In this third episode we tackle the second letter in the first word of the Hebrew Bible and discover how it provides another missing piece of what the Messiah would do and gets us closer to understanding our role in God’s master plan for man. You won’t want to miss the meaning of the Reysh.
Daughters, are the ground in preparation for the planting of the house seed. Her life reveals what is inside the covenant. As the bet () is the picture of the house, and because what is most important to Yah is not the structure of the home, but those who reside within it, it has the dual meaning of “in” or “inside”. In her resides the covenant of the house. She is indeed the mystery of what is inside the sign. She is a picture of the bride of Messiah which is the church, and therefore has an important role that should not be neglected in our society. As we see more and more cultures who embrace a son and seem to diminish the worth of a daughter we see more and more women throwing off the traditional position of their womanhood to compete in the world of men for prominence and prestige. We must begin to see ourselves as an intricate part of this unique puzzle in which every piece is significant in revealing its overall beauty, and no puzzle is complete with even one missing piece.
Our daughters should be a living legacy of pointing those within and without her home to the Tau () which is the “sign” or “covenant”. She is the representation of the bringing together of two houses; Prophetically this is what she is preparing for as a daughter. She walks as an expressed example of life and love. The greatest example in scripture of the mystery of the daughter is revealed in Sarah. Here we have a woman who was a symbol to the secular world of unbelievable beauty, yet within her was a treasure so special that the wrong person tampering with it was cursed. In a way she was a physical example of the ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant had to be handled with care, and not just anybody could touch it, nor could it be carried any sort of way. Ignoring the rules of handling it led to death. She in essence houses the sign and this is why such particular care is taken in choosing a mate for her.
The marriage ceremony places so much emphasis on who has the authority to give a daughter away to a man. Let’s examine why Solomon married the daughter of an Egyptian? It is only through covenant did he have access to the secrets of Egypt, and that covenant required that he marry the daughter of the authority of Egypt to acquire. It is the responsibility of parents to both share the gift within them to her, as well as to protect her and handle her with care as the prized possession that she is. For Yahushah is the word of God, that is housed in the temple of His bride. Every bride is a daughter before she becomes anything else. She is the house sign that is birthed in the strong water of her mother’s womb.
One final special note, while in our Western culture we emphasize our children’s independence, we notice that Yah doesn’t do that for his daughters. We notice that every daughter that married Isaac, and Jacob, as well as Moses was found in their Father’s house, tending to their Father’s business. In Hebrew culture a daughter didn’t leave her father until she married. She always had a covering, even as the ark always had a covering. In her is kept the treasure of that family. How different our culture would be if we treasured our daughters the way Yah treasures us? If parents would esteem more value to their daughters and preparing them for God’s plan for them upon the earth? If we would see that daughters are the link to a healthy, sustainable, and strong society.
The two characters that make up the word Father in Hebrew is Aleph (
) which is the picture of an ox’s head. One characteristic of an ox is his strength and that is the meaning of this character. The second character is Bet () which is the floor plan of a house or tent and it means house. Together the word means, “Strong House” or “Strength of the House”. This is the expectation of the Father to fulfill, to be the strength of his house.
This is an awesome responsibility that one should consider when he marries, since the purpose of marriage is to produce fruit for His kingdom. Sex would be the means by which multiplied seed would be brought into the world, but it is only through Father’s imitating the proper example will we see that seed of the house come to fulfillment. Consider it, Fathers have the distinct honor of filling the shoes of mirroring before their children the image of the Heavenly Father. I believe this is why the enemy torments men so, because he knows the buck stops with them. The enemy used Eve to change the course of human history but don’t forget that she was not the target, just the bait or means to the target which was Adam. This is still the case today. The enemy uses the daughters of Eve to push his agenda to Adam. The bible teaches us that military strategy is simply this, in order to take a house, you must first bind the strong man. (Matt. 12:29) Yehoshua who was of Hebrew ancestry would have known that the ancient characters reflect the image of the strength of the house being the Father. Malachi 4:6 tells us that the lack of hearts of Fathers not being to children and hearts of children not being towards the Father leads to a curse. Lack of Father’s in the home means we have weak homes. This is not my personal opinion but numerous scriptures reflect that the woman is the weaker vessel and for that reason extra care and understanding is expected of a man in regards to how he deals with her. (1 Pe 3:7) You simply cannot have a strong home with out the Father.
The distinction of this role is so vitally important to understand. Yehoshua reinforced this, let’s look at the following scriptures:
(Mat 12:50) For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
(Mar 3:35) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Pay close attention to who is mentioned and who is missing. Yehoshua didn’t miss words, while those who do the will of His father can be equal to a brother, sister, or mother, notice he never equated them to being equal to the father. This designation outside of our earthly father’s or himself was only given to one other earthly man, and that is Abraham. Who is described as Father Abraham.
