “Tsaddiq (strait and
righteous) in all His Ways, and loving to all He has made.”
Jesus
says in
Matthew 7:13 that not only is the Way narrow, but its gate is as
narrow as the Way is. In other words,
the Gate is also an end destination in itself, as well as THE WAY. And what is the pules
πυλης, this
"Gate / Door" which is the type
that accesses to a kingdom or dominion, not being a common door as “thura” is in the Greek? This DOOR or “pules” is YHVeH Messiah Himself,
its width is the width of his body, arms outstretched wide, and its height is
that of the Cross on which he was hung.
Why is all this
so important, you might ask? The
revelation of the DOOR as Christ is so important, that the Pharisees killed
James, the half-brother of Christ, after telling him to address the Passover
crowds and explain what is meant by it, and upon seeing that conversions over
to Christ were taking place (Eusebius, History of the Church, 2.23).
If it is
important enough to martyr a man in the process of converting multitudes on a
single short analysis, then how important do you think it should be to us to
examine, even in our own day?
Christ: The Door of the BA
And Jesus said, “He that enters not by the DOOR into the
sheepfold,
but climbs up some other way, the
same is a thief and a robber.
…I am the DOOR of the sheep. … I am
the DOOR:
by Me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved;
and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
(John
10:1,7b,9) KJV
The
Hebrew word used for DOOR, as used above in the tenth chapter of John’s Gospel,
would be PeTaCH פתח. In Gematria, PeTaCH holds a value of
488. This is the GATE or Destination
Entrance-Way of BA. In the 488
equivalent of BeTHULiYM בתולים,
we find that this entrance is being for “those who have been separated or set
apart,” and are, through Christ’s perfect work of the Cross, made
“virgins”. These attain the purity of
the BA itself -- and since Christ Jesus is the BA, who is the Image of the
Father -- then we see that, it is through the Son, that we attain a
righteousness and purity that is beyond ourselves that makes us acceptable to
GOD the Father. This is GOD’s grace toward us, unmerited/unearned by us,
being the gift of GOD, not of works, lest any one should boast (Ephesians
2:8-9).
PeTaCH פתח
is also Gematrically synonymous
(after the value of 488) with CHeTHLoN חתלן,
which means - “to wrap or envelop”.
Chethlon is describable in three word pictures to this effect. In the first word picture, we have someone
who is enwrapped by clean bandages, such as the victim on the road to Jericho,
who is aided and treated by the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-34). The Good Samaritan pours oil and wine into
the victim’s wounds, and then enwraps them with fresh and clean linen. In the second word picture of
CHeTHLoN, we see the encircling or
enwrapping of a protective pen that was used by sheepherders for the protection
of their sheep in ancient Israel. By
day, they were led out to graze in the fields.
By night, the sheep were herded into a walled corral, providing them a defense from predators. In the third word picture of CHeTHLoN, we
are given the illustration of a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings
to protect them from the elements of cold and rain.
It
is through the DOOR, through the PeTaCH פתח in the person of Jesus Christ, that we have
hope of a right relationship with GOD, and hope of a “snatching away” from Judgment
(being the hopes and aspirations of the doctrine of the Rapture). For the next synonym of PeTaCH after its
Gematriac (i.e. numerical parallel door) synonym of 488, is CHaTHaPH חתף - “that or he which clutches and
snatches, taking away.” Thus, Jesus, our
DOOR, after the mystery of the Hebrew, shows that He is the Messiah who will
also snatch that which is His away, like a thief in the night, before the Great
Judgment upon the earth comes (cf. Luke 12:35-40, I Thessalonians 5:2-7).
It
is at the DOOR that we see the stripes and the Cross of Yeshua our
Messiah. In the PeTaCH פתח we see the suffering Messiah, who after the Gematriac
synonym for us
MeCHoLaTHiY מחלתי : “the grief or affliction of
YH.” The word affliction can be
translated for us as “Tribulation”, “trials”, “great Testing”, or
“Judgment”. Christ bore for us our
trials and tribulations by going to the Cross for us, being whipped and beaten,
and dying for us on our behalf when he was perfectly blameless and guiltless
from all sins. Because of this, we can
-- through Christ and His perfect work at the Cross, by trusting into Him,
being baptized (in effect) by our Faith into Him -- be delivered from the
Tribulation that is coming upon the Earth (Revelation 3:10; cf. Romans
6:3-10, Matthew 22:30-32).
