Mysteries of the Messiah: Aleph, Tav, and 14

Mysteries of the Messiah did not disappoint!

Honestly, there was so much in this book that it was like drinking from a firehose—which I think was the point! Rabbi Sobel was able to clearly explain so many deeper meanings than what non-Hebrew speaking readers will understand from first glance. And this is the stuff I LOVE!

The biggest thing I picked up is the importance of the alphanumeric nature of both Hebrew and Greek. Without knowing these things, there's so much that can be missed!

Here are some of my favorite examples:

• The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph, is the letter that represents God's name. And in Hebrew, there is only 1 letter's difference between "exile" and "redemption": the letter aleph (from page 6).
• The letter tav, which in ancient Hebrew was written in the form of a cross, was the sign of the doorposts. "This means that the cross, the symbol of Christianity, was originally a Jewish symbol.....The tav was used as both a sign and seal of ownership" (page 116). But then... it switched to a sign of freedom and redemption. In Ezekiel 4:9, God says, "'Go throughout the city, through the midst of Jerusalem. Make a mark on the foreheads of the people who sign and moan over all the abominations that are committed in it'. The Hebrew word here for 'mark' is tav. The tav was the sign placed upon the foreheads of the faithful—it was the mark of those who were sealed for life. The letter tav is the last letter of the aleph-bet and symbolizes the end. It points to everything in Israel's history culminating in the cross. Also, the Messiah is the Alpha and the Omega—in Hebrew, the Aleph and the Tav—the First and the Last" (page 117).
• The number 14 has so much significance that it is ridiculous. It is the number associated with royalty, because the Hebrew word for 'gold', zahav, adds up to it. There are 14 generations between Abraham and David, from David to the Babylonian exile, and from the Babylonian exile to until the Messiah. Sobel points out that when you say something 3x in Hebrew, it means the maximum amount, "By using 3 sets of 14, Matthew was communicating that the Messiah was the ultimate King of kings and Son of David." Also, one of the 3 wise men brought gold to Jesus. But there's more! (All of this is from pages 180-182):
• 14 is also the number of redemption and salvation. God redeemed Israel from Egypt on the 14th day of the 1st month, which is why it Passover is celebrated on this day.
• In the book of Esther, God saved the Jewish people on the 14th day of the last month.... The Jewish year begins and ends with God redeeming His people on the 14th!
• 14 is written in Hebrew with the letters yud and dalet, which also spell 'hand'. There are 14 bones in the human hand. God delivered His people from bondage by His mighty hand!
• The modern State of Israel was born on May 14, 1948.
• John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us."
• Isaiah 7:14 says, "Behold, the virgin will conceive. When she is giving birth to a son, she will call His name Immanuel [God with us]." Sobel notes that while there were no chapters and verses in the original texts, this is still too incredible to be a coincidence.

That's all for this post on Mysteries of the Messiah... check back next week for 1 more!