(Mat 23:9) And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Notice this scripture clearly states to call “NO MAN” Father, for only one is your Father. Did you know the word “Pope” means “father”. Do you understand why it is vitally important to understand this rule? The Father is the Head how many can you have in a home? How many husbands can you have in a home? Only one is acceptable, so if we realize this then we should consider the gravity of ascribing to anyone who didn’t produce us the designation of a position that is held only by one. Think about it, your last name comes from your, father, not your mother (normally). When you marry your last name is changed to your husbands. This is because we can only identify with one and we don’t get our identity from our mother nor does a husband get his identity from his wife. What makes this important is because if we don’t understand natural things and how they work we will make the same mistake spiritually. We will ascribe attributes that can only apply to the head of the Church (Christ) to the church itself (His body). Such as calling his (body = people) a building and thus once we change that definition we can then put our name on it, and what we do with the building we will do with his people. Hence, many ministers are with their mouths and actions taking ownership of the bride of Christ as though they belong to them. This is a grave error and judgment is coming for making that error.
When the strong house is taken down you have nothing left, this is why it is important that we preserve the needed position that the Father possess in the home and do all we can to support and lift them up. As 1 Timothy 2:1 admonishes so that we can live a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
If we pay attention to the life of Abraham and what the scriptures teach concerning him we will see that the Father is looking for one who will,
I encourage every Father to seek the will of the heavenly Father that the blessings of Abraham shall come upon you and those of your household.
Ancient hebrew characters used from Jeff Benner’s Ancient Hebrew Research Center
I suppose this will be the Grand Finale, equivalent to the icing on the cake. In this episode we will discover the ancient wisdom that has been hidden in our English bible that decodes the mysterious Alpha and Omega that we find in the book of Revelation. The foundation for Alpha and Omega can only be found in the Hebrew script according to the Hebrew understanding. It is a beautiful truth that has been stripped from our bibles because mankind lacked understanding of its meaning. Where it is found and who it is referring to makes it an important truth to uncover.
The Hebrew word for Aleph Tav is (H853) and the first place this word appears is in the very first verse of scripture. Right next to God the Father we see this number. This is how it reads from the Interlinear bible:
Notice how (H853) appears right next to Elohim (God)? This brings even greater understanding to the book of John which tells us,
| Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
When we understand that in all eternity there has only been one time ever that the Father and the son experienced a separation, and it was for us. Indeed our sin came at a cost, not one we had to pay but one that was paid for us.
(Mat 27:46) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
When we consider this then we can have a greater understanding about why treading His blood underfoot has such a steep penalty. It is our sin that put Yahushah on the Cross and we need never forget it, nor excuse it by returning to the sin that caused his death to be necessary.
| Heb 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5) And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6) If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. |
We should never forget that the aim for believer’s is completion, we are called to be holy as He is holy. We are expected to remove the filthy garments of the flesh so that we can walk in the Spirit of God. Too great a price was paid for us, salvation is far from free, its just someone else had to pay the price for us to experience the freedom of it; just as a seed has to die in order for us to eat of its fruit.
The Word (H853) was removed 7,302 times.
When we look at the Ancient Hebrew Characters that make up the Aleph Tav we also see something.
We see that the Aleph (
) Tav () is the Strong Sign, or Strong Covenant. This brings such a great insight as we consider the many times scripture tells us that the word is a sign.
(Exo 13:16) And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
(Deu 6:8) And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
(Deu 11:18) Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
In Exodus 13:15 the children of Israel were instructed to keep the Passover as a sign. The blood of the spotless lamb would be a sign unto them. Just as that lamb’s blood was on the wood post upon the door of their homes, so also was our Lord Yahushah’s blood upon that piece of wood that was pushed into the ground.
In Deuteronomy what are they being instructed to bind as a sign upon their hands, and as frontlet’s between their eyes? The word, and again in chapter 11 it is His words that we are to lay up in our heart and in our soul, and bind them for a sign upon our hand and as frontlets between our eyes. The Aleph Tav, the word and our keeping of it in our hearts, and minds, sanctifying it in all we say, think, and do, is the sign which reflects who we belong to.
Now most of us would have no problem seeing how Yahushah fulfills the one coming on the cross as we celebrate and remember his sacrifice either as a Messianic or a Christian, but many don’t see how the Ox represents him. Remember Hebrew is not just symbols as is English but each character has a character, as well as has a numeric value. The numeric value of the Aleph is one as it is the first character of the Hebrew alphabet and the Tav is the last character of the Hebrew Alphabet, which should bring to mind this scripture.
| Rev_1:11 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. |
This in essence is a redundant statement because as Aleph and Tau are the first and last characters of the Hebrew alphabet so also is Alpha and Omega in the Greek. Although, we should know that as John was a Hebrew that he would have been speaking in Hebrew which would mean if written in Hebrew it would read I am Aleph and Tau, the first and the last. Yahushah came as the sign () of the covenant, but shall return as the strong ox () that shall rule with a rod of iron in his grand finale. Hence, the first will be last and the last was first.
