Tag Archives: alphabet

Alpha and Omega Part 2 of Series

Revelation Commentary, , , , , , ,

 Revelation 1:8: “I am Alpha and Omega.”

This utterance, the first of the utterances of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, seems to be saying, not only the awesome title “I Am,” but also that “I Am the Alphabet,” since alpha and omega are the names of the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This is a puzzling statement unless and until we understand the significance of the alphabet as it is used in this context.[1]

Hebrew Aleph and Tau

Based upon the premise that the book was originally written in Hebrew, we should translate the alphabetic terms back to the Hebrew. The equivalent of Greek alpha and omega is Hebrew aleph and tau. The aleph and tau, being the first and last letters, represents the entire alphabet and is no doubt the Hebrew word for “alphabet.’  The word we translate “and” is represented in Hebrew by the letter vau, giving us the three letters aleph, vau, and tau.These three letters so arranged spell the word translated “sign,” or transliterated ’ôwth, or sometimes ‘oth. [2]

We may readily see that as the alphabet Christ is the totality of every word that may be uttered, written, or read. He is The Word. However, there are aspects of the ancient alphabet that are difficult to translate. One of those is the fact that the oldest alphabets were not only letters, but were also numerals. As the numerals, Christ is the entire realm of all that can be measured or quantified, that is, all mathematics and science. But this is not yet all that the term aleph-vau-tau indicates, for in the earliest traceable stages, the alphabet was also the means of designating the time-telling stars and constellations in their time-telling movements as well as their function in navigation and cartography (Seiss, 177).[3]

Even now there is a system for naming stars that uses the Greek alphabet – roughly in order of their brightness within a constellation: alpha, beta, gamma, … etc.

Christ is All and in All

To sum it up, as aleph-vau-tau, Christ is All and in All: The Word, Time, Space, Wisdom, Life.

Origen in his Commentary said that the canonical books of the Hebrew Bible were twenty-two, “like the letters of their alphabet.”[4] This was a fact noted also by Josephus and other writers of that era. It indicates that they considered the alphabet as representing a totality; that is, the complete Scriptures were contained in the twenty-two letters of the alphabet.

[1] See also my Commentary on Revelation 1:7, “Coming”. The Hebrew word ’ôwth, (consisting of the letters aleph-vau-tau,), is used in Dan.7:13 regarding the ‘coming’ of the Son of Man in the clouds.

[2] Targumim = ‘translations’.
The Babli is the Babylonian Talmud and the Yerushalmi is the Jerusalem Talmud.
Midrash is: (1) the haggadic or halakic exposition of the underlying significance of a Bible text. (2) A collection of Midrashim. (3) cap: the Midrashic literature written between the 4th century B.C. and 11th century AD].
Haggadah is: (1) ancient Jewish lore forming esp. the nonlegal part of the Talmud. (2) The Jewish ritual for the Seder, (Passover feast).
Halakah is the body of Jewish law supplementing the Scriptural law and forming especially the legal part of the Talmud.

[3] “In the perspective of early Christians who compiled listings of heretics, Israelites who rejected Jesus as Messiah were quintessential heretics. Among this group, the Pharisees were remembered for their devotedness to astrology: ‘Fate and astrology were quite popular notions with them,’ writes Epiphanius…. Epiphanius further recounts how they possessed a vocabulary of their own in Hebrew for the zodiac and other celestial beings,” (Malina, 74).
Quoting Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 4.46. Anti-Nicene Fathers, 5.42, that “‘Heretics’ read constellations in terms of Israel’s biblical tradition. They assimilate the doctrines of an Aratus, for example, to those declared by the Scriptures, thus ‘exhibiting a strange marvel, as if the assertions made by them were fixed among the stars” (ibid.).
Malina says further: “The heretics opposed by Hippolytus interpret the Scriptures allegorically. The Scriptures do not mean what they say literally, but refer to something else (this is allegory). Furthermore, these heretics likewise interpret the stars allegorically, using the fixity and regularity of the stars to give credence to their interpretations” (ibid.). These heretics thus used the stars to give credence to strange doctrines and suggest hidden meanings.