In
the DOOR, we also see, after the Gematriac synonym, the PiTuaCH פתח : “the carved work”. In YHVeH Messiah, PiTuaCH could refer to the
flog marks on His beaten body, or the piercings in His hands and feet and
side. In the New Jerusalem, the work of
the Cross and the sufferings are also represented by the Gates of Pearl (Revelation
21:10-21). The Gates are like
tunnels, with a length of 144 cubits or ca. 216 feet. This length will probably be the distance
between the site of the Crucifixion (at the Kidron/Hinom juncture) and the
Garden Tomb, into which Christ was temporarily buried -- until He rose from the
dead 3 days later. The pearl, as you may
know, is that which is made by the agitation of the oyster by the grains of the
sea. By much affliction or tribulation,
that which agitates is made beautiful.
Even so, it may be said of mankind in relation to YHVeH Messiah, who
foreknew and foretold this, as Jacob’s prayer to YHVeH demonstrates in Genesis 32:12.
To
the believer, PeTaCH פתח is reckoned as an OPEN DOOR. To the unbeliever, it is shut or closed until
they reach out to trust into the DOOR, YHVeH Messiah,
“For whosoever shall call out upon, and invoke or invite
the NAME of the LORD, shall be
saved.”
(Romans 10:13, Joel
2:32 - AWPR).
His NAME, to the
Gentiles, is Jesus; but to the Israelites, He is Yeshua: “Salvation”.
He is the same YHVeH into whom father Abraham trusted. Abraham’s father was Terah, which is Aramaic
for a “gate” or “door”. Abraham left the
gate of his father and of his old self in Haran, crossed over to enter into the
“gate” or “door” of YHVeH, and became a “new Creation” in GOD.
A Closer Look at BA
“No man comes up to the AB (Father) except
through Me.,” says Jesus. The letter
Beth also means “house” in Hebrew, as well as being a letter. In these two letters, we may Gematrically
read as either “GOD’s House” (Alef-Beth), or as “the House of GOD”
(Beth-Alef). In either case, the
substance of the Way is the same and of equal quality. In effect, Alef-Beth holds a “greater”
distinction than Beth-Alef (
John 14:28), but they are equal in
substance, being ONE (
John 10:30).
In the Hebrew, we read BA as
בא . This word, Gematrically, points us toward the
doctrine of the Oneness and the Trinity of GOD.
BA is ONE word, consisting of TWO letters, having a value of THREE. In BA, we have the first two letters of the
Hebrew alphabet, whose path is revealed, even as Jesus said, “…and many shall inherit eternal life.
Then shall be: the first last, and the last (ones be) first.”
(Matthew 19:29-30 -
AWPR)
When we reverse
BA, we read AB אב
: (The)
Father. The first letter of AB is
called an Alef. Alef stands numerically
as 1. Alef also stands as the
abbreviated form for GOD in El, Eloah, and Elohim. Alef is also one of the Names of GOD, as it
is written,
“Hear, listen, and be
obedient, O Israel,
YHVeH our GOD -- YHVeH is ONE!”
(Deuteronomy
6:4 - AWPR)
“And it is (to be) said,
IN THAT DAY,
YHVeH will be King over
all the Earth (and all that therein is);
YHVeH shall be ONE
(united), and His NAME: ‘ONE’ !”
(Zechariah
14:9 - AWPR)
How is this possible? How does YHVeH = 1?
Through the Alef: א
[2]
The rabbis give YHVeH
יהוה a Gematriac value of 26. Yod
י holds a value of
10. Each He
ה holds
a value of 5. The Vav
ו
holds a value of 6. Thus, Yod (10)
+ He (5) + Vav (6) + He (5) = 26.
Thus, YHVeH / Jehovah / LORD has a Hebraic value of 26.
