PARASHAH: “B’reisheet” (In the Beginning)
GENESIS 1:1-6:8
During Simchat Torah, we begin in Genesis…But…Some have the tradition of reading the last few verses of Deuteronomy, (34:10-12) “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moshe……..and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moshe shewed in the sight of all Israel.”
Interesting that the very last word in Deuteronomy is “Israel”. We read verses 10 through 12 and in the same breath, continue with Genesis 1:1. Meaning that the Torah is a continuous book, like a circle.
One of my Bible professors at Liberty Unversity told us a funny story. He asked us "Did you know that God created the Heavens and the earth right in the middle of a baseball game?" We all answered, "No, but tell us more." He continued and he said; "It's right at the start of Genesis. It says, "in the BIG INNING, God created the Heavens and the earth, you see, they played baseball even back then." (yeah, play on words, cool!)
The very first line in Genesis, the very first line in the Torah has so much meaning; “B’reisheet bara Elohim ET haShamayim v’et haAretz”(the first 7 words) (In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth). One thing to point out, in many English Bibles, the word “heaven” is singular and should be “heavens” (plural), because in Hebrew, “HaShamayim” is “heavens”. Also, in the words; “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” (In the beginning, Elohim created) we find the mixed letters that spell out “Israel” also. So, the Torah begins with “Israel” and ends with “Israel”. If we look at the Hebrew letters that spell out “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” we find “Israel” how? Well let’s see;… Beit, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yod, Tav……Beit, Resh, Aleph…..Aleph, Lamed, Hey, Yod, Mem sofit. Then we pick out the letters that form “Israel” Yod, Shin, Resh, Aleph, Lamed. What can this tell us? That from the “Beginning” Elohim had Israel in mind! This is just one way one could look at this.
Another aspect we can look at is the letter “Alef” which in Hebrew, has no sound by itself, yet takes the sound of whatever vowel that is placed below it. Within the first 7 words, there are 6 Alefs, When one spells out “Alef” in Hebrew, we get “Alef, Lamed, and Peh” (A L P) these three letters together also mean “One Thousand” (pronounced “elef”). Many rabbis believe that the symbolism of these 6 Alefs in the first 7 words, is “6 thousand years for mankind living on the earth” followed by another “thousand” (7 thousand years) which would be the Millennial reign of Messiah, then the number “8” (the eighth day of Sukkot) which could be the beginning of the “New Heavens and the New Earth ” (of course, this is just a possibility). Another thing is that
Within the first 7 words, we find the word “Emet” (Truth) “Alef, Mem, and Tav” and this is one of the titles of Yeshua, who is the “Way” the “TRUTH” and the “Life”. He is also the “Living Word” (See John 1:1) so we see Yeshua even in Genesis 1:1
“7” is the perfect number of YHVH. If we take the seven words, and take the middle word “ET” and take this word “ET” and draw a vertical line from it, we can make a “Menorah” three lines from the middle line connected to “ET” to the other words in this first verse. The word “ET” has not a literal translation, yet it points to a specific object which is very important. “ET” in the ancient Hebrew letters are the “Alef and the Tav” or in Greek, the “Alpha and Omega”
Or…. the “God of the Covenant”. So, every time we see “ET” in the original Hebrew, we are reminded of “YHVH, the God of the Covenant”
Why does the Bible start with the letter “Beit” or “B”? why not with “Alef” or “A”. Isn’t the “Alef” the symbol for “God”? There is a story about the letters “Alef” and “Beit” who are having an argument as to who would be first. They both came to Elohim and presented their case. Elohim-YHVH said, “Alef”, you are very important as you represent who I AM. You will be the third letter in the Bible because “3” symbolizes “Elohim” because we are united as Father, Son, and Spirit, three entities in one “Echad” being.
“As for you, letter “Beit” you will be first because you symbolize the “house” which I will make for mankind, for the plants, trees, and flowers, and for all the beasts which I will create. This house will be called “earth”. This perfect planet will be a “B’rakhah” a “Blessing” to my creation, therefore, the Torah must start with “B”
Also, the letter “Beit” is closed on three sides, yet open on one, the left side. This means that before the “beginning” there was nothing, only Elohim, and revelation starts with “B” going towards the “left” as the Hebrew is written.”
