"In the beginning Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth" (Gen.1:1).

We recently looked at some of the science of the Bible. I did not therein mention, though, that Genesis 1:1 makes a very profound scientific statement which was not confirmed until the 20th century by physicists, namely, that the foundation of the physical universe consists of time ("In the beginning"), space ("the heavens") and matter ("the earth"). Indeed, time and matter are so intimately tied together that we now speak of them as the time-space continuum. Appropriately, then, Yahweh lists them, through His prophet Moses, in the sequence in which they were made or unfolded, placing matter sequentially in third place.

Students of biblical symbolism have known for some time that the number 7, which symbolises completion, perfection or divine authorship in over 500 places in Scripture, is riddled throughout Genesis 1:1. Yahweh made this planet in 7 days and declared the last in that sequence - the seventh day - to be set-apart of holy to Him and therefore a mandatory day of rest for all humans. This day is known as the Sabbath Day, a day not only of rest but also of assembly or convocation for worship and receiving prophetic words from the Creator.

There are 7 primary colours that make up the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), 7 metals in antiquity upon which civilization has been built (iron, lead, tin, copper, mercury, silver, gold), the Periodic Table of chemical elements consists of 7 distinct levels, and 7 notes in a musical octave scale (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti), and many others, all representing Yahweh's divine touch of completeness. There are 7 stars (Messier system) in Ursa Major or the Great Bear (Big Dipper), a constellation that identifies the celestial north pole or point around which the earth rotates. Geographers have divided the continents into 7 (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and Antarctica) and likewise the oceans into 7 (North & South Atlantic, North & South Pacific, Southern, Arctic, Indian). 7 heavenly objects are visible to the naked eye (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) and 7 digits in a row has been shown to be the limit for memorisation for most humans which is why, one supposes, American phone numbers are based on a 7 digit system.

In the original Hebrew language (reading from right to left) there are exactly 7 words in Genesis 1:1:

/7 /6 /5 /4 /3 /2 /1

Additionally, these 7 words possess 7 distinctive features of the number 7 contained within that sentence, which is unique in the whole Bible. These are the 7 features:

• 1. There are 7 Hebrew words in the sentence;
• 2. The total number of letters in these 7 words is 28, which is 4x7;
• 3. The 3 leading words in this verse are "Elohim" (God) (subject matter) and "the heavens" and "the earth" (object matter), and the total number of letters in these 3 words is 14, or 2x7 - the number of letters in the remaining words is also 14, or 2x7;
• 4. The expression "the heavens and the earth" is made up of 14 letters, or 2x7
• 5. The shortest (2 letter) 'word' 'alef-taw' or "et" is in the middle; the number of letters in this word, and the word behind it ("Elohim") is 7 - additionally, the number of letters in this word, and the word in front of it ("the heavens") is also 7;
• 6. There are 3 important nouns in the first verse - "Elohim", "the heavens" and "the earth" - the gematric or numerical values of these three words are 86, 395 and 296, respectively which added together are 777, or 111x7 - this triple intensification of Yahweh's perfect number 7 is the strongest possible manner of speaking the touch of His Divinity; and
• 7. The numeric value of the only Hebrew verb in this verse, "created", is 203, or 29x7.

Thus it is as though Yahweh is telling the sceptics to simply consider the first verse of a total of 31,102 verses in the English King James Version for proof of the Divine Hand upon the Bible.

