- Feb 1, 2013
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The Awesome Mystery of GOD
The Father, the Logos, the Messiah, the Mystery of Christ:
The Genesis Factor
A New Look at the
Mystery of GOD
Who or what is "God"? What is the Plan of God for human
beings? How does Jesus Christ, the "Word" of God, fit into
the picture? Here is surprising, mind-boggling TRUTH hidden
from mankind's prying eyes for thousands of years -- truth
which will dumfound and astound you!
What on planet earth is God Almighty doing?
All people have wondered, at some point in their lives, why they were born -- why God created the human race. As men gaze at the heavens, and see the resplendent starts and far flung galaxies, they muse, "What is life all about?" "Why am I here?" "Why was I born?"
Have these questions ever crossed your mind?
Why did God create man?
A careful study of the Bible reveals some amazing surprises -- the answers to mysteries and riddles that have perplexed and mystified mankind for thousands of years!
"In the Beginning, GOD . . ."
The Hebrew Bible is written in consonants alone; vowels must be supplied by the reader or interpreter. Thus many passages can have alternate translations or meanings, such as the phrase in Genesis 1:1. The expression "Bereshith bara Elohim ha shemayim va ha eretz" is usually translated in English (KJV) as "In the beginning (bereshith) God (Elohim, technically a plural form of the word El, and can be translated "Mighty Ones") created (bara) the heavens and the earth."
6
The word bereshith is a compound word and literally means be ("in") reshith ("beginning"), and the article "the" is supplied in the English language for understanding. However, one could just as easily supply the article "a" as the Hebrew contains no article whatsoever, so the expression could read: "In a beginning." In other words, not necessarily the FIRST "beginning"! Another way to put it would be, "At some point long, long ago," or simply, "Long, long ago," or "In the remote past."
The word interpreted as reshith can also be read as rosh, the Hebrew word for "head." So the expression in Genesis 1:1 could read, "In the head God created the heavens and the earth." Also, the word translated "created" (bara in Hebrew) is simply the letters br and could also be interpreted as the Hebrew word for "son" (bar, as in bar Jonah, meaning "son of Jonah"). Thus we could have the alternate reading: "In the beginning (bereshith) [was] the SON OF GOD (bar Elohim), the heavens and the earth."
One more reading of this enigmatic and pregnant passage of Scripture would be as follows: "In the head [was] the [or, "a"] Son of God."
Why are these variant readings possible? Because of the uniqueness of the Hebrew language, all these meanings can be inferred or obtained from the simple Hebrew letters that comprise the passage. All are possible. Which reading one chooses depends on the context, and the understanding and choice of the reader. Of course, the reason such a form is chosen by the Author in the first place is known only to Him -- but the possibilities are exciting. Clearly, when we compare this with the New Testament, we find several hints right in Genesis 1:1 of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ, the Logos, the "Son of God."
Commenting on this amazing uniqueness of the Hebrew Scriptures of Genesis 1:1, Randolph Parrish, in an article entitled "The Fourth Jewish Sect," in Messianic Outreach (1996), observed that the early Jewish-Nazarene Christians were well aware of this fact -- a truth which has been buried and forgotten for almost 2,000 years. He writes of the early Nazarene church:
"It was clear to them that the scriptures talked of nothing else [but the coming of
Messiah], quite literally from the very beginning. For example, the opening words
of Genesis 1:1 are usually translated as 'In the beginning . . .' But the Hebrew word
'reshith' (beginning) can also have the meaning 'firstborn son.' And so, one could
translate this passage as 'In the firstborn son God created the heavens and the earth'
. . . Iraneus also translated this as 'The son in the beginning; then God created the
heavens and the earth' . . . Hilary said that 'b'reshith' could have three possible
meanings: 'in the beginning'; 'in the head'; or 'in the son' . . . The modern French
author Danielou noted the comparison between these meanings and Col.1:15-18,
where Paul seems to write of the same three meanings: 'He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him were all things created . . . And he is
the head of the body . . . he is the beginning and the firstborn . . .' This would suggest,
according to Danielou, that there was an already extant rabbinical tradition of explaining
the passage in these several ways, which Paul employed" (p.11, Messianic Outreach).
Says Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the word reshiyth, used in Genesis 1:1, the meanings are: "the first, in place, time, order or rank (spec. a firstfruit): -- beginning,
7
chief, (-est), first (-fruits, part, time), principal thing." Thus this passage can mean that God created the heavens and the earth not only "in the beginning," but "in the firstfruits" -- i.e., that is, "in Christ" who IS the "firstfruits." Note that He is called "the firstfruits" (Greek, literally "firstfruit," singular) in I Corinthians 15:23. The passage can also mean that God created the heavens and earth "in the principal one," i.e., in the "one of chief rank or order." Again, this would refer to the One who became Christ, or the "Logos" of God (John 1:1).
Thus we can have in this verse: "In the firstfruits [or, first fruit, or principal one] God created the heavens and the earth."
