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In this the 21st century, we're living in the days of the revelation of God's Word. Scripture says in Daniel that at the time of the end "knowledge shall increase" (12:4b). I think that means not only natural knowledge such as in science, but also supernatural knowledge of the Word of God.
Everyone realizes knowledge has increased in science, some for ill and some for good - such as space travel, medicine, and transmission of information. But what about the Bible? Is its revelation increasing or have we learned all there is about it and all that is left to do is rewrite it in the newest paraphrase? Or demythologize it, desupernaturalize it such as with the alleged heretical Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong RTD.
Is there anything new Elohim, our God, is doing in our land to encourage believers of Jesus, the Messiah? The answer is a resounding yes!
We have read about the Bible Codes or Equal Distance Sequencing (EDS) which spells out great events that have occurred in history, and confirms to us more about our creator God. The great physicist Sir Isaac Newton, an Englishman, learned Hebrew and spent half of his life studying the Old Testament in its original language as he believed it contained a divine code of human history. Newton considered his theological quest more important than his theory of the universe or his discovery of both the force of gravity and of the mechanics of our solar system. He retired from Cambridge University in 1696 and the handwritten papers he left behind, when opened many years after his death, showed that his search to break the Bible code was his main quest to the end of his life.
Eliyahu Rips, famous mathematician and Russian Jew, along with Israeli physicist Doron Witztum, made the Bible code discovery about 300 years later; that eluded Newton for one reason . . . they now had computers. The hidden text of the Bible had its own lock that could not be opened until God's proper time. Rips and Witztum, did the original experiment of "Equidistant Letter Sequences" using the Book of Genesis - published in Statistical Science journal, Aug. 1994.1
The rest is history. Many books have been written on Bible Codes since that time. It is now a proven fact that the Hebrew Bible in its original language was encoded supernaturally and reveals events that took place after the Bible was written. It is an inexhaustible gold-mine of Hebrew letters, words, and phrases implanted in the Holy Scripture and revealed as the Holy Spirit allows it to surface.
The Book of Daniel says it this way "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the End" (12:4a).
Astonishing as this hidden bible within the Bible is and E.D.S., it is not my main subject for this article. I want to speak to you about the mystery of the Hebrew alphabet and why we as Christians or Messianic believers2 should at least have a working knowledge of it. I think we must learn all that we can as it is an antidote for having our faith ripped away from us by non-spiritfilled theologians. That is, those who have never taken the time to study the Tanakh (Old Testament) in Hebrew for themselves and have ignored their Hebraic roots.
First, we are Judeo-Christians, or Judeo-Messianics. What I mean is, our foundation is in the Old Testament, or as the Jewish people call it, "The Bible." They have 39 books, we have 66 books in our Bible - 27 added for the New Testament. We should be forever grateful for the Jewish scribes who faithfully handcopied the Hebrew letters of the Old Testament over the centuries with a desire to keep it pure and accurate. (Consider thanking a Jewish person on behalf of those scribes.)
There are two ways to calculate how old our world is, one is by scientific calculations, and the other is by Biblical calculations. I am not dealing with science here (I'll leave that to the scientists i.e. Hugh Ross, Ph.D., TBN Reasons to Believe) but rather let's look at the biblical reckoning of time. The Bible's reckoning of time shows us that there have been 2000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2000 years from Abraham to Christ, and 2000 years from Jesus the Christ until the year 2000. Also many Jewish rabbis in their commentaries say that the six days of creation are prophesies of six millennia. Biblically that puts us somewhere in or near the beginning of the seventh millennium or the Sabbath Millennium of our Lord.
The study of biblical calendars is a subject in itself which has many differing theories. Maybe God has set it up that way so that no matter how we calculate, we as He said, will not know the exact time of His coming. In other words, we will always need to "live by sheer faith."