But there is more, and this is what Yahweh has shown me personally, namely, that each of the seven words corresponds to the seven annual festivals of Yahweh and that the number of letters of each of these words points to what these festivals represent. I have summarised this information in the table below:

Hebrew
Hebrew translit- erated	bereshit	bara	Elohim	et	haShamayim	w-et	haAretz
English	In the beginning (time)	created	God	(alef-taw)	the heavens (space)	And (alef-taw)	The earth (matter)
Gematra value	913	203 (29x7)	86	401	395	407	296
Letter #	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Hebrew #	Rishon	Shanee	Shleshi	Revee	Chama- shee	Sheshi	Shibi'i
Moed	Pesach	Matzah	Bikkurim	Shavu'ot	Teruah	Kippur	Sukkot
Meaning	Conception	Creation of new being thru purificat- ion thru repent- ance	New birth & Baptism	Betrothal Covenant HINGE 1	Trumpet blast from heaven	Atonement & Judgment HINGE 2	Mystical Marriage of Messiah
# Hebrew letters	6 = man	3 = divine perfection	5 = grace	2 = division / difference	5 = grace	3 = divine perfection =1+2 = echad + division	4 = creation = 3+1 = divine perfection + echad

Those of you who have been studying the divine tavnith of the festivals will find this interesting. Before I begin, I would like to ask you to first carefully study my article, Mystery of the Alef-Taw, the two letters that appear in the middle of Genesis 1:1 and are always untranslated because translators don't know what to do with them - there is no Hebrew word "et". Why don't they know? Because these are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Alef and Taw or , respectively, better known to most in their Greek form, Alpha and Omega which are, on the first prophetic level, a symbolic representation of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). However, they represent more than that and they appear twice, not just once, in our text, something I didn't know until it was pointed out to me today:

"In the beginning Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth" (Gen.1:1).

I will explain with an example. The Hebrew for 'no' is lo and the Hebrew for 'yes' is ken. To say, 'yes and no' in Hebrew, you must say, ken w'lo. The 'and' is a prefix that is added to the second word consisting only of the consonant waw and various different vowels, depending on the next letter of the word. Thus 'and me' would be va'ani, 'and the teacher' would be vehamorah, and 'and Jerusalem' would be 'virushalayim'.

This means that the phrase haShamayim w-et haAretz is not "the heavens and the earth" but "the heavens and ALEF-TAW the earth".

Hebrew linguists have long believed that alef-taw is some sort of pointer that points to the word right after it as a kind of 'sign of the direct object', thus declaring that the word to which it points is the direct object. If that is true, then the words "created" and "the earth" are being emphasised. But why those two in particular? It doesn't make any sense. The emet (truth), I believe, is they are pointing to something else, namely a hidden emet-principle, recalling, if you would, that the word emet itself begins with an alef and ends with a taw!

Some time back Yahweh led me to understand that the alef-taw combination represents not only the Messiah (in this situation as Creator, confirmed by Colossians 1:16 and Proverbs 30:4) but that it is a prophetic hinge or double-mirror. He showed me this in the context of the seven annual festivals which I will rehearse, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with these, in diagrammatic form:

The festivals are a spiritual map delineating the steps that lead to a full and complete salvation in Yah'shua (Jesus). You will notice that Shavu'ot or the Feast of Pentecost (corresponding to the mid-letter mem) stands midway between the other six forming a hingle or mirror since the spring festivals are reflections of the autumnal ones. Here we see how the Passover group of festivals (represented by alef) mirror the festival of Taberbacles and Shemini Atseret (represented by taw).

Thus Pesach and Sukkot are the Alef-Taw - or the beginning and end - of the seven annual festivals that represent initial conception in Messiah (alef) and the completion of the Messianic Bride in Messiah (taw). Shavu'ot is the mirror pointing backwards and forwards to both, reminding us of the essentialness of the new birth in Messiah to initiating the process leading to the purified Bride. And where is this mirror located? At Shavu'ot, representing the Betrothal of that Bride of which the Torah is the bridal contract or ketuvah. In other words, the newborn child in Messiah (by emunah/faith alone) cannot become a worthy part of the Bride without commandment-keeping (obedience).

Now how does Genesis 1:1 confirm all of this? There are 7 letters in this verse, each of which corresponds to each of the seven festivals (see table above). Notice the precise correspondence between each festival, the actual word's meaning, and the symbolic meaning of the number of each of the total letters in each of those words. This is a huge subject so let me just highlight some of the interesting features.