This same value is found in the subdivision
of Alef. The explanation of how the
rabbis view
Alef
א subdivided, is that it is composed of 3 letters.
A Yod
י in the upper
right hand corner (a value of 10);
a Vav
ו as the middle line or stroke (a value of 6);
and a Yod
י in the lower
left hand corner (a value of 10).
Thus,
Alef being revealed as though it were 10 + 6 + 10, equaling a value of 26; and
fulfilling the scriptures of
Deuteronomy 6:4 and Zechariah 14:9 [3]
Now,
we subdivided the Alef א as being only two
letters, we would have a Yod י, and either an upside down or backward
Ayin ע. Ayin ע is
“an artesian well that continually gushed forth waters”. Thus, we may interpret the Ayin ע
as being symbolic of “Living Waters”. To
which, in the days of Jeremiah the
prophet, YHVeH warned,
“My people have
committed two evils:
they have forsaken Me,
the
mountain-artesian-well-spring -Fountain of Living Waters;
(and they have done so) to hew out cisterns,
broken cisterns, that cannot hold water.”
(Jeremiah
2:13 AWPR)
“The Hope of Israel, YHVeH : all who forsake You shall be ashamed.
‘Those who depart from Me shall be written in the Earth, [
cf. John 8:1-9]
because they have forsaken YHVeH:
the
mountain-artesian-well-spring-Fountain of Living Waters.’ “
(Jeremiah 17:13 AWPR)
Christ Jesus is
our source of those Living Waters. The
River of Life come from the Throne of YHVeH in
Ezekiel 47:1-12. This River of Life is further defined as the
Throne of GOD the Father and the Lamb in
Revelation 22:1-2. Finally, in
John 7:37-38, Jesus
reveals that He is the Source of the Living Waters of the coming Kingdom and of
the New Jerusalem, for out of His innermost hollow shall flow rivers of Living
Water. This appears to indicate that it
shall flow out from His heart and through the hole in His side, through which
He was pierced (cf.
John 19:34).
The
word used for “fountain” in
Jeremiah 2:13 and 17:13 is “maqor”
מקור. We are called, in
Isaiah 12:3, to draw
the waters out of the “maqor” of “Salvation” (or “Jesus”) with joy. So let us draw a little more from Christ or
the “BA”
בא . If we read BA after
the subdivision of Alef in two parts, we may read either the phonetic rendering
of Bay-ah
ביע : “a doorway”; or the means by which we attain passage
through Beiy
בעי :
through “prayer”. If we further
subdivide the Alef to its full division of three letters, we may read how that
BA
בא becomes
the Hebrew word Biy-vay
ביוי :
“at the request of,” “By the permission or leave of.” Thus, it is only through Jesus that we attain
“permission” and gain “access” to “GOD’s House” of Heaven, and to the Father.
If we were to raise the Alef
א by 90 degrees,
so that the Vav
ו would stand as a vertical, we will see Christ
crucified. His right wrist being nailed
“palm up”, His left wrist being nailed “palm down”. YHVeH Messiah’s left side, being the exposed
side to be pierced by the spear. This position was itself causing “His bones
(to be) out of joint”
(Psalm 22:14). The
left wrist being bound by the Tefillin, forming the word “Shaddai” (Almighty),
which word represents the nation: Israel.
The right hand, elbow down, represents the Messiah as YHVeH, the Right
Hand of Power
(Matthew 26:64), who -- as its governor --carries the
nations of the Earth
(Psalm 22:27-28; Isaiah 40:15).
Jesus
said: “I am the Truth”
In the Hebrew, the word for “Truth” (or “aleitheia” in the
Greek of John 14:6), is EMeT אמת. The letter Mem מ in
Gematria, stands for “waters” or “peoples”.
The letter Tav ת stands
for a “sign” or the “end” of something.
On Hebrew coins, Tav was actually written with either an “X” or a Cross
“†”.
If we subdivide Alef from Emet, we
read א מת “Alef - MeT” or of “GOD’s Death”. GOD is He who, if divided from the people,
sees the Mem-Tav (“the people who come to an end or finality”, or “they who
come to the Cross”). But if GOD, through
the Alef, joins Himself to the people, He does so by bringing an end or
finality to sin through the Cross.