So, therefore, the Alef and the Beit left, both satisfied with the verdict from Elohim-YHVH. We also see in the first line, the creation of the three basic elements of the universe; “space” (the heavens) “time” (in the beginning), and “matter” (the earth). We have an infinite God that comes out of infinity past and speaks and creates a finite earth and creates matter. The first law of Thermodynamics states that; “All matter has been created and that there is no more matter being created” what we do see is that “matter changes states” (from liquid to solid, = water to ice) or from liquid to gas = water vapor.
We can also see today the effects of the “2nd law of thermodynamics, which shows that everything in the material world is on a downward spiral, from order to disorder, from composition to decomposition, from perfection to imperfection, why? Because of sin! The wages of sin is death, and therefore, not only in the world of the living but also, in the material world, everything is “dying”
Elohim looked upon the earth he was forming, which was then, a lot of water and earth elements, and then spoke in verse 3 saying; “Haya haOr” (let there be light) “V’yahi or” (and there was light). And Elohim saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness” (vs 4) There are 4 levels of Torah understanding which are “Peshat” (literal), “Derash” (moral and spiritual), “Remez” (Symbolic), and “Sod” (hidden), (this is when we use gematria, or numbers with math to come to different revelations, mind you this is NOT numerology!)
There was the physical light, the light we can see, and also, the WORD of God which is looked upon as “light” YESHUA also is referred to as the “Light of the World” light is also “sinless perfection” and the “darkness” is also the physical darkness, which is needed, for us to rest at night so that the flowers can close up and sleep. I can also refer to the “spiritual darkness” which is “evil” or “sin”. SO… there is a separation between what is holy and what is not holy, between sin and perfection, between evil and good. Between our “daylight” and our “nighttime” (taking it literally).
Now, if I were going to study every verse, this first parashah would be perhaps ten pages long, so, we are going to jump a bit. Elohim created all that this earth contains in 6 literal days, of 24-hour periods. Now, there are some SSs (silly scientists) that say, “the six days are considered a period of four billion years!” really? seriously? Well, if we look at verse 12 it says that Elohim created the plants, trees, grass, etc, then in verse 14, it says that Elohim created the lights in the heavens, which include the sun, moon, and the stars. Well, if each “day” consisted of, let’s say 600,000,000 years, then, how would the plants and trees, and life itself survive without sunlight for this amount of time?
GENESIS 1:1-6:8
During Simchat Torah, we begin in Genesis…But…Some have the tradition of reading the last few verses of Deuteronomy, (34:10-12) “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moshe……..and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moshe shewed in the sight of all Israel.”
Interesting that the very last word in Deuteronomy is “Israel”. We read verses 10 through 12 and in the same breath, continue with Genesis 1:1. Meaning that the Torah is a continuous book, like a circle.
One of my Bible professors at Liberty Unversity told us a funny story. He asked us "Did you know that God created the Heavens and the earth right in the middle of a baseball game?" We all answered, "No, but tell us more." He continued and he said; "It's right at the start of Genesis. It says, "in the BIG INNING, God created the Heavens and the earth, you see, they played baseball even back then." (yeah, play on words, cool!)
The very first line in Genesis, the very first line in the Torah has so much meaning; “B’reisheet bara Elohim ET haShamayim v’et haAretz”(the first 7 words) (In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth). One thing to point out, in many English Bibles, the word “heaven” is singular and should be “heavens” (plural), because in Hebrew, “HaShamayim” is “heavens”. Also, in the words; “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” (In the beginning, Elohim created) we find the mixed letters that spell out “Israel” also. So, the Torah begins with “Israel” and ends with “Israel”. If we look at the Hebrew letters that spell out “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” we find “Israel” how? Well let’s see;… Beit, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yod, Tav……Beit, Resh, Aleph…..Aleph, Lamed, Hey, Yod, Mem sofit. Then we pick out the letters that form “Israel” Yod, Shin, Resh, Aleph, Lamed. What can this tell us? That from the “Beginning” Elohim had Israel in mind! This is just one way one could look at this.
