PARASHAH: “B’reisheet” (In the Beginning) GENESIS 1:1-6:8
Just got back from 3 weeks in Miami, FL, visiting family and ministering in our Messianic congregation, Beth Hesed. Have to catch up on articles.
During Simchat Torah (The Joy of the Torah) or (Happiness in having God's WORD in our midst), we begin in Genesis…But…Some have the tradition of reading the last few verses of Deuteronomy (34:10-12) “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moshe……..and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moshe shewed in the sight of all Israel.”
Interesting that the very last word in Deuteronomy is “Israel”. We read verses 10 through 12, and in the same breath, continue with Genesis 1:1. This means that the Torah is a continuous book, like a circle.
The very first line in Genesis, the very first line in the Torah has so much meaning; “B’reisheet bara Elohim ET haShamayim v’et haAretz”(the first 7 words) (In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth). One thing to point out, in many English Bibles, the word “heaven” is singular and should be “heavens” (plural), because in Hebrew, “HaShamayim” is “heavens”. Also, in the words, “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” (In the beginning, Elohim created), we find the mixed letters that spell out “Israel” also. So, the Torah begins with “Israel” and ends with “Israel”. If we look at the Hebrew letters that spell out “B’reisheet Bara Elohim,” we find “Israel” how? Well, let’s see;… Beit, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yod, Tav……Beit, Resh, Aleph…..Aleph, Lamed, Hey, Yod, Mem sofit. Then we pick out the letters that form “Israel”: Yod, Shin, Resh, Aleph, Lamed. What can this tell us? That from the “Beginning,” Elohim had Israel in mind! This is just one way one could look at this.
Another aspect we can look at is the letter “Alef,” which in Hebrew has no sound by itself, yet takes the sound of whatever vowel that is placed below it. Within the first 7 words, there are 6 Alefs. When one spells out “Alef” in Hebrew, we get “Alef, Lamed, and Peh” (A L P). These three letters together also mean “One Thousand” (pronounced “elef”). Many rabbis believe that the symbolism of these 6 Alefs in the first 7 words, is “6 thousand years for mankind living on the earth” followed by another “thousand” (7 thousand years) which would be the Millennial reign of Messiah, then the number “8” (the eighth day of Sukkot) which could be the beginning of the “New Heavens and the New Earth ” (of course, this is just a possibility). Here's another interesting thing;
Within the first 7 words, we find the word “Emet” (Truth), “Alef, Mem, and Tav”, and this is one of the titles of Yeshua, who is the “Way”, the “TRUTH”, and the “Life”. He is also the “Living Word” (See John 1:1), so we see Yeshua even in Genesis 1:1
“7” is the perfect number of YHVH. If we take the seven words, and take the middle word “ET”, and take this word “ET and draw a vertical line from it, we can make a “Menorah” with three lines from the middle line connected to “ET” to the other words in this first verse. The word “ET” does not have a literal translation, yet it points to a specific object that is very important. “ET” in the ancient Hebrew letters is the “Alef and the Tav” or in Greek, the “Alpha and Omega” Or…. the “God of the Covenant”. So, every time we see “ET” in the original Hebrew, we are reminded of “YHVH, the God of the Covenant”
Why does the Bible start with the letter “Beit” or “B”? Why not with “Alef” or “A”? Isn’t the “Alef” the symbol for “God”? There is a story about the letters “Alef” and “Beit” who are arguing as to who would be first. They both came to Elohim and presented their case. Elohim-YHVH said, “Alef”, you are very important as you represent who I AM. You will be the third letter in the Bible because “3” symbolizes “Elohim” because we are united as Father, Son, and Spirit, three entities in one “Echad” being.
“As for you, letter “Beit” you will be first because you symbolize the “house” which I will make for mankind, for the plants, trees, and flowers, and for all the beasts which I will create. This house will be called “earth”. This perfect planet will be a “B’rakhah” a “Blessing” to my creation, therefore, the Torah must start with “B”
Also, the letter “Beit” is closed on three sides, yet open on one, the left side. This means that before the “beginning,” there was nothing, only Elohim, and revelation starts with “B” going towards the “left” as the Hebrew is written.”
So, therefore, the Alef and the Beit left, both satisfied with the verdict from Elohim-YHVH. We also see in the first line the creation of the three basic elements of the universe: “space” (the heavens), “time” (in the beginning), and “matter” (the earth). We have an infinite God that comes out of infinity past and speaks and creates a finite earth. Creates matter. The first law of Thermodynamics states that “All matter has been created and that there is no more matter being created.” What we do see is that “matter changes states” (from liquid to solid, = water to ice) or from liquid to gas = water vapor.