He becomes their deliverer, their Savior, their “TRUTH”. Therefore, by taking the Name of EMeT or
“Truth” upon Himself, YHVeH Messiah is signifying that in order to deliver mankind,
He must somehow die in the process of doing so.
Now if we reverse our reading of EMeT אמת , we find that
“Truth” now becomes TeMA תמא: which means, “to be made
complete”. Even as YHVeH Messiah
teaches, we may be reminded,
“If you continue in My
word,
(then) are ye My disciples indeed:
And ye shall know the
TRUTH, [you shall be made complete]
and the TRUTH shall
make you free.”
(John 8:31-32) KJV
Therefore,
as our EMeT אמת, as the “TRUTH”
of the Mem מ (“the peoples”), Christ can boldly proclaim that
He is the “Alef א and
the Tav ת, the First and the Last (even as Alef and Tav are the first
and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet and in EMeT). As Alef, He is our GOD;
and as Tav, He is our final
ending -- and this, with all accuracy and fidelity to His Scriptures.
Reversed, the last and first letters spell “ta(w)” תא in the Hebrew. Ta(w) means a “room, chamber, or
sanctuary”. Therefore, if in EMeT
(Truth) Christ becomes a “Ta(w)” of the “Mem” - what is being said, Gematrically
speaking, is that Christ is also become “a Sanctuary of the peoples.” Of this,
“A Tower of
Strength is the Name of YHVeH,
the Righteous run
into it, and are exalted on high (to safety).”
(Proverbs 18:10, translation mine)
“ The LORD [in
Hebrew - “YHVeH”]
also thundered in
the heavens, the Highest gave His Voice…
He sent from
above, He took me,
He drew me
out of many waters…
He
brought me forth into a Large Place;
He delivered
me, because He delighted in me.”
(Psalm 18:13,16,19) KJV
Now, to this effect, we see the fulfillment of
the promise of Messiah in John 12:26,
“If any man serve Me,
let him follow Me;
and where I am,
there shall also My servant be.” KJV
And Jesus said: “I am the Life”
In
the Greek, the word for “life” is Zoe (ζηω).
This word speaks of a “living” existence. In the Hebrew, this kind of life is usually
written after the plural as CHaYYiM חיים, because (say the rabbis) we are not just given
one life to live by the Almighty, but two: the one in this life and world, and
the other in the world and life to come.
The singular life is simple written as CHaY חי.
If we separate the letter Mem ם
from CHaYYiM, and read it as two words ChaYaY - Mem, we read: “to revive the
people”, “to save the lives of the people”.
In the very simple words of Messiah, we see His Deity, His Mission, His
Purpose, all in three little words contained within John 14:6 -- Way,
Truth, Life. It’s all wrapped up in a
neat little package for us to unwrap and discover.
If we separate one Yod י
from CHaYYiM, and shuffle the letters, we can read it as Y(H) YaCHaM י יחם - which means “YH will conceive (and give birth to)”, and “YH will be hot”. It is in GOD’s very nature to promote and
perpetuate Life, not death. This is the
message behind John 14:6 and 3:16 and other passages.
So the question remains, as we
remember the Cross and read the Hebrew of John 14:6’s Way, Truth, and Life backwards:
Me-YaCH TeMA
AB? “Who is to be made complete in the
Father?”
Will we search for the True Reality
or “aleitheia”?
In
the Greek, “aleitheia” is the true reality as things and events really are, not
as they may or may not necessarily be perceived as being. Aleitheia is that true reality that finds its
sense of purpose in being exalted and not hidden. In effect, like the wind, Truth is often a
living - breathing - moving thing, intangible, ever present, and ever
real. Aleitheia is a presence that must
always be dealt with, whether one wishes to perceive it or escape it (be it
through drug induced stupors or mental illness or unconsciousness).
In
the Scriptures, Truth is perceived and revealed in the knowledge of the glory
of YHVeH: as it is written,
"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge
of knowing
the glory
and
abundant weighty majesty of YHVeH,
(even) as the waters cover the
sea.”
(Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14 - translation mine).