We have completed the series on There’s Just Something About That Name. I know that with Yah there is always sooo very much to learn and I look forward to the new things He will teach me about himself and I look forward to sharing those new things with you. May YHWH bless every reader, May He make His face to shine upon every reader and give you Shalom (peace). In the Name that is above every name that is named the Great Deliverer whom Moses said we must hear, Yahushah (Jesus) Ha Maschiach (Christ).
All Ancient Hebrew Characters provided by Ancient Hebrew Research Center.
In his daysH3117 JudahH3063 shall be saved,H3467 and IsraelH3478 shall dwellH7931 safely:H983 and thisH2088 is his nameH8034 wherebyH834 he shall be called,H7121 THE LORDH3068 OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.H6664 (Jer 23:6)
The setting of this scripture and the proclamation that is being stated concerning what we will call YHWH is based on a future prophetic event. It is clear as you read the chapter because the events mentioned have not yet happened in biblical times, nor in our time. It is referencing a time when like the Prodigal Son the children of the Most High will return to Him. They will turn away from the pagan gods that they have served and be true only to him. As we have discovered there are ways that YHWH revealed himself to his people that in most cases were specific and unique to that individual. As we see in the case of Abraham who articulated his experience in God in a way that we don’t see evident in the lives of other followers. As we have pointed out in previous episodes that this is significant and prophetic. Likewise this prophecy clearly reveals that the people who will encounter this particular experience and call YHWH their righteousness will reach a pivotal point in their life where they will witness the hand of God move in a way that no other group in times past, could relate to. YHWH like in the time of Moses is going to do a new thing and as in the time he did so with Moses we choose which side of that new thing we will take part in. We can either be on YHWH’s side and witness the miracles from the land of the living, or we can be with those in the rebellion against God and find ourselves swallowed up in the pit of the earth. YHWH gives us opportunities to escape hell we would do well to take them.
This word righteousness in the ancient Hebrew is spelled:
Interesting thing is if you have e-sword and you look at this in the KJV+ version of scripture you won’t see all these characters. You have to look at it in the interlinear bible in order to see the full word here. Hebrew reads from right to left so the first character which is tsade (
) means “path” or “side” as it is the picture that looks like someone on their side, “straight, just, or right”. This character depicts one who walks in a straight path. The second character is dalet (
) which is the picture of a tent door and means to “enter or exit” or to “flow”. The third character is quph (
) this is the picture of either the back of one’s head or the sun on the horizon. The meaning of this character is sun, revolution, circle, and horizon. It can also mean time or condense. The fourth character is nun (
) which is a seed sprout which means continue, life, or seed as the life of anything starts from the seed. The fifth and final character is waw (
) this character is the picture of a nail peg and means to establish, secure, or add as all of these are functions of a nail. When we put the letters together we see that righteousness is when the straight path which enters and exits the horizon continues to establish or secure.
In my final episode of There’s Just Something About that Name we will look at the name that sums it up from A to Z, so to speak. We will look at the Aleph Tav which appears over 7,000 times in the Hebrew Scripture, yet not once in our English bible. We will discover the meaning of this hidden word and why it is the foundation for everything not hidden that we find in scripture concerning God. For the invisible things of God are clearly seen by the things which he has made, even his eternal Godhead. (Rom. 1:20) I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have been excited about sharing with you the things Yah has been showing me. More importantly I hope that you will begin exploring your own adventure studies and sharing it with others as Yah empowers you.
All Ancient Hebrew Characters made available by Jeff Benner @ http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/
In this episode we will discover more about the God who is there (Shammah). Isn’t it awesome to know that we don’t serve a God who is far off or who cannot identify with us, but rather we serve the God of the universe who loved us so much that he became one of us just so that he could save us from ourselves. When I think of YHWH’s great love for us it makes it easy to walk through what feels like land mines in my life. Especially when you feel as if you are one word away from losing it, it is the word of YHWH and his presence that makes enduring the challenges of life easy.
Let’s discuss the background behind where we see YHWH described as YHWH Shammah, which appears in the book of Ezekiel. Let me paint the picture for you, Ezekiel is describing the layout of the land that belongs to YHWH and how he will distribute that land to each tribe. As you read the layout and the dimensions of the property you see a vivid picture of the cross of Messiah with the altar of God being in the very center or heart of it. Much as where the heart of Christ would have been as he was positioned on that cross standing up into the ground. Only this time Ezekiel is not showing us our Savior being crucified, but rather reigning from his land in the midst of his people (the church).