We can also see today the effects of the “2nd law of thermodynamics, which shows that everything in the material world is on a downward spiral, from order to disorder, from composition to decomposition, from perfection to imperfection. Because of sin! The wages of sin is death, and therefore, not only in the world of the living but also in the material world, everything is “dying”
Elohim looked upon the earth he was forming, which was then, a lot of water and earth elements, and then spoke in verse 3 saying, “Haya haOr” (let there be light) “V’yahi or” (and there was light). And Elohim saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness” (vs 4) There are 4 levels of Torah understanding which are “Peshat” (literal), “Derash” (moral and spiritual), “Remez” (Symbolic), and “Sod” (hidden), (this is when we use gematria, or numbers with math to come to different revelations, mind you this is NOT numerology!)
There was the physical light, the light we can see, and also, the WORD of God which is looked upon as “light” YESHUA also is referred to the “Light of the World” light is also “sinless perfection” and the “darkness” is also the physical darkness, which is needed, for us to rest at night, so that the flowers can close up and sleep. I can also refer to the “spiritual darkness” which is “evil” or “sin”. SO… there is a separation between what is holy and what is not holy, between sin and perfection, between evil and good. Between our “daylight” and our “nighttime” (taking it literally).
Now, if I were going to study every verse, this first parashah would be perhaps ten pages long, so we are going to jump a bit. Elohim created all that this earth contains in 6 literal days, of 24-hour periods. Now, there are some SSs (silly scientists) that say, “the six days are considered a period of four billion years!” Really? Really? Well, if we look at verse 12, it says that Elohim created the plants, trees, grass, etc, then in verse 14, it says that Elohim created the lights in the heavens, which include the sun, moon, and the stars. Well, if each “day” consisted of, let’s say, 600,000,000 years, then how would the plants and trees, and life itself, survive without sunlight for this amount of time?
Many times, we just have to take God’s word literally. “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness…and Elohim created the man and the woman in His own image” (vs 26-27). What does this mean, in HIS own image? What is the IMAGE of ELOHIM? One could say that the image of Elohim is complete holiness and perfection! Sinlessness! That was how the first couple was made. The earth was “created” without any previously existing matter, yet man and woman were “created” using “already existing matter,” namely,” the dust of the earth (adamah).
The name “Elohim” shows the “plural unity (Echad)” of God, and just as Elohim consists of the Father, the Son, and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) so man and woman were also joined “Echad” with Elohim in mind, soul, and spirit. What is man? What is a woman? But a soul and spirit inhabiting a flesh and bone body. Bodies that will one day (because of sin) deteriorate and cease to function, and return to the earth.
Elohim loved his creation of man and woman. He placed them in a perfect paradise home, a garden full of trees that produced fruit, nuts, flowers, clean water, and animals that were friendly. The only prohibition was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But…as we know the story, HaSatan tricked them into eating the forbidden fruit. As soon as Adam and Eve ate the fruit (and nowhere does it say that it was an apple), the Word says that they “realized that they were naked” (3:7), but weren’t they already naked? I mean, they weren’t created wearing Levi's! However...remember that the word “light” the words “light” and “skin” are written almost the same way in Hebrew, the only difference is the first letter, “skin” is “OR” written with the letter “ayin” which symbolizes “eye” and OR (light) is written with an “Aleph”
It is possible, and probable that Adam and Eve were created with a covering of “light” When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after being with God for 40 days, he was “glowing” with light, the Shekinah light, and Moses was a sinner, imagine Adam and Eve who were sinless, their light covering would have been permanent had they not sinned (and would still be alive today). When they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit, the light covering must have vanished, THEN…they saw that they were NAKED, without the light, which served, one could say as, “a skin of light over the skin of flesh”
The sin of eating the forbidden fruit shows the following: the LUST OF THE FLESH, THE LUST OF THE EYES, AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE. Eve was hungry, she “saw” that it looked really delicious, and she “thought” it would make her “wise” as the serpent lied to her, saying the same. Sin today is the same; it is a mix of all three things: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life
“And YHVH Elohim made coats of skins for the man and for the woman and dressed them” (3:21). This is the very first blood sacrifice in the Bible. YHVH had to sacrifice one or two innocent animals, perhaps two lambs or goats, to “cover” Adam and Eve. This is a reminder of Yom Kippur, where the blood of animals covered the sins of Israel for one year. This would be a reminder to Adam and Eve of their sin. Their sin caused an innocent, blameless animal to lose its life.