[4] As stated by Eusebius, History of the Church, 6.25; that the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation (ibid., 6:25.10).

Next Lesson – Alpha and Omega Part 3

Alpha and Omega Part 1 of Series

Revelation Commentary, , , , , , ,

Prologue to this series:

In Revelation 1:8 Christ identifies Himself as “Alpha and Omega.” He is here identifying Himself with the Holy Alphabet. It is necessary for us to learn the true meaning of this Alphabet in order to bring the highest honor to Jesus Christ and to warn against its misuse so that you will have nothing to do with its evil practices.

The doctrines called “Rabbinic Judaism” are making a tragic misuse of the Hebrew alphabet, making it popular as a medium for witchcraft and satanism. This practice is described in their writings called the Zohar. Be warned that it is even now being used, promoted, and practiced in what is called the Kabbala, (or Cabbala). This practice is also called “Hasidism” which has come to be used as a synonym for Judaism. It is one of Satan’s most wicked lies. Here I will show the true meaning of the Hebrew alphabet.

The Semitic Alphabet A Fit Symbol of Christ

The alphabet is a fit symbol of Christ for it is both human and divine. From its earthly mother it inherits its practical, utilitarian and mathematical nature; from God the Father of it and all other Lights, it inherits its generative powers to reproduce spiritual things: Truth, Beauty, Inspiration, Faith, Hope, and Charity.

The ancient Semitic alphabet has spread throughout the world to many languages and cultures. Consequently, it has been used in multitudes of ways and has followed various lines of development. Much of the original idea of the alphabet has been lost in some of its lines of transmission. Here I will try to show what the original alphabetic idea is in the canonical Scriptures and how it is used as a fit symbol of Christ in that context.

We must receive this revelation of Christ as the alphabet by examining the words in their context. The context must not be sought in the later speculations of Pharisaic Judaism.[5] Nor is the usage in the Book of Revelation related to the later mystical writings of the Gnostics nor the magical writings of the Kabbalists.[6] We must rather look to the canonical Scriptures and to the historical and cultural milieu preceding and during the time of the writing of the Apocalypse of John.

[5] For example among the non-canonical apocalyptic writings are the Alphabets of Rabbi Akiba:
“Apocalyptic Literature, 6. The Alphabets of R. Akiba,”( 680-1). “The chief center of thought of all of them [i.e. the Alphabets,] is the mystical signification, already mentioned in the Talmud, of the letters of the alphabet and of their written forms, and the mysteries of the names of God made up of four, twelve, and forty-two letters. In the Jerusalem Talmud (Hagigah.ii.77c) there is a dissertation on the letters by means of which the world was created, and there, as in these writings, it is stated that the present world was created with He (ה_) and the future with Yod (י_), and eschatological theories are built up out of the forms of these letters.
“In the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbath. 104a), also, all sorts of similar interpretations are given in regard to the names, forms, and combinations of the various letters, and are made to bear upon eschatological questions in the same way as in these apocalypses. In Kiddushin 71a, it is said that the mysteries of the three names of God were treated as esoteric doctrine and that whoever became thoroughly initiated into the mystery of the name consisting of forty-two letters might be sure of inheriting both the present and the future world. Similarly, R. Akiba, the reputed author of the ‘Alphabets,’ is especially commended in the Talmud as interpreter of the strokes, dots, and flourishes of the letters (compare, for example, Men. 29b; see also Akiba Ben Joseph),” (Jewish Encyclopedia, JE, see note 45 above).
Some scholars attempt to show that these “Alphabets” borrow their theosophical speculation from the writings of Islam, (“especially in ‘Monatschrift,’ viii.115 et seq.”), however:

“Later Jewish literature had the widest and deepest influence on the formation and development of the views and teachings of Islam ….From the presence of mystical speculations about the essence and being of God, etc., in the Arabic literature, similar to those in the Neo-Hebrew, it is quite impossible to conclude that they found their way from the former into the latter; rather would the opposite conclusion be justified” (ibid.).