There are over 200 references with both YHWH and Shammah appearing in the same scripture, however, only one standing out as connecting YHWH to being the God that is there. However, in the places that you do see them both appear many reference YHWH’s presence or name being in a specific place. This is very important for us as believers because that is where we want to be where God is. Remembering that like our father Abraham we are still seeking a city whose builder and maker is Yah. (Heb. 11:10) Where we are is not where he is taking us, but we should always be kingdom minded and kingdom representing wherever we are. Just as I don’t stop being an American just because I visit Italy, you don’t stop being a child of God just because you are not in the place where he will make his name to abide. We are pilgrims here and as long as we think that way we won’t get too caught up in what we have here. We won’t start digging wells and making claims but rather we will recognize that this is a temporary location that we inhabit on the way to something greater then where we are can take us.
The first scripture where we see the word Shammah used is in Genesis 2:8.
Gen_2:8 And the LORDH3068 GodH430 plantedH5193 a gardenH1588 eastwardH4480 H6924 in Eden;H5731 and thereH8033 he putH7760 (H853) the manH120 whomH834 he had formed.H3335
Indeed we see that YHWH declares the end from the beginning as it is stated in Isaiah 46:9-10. As we see in the beginning YHWH has planted Adam where he wanted him, we see in the end that YHWH will have the Last Adam exactly where he wants him. Since we know YHWH never had a bad idea we know that from where man originated in the beginning so shall he be in the end. Glory to YHWH king of glory! So we see in Ezekiel the following
Eze_48:35 It was round aboutH5439 eighteenH8083 H6240 thousandH505 measures: and the nameH8034 of the cityH5892 from that dayH4480 H3117 shall be, The LORDH3068 is there.H8033
I encourage you to read the entire forty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel, there are some amazing pictures foreshadowing Christ at the heart of his people depicting a landscape having the measurements which is in the shape of a Cross. No article can do justice to the Word of God, at best my greatest desire is to cause you to hunger to get what God has waiting for you there.
Now let’s look at the characters used here in Ezekiel 48 because the interesting thing here is that the Strong’s number H8033 is normally spelled with two characters but in this text it is spelled with three.
Courtesy of AHLB
The first character sheen (
) is the picture of two teeth and means to consume, or destroy as this is what we do when we eat. The second character is mem (
) which is the picture of water waves which refers to liquid of any kind and chaos. As the Hebrew people associated Noah’s flood with chaos. The final character is a hey (
) which is the picture of someone with their hands up looking as if they are beholding something greater than themselves. We see this when we praise or when someone surrenders. This character means to behold, to look, or to see. Now the AHLB provides an interesting definition for this term.
1473) ( ) ac: Breathe co: Breath ab: Desolate: The wind, or breath, of someone or something is its character.
Now this is the root meaning of the word however the specific meaning of the word used in Ezekiel 48 is:
Nm) ( ShM) – I. Breath: The breath of a man is his character, what makes one what he is. The name of an individual is more than an identifier but descriptive of his character or breath. II. There: Used to identify another place. [Hebrew and Aramaic] III. Sky: The place of the winds. [Hebrew and Aramaic; Only used in the masculine plural form, mims or nims in Aramaic] IV. Aroma: A sweet aroma that is carried on the wind or breath. [df: Mo] [freq. 1365] |kjv: name, renown, fame, famous, heaven, air, sweet, there| {str: 5561, 8033, 8034, 8036, 8064, 8065, 8536} AHLB
This definition reflects another illustrated picture of the Father and the Son being one. As Yahushah is the breath of God (word) made flesh, reflecting in human form the character of the Almighty we know that where he was, was where the kingdom was. Hence to have the breath of God in us is to have the character of God within us. This is why it was when Yah breathed into mankind he became a living soul. (Gen. 2:7) This being the most fitting place to see YHWH Shammah is where the description of the King in his Kingdom amongst those in whom the breath of life resides in them surrounding him would provide the most vivid picture of what the Kingdom of God is.
In the next episode we will look at YHWH Tsidkenu our Righteous God found in Jeremiah 23:6. How awesome it is to learn more and more about the King of Glory and to know that His breath resides within us.
In this episode we will discover the God of all peace. This is an encouraging revelation when we are faced with the constant assaults we are faced with during our day. We can take comfort that our peace cometh not from the world nor can it but comes from the God of peace, YHWH!
In the sixth chapter of the book of Judges we encounter Gideon who is threshing wheat near a winepress so that the Midianites don’t spot him. He and his people had been taken captive because of their idolatry and sin against Yah. In the midst of his chores he encounters an Angel of YHWH and after a miraculous event Gideon finally accepts that he has been entertaining an Angel of Yah and becomes afraid. The Angel comforts him by saying “peace unto thee.” Now in verse 24 we see that Gideon names the altar that was built wherein his offering to Yah was consumed was called YHWH Shalom. While this phrase only appears once in scripture the word Shalom appears in 208 verses a total of 236 times.