Give or take some years, this means one of the next events to look for is a revival among the Jewish faithful in preparation for Messiah's return. Their eyes of understanding will one day be totally opened. Do you know that Christians' and Messianics' eyes also need to be opened? Our eyes too have been partially closed. Studying Hebrew is one of the ways our understanding can be opened by the Holy Spirit. Jews and Christians are already beginning to mutually bless and support one another. Right here in Seattle is an organization called "Toward Tradition" headed by Rabbi Daniel Lapin which is one of many that are bringing Jews and Christians together to help change the world.3
How many Believers can name the Ten Commandments and in proper biblical order? If you will only learn the first ten consonants in the Hebrew alphabet, and their meanings, you will always know the meanings and order of these most important commandments (mitzvot) as given to Moses.4 The booklet I found most helpful on this is "The Ten Commandments" by Dr. Frank Seekins, a gentile Christian. It's an exciting revelation. Also get his book "Hebrew Word Pictures." I recommend that you study all his materials on this subject of the Commandments and the study of the Hebrew alphabet.5
The study of biblical Hebrew is not only revealing mysteries in the Old Testament but also the New Testament. How can that be, you may ask, when the New Testament was not written in Hebrew but rather in Greek (or Aramaic)? Some will debate this idea but all I can say is that Jesus of Nazareth and His disciples, being average Jewish men of that time, did speak, read, write, and think in Hebrew. Those who by divine inspiration wrote the New Testament were not of the learned elite who communicated in Greek but were of the rural folks who communicated in Hebrew.
How many of us would like to understand the final book of our New Testament, the book of Revelation? Show of hands? Mine's up too. I've found that we cannot fully appreciate or understand this book without applying the Hebrew alphabet to it. I'm not saying the full eschatological, prophetic understanding will come as a result, but great inspiration will come.
The book "The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet" by Rabbi Michael L. Munk was read by evangelical minister J.R. Church and his partner Gary Stearman. In their book "The Mystery of the Menorah and the Hebrew Alphabet" they say, "For countless centuries, Jewish expositors have taught that each of the letters in their alphabet is a reflection of God's creative power. They believe their alphabet is a manifestation of God's essence and that, taken as a whole, it speaks of His attributes."6
Church and Stearman began to apply this concept not only to the Old Testament but to the New. They found it significant in the entire New Testament but especially in the book of Revelation. They discovered that the 22 chapters in Revelation have a relationship to the 22 consonants of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the 22 chapters of Revelation corresponds perfectly with the symbolic meaning of the Hebrew alphabet! Isn't that awesome?
For
example, it's interesting how Revelation chapter 4 connects
with the 4th letter d (dahlet). The Hebrew letter dahlet
when written looks something like a doorway 
and dahlet is actually the word for door. This chapter in
Revelation talks about the doorway to Heaven where the way
has been made for us sinful human beings to be admitted to
Shaymayim (Heaven). Our Lord is the doorway to eternity.
Another example is the 12th Hebrew letter, lahmed, that goes with chapter 12 of Revelation. It is the tallest letter of the alphabet and is flanked on each side by the letters kahf and mem.
"The
kahf is said to represent God's throne of glory, the mem,
God's Kingship. Together the mem, lahmed and kahf [right
to left in Hebrew] form the Hebrew word
melek
meaning 'King.' Fascinating! Revelation 12 features the
birth of the King" 7
(Rev. 12:1-5).
At
the beginning of the book of Revelation, Jesus announced "I
am Alpha and Omega . . ." (Rev. 1:8a). At the end of the
book, He again announces it: "I am the Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Rev. 22:13).
Church and Stearman saw the connection clearly - our LORD in
essence is the alphabet. In Hebrew it would read "I am the
Aleph
and the Tav
."
These are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Jesus the Messiah also fulfills the attributes of all the
other letters of the alphabet in between.
The very name and meaning of this final book of the Bible is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." Now even more of His wisdom and fellowship are revealed to us through the Hebrew Aleph-beit. (Aleph and bet are the first two letters of the aleph - beit and are where the name 'alphabet' originated.)
One of the clues guiding Stearman and Church was when they learned that in the time of Jesus and before, the Jews considered their Bible (O.T.) to consist of 22 books. Their commentators even stated that these 22 books corresponded to the 22 consonants of the Hebrew alphabet. (We know that at the beginning of God's revelation to man, the Bible was written without chapters or verses. Now we find that even as these were added later by the scribes, the Holy Spirit was guiding.)