The Word of God does not say, but we can imagine that YHVH told Adam and Eve that they would have to sacrifice a lamb, or a goat, or another kosher animal every day, to remind them of their sin. We look towards the cross of Calvary and we see YESHUA the LAMB of God who offered himself up as a blood sacrifice for our sins, once and forever, not just to cover, but to erase.
In chapter 4, we see the birth of Kayin and Hevel (Cain and Abel). They were born with the sin nature, and we see in both boys, the direction of the world that they would follow; some would choose holiness and all that is good, and others would choose the unholy and all that is evil. There came a time when they both had to offer sacrifices (that is why I said that Adam and Eve must have taught them to do the same). Hebel chose to obey, and Kayin chose to disobey. Kayin offered a sacrifice, but it was not a blood sacrifice; rather, it was a “grain offering. nothing wrong with a grain offering, but a blood sacrifice was needed. Therefore, it was rejected.
Hebel, however, offered the correct sacrifice, a blood sacrifice, and it was accepted. This caused anger and jealousy in Kayin, and we know the story: Kayin rose up and murdered his brother, Hebel. Yet YHVH Elohim still offers him an opportunity to repent and confess his sin, but Kayin does not. Then YHVH Elohim says;
“The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (4:10). The Hebrew word is “damei” or “bloods”; it is written in the plural. But why is this? This alludes to the idea (which is written in the Talmud) that “he who saves the life of one person is as if he has saved a whole nation, and he who takes a life of another, is as if he has murdered a whole nation.” It is as if the souls of all the “would have been” descendants of Hebel were crying out for vengeance because they would not be permitted to be born. “The voice of thy brother’s bloods cries out…” the many “bloods” cry out in “one voice” so it seems.
Hebel is slain, his blood is sacrificed, and Kayin goes away, runs away to the land of wandering (Nod) and becomes a vagabond, just wandering, living off the fruit of trees and whatever grows of itself, since now, his farming days are over. YHVH curses the land he farmed as punishment.
We can see here again a shadow of Yom Kippur. In Yom Kippur, two goats were selected, one was sacrificed, and the other was “sent away.” Here, Innocent and righteous Hebel is sacrificed, and Kayin “goes away” yet this “going away” is in the negative light, he “goes away” from the presence of Adonai, while Hebel goes “into the presence of Adonai”
There is a saying that goes like this; “you can mix good apples with bad apples, and the good apples will never correct the bad, rather the bad-rotten apples will corrupt the good ones. Well, that is the way the “world turned” way back then, as the years pass, the descendants of Kayin mixed with the descendants of Seth, (who was born after the death of Hebel.
“And it came to be that when men began to increase on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And YHVH said, ‘My Ruach will not strive with mankind forever in his going astray. He is flesh, and his days shall be 120. The Nephilim (in some translations, the giants) were on the earth in those days, and when the sons of Elohim came into the daughters of men, they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of name (fame). 6:1-4
There are two schools of thought when the issue of “B’nei Elohim” comes up. Some believe that it refers to the godly line of Seth mixing with the ungodly line of Kayin. The other school of thought, which is more probable, is that the “sons of God” refer to the fallen angels that were kicked out of heaven together with HaSatan. These “b’nei Elohim” somehow and someway transformed themselves into flesh and blood, and the offspring of those “demon-human” relationships were born “giants”. The word “Nephilim” means “fallen ones”. It does not mean “giants” …however…those “mighty men of old” many were “giants”; we have examples; Goliath of Gath, Og, king of Bashan. The pre-diluvian giants were destroyed during the flood of Genesis; however, their DNA still survived and was passed along through Ham's wife. The descendant of Ham was Canaan, and among the Canaanites, there were giants.
YHVH has decided to destroy and cleanse the earth by a universal flood, and Noah and his family were found to be the only righteous people around. Noah will receive instructions to build an ark, and it will take him 120 years, so the people will have 120 years to repent, which they did not. This was a very short time considering that thousands of years ago, people lived 800 or 900 years. 120 years would be like a week in our times. Noah was a “Tzadik,” a “righteous person”. He went “against the flow”. Imagine a school of fish going in one direction, and you are going in the opposite direction.
How about you? If the world is going down the tubes, headed for destruction, will you follow the world? Or will you remain with Yeshua and go HIS way? The choice is yours. The only way we can be a true “Tzadik Ben Elohim” (a righteous child of God) is through faith in Yeshua HaMashiach/ Jesus the Christ, through faith in HIM, trusting in HIS one-time atonement for sin.
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