In the midst of captivity and finding yourself in bondage those words are more comforting then having a million bucks. Now the characters that make up this word are:
When we put the characters together it means to consume () the authority (
) that establishes () chaos () or as we consume () the authority () of the established () word () then we can be at peace. Remember, scripture teaches us that Yahushah said that he gives us peace not as the world gives it, but he gives it unto us. (John 14:27) Well John already told us that Yahushah is the word of God and therefore he was only reminding his disciples of what he told Gideon here in Judges. (John 1:14)
The Strong’s concordance has the following to say about this word:
From H7999; safe, that is, (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, that is, health, prosperity, peace: – X do, familiar, X fare, favour, + friend, X greet, (good) health, (X perfect, such as be at) peace (-able, -ably), prosper (-ity, -ous), rest, safe (-ly), salute, welfare, (X all is, be) well, X wholly.
How many reading this can use some Shalom in your home? How many would like to invite the presence of the Almighty into your space to bring forth wellness, safety, happiness, his friendship, health and wealth? In the next episode of There’s Something About that Name we are going to get into one of the major Prophet’s book Ezekiel and discover YHWH Shammah.
In this episode we will take a look at El Olam, the Everlasting God that Abraham called on in Genesis 21:33. There are five scriptures where the word God (H410) and Everlasting (H5769) appears in the same scripture and this encounter with Abraham is the only one where the two are put together as a name. So we see that the strong hand towards the established word equates to His everlasting presence.
Olam appears in a whopping 413 verses a total of 438 times. Now the word Olam itself means everlasting and will appear in your bible in the following ways:
| 269 times “ever” | 64 times “everlasting” | 26 times “old” |
| 22 times “perpetual” | 16 times “never” | 15 times “evermore” |
| 6 times “ancient” | 4 times “world” | 3 times “always” |
| 3 times “long” | 2 times “always” | 1 time “any” |
| 1 time “beginning” | 1 time “continuance” | 1 time “end” |
| 1 time “eternal” | 1 time “lasting” | 1 time “time” |
| 1 time “without” |
The one consistent theme regardless of which English word is used that stands out is the unending nature of God. This is an attribute of Yah’s presence that no other so called god of any other religion can claim. He is as faithful to his seed now as he was in the days of Elijah when the false idols that Israel were serving in “Baal” and “Asherah” were put to the test then. We also recognize that he will be here even after mortality puts on immortality which is a source of comfort to us as Believers to know that our loved one’s in Him have an everlasting home of perpetual rest when they are absent from us. (2 Cor. 5:6-8)
However, to narrow this list down let’s look at the particular words we are looking for which is “El Olam” and we do that by searching in Esword the two Hebrew numbers at the same time which is “H5769” and “H410”. Make sure that KJV+ is indicated in the field next to the search query. The order you put it in won’t matter since the query will look for its use together in any scripture regardless of order. Also make sure you add a space between the two numbers. If you have done this correctly this is what you will find.
Now as you look at the scriptures that come up notice that only one clearly identifies “everlasting” God. In 2 Sam. We see everlasting is describing the covenant, in Psalms 90 it is referencing God’s unending nature, in Psalms 136 it is referencing God’s mercy, and in Isa. 46 it is referencing remembering what He did.
This brings us to the second word we have studied so far that occurred once in scripture and Father Abraham was the one who had this specific encounter. The revelation I perceive the Father is showing us, by revealing Himself to Abraham in these unique ways is that Abraham is like a type of starting over. He is to Israel what Adam and Eve were to the world. Only with Abraham and Sarah do you see Yah starting this unique story that carries forth through the totality of scripture. He gives them a new name representing the new family that he is going to repopulate the earth with. No longer is Abraham identified with Adam, but instead with the Father. He gives them the promise that their seed would be compared to the stars in the sky and the sand of the earth, enumerable. He even brings forth seed from him in this unique way, when Sarah was past the years of childbearing meaning this thing he is going to do man couldn’t make it happen only Yah could do this.
We still serve the same God of wonders, what miraculous picture of God’s image is he painting in your life? What promise has He made to you that you are still waiting to see the fruition of? Is anything impossible for him? I think not for our God is eternal, everlasting, perpetual, without end.
Before we wrap up this episode let’s see what the Ancient Hebrew reveals to us about “Olam”. This is a four character word in Hebrew.
Characters courtesy of AHRC
As you know we read Hebrew from right to left and the first character is one of an eye. Which means “to see”, “to know”, “to watch”, all the things we do with our eye. The second character is a nail peg which means “to establish” to “secure” or “to add”. The third character is a shepherd’s staff marking “authority”, “shepherd” or “towards” as a shepherd leads the sheep with his staff towards a pasture. The last character is water waves which means “liquid” or “waves” as well as “chaos” as many Hebrews associated Noah’s flood with chaos on the land. When we put the characters together we see that knowledge establishes the Shepherd’s word (as soundwaves connects us to the word).