GOD’s
glory is compared to the great weight of the waters of the sea upon the land
below it. In some place shallow, in some
places very deep. Water that is layer
upon layer upon layer in thickness, movement, temperature, and teeming with
life. GOD’s glory will be so abundant,
that we will seem to be like the fish of the sea, swimming endlessly in the
knowledge of knowing His glorious abundant and weighty majesty in joy
unspeakable.
Revelations
and insights such as these, are often hard to convey when unbelief blocks the
way. The apostle Paul wrestles with the
concept of discovering GOD's revealed TRUTH to man in his letter to the
Ephesians, which he wrote, in part, verifying and bringing up, in part of John’s 53 A.D. (or at the latest, 54 A.D.)
viewing of the Apocalypse to the very Churches over whom John the Apostle
resided, saying,
"To
me, the least of all the saints, was this grace given:
to
preach the Gospel in the nations,
(which are) the unexplored riches
of Christ, and to bring to light all of what is
the fellowship of the
mystery -- having been
hidden from eternity in GOD --
all
things having been created through Jesus Christ,
so that now it might be made known
to rulers and to the authorities
in
the heavenlies through the Church:
the
much diversified and multi-colored wisdom of GOD." [cf. Rev. 21:14, 19-21]
(Ephesians 3:8-10 - AWPR)
So
it is, that the Truth or the Truer Reality of what really is, is not made known
or
transparent to man; but rather, must somehow be revealed. Paul explains this possibility as that of the
Flesh or Physical state of man, warring or being in constant conflict with the
Spirit (the intangible and unseen identity) of man: Galatians 5:17,
Ephesians 1:17-18, Galatians 5:16.
And he does so in a way, that recognizes an early dating of Revelation.
YHVeH
Yeshua recognized the fact of man's blindness and deafness to Aleitheia, when
He said, "I thank thee, O
Father, LORD of Heaven and Earth,
because thou hast hid these
things [the Aleitheia]
from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed
them unto babes.
Even so, Father: for it
so seemed good in Thy sight."
(Matthew 11:25-26) KJV
So,
what is this TRUTH? This Truer Reality
to which man is oft made unaware? Jesus
answered that in the next verse in Matthew 11:27, that:
"All things are
delivered unto Me of My Father:
and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father:
neither knoweth any man the Father,
except the Son,
and to whomsoever the Son
will reveal." KJV
Yeshua
(Jesus) the Way prophesied and identified as King Messiah From the Old Testament or
Tanakh:
5 identifications of Yeshua in the Torah for the 5 Books of Moses:
Genesis
49:18, " I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord."
the name Yeshua (Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin having a value of 386) appears in the Hebrew as the identity of
King Messiah in this word that is generically translated as "salvation" in the English. From the Torah’s own
prophecy, from Jacob speaking as one of the prophets, is Yeshua NAMED by the
patriarch as the Savior of his progeny.
In a more proper translation of Jacob's words, we now read this verse as "I have waited for thy Yeshua, O YHVeH." In effect, Genesis 49:18 tells us that "Yeshua" was likely a name that even the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by revelation from the LORD knew.
Not only they by one verse, but more specifically, Moses the lawgiver without question in 3 verses that he himself scribed:
Exodus
14:13
And
Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the Yeshua of
the L-RD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have
seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
Exodus
15:2
The L-RD is my strength and song, and he is become my Yeshua : He is
my G-D, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt
him.
In
context of these two chapters, this same G-D, Yeshua, is He who "roars
from Heaven" to save Israel at the Reed / Red Sea, and is He who saves
and Raptures (snatches to safety) in Psalm 50:1-6, Psalm 29:3; Joel 2:11,3:15-16.
He
is scorned and lightly esteemed by those who claim themselves as the best and
most upright of Jews or of Israel (Genesis Rabbah 77:1, Bamidbar/ Numbers
23:10, Yoma 73b) in the end times:
Deuteronomy
32:15 But
Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown
thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he abandoned G-D which made him, and
scorned lightly the Rock of his Yeshua.
Further, in the Torah, the first
5 books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) there
are some 600,000 letters and a prophetical association essentially kept close to the vest by the Hebrew Scribes that I also wish to touch upon.
