God’s Road Map

Wow! Can you believe that it’s already January of 2023?! A new year on the Gregorian calendar and the time that many make new resolutions on how they want to better live their lives. Usually, following new diet and exercise programs are at the top of the list. 

I would like to suggest a foundational road map of sorts, that may help us find true satisfaction as we live out our lives in 2023. John 3:16-17 says that G-d sent Yeshua to save the world. John 1:1 says,

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was G-d and the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.”

Also Revelation 19:13 says, “

And He (Yeshua) is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of G-d.”

The bottom line? From the beginning of time to the end of time Yeshua is a Road Map! Following this Road Map will not only lead us to our destination, it will point out hazards and roadblocks to avoid and we will have Divine encounters along the way! (Psalms 23; 119:105; 25:4-5 and many more)

Let’s do a little digging to see how He qualifies to be our Road Map. The first line in John 1:1 is “In the beginning was the Word...” That reminds us of the first line in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning G-d created...” where G-d spoke His creation into existence. We need to clarify that Yeshua was not created. The Word/Yeshua, existed before the world was created (John 17:5) and in fact was there in the beginning when G-d said, "Let Us make man in our image." This is an important fact because there are many who are following religious road maps that believe Jesus is just another created being, a prophet, etc.

“Word” in Greek is “logos”, but here in John 1:1, it corresponds to Aramaic and is “memra” a technical theological term used by the rabbis in the centuries before and after Yeshua’s time on earth when speaking of G-d’s expression of Himself. In the Septuagint, “logos” translates to the Hebrew as “davar” which can mean not only “word” but also “thing” or “matter.”

Hebrew is a fascinating language in that each letter has a numeric value and a symbolic picture. Letters in a word can also be rearranged, making new words that can add layers of meaning to the original context. Hebrew root words also have no vowels, so when vowels are changed, new words are made with new definitions adding another layer of meaning. Letters can also be enlarged, diminished, elevated, backwards, added, broken, or even missing - all giving additional meaning to the surface reading of G-d's Word.

The word davar is spelled dalet ד, vet ב, resh ר, (the vet is a bet without the bellybutton). The dalet represents a door, the vet/bet a house and the resh represents the head or the beginning. Resh also symbolizes choosing between greatness and degradation. Using this information we can say that when we open the door - our Bible, enter G-d's house and have read it through to the end of the Torah, we begin our choice between greatness and degradation and we choose whether we will follow Him or not.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Yeshua chose greatness. He is the Door to G-d’s house, the Head and the beginning of the Resurrection. See how that added more meaning? And there is more! 

When we add the numeric value of these three letters, dalet is 4, vet is 2, and the resh is 200, we get 206. Now we look for other Hebrew words or phrases that also have 206 as their total number and we discover more meaning to the original word or phrase.

Davar =206 and another word that also equals 206 is "atzmo" spelled "ayin ע, tsade צ, mem מ, vav ו" and means "himself or his essence." This is profound when we take just a brief look at the symbolic meanings of each letter in this word.

The ayin is "eye" and represents sight and insight. Psalms 33:18 and 34:16 refer to the eye(s) of G-d and Psalm 19:10 says that G-d's commands enlighten the eyes. The ayin's numerical value is 70 and represents spirituality. There are 70 holy days in the lunar calendar: 52 Sabbaths and 18 festival days, and also 70 sacrifices representing the 70 nations, were offered on Sukkot.

The tsade symbolizes righteousness and humility. A tzaddik is a righteous one - divine or human, and is the Light of the world. "The tzaddik illuminates the world by bringing the Shechinah down to dwell among men." (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:1) The tsade's numeric value is 90 and Psalm 90 is the only Psalm attributed to Moses who is a Messiah-like figure. In this psalm Moses asks G-d to help man count his days and use his finite time properly and productively.

The mem is the symbol for the revealed and the concealed - Moses and Messiah. The opening in the mem represents the openly revealed glory of G-d's actions and the way of salvation. Its numerical value is 40 which denotes a span of time of ripening and testing.

The vav is the symbol for completion, redemption and transformation. It is also a connector and looks like a nail. It's numerical value is 6, a number that denotes physical completion as in the 6 days of creation. Six is also the number of “man,” created on the sixth day - the pinnacle of creation, but is also in need of completion, redemption and transformation.

So this Hebrew word "atzmo" that is numerically equivalent to the original word "davar" has
uncanny meaning for us! Aspects of "Himself" or "His Essence" are seen in each letter. Yeshua is righteous, humble and the Light of the world (John 8:12). He is Messiah, concealed from His brothers and reveals Himself to those who search for Him. Yeshua was tested in the wilderness for 40 days. He is the way of salvation; the Connector that hung on the cross completing G-d's plan to provide redemption and transformation. And pertinent to our use of time in 2023 is Moses' prayer for us to use our time wisely!

Remember the bellybutton on the bet? Okay, the dot in the center of the letter is called a dagesh, but it is easier to remember bellybutton = bet. When the letter has the dagesh it is a bet, without it, it’s a vet ב. So when we put the bellybutton in the vet making it a bet, we change davar to “dabar” which means “to lead.” Yeshua is our Leader Who came to show us the way of Salvation.

The first letter in Bereshit (Genesis) is a Bet, it is enlarged and in bold telling us that we are not entering just any house - we are entering G-d’s House! The last letter in the Hebrew Scriptures (in both the Torah and the Tanach) is a “lamed ל,” the symbol of teaching and purpose and is pictured as a shepherd’s crook. When we come to the end of the Hebrew Scriptures at Simchat Torah, the lamed and bet come together full circle in the unrolled Torah scroll and form the word “lev ב ל - heart.” After opening the door and entering into G-d’s house and going through it we discover G-d’s heart.