[6] See “Kabbalah (Cabalah)” and “Zohar”, The New Jewish Encyclopedia, Revised edition, eds. David Bridger, Samuel Wolk, (Behrman House, Inc., Publisher. 1976).

Next Lesson: Alpha and Omega Part 2 of Series

The Number Seven in the Bible

Revelation Commentary, , , , , , ,

Revelation 1:4: “John to the seven churches which are in Asia… from the seven Spirits which are before his throne.”

The most important aspect of the number seven in the Bible is its relationship to the oath of the Covenant. In English the two words seven and swear, “take an oath”, look nothing alike; however, in Biblical Hebrew they can hardly be distinguished for they consist of the same consonants. [1]  In the Hebrew, to swear could be translated “to seven oneself,” (Strong’s #7650).

The word for week is also from the same root as seven, merely distinguished by inner vowel differences. The noun form of this word is used of Jehovah’s oath of the Covenant promises in Deuteronomy 7:8:

“But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

And Psalm 105:8-9:

“He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.  Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac.”

One sign of this oath, or Covenant between Mankind and God, is to be the Sabbath, a word also closely related to seven, meaning the cessation of labor on the seventh day.

“And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.’” Exodus 31:12-13 RSV.

The Sabbaths were a sign of the oath. These Sabbaths, or sevens, were not only of days of the week, but also a system of weeks and years. The seven-week period was to be climaxed with a Pentecost Sabbath and the seven-year period was to be climaxed by a sabbatical year, and the seven-sabbatical-year period was to be climaxed by a jubilee year. These are the Sabbaths that God ordained for a sign of His Covenant, his oath.

The Value Pi

The number seven also functions mathematically with the number three to form the value of pi (i.e. 3 1/7), which is necessary to reconcile the line with the circle.  Pi times the radius squared gives the area of a circle; pi times diameter gives the circumference of a circle.  Seven times 3 1/7, or 3 times 7 1/3, give the number 22, which was the number of the Hebrew alphabet letters. Since the alphabet was also used as numerals, it was possible to designate any number by use of some combination of the 22 letters. Therefore, some combination of sevens and threes could describe any number as well as reconcile the rectangular with the circular. It is in this combination that we see the truth of the idea so often expressed that “seven is the number of completion, or fullness.”

In the idea of the reconciliation of the circle and the line, we see how the system was used for time-telling. The passing overhead of the time-telling sun, moon and stars described an apparent circular pattern; the earth represented the linear distance. (This was, of course, the observed, or apparent pattern, not the concept of the space age.) By use of the value pi, the priestly function of time-telling could be more exact.

How This Value Was Important in Calculating Time By The Heavens

In the Book of Revelation, the copious use of the number seven is the sign, the reminder, of the Covenant, the oath.  It would be correct, therefore, for an expanded translation to add to “the seven churches” the phrase “the seven-fold Church in the Covenant,” and to the phrase, “the seven spirits,” the phrase “the seven-fold Spirit of Covenant.”  That is how a Hebrew speaker would have understood it. The seven plagues are those promised in the Covenant to the rebellious and unbelieving, they are therefore Covenant plagues, they were sworn to.

There are spurious attempts to imitate the Covenant number; however, they turn out not to be that number, really, for the seven heads of the beast become eight or ten or so.  In contrast, God’s Covenant seven is never changing.  The number 666 also falls short of the Covenant of God.

The copious use of the number seven in the Book of Revelation is a prominent reminder that the events depicted there are those promised by oath in the Covenant of God. As we shall see, the Seven Stars of the constellation Ash are symbolic of the Covenant Church.

[1]The words are only distinguished by the context. In the original Hebrew, the text had no vowels, so words consisting of the same radicals were interpreted by tradition. In about the tenth century AD the Masoretes added vowels to the Hebrew text.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation In Context, available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and also at www.Amazon.com and www.xulonpress.com.  Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.