Let's take "In the beginning" and Pesach...what does Pesach represent? The start of our spiritual journey! How do we start it? By surrendering to Yah'shua (Jesus) as Master (Lord) and subsequently receiving the New Birth! How many letters are there in the first word? 6 - and what does that represent? Man in all his imperfection and incompletion! Yet it's a new start in chayim (life) for him.

But why is there an alef-taw in the middle, and why is there a second alef-taw between the 5th and 7th words? The first - at Shavu'ot - determines whether or not we leave the spiritual milk and move on to the meat - whether we are willing to enter covenants of obedience or not (or remain lawless and unaccoutnable), and the second, at Yom Kippur, determines whether we qualify for the first resurrection as full overcomers or not. At each point there is a judgment by the Judge.

I want you to notice also that the first alef-taw consists of two letters, the number 2 representing division (since Shavu'ot divides the festivals into two blocks) and the second consists of three letters. Now we can answer with greater precision why Yahweh placed the second alef-taw where He did!

Firstly, He has ensured that the alef-taw is attached to the letter waw making it uniquely a 3-letter word. 3 is the number of divine perfection because those who come through Yom Kippur have been perfected in Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus)! But - and this is really interesting - the number 3 is 2+1, 2 representing division and 1 representing echad or oneness. What we are being told is that those who are on the wrong side of Yom Kippur are judged as being unworthy of the first resurrection and must inherit the second, whereas those on the right side of Yom Kippur are truly echad - they are the uniplural Bride of Messiah! What a brilliant representation! And all accomplished by means of 2 letters, alef and taw.

Notice that this number 3 also appears at Chag haMatzah or the Feast of Unleavened Bread which represents the removal of sin from our lives through teshuvah (repentance) leading to obedience. This begins immediately after spiritual conception and continues all our lives, going beyond Yom haBikkurim or the Feast of Firstfruits, which is the New Birth in Messiah. Repentance never ends which is why it is represented by 3 or 2+1 - dividing the man of sin from the man of the ruach (spirit) which leads to progressive echad or oneness. The final divine perfection is mirrored later in Yom Kippur. What a beautifully neat conception!

Notice that the number 5, representing grace or the unmerited favour of Elohim (God), appears twice at Yom haBikkurim and at Yom Teruah to remind us that we can never earn salvation - it is solely because of Yahweh's undeserved loving-kindness. At the same time this is not an excuse for antinomianism (lawlessness) as Yahweh purposefully and pointedly sandwiches the Law inbetween these 'two graces', reminding us that obedience is required in that grace. Why these two particulat festivals? First (at Bikkurim) to remind us that our individual salvation is not of works, and second (at Yom Teruah) to remind us that our collective salvation as the uniplural Bride, begun at Shavu'ot, doesn't depend on works either, but on our emunah (trusting faith), which leads to obedience in ahavah (love).

Which leaves us with Pesach (6), about which I have already spoken, and its mirror, Sukkot (4). Why has Yahweh chosen a 4 letter word to represent the grand climax, as it were? Why not another 6? (It's the only pair that don't seem to 'match'). Because Sukkot also contains, and is followed by, Shemini Atseret, 'The Last Great Day', representing the Millennium and on into eternity. And the number 4, appropriately, both represents physical creation as well as being a compound of 3+1 - which is divine perfection and echad (onness) - the grand consummation of every individual's life and of that part of humanity which follows Messiah to the very end.

This is what Yahweh has revealed to me, confirming many times over all that has been revealed concerning the seven festivals.

These 7 words of Genesis 1:1 are therefore, in a way, a complete statement about creation - everything. As 7 is the number of spiritual perfection and completion, so in 7 devarim or words the whole creation is brilliantly summed up. May the Name of Yahweh be praised!

Acknowledgements

[1] The Very First Verse of the Bible

Further Study