Pharoah asked, “Who is HaShem that I should heed His voice…?” (Shemot/ Exodus 5:2) The Torah is G-d’s answer to all who ask this question. When we change the vowels in davar we get “dever” which means "plague and pestilence." Pharoah chose not to follow G-d and His instruction and brought plagues and pestilence to himself and his people. 

Now let’s do a little more exploring with the letters of davar. If we rearrange them and change the vowels making the word reved, it means “ballast”. There are several definitions for this word that add more layers of meaning to the original context.

1. Ballast is “a heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship or gondola of a balloon, that
gives it stability.” This ballast can keep one from being tossed around either by waves or wind.
2. This word means “anything that steadies the emotion or the mind.”
3. Ballast is “coarse gravel laid to form a bed for roads or in making concrete and precast
concrete pavers…"
4. that employs its mass and force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.”
5. “A device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit.“ The final one is my favorite…
6. “That which gives or helps maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security.”

Layer upon layer of meaning and all of that from just one rearranging of the letters!

Yeshua - The Word and the weight of His glory is our ballast that gives us stability from being tossed about; His Word steadies our emotions and our mind (Is 26:3). He is the firm foundation - the Rock we are to build on (Matt 7:24-27). Yeshua is the Light of the world and our Voltage Stabilizer, always delivering constant voltage regardless of any changes in our input. He is the Word of the Psalms like 23, 27, 34, and 91 that helps us maintain uprightness, steadiness, and security.

When we rearrange the letters again making "barad" we get what pharaoh got - “hail.” When we rearrange davar to make "badar" it means “to scatter or disperse.” The etymology of this word is possibly related to Aramaic meaning “to seed.” This reminds us of how the seed is the Word of G-d and how Yeshua said it is sown and received (Luke 8:4-15).

One more variation of davar is to change the first vowel to an “e” making “devar.” A devar Torah is a brief speech on a religious topic usually given at meals. Judaism is a culture and community of storytellers and we are to continually tell His story, sharing with others what we learn from Him and His Word. The Apostolic Scriptures are filled with Yeshua’s devar Torah’s - His parables, the Sermon on the Mount, and beatitudes to name a few.

So going all the way back to our first surface look at the word davar, a better understanding of the initial phrase of John 1:1 would be, “In the beginning was the Real Thing.” This was no false god who couldn’t speak, much less create. Yeshua is the Real Thing! Have you ever seen t-shirts that have the Coke logo - ‘Coke is the real thing', but instead says 'Jesus is the real thing'? People who wear that shirt are wearing scripture and probably don’t realize it.

Now that we know for sure that Yeshua is the Real Thing and our true Road Map that is worthy to follow - especially with all the additional layers of meaning - how do we get started? You may be familiar with the jewelry (it used to be popular a couple decades ago with my teens) that says WWJD - What Would Jesus Do. At our house it was (and still is) WDJD - What Did Jesus Do, so let’s look to see what He did.

Yeshua was sent by G-d to do His Father’s will (John 8:41) and He did nothing apart from His Father’s will (John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28). As the sinless Son of G-d, all the commandments that would have applied to Him, He would have done. Every word He spoke (John 12:49; 14:10), the tone of voice He used, His facial expressions and body language would all have been approved by the Father. Where He went - from going to synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 3:16) to Samaria (John 4:4). Who He spoke to, who He healed, what foods He ate and who He ate with; everything in and about His life was done from His Father’s will. The very last verse in the book of John says, “There are also many other things which Yeshua did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”

Remember when we looked at Genesis 1:1? In Hebrew the first word, Bereshit ת י ש א ר ב, is also the Hebrew name of the book and means “in the beginning.” The letters are bet ב, resh ר, aleph א, shin ש, yod י, tav ת. When we rearrange these letters we find the word for Sabbath or Shabbat ת ב ש within the very first word of the Bible! (An interesting historical linguistic note: the Biblical Hebrew pronunciation was probably Shabbath.) The remaining letters also rearranged have profound meaning to add to “Sabbath.”

Aleph resh yod: י ר א spell “Lion” as in “Lion of Sabbath” or “Sabbath Lion.”

Resh aleph yod: י א ר spells “sight” meaning “as in a mirror” and “to consider” - we should consider seeing ourselves in Sabbath.

Aleph yod resh: ר י א echoes this as it means “You.” And the most profound:

Yod resh aleph: א ר י means “fear” as in “Revere the Sabbath.” The very first word upon
entering G-d’s house can be read, “In the beginning Revere the Sabbath!”  and

Yod aleph resh: ר א י means “year” telling us that this year is a good time to start observing the Sabbath!

Yeshua, The Word made Flesh is our Leader and our Road Map. All we have to do is follow Him.
Sounds pretty easy, but feels overwhelming doesn’t it? I think that is why we are to take life one
day at a time, and take each day moment by moment. Beginning each day in His presence -
before sitting up in bed in the morning - then asking Him - not to go with me and help me do all
the things I have planned, but asking Him what He wants me to do and with whom He wants me
to share His love - like He did with His Father.

This will get us started. Keep your eyes on Yeshua and your ears tuned to His voice and you will
be following the Real Thing - G-d’s Road Map.

E. Becraft Ward © 12/6/2022

Sources used: New American Standard Bible
Stone Edition Chumash
Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet
The Joys of Hebrew
Wikpedia Dictionary
Greek Interlinear Bible
J. Aviel MA Applied Linguistics