Bereshith/Genesis 1:1-6:8

Did you know that every Scriptural doctrine can be found within the Hebrew words of the first four chapters of Bereshith?  

The cyclical wheel is ready to begin a new rotation. As a wheel rotates round and round, so does our study of Torah.

Bereshith begins with seven Hebrew words that translate – In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth:

Genesis (Bereshith) 1:1 בראשׁית ברא אלהים את השׁמים ואת הארץ׃   

Here is the transliteration of it into more readable Hebrew using English script:

Genesis 1:1  Bereshit bara Elohim  (ALEPH TAV) hashamyim  (ALEPH TAV) ha’aretz

Which in turn translates into the English: 

In beginning, created God (ALEPH TAV) the heavens and (ALEPH TAV) the earth.”

The Aleph Tav is not seen in your English translations, which has led many people astray. You see, it is the Aleph Tav that created the heavens and the earth. And who else calls Himself the Aleph Tav?

Revelation 1:8 Rev 1:8 “I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’, Beginning and End,” says יהוה “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 21:6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts I shall give of the fountain of the water of life without payment.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. 2 He was in the beginning with Elohim. 3 All came to be through Him,a and without Him not even one came to be that came to be.

After seven perfect words that begin Bereshith (Genesis), we now follow up with seven words of disaster:

Genesis 1:2 והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשׁך על־פני תהום

Genesis 1:2 Gen 1:2 And the earth came to bea formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep.

Something has happened to the earth.  This seems to be the result of Lucifer being cast down to earth in judgment:

Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of Elohim; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. ¹⁴ “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of Elohim; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. ¹⁵ You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. ¹⁶ “By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of Elohim; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. ¹⁷ “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground…

Isaiah 45:18 tells us that Yehovah did not create the earth “empty”:

Isaiah 45:18 For thus said יהוה, Creator of the heavens, He is Elohim, Former of earth and its Maker, He established it, He did not create it to be empty, He formed it to be inhabited: “I am יהוה, and there is none else.

Thus as we continue on in Bereshith, we will begin to read of the Creator bringing order back into the world.  The Spirit of Elohim will first begin to move across the face of the waters as the renewal begins:

Genesis 1:2 ורוח אלהים מרחפת על־פני המים׃

Genesis 1:2 And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters.

Psalm 104:30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.

The first thing Elohim does is cleanse the waters so that they in turn can cleanse the rest of the creation.  From here on after, water becomes an important element for cleansing in judgment, purification, and salvation.  So what the Torah has given us starting in Genesis 1:1 is:

• Seven Hebrew words of perfection
• Seven Hebrew words of chaos
• Five Hebrew words of redemption

We come to the very first words spoken by the Almighty:

Bereshith 1:3 Then Elohim said, “Let there be light“; and there was light.

Both Psalm 36 and John 1 make the connection between “life” and “light”:

Psalm 36:9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

We have gone from darkness to light.  When the entire world was in darkness….just one authoritative statement by the Almighty and the whole world lit up!  We know this to be a powerful, spiritual light since the sun, moon, and the stars were not put in place until the 4^th day of creation.  In just one statement, our Creator can send forth His Word and there can be a great light:

2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the Elohim who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Elohim in the face of Yeshua the Messiah.

The idea of light shining independently of the sun, appears to us again at the end of Revelation. 

Revelation 22:5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for Adonai Elohim gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

This is also prophesied in Isaiah. 

Isaiah 60:18 “Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor ruin within your borders. And you shall call your walls Deliverance, and your gates Praise. 19 “No longer is the sun your light by day, nor does the moon give light to you for brightness, but יהוה shall be to you an everlasting light, and your Elohim your comeliness. 20 “No longer does your sun go down, nor your moon withdraw itself, for יהוה shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.

Let’s jump ahead to the fourth day of creation:

Bereshith 1:14 Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ “and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ Then Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. ¹⁷ Elohim set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good. ¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The etymology of the word “sign” (ot) means “to communicate something”.  The Sabbath is called a “sign” (ot):

Shemot/Exodus 31:13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am יהוה who sanctifies you.

Quite simply, the Creator has given us a way of marking time HIS way.  Man has come up with other calendars, but with the knowledge that He has given us in His Word, we can figure out the seasons (moedim).  Seasons are “set feast times” or “appointments” with our Creator:

Vayikra/Leviticus 23:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of יהוה , which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.

Therefore, the sun and the moon become reminders and the source of the signals that will determine the dates that יהוה has chosen to meet with us. 

Let’s move ahead to the creation of man:

Bereshith 1:27 So Elohim created man in His own image; in the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them. 

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — ² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us —

The creation week is brought to completion with the 7^th day.  This day is unique from the other six days.  No creative work occurred on this day.  It is the only day blessed and set apart.  It is significant that the first use of holiness relates to time.  This blessing belongs to no other day:

Bereshith 2:2 And on the seventh day Elohim ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which Elohim had created and made.

Later what we find is that the Sabbath will become a distinctively Israelite ordinance, a sign of the eternal covenant between יהוה and Israel. 

So… it becomes very important for you to determine “who” Israel is, since the Sabbath has been given to Israel:

Shemot 31:13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am hwhy who sanctifies you. ¹⁴ ‘You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you….¹⁶ ‘Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.   

The Sabbath is also a part of the Ten Commandments, given specifically to a people brought out of Egypt:

Shemot/Exodus 20:1 And Elohim spoke all these words, saying: ² ” I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage…. ⁸ ” Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

We have already discussed the appointed feasts, dictated by the phases of the moon, when יהוה has chosen to meet with us.  Also, the Hebrew days, months, and years are all determined by the phases of the moon and the movement of the sun.  But the 7^th day Sabbath stands alone.  It is entirely independent of the movement of celestial bodies, as we simply continually count to seven.  It is unparalleled, as a day that is a sign between the Almighty Creator and His chosen.  It is the Sabbath that is credited with being that which preserved the Jews as a people while in exile, whereas the other tribes all lost their Israelite identity when they assimilated into the nations.  

Let’s change directions and find the first verse in the Bible where the term יהוה Elohim occurs:

Bereshith 2:4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that יהוה Elohim made the earth and the heavens,

What is the meaning of YHWH? (Some people use “V”. Others use “U”. And others use “W”. We do not want to initiate arguments over which is correct. I will use “W” since I’m quoting from TS2009 – The Scriptures and that is what they use.)

   h  w  h  y

• Yud (y)  – hand – symbolizes power and strength:
• Hey  (h)– to reveal, grace.  There are two hey’s in the Almighty’s Name.  Grace is revealed the first time in the form of salvation (e.g. Noah received grace), and the second time in the form of restoration.  We can also parallel this with the first and second comings of Yeshua.
• Vav  (w)– nail

So how does the name of Yeshua fit into all this?  How do we reconcile these verses?

Philippians 2:9 Therefore Yah also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Adonai, to the glory of Yah the Father.

In these Philippians verses, Paul is quoting from Isaiah.  Notice that in Isaiah it is YHWH who alone is to be bowed down to in worship and confession.  But Paul applies this statement directly to Yeshua.  Therefore the implication is clear.  Yeshua is the Messiah, and He is יהוה !

Isaiah 45:21 …. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, יהוה ? And there is no other Elohim besides Me, A just El and a Messiah; There is none besides Me. ²² “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am Elohim, and there is no other. ²³ I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath.

Keep studying Torah. You will learn more with each revolution of the wheel!

Shabbat Shalom,

Henry Mate

(Beyth Shalom Torah Ministry)