This alphabetic pattern, when applied to the New Testament by J.R. and Gary was found to have the same effect. In their book they say,
". . . We found 27 books, seemingly too many for a match. Too many, that is, until we added the five Hebrew "final letters" to the alphabet. [These are 5 sofit or final form letters khahf - ch, mem - m, nun - n, fey - f, tsahdee - ts] Once again, we found a perfect match! And here too, in the five final letters, we found a special message of finality, or culmination." 8 This gives a mighty conclusion to the entire Bible.
To learn more, I recommend you get a copy of J.R. Church and Gary Stearman's book. You'll also enjoy their monthly magazine "Prophecy in the News."9 They consistently bring in Hebrew meanings to what they teach.
In addition to all this, my goal for studying Hebrew goes beyond what I've shared with you. First, I simply enjoy reading the Old Testament in its original language, though for scores of years I have enjoyed the use of the Interlinear Hebrew and English Reference books, including Strong's Concordance. Even though I'm a stumbling beginner, I love reading the Bible in Hebrew. I also have the lofty goal of using Hebrew as my required language to assist me in acquiring a Master's Degree, or more. A further goal is to be able to converse in Hebrew. Though I look for Messiah's coming for Believers, I also have natural plans set in place if that does not happen in my lifetime.
During Jesus' 33 years on earth, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic were used in Jewish Palestine (now Israel) under Roman rule. However, Hebrew continued to be used by the rural population which constituted the majority of the people, and included Jesus of Nazareth and his family. After 70 AD (C.E.) during persecution of the Jews, Hebrew was no longer spoken. However it continued to be the language of the Bible and spiritual language of the Jewish people.10 In 1858-1922 the Hebrew language was revived and today is an organic living language, especially in Israel.
In Heaven we will probably speak a language transmitted beyond any human words, but the earthly language of preference will obviously be the one "Jesus of the Tribe of Judah" spoke on earth. Over the twelve gates in Heaven the Hebrew names of the twelve Tribes of Israel are written and the twelve Jewish Apostles' names are at the base of the gates.
When our Lord comes back to reign in Jerusalem for a millennium of peace, He will undoubtedly speak Hebrew. Though being divine and having all wisdom, no language will be unknown to Him.
So, my friend in Messiah, my goal may be quite different than yours. Set your own goal. You may decide to learn the first ten consonants, or the 22 consonants, or the 27 which includes the 5 final forms. If brave enough, add on the 10 vowel points and try to learn to read some of the words of the Bible or practice speaking with a friend. Most of all, enjoy the mystery of the alphabet and its spiritual meanings. Each letter is like a picture with meaning (especially the earliest Phoenician forms), somewhat like the Japanese letters are pictures. Dr. Seekin's books can explain that in detail.
The Hebrew letters and meanings will enrich your Bible study and the depth of it you'll find unending. The knowledge of Scripture itself which is always primary, as well as the depth of Hebrew Word pictures and the language, will go on with you through this life and on into eternity.
Though you've got eons ahead of you for the joy of learning God's special language, I encourage you to get started now. It's exciting! You won't be sorry.
1. Ref. from Michael Drosnin, The Bible Code, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1997, pp. 20 - 23.
2. A growing group of Christians are in, or are fellowshipping with, Messianic groups across the United States.
3. Toward Tradition, P.O. Box 58, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Order their booklet "The Urgent Alliance: Shaping America's Destiny in a Season of War" at www.towardtradition.org.
4. This is taught in my "Inner Healing Through the Lord's Prayer Course" in Edmonds each Spring. This year the dates are May 10 and 11. See announcement that follows this article.
5. Dr. Frank Seekins, Living Word Pictures, P.O. Box 54700, Phoenix, Arizona 85078-4700, tele. (602) 867-0816. You can tell him I sent you. Great materials for your children too.
6. "The Mystery of the Menorah and the Hebrew Alphabet" by J.R. Church and Gary Stearman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Prophecy Publications, 1993), Foreword, page2.Website: www.ProphecyintheNews.com.
7. Ibid, page 143
8. Ibid., Foreword, page 3.
9. "Prophecy in the News" magazine, P.O. Box 7000, Oklahoma City, OK 73153, edition January 2002. 1-800-475-1111.
10. Hebrew Primer, by Lois Rothblum, Bella Bergman and Ora Band, West Orange, N.J.: Behrman House Inc., 1987. An excellent textbook.
