Of Swords and Nails 6-9-2011

Learning Hebrew is like learning to read the road signs on the path of life. I have been trying to learn it in my spare time, on my own. The little bit that I have learned throws open windows of heavenly light on the path God/Elohim has chosen for me.

Not long ago we were talking about covenants in Sunday School. The covenant of Noah was blown off as a covenant of Judgement. That is not what I remember about the Noach Covenant but it had been so long since I had looked at it that I made the wise decision to hold my tongue until I had a chance to look at it with fresh eyes. There are times when Elohim draws me to his Word in curiosity about one subject than takes me in a direction I did not expect, much to my delight. This has been the case again and again with Genesis 9:12

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations." RSV

At times I get a sense that Hebrew is difficult to translate. It seems like a simple enough language, but I need to remind myself that I am hardly out of preschool when it comes to Hebrew. Sometimes I worry that the translator was anti-Semitic. Some things make no sense when looking at the little bit of Hebrew I am learning next to the English that I know fairly well. With my preschool education in Hebrew it could be that I am too stuck on the word pictures that the letters make. I'm just saying I could easily be all wet here (no flood pun intended)

"This is the sign" I went to Genesis 9:12 to reexamine an old word study of the word covenant. I did not get that far. I stopped hard at the word translated "this," z'ot. The 2nd part of this word "ot" is made from the letters translated "alpha and omega" in The Revelation 1:8, 21:6 and 13. Hebrew letters are not just simple symbols that represent sound. Each letter tells a story that contributes to the word they build. Alpha and Omega would be the alaph and the tav in Hebrew. The mighty God (alaph) and the sign (the cross-tav). Alaph and tav are the first letter of Hebrew and the last letter (the first and the last, the beginning and the end). 'ot is all through the book of Genesis even though it is not translated into English.

Zayin is the 7th letter of Hebrew. We use the letter Z to translate the letter zayin. Zayin represents a sword. Much to my amazement "z'ot" seems to be a picture of the sword of the God of the Cross or what we might know as the sword of the Spirit. Could it be that the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17, Hebrews 4:12, Rev. 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15, 21) which is the Word of God, is the "this" of Genesis 9:12?

Then there is the word translated "sign" or "token" from the Hebrew "'owt". 'Owt is another word that seems to have given the English translators trouble. It shows up in Genesis 1:1 translated "and" (heaven and earth). Again the basic word 'ot which is God of the Cross" is used with the added letter, vav. Vav represents a hook or a nail that connects two ideas or items. This is why it is often translated "and". But when added to 'ot it communicates a connection, a hook, between heaven and earth. It is not wrong to say that 'owt communicates "God nailed to the cross"

I am looking at Genesis with awe! The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, by the mighty God nailed to the cross, is symbolic of the covenant Elohim made with Noah and all flesh. Amazing.