Another aspect we can look at is the letter “Alef” which in Hebrew, has no sound by itself, yet takes the sound of whatever vowel that is placed below it. Within the first 7 words, there are 6 Alefs, When one spells out “Alef” in Hebrew, we get “Alef, Lamed, and Peh” (A L P) these three letters together also mean “One Thousand” (pronounced “elef”). Many rabbis believe that the symbolism of these 6 Alefs in the first 7 words, is “6 thousand years for mankind living on the earth” followed by another “thousand” (7 thousand years) which would be the Millennial reign of Messiah, then the number “8” (the eighth day of Sukkot) which could be the beginning of the “New Heavens and the New Earth ” (of course, this is just a possibility). Another thing is that
Within the first 7 words, we find the word “Emet” (Truth) “Alef, Mem, and Tav” and this is one of the titles of Yeshua, who is the “Way” the “TRUTH” and the “Life”. He is also the “Living Word” (See John 1:1) so we see Yeshua even in Genesis 1:1
“7” is the perfect number of YHVH. If we take the seven words, and take the middle word “ET” and take this word “ET” and draw a vertical line from it, we can make a “Menorah” three lines from the middle line connected to “ET” to the other words in this first verse. The word “ET” has not a literal translation, yet it points to a specific object which is very important. “ET” in the ancient Hebrew letters are the “Alef and the Tav” or in Greek, the “Alpha and Omega”
Or…. the “God of the Covenant”. So, every time we see “ET” in the original Hebrew, we are reminded of “YHVH, the God of the Covenant”
Why does the Bible start with the letter “Beit” or “B”? why not with “Alef” or “A”. Isn’t the “Alef” the symbol for “God”? There is a story about the letters “Alef” and “Beit” who are having an argument as to who would be first. They both came to Elohim and presented their case. Elohim-YHVH said, “Alef”, you are very important as you represent who I AM. You will be the third letter in the Bible because “3” symbolizes “Elohim” because we are united as Father, Son, and Spirit, three entities in one “Echad” being.
“As for you, letter “Beit” you will be first because you symbolize the “house” which I will make for mankind, for the plants, trees, and flowers, and for all the beasts which I will create. This house will be called “earth”. This perfect planet will be a “B’rakhah” a “Blessing” to my creation, therefore, the Torah must start with “B”
Also, the letter “Beit” is closed on three sides, yet open on one, the left side. This means that before the “beginning” there was nothing, only Elohim, and revelation starts with “B” going towards the “left” as the Hebrew is written.”
So, therefore, the Alef and the Beit left, both satisfied with the verdict from Elohim-YHVH. We also see in the first line, the creation of the three basic elements of the universe; “space” (the heavens) “time” (in the beginning), and “matter” (the earth). We have an infinite God that comes out of infinity past and speaks and creates a finite earth and creates matter. The first law of Thermodynamics states that; “All matter has been created and that there is no more matter being created” what we do see is that “matter changes states” (from liquid to solid, = water to ice) or from liquid to gas = water vapor.
We can also see today the effects of the “2nd law of thermodynamics, which shows that everything in the material world is on a downward spiral, from order to disorder, from composition to decomposition, from perfection to imperfection, why? Because of sin! The wages of sin is death, and therefore, not only in the world of the living but also, in the material world, everything is “dying”
Elohim looked upon the earth he was forming, which was then, a lot of water and earth elements, and then spoke in verse 3 saying; “Haya haOr” (let there be light) “V’yahi or” (and there was light). And Elohim saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness” (vs 4) There are 4 levels of Torah understanding which are “Peshat” (literal), “Derash” (moral and spiritual), “Remez” (Symbolic), and “Sod” (hidden), (this is when we use gematria, or numbers with math to come to different revelations, mind you this is NOT numerology!)
There was the physical light, the light we can see, and also, the WORD of God which is looked upon as “light” YESHUA also is referred to as the “Light of the World” light is also “sinless perfection” and the “darkness” is also the physical darkness, which is needed, for us to rest at night so that the flowers can close up and sleep. I can also refer to the “spiritual darkness” which is “evil” or “sin”. SO… there is a separation between what is holy and what is not holy, between sin and perfection, between evil and good. Between our “daylight” and our “nighttime” (taking it literally).
Now, if I were going to study every verse, this first parashah would be perhaps ten pages long, so, we are going to jump a bit. Elohim created all that this earth contains in 6 literal days, of 24-hour periods. Now, there are some SSs (silly scientists) that say, “the six days are considered a period of four billion years!” really? seriously? Well, if we look at verse 12 it says that Elohim created the plants, trees, grass, etc, then in verse 14, it says that Elohim created the lights in the heavens, which include the sun, moon, and the stars. Well, if each “day” consisted of, let’s say 600,000,000 years, then, how would the plants and trees, and life itself survive without sunlight for this amount of time?