The Father, the Logos, the Messiah, the Mystery of Christ:
The Genesis Factor
A New Look at the
Mystery of GOD
Who or what is "God"? What is the Plan of God for human
beings? How does Jesus Christ, the "Word" of God, fit into
the picture? Here is surprising, mind-boggling TRUTH hidden
from mankind's prying eyes for thousands of years -- truth
which will dumfound and astound you!
What on planet earth is God Almighty doing?
All people have wondered, at some point in their lives, why they were born -- why God created the human race. As men gaze at the heavens, and see the resplendent starts and far flung galaxies, they muse, "What is life all about?" "Why am I here?" "Why was I born?"
Have these questions ever crossed your mind?
Why did God create man?
A careful study of the Bible reveals some amazing surprises -- the answers to mysteries and riddles that have perplexed and mystified mankind for thousands of years!
"In the Beginning, GOD . . ."
The Hebrew Bible is written in consonants alone; vowels must be supplied by the reader or interpreter. Thus many passages can have alternate translations or meanings, such as the phrase in Genesis 1:1. The expression "Bereshith bara Elohim ha shemayim va ha eretz" is usually translated in English (KJV) as "In the beginning (bereshith) God (Elohim, technically a plural form of the word El, and can be translated "Mighty Ones") created (bara) the heavens and the earth."
6
The word bereshith is a compound word and literally means be ("in") reshith ("beginning"), and the article "the" is supplied in the English language for understanding. However, one could just as easily supply the article "a" as the Hebrew contains no article whatsoever, so the expression could read: "In a beginning." In other words, not necessarily the FIRST "beginning"! Another way to put it would be, "At some point long, long ago," or simply, "Long, long ago," or "In the remote past."
The word interpreted as reshith can also be read as rosh, the Hebrew word for "head." So the expression in Genesis 1:1 could read, "In the head God created the heavens and the earth." Also, the word translated "created" (bara in Hebrew) is simply the letters br and could also be interpreted as the Hebrew word for "son" (bar, as in bar Jonah, meaning "son of Jonah"). Thus we could have the alternate reading: "In the beginning (bereshith) [was] the SON OF GOD (bar Elohim), the heavens and the earth."
One more reading of this enigmatic and pregnant passage of Scripture would be as follows: "In the head [was] the [or, "a"] Son of God."
Why are these variant readings possible? Because of the uniqueness of the Hebrew language, all these meanings can be inferred or obtained from the simple Hebrew letters that comprise the passage. All are possible. Which reading one chooses depends on the context, and the understanding and choice of the reader. Of course, the reason such a form is chosen by the Author in the first place is known only to Him -- but the possibilities are exciting. Clearly, when we compare this with the New Testament, we find several hints right in Genesis 1:1 of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ, the Logos, the "Son of God."
Commenting on this amazing uniqueness of the Hebrew Scriptures of Genesis 1:1, Randolph Parrish, in an article entitled "The Fourth Jewish Sect," in Messianic Outreach (1996), observed that the early Jewish-Nazarene Christians were well aware of this fact -- a truth which has been buried and forgotten for almost 2,000 years. He writes of the early Nazarene church:
"It was clear to them that the scriptures talked of nothing else [but the coming of
Messiah], quite literally from the very beginning. For example, the opening words
of Genesis 1:1 are usually translated as 'In the beginning . . .' But the Hebrew word
'reshith' (beginning) can also have the meaning 'firstborn son.' And so, one could
translate this passage as 'In the firstborn son God created the heavens and the earth'
. . . Iraneus also translated this as 'The son in the beginning; then God created the
heavens and the earth' . . . Hilary said that 'b'reshith' could have three possible
meanings: 'in the beginning'; 'in the head'; or 'in the son' . . . The modern French
author Danielou noted the comparison between these meanings and Col.1:15-18,
where Paul seems to write of the same three meanings: 'He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him were all things created . . . And he is
the head of the body . . . he is the beginning and the firstborn . . .' This would suggest,
according to Danielou, that there was an already extant rabbinical tradition of explaining
the passage in these several ways, which Paul employed" (p.11, Messianic Outreach).
Says Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the word reshiyth, used in Genesis 1:1, the meanings are: "the first, in place, time, order or rank (spec. a firstfruit): -- beginning,
7
chief, (-est), first (-fruits, part, time), principal thing." Thus this passage can mean that God created the heavens and the earth not only "in the beginning," but "in the firstfruits" -- i.e., that is, "in Christ" who IS the "firstfruits." Note that He is called "the firstfruits" (Greek, literally "firstfruit," singular) in I Corinthians 15:23. The passage can also mean that God created the heavens and earth "in the principal one," i.e., in the "one of chief rank or order." Again, this would refer to the One who became Christ, or the "Logos" of God (John 1:1).
Thus we can have in this verse: "In the firstfruits [or, first fruit, or principal one] God created the heavens and the earth."
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