In the next episode of There’s Something About that Name we will explore YHWH Shalom the God of all true peace.
In this episode we will uncover the meaning behind a name used in a Psalm that has been treasured, made into a song, and has been memorized by thousands next to the Lord’s Prayer. The term appears throughout the text of scripture in 142 different verses.
In Psalm 23:1 YHWH reveals himself to us as our Shepherd, and though this term for Shepherd doesn’t first appear here, it is the first time that we see YHWH and Shepherd being directly stated. However, I would venture to say that a deeper understanding of what a shepherd does and who a shepherd is will be clearly revealed through the myriad of verses that uses the term.
There are two rules that I hope you see consistent in this series and number one is the significance of finding the original meaning of the words we are looking at so that we can ensure that we have a proper understanding of their meaning. The second would be the importance of understanding its meaning from its origin. In other words, looking at how the word was first used and understanding that we build from there as our foundation. The same reason we go back to the root of a word and as more is revealed we add to the original, not change the original. If we really understand that then we would see that YHWH operates in cycles, and that He doesn’t do away with a covenant as YHWH never has a bad idea that needs revamping, but because of His great love for us he adds addendum’s to the plan so that His goal of having us with Him becomes more attainable. He never lost sight of His original plan which is to have a people after His own image and likeness. Our failure has consequences, thus Adam who had one rule, that when broken, led to Moses having six hundred thirteen more instructions.
Why more instructions? Because the goal is so that we being unholy might have a means by which we can draw near to a Holy God. This means He sanctifies us through His word so we can get the filth of the world off of us and draw near without drawing our last breath. Just as one could never expect to get clean by rejecting water, one should never expect to receive life by rejecting the water of life, Yahushah. Thus without Yahushah you can’t come to the father. Hence, He is our Passover Lamb, not our Easter bunny, Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy, and his love has nothing to do with a Valentine. Coming to the Father by any means other than the one He made available results in strange fire and one need only to study Nadab and Abihu to understand the severity of coming without the Word to the altar of Yah. (Lev. 10) There is only one way to the Father, not my way or your way, but His way and either we respect the rules of the Father’s House or we won’t be allowed in it.
I know it seems like I have digressed far from the topic, but I really haven’t. As our topic is about YHWH our Shepherd. If we understand that a Shepherd functions as one who has a responsibility to care for something of great value, then we realize that following someone means that both parties have a role in the relationship. Sheep are expected to follow as Shepherds are expected to lead. If anyone on either side of that partnership fails to fulfill their role then there will be loss.
Let’s look at the first place we see this word used, and in order to do that we must peel back the first layer that we always consider when tackling words and that is searching the bible using the Strong’s word. The Strong’s number is H7462 for Ra’ah. Why do we look it up by the Strong’s number rather than the word itself? Glad you asked, well one Strong’s word can be translated many different ways in English and so you can never get a true or accurate word count by searching the English word in your bible. The most thorough and efficient method of bible study will require that you have computerized bible software. While you can do it without one, by using textbooks like a Strong’s concordance, it will take you much longer than just doing this:
This tool is the most important reason why everyone who loves the Word of God and is serious about leading others to the fountain of living waters should have a PC. This print screen is of E-sword a powerful tool for your PC that has thousands of dollars worth of information available for FREE!! If you get the Awakened Church version not only will they send you a disk but it will be loaded with all sorts of tools including dictionaries like the (AHLB), bible versions, timelines, pictures, encyclopedias and more. However, this program is not Mac compatible.
It’s impossible to follow the Shepherd if you don’t know what he said, no more than someone who speaks no English is likely to understand your instructions. They don’t even charge for postage but I would highly encourage you to donate money to them they are serious about getting the word out to as many people as possible.
I was only able to show you a sample of the search as my screen wasn’t large enough to contain the entire list, but I wanted you to notice that when you look it up by the Strong’s number you will see that the same number produced different words other than Shepherd. Which is why it is important that you look up words in the bible based on the original word used (Strong’s number) not by the word translated. This is how you do a word study when you study according to the Strong’s number rather than the English translation.