While Numbers 25:12 does not directly use the name of Yeshua, there is a specific direct association to the Name in Gematria and a viewing of the hand-written manuscripts of the Hebrew Scribes. In the King James it reads:
12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
In the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex, we read:
לָכֵ֖ן אֱמֹ֑ר הִנְנִ֨י נֹתֵ֥ן לֹ֛ו אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י שָׁלֹֽום׃
What is of particular interest and unknown to most laity, is that in the Hebrew word of Shalom שָׁלֹֽום
... the word to the farthest left in the Hebrew text above. In the written text of manuscripts as penned by the scribes, Shalom appears as
In
Numbers 25:12,
the eternal
"covenant of Peace [Shalom]
" in which Phineas and his
descendants are offered an eternal priesthood with (cf. Numbers 25:13)
is the only place in Scripture where a letter is cut in half in the
Hebrew Torah manuscripts and not rendering it "traif" because it is a
custom believed to be from the very hand of Moses himself. The Vav is sliced at a slant to
become a lower vav with an upper yod.
The Gematriac value in this word Shalom [Peace] shifts from 376 to 386, which becomes the same numeric value as Yeshua ישוע (whom we
Gentiles call Jesus).
The Expression
"covenant of Peace" is of
particular interest in its reappearance in
Isaiah 54:10, and then in its
association with the Davidic Messiah who is to come in
Ezekiel 34:25,
namely Christ. Therefore, Numbers 25:12 prophetically reveals
the name of Yeshua, Messiah, the GOD-Man who is both without beginning
or end, as well as He who must become a physical son of David in the
flesh.
This
split vav is the etymological "original intent of the word" equivalent
of placing the Cross right smack dab in the middle of the word Shalom /
Peace, and declaring that the ruler of Peace (Isaiah 9:6-7) who fulfills these words
must be both GOD and Man, the GOD-Man.
With the Mosaic action of the Vav being cut in half and effectually forming two letters in
place of the one (a sub-VAV and a YOD), we also may infer from the prophecy revealing Yeshua that in the word of Shalom, 5
letters now take the place of 4.
The
split-Vav itself is a symbolism of Yeshua upon the Cross, He who is both
the heavenly YHVeH pre-incarnate and the earthly man of the lineage of King David. The 4
letters of Shalom represent the 4 Gospels as being the restoration of
the intent of the 5 Books of the Law / Instruction / Torah (Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).
The anomaly of the split Vav as found in Shalom in Numbers 25:12,
the
ONLY time it in any instance of a split letter occurs in all the Bible
and is acceptable, is kept by tradition because it is specifically
taught that this one split letter requirement in this word and in this
verse came from the copy that was scribed by the hand of the Lawgiver
Moses himself from the first Hebrew manuscript down to those created by
hand in the present day.
The
split Vav in Numbers 25:12 is the only
letter, and it is the only time any letter in all 600,000 letters of the
Torah may be broken without rendering the entire Torah Scroll as
“traif” / "not
kosher"; because it is taught that this tradition was what Moses himself
wrote in the very manuscript he wrote at the first (when it was still
extant ). At the very least then, this tradition must date to the reign
of King Hezekiah in the 630s B.C.
This is most significant in regard to Torah and the tradition which has
retained it, because unknowingly, the Scribes of the sons of Israel
have retained a prophetical confirmation of Jesus Christ in the midst of
their Law / Instruction.
____________________________________________________
ישוע Yeshua...Yod
- Shin - Vav - Ayin
Yod - The abbreviation of the Holy NAME for G-D (YHVeH)
Shin
-
The phonetic is related to the root word shnh, which is in turn related to
shani (scarlet...appearing 42 times in the Tanakh). Shnh is the more correct
Gematriac translation than the next "traditional" option. Shin is
secondly, also related to shen (ivory tooth, sharp), a derivative of the root
word shanan.
Vav
-
A hook (as those silver and gold hooks upon which the Temple curtains of Exodus
chapters 26, 27, 36, and 38 hang, for example). It can even be used to describe
a peg (or nail) shape as those 3 found in Jesus at the Cross.
Ayin - artesian well
spring flowing/living waters. It is also translated as that source of that
which is seen with the eye. From the Ugaritic "yn" - 'to behold'.
Thus,
Yeshua is YHVeH's Crimson Hook which flows like a stream of living waters...in
other words, the very name Yeshua, prophesied in the Tanakh...speaks of the
coming Cross and of G-D shedding his eternal blood upon it.
He
upon whom the Universe hangs and is upheld by, is prophesied to hang upon the
Cross...and in turn, become both the atonement and the sanctuary of all who
trust into Him.
Yesha"
and "Yasha" appear some 233 times in addition to "Yeshua"
as "salvation deliverance" in the OT. Most of my greatest critics
admit being oblivious to researching the texts themselves or of the particulars
of the Hebrew or Greek. In regard to the Hebrew, the Scribes who have the Massorah still use works published by Christian David Ginsberg , despite the fact that his great insightful knowledge to follow the TRUE WAY he found in the Scriptures themselves, Scriptures that testify most unmistakeably and identify Yeshua / Jesus as that EMeT or Aleitheia and led him to become and REMAIN a born-again, thoroughly still Jewish, Christian all his life. Despite David Ginsberg adopting Christian as his new first name and later joining the Trinitarian Society in England and was friends with those such as E.W. Bullinger, to this day, Jewish Scribes religiously accept and use his works...except where they wish to ignore Christ their Messiah and King.
The
point I am making with all this, is that Christ is readily available to be seen
in the OT to the Hebrew reader and speaker. The less brainwashed they are on
how NOT to read and NOT to think a certain way, the more easily they see what
the text says, rather than through the prism of bias they insert into the text.
That
brainwashing, says Paul in (2 Corinthians 3) is as a veil upon the mind and
heart. When the veil is taken away, and one can read in liberty, Messhiach is
more readily revealed as layer upon layer is easily removed, and the light of
the post-Torah passages of the Tanakh shines forth. Christ is everywhere in OT prophecy, from Genesis 1:1 to Malachi.
I
bring "basar", or the "good news", that as John 14:6 clearly reveals, Christ Jesus is "[T]he Way,
and the Truth, and the Life:no
man cometh unto the Father, but by [Him]."
Christian Conservatives the world over, need to get back to the joying in the basar, the euaggelizo, the
proclaiming of the good news of salvation, deliverance, and of Yeshua...the
hope of even the ancient Patriarch Jacob -- as he spake by the Holy Spirit --
as he prophesied over his progeny.
It is my hope,
that the importance of the truth and true reality of the Cross be made manifest
to you in ways far beyond my comprehension, and bless you in the wisdom of knowledge and
understanding, unto eternal life
in and through Jesus Christ, our LORD. Shalom.
End-notes
1 E.g., הברית החדשה , Jerusalem: The Bible Society in Israel, © 1991, 1995 revised
edition, p.204
2
The Trinitarian explanation of the
Alef has been championed in the 1990s among the Jews by Rabbi Benjamin
Blech, in his widely accepted and acclaimed Jewish book, “The Secrets of Hebrew Words” (Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson Inc. © 1991). Much of what I learned about Gematria began
with this book, and went from this starting point on. Though a monotheistic Jew who is NOT
Christian, his above book is highly recommended by me, for those interested in
this type of study, as “essential”.
Before launching such an embarkation, I recommend first that they be
familiar with the Hebrew alphabet and can perfectly number every Hebrew word in
Strong’s to its Gematriac value as their beginning exercise.
3
How strange it is:
that
so many rabbinical and scribal Jews can presently see (and still "not see") the Trinity of GOD in special ways that the average
gentile Christian does not. This often still astounds -- it still amazes me to
this day. But still, as Christians and
as part of the human race, we are blessed by the Jewish people, and we give
thanks for their presence upon the Earth (
“for the gifts and calling of GOD are
without repentance.” -
Romans 11:29).
As a nation, Israel should be our best friend, whose best interests and
protection should be as our own.
May we as Christians always remember this, and apply this in our politics and personal witness. Amen.
[updated on May13, 2012]