The first verse that this Strong’s number appears in is Genesis 4:2:
Notice that our word appears as “keeper” not “Shepherd”. So in digging deeper let’s look in context of the subject at hand. Extracting all the information Yah is revealing to us because as scripture makes clear in the volume of the book it is written of Him. (Psa. 40:7) So we see that Yah uses Abel as an example of one who is a Shepherd, and he tells you that he keeps sheep. How does this apply to Yahushah? He too reveals to us in the Gospel that He is the Good shepherd. (John 10) As we look more into the story of Abel we also find that He was murdered by His brother Cain for being one who offered the Father the acceptable sacrifice. (Gen. 4:8) What do we see in the life of Yahushah? He was murdered as the acceptable sacrifice. (John 15:25; John 1:29)
It is important to understand that we don’t serve God on our terms, but on His. Remembering that Cain did give God an offering, but God had no respect for his offering. Yahushah warns us in Matthew 7 of offerings that those who will say “Lord, Lord” will give to him, yet he will have no respect towards their offering, He will say He never knew them, why? Because they were lawless, meaning like Cain they offered God what they wanted, not what he asked for, and as he said to King Saul he says to all “to obey is better than to sacrifice”. (1 Sam. 15:22)
The Shepherd is only responsible for His sheep. No shepherd is required to keep any sheep other than those that belong to Him. This is very important because as we stated earlier the Shepherd/Sheep relationship is based on mutual acceptance. A sheep that doesn’t want to be kept has the ability to leave. The Shepherd goes after His, He is coming back to get His, and like David to take out the wolves, bears, lions, and Goliath’s that make merchandise of His sheep.
There are several verses that I would like for us to look at so that we can see continuity of use of this particular term. This will not be an exhaustive look, as you have been provided the tools to do that on your own, but it will give you food for thought to help aid you in your study if you so choose to learn more about the role of a shepherd. For obvious reasons sheep should be familiar with the Shepherd’s voice and I can’t think of a better way of becoming familiar with the Shepherd’s voice then by reading and understanding the word pictures provided to us in His word. Let’s look at a few people who were shepherds in scripture. We have already looked at Abel, and the next shepherd we see is Abraham. (Gen. 13) We see that both Abraham and Lot were shepherd’s and they delegated their herd to herdsmen. This reveals something important for us to understand, being responsible for something doesn’t often mean that you are directly involved in the ends and outs of that entity, but rather you ensure that you place responsible people over your flock. In the New Covenant writings it would translate to us in this way, “know those who labor amongst you” (1 Thess. 5:12)
The Path of Peace, I think it is important that we notice something here that would become a pattern concerning Abraham and His righteous seed. Notice, that when it came to him fighting with his nephew Lot, he would rather defer and separate then cause strife and contention. Abraham wasn’t caught up in stuff that is something serious to consider. Loving and shepherding someone doesn’t necessarily mean that you keep reigns on them to make them stay with you, but rather that you protect and always lead them in the way they should go. Simplifying the role of a Shepherd would be that his responsibility is to protect the sheep from danger and to lead them to food and water. If you know that you are unable to successfully do that than your responsibility as a Shepherd is to delegate it to someone who can, because your job is to do what is in the best interest of your sheep, not yourself. Thus the Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, as a husband is called to lay down his life for his wife and children. It’s an awesome responsibility that is not based on what you can get out of the relationship but rather what you should give.
As we read however, we will find that women were also responsible for being Shepherds. We see that Rachel also kept her father’s sheep. Scripture teach us that in Yah there is neither male nor female. (Gal. 3:28) When the Father gives you authority to do something then you can do it, because he enables you to do it. In many cases families only have daughters and no sons and especially in those cases it becomes necessary for women to step in.
If you are not aware of the story of Joseph then this would be a good time to read it before proceeding. For the sake of keeping it brief there will be a lot of details I am going to assume you already know as we zoom in on the relevant part of this story to understanding “Ra’ah”. Joseph is the favored son of Israel, who is not embraced by his brothers. What we do see concerning a shepherd is Yah reveals to us in this instance as well as with David who was tending his father’s sheep that the shepherd is the one who is sent by the Father. To further emphasize the spiritual picture Yah chooses for the author to reveal the spiritual name given to Jacob (Israel) rather than his given name by flesh “Jacob”. Yahushah sums it up this way:
| Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (Joh 10:7-18) |
In this passage we see that Yahushah connects being the shepherd to being the door of the sheep. A door has a twofold purpose, it is a line of defense against predators, and a source of security for the prey. As a walled fortress to a city provides a source of comfort to its inhabitants so also does the word of God provide comfort to us, as a wall of life that provides life to those within it. We also see here the characteristics of a good shepherd versus those of a hireling (bad shepherd). A good shepherd, like David, like Yahushah, lays down their life for the sheep. As the sheep knows the shepherd’s voice so also does the Shepherd know those that are his.
In the case of Joseph he was sent by the Father to check on his brother’s who were instructed by their father to shepherd the sheep. However, as we see how they treated Joseph we can gather that they painted the picture of the hireling rather than the shepherd. Rather than care for the sheep (Joseph) they led him into a pit. (Gen. 37)
Defining terms Hebraically make it much easier to discern whether or not you are dealing with shepherds or hirelings, because a shepherd from a Hebraic point of view is based on what they do, not what they know or what degrees they have behind their name. Your name is based on your ability to keep your word, and your name will not be greater than your word. If your word is worthless your name is worthless. That is Hebrew thinking.
That stated now let’s look at the Hebrew word that makes up shepherd.
Ancient Hebrew Font courtesy of AHRC
The first character 
is the picture of a man’s head and has the meaning “Chief”, “leader”, “head” as all describe the position and authority given to Adam (mankind) from the Creator. The second character 
is the picture of an eye and carries the meaning “to see”, or “to know”. The last character 
means to “behold”, “to reveal”, or to “Look”. When we put pictures together we see the Shepherd represent the revelation of the man that is watching. We know YHWH is the One who watches us and there is nothing hidden from his sight. Therefore Yahushah represents the best example of what being a shepherd means.
Finally, we receive a foreshadow of the work and position of a Shepherd when we go to the Creation week and review the choice Yah used to focus on, on the day he created mankind, the ox and the lamb. Both of these animals represent the work of a servant and like David the ox represents a strong servant able to conquer lion and bear to protect his Master’s sheep. Then there is the lamb which represents the selfless sacrifice that would give his life to protect His Father’s sheep. Though David was a fierce warrior as it related to the enemy of God’s people he was also a compassionate and loving King that won the heart of His people. We see this same spirit demonstrated in Messiah Yahushah. The greatest example of a Good Shepherd has been walked out before us and is the Example the Father has given to us in His Son, Yahushah.
Next episode we will uncover YHWH of Host, the God who when Isaiah met him became speechless before him. YHWH is indeed worthy of hearing Holy, Holy, Holy, as HE alone is God Almighty.
There’s something about that Name – YHWH Rapha
In this episode we will look at YHWH our healer which appears in Exodus 15:26. After undergoing a fourteen year journey to health restoration this aspect of YHWH’s character continues to be one of the most vivid ways that He shows up in my life. While divine health is best and that is what I strive to obtain, experiencing YHWH as healer is an awesome reminder of who I must put my trust in because He has never failed me.
The root word for Rapha is RP (pr) which is the picture of the head of a man and also the picture of an open mouth put together it means “man open”. At first glance, I understood how this could relate to a wound, it is something that should be closed which is open, hence an open wound. Jeff Benner’s Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible reveals this concerning the root meaning of this word:
1454) (
) ac: Heal co: Medicine ab: Sick: The pictograph r is a picture of the head of a man, the p is a picture of an open mouth. Combined these mean “man open”. Wounds, sickness and illnesses are cured with medicines made from plant materials which were pulverized into a medicinal power. AHLB
This is the root meaning for the word Rapha which means Heal. Now as I begin to look further into the word I was reminded of a scripture in Psalms 40 that gives us a hint for understanding scripture in the context in which it is written.
Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, (Psa 40:7)
How do these two characters reflect the revelation of what our Saviour Yahushah did for us? It is clear as we read the prophet Isaiah who received amazing prophetic insight into what Yahushah would come and do.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isa 53:4-5)
As a plant that is crushed and bruised as a means of remedy for our sickness, all typifying and pointing to the work Yahushah did on the cross they stand even to this day as a reminder of Him. It is by His bruising and from His wounds that we are healed. All of this just from two characters that make up the root of this word, however, the completion of this word requires us to look at one more character.
Now we have already stated that the first two characters () and (
) means “man open” we see that the word that stands for “cure”, “heal”, “physician” ends with (a) a character that means “strength” or “first”. This reminding me of one of the old hymnal’s which beautifully reflects the meaning of this word, “Power in the Blood”. For indeed there is power in the blood of Yahushah and most definitely that power includes that of healing as Isaiah 53 pointed out to us.
The strong’s number for is H7495 and this word appears 68 times in 63 verses in the Old Covenant writings. This word appears twice in Genesis however, the context doesn’t specify that YHWH is the Healer until we see Him revealed as such to the children of Israel through the prophet Moses in Exodus 15:26. It is clear that YHWH healed Abimelech in the first occurrence of the term, however, it is specifically stated in Exodus 15 that he is identifying himself to the children of Israel as YHWH that healeth thee. Yet, even in that context Abimelech was only able to receive the benefit of YHWH’s nature as Healer through the intercession of Abraham. Hence, the prayers of the righteous availeth MUCH!! (1 Peter 3:12; James 5:16) Abimelech would be able to say amen to that. While we see in Exodus it is plainly stated who will heal us, Isaiah 53 reveals descriptively who it is that will do so. We of course, as stated earlier know this is a prophecy concerning Yahushah who like a plant that is crushed to produce medicine for us was fulfilled in our loving Savior Yahushah, who died for us, that we might have life. Once again proving the medicine of the word is healing balm indeed.
Next time in There’s Something About that Name we will uncover the meaning behind YHWH Nissi, our banner of victory.
All Ancient Hebrew fonts are the works of AHRC
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