Yeshua - The Word

 

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.  He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of Elohim.  And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.  Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty Elohim.  And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11-16 emphasis and italics added).

 

Curiously in this magnificent description of Yeshua’s triumphant return to earth, He is not called by His best known name, but instead He is being referred to by some of His characteristics, such as “faithful and true”. A “name known only to Him” is also mentioned, relative to the description of His eyes, and to the many diadems which crown his head, while the end of the passage sums up His titles with “King of kings and Lord of Lords”, a name that appears on His robe and thigh. One more name is mentioned, which follows the description of His blood dipped robe, whereby He is “called the Word of Elohim”.  

 Of all the names/titles, this one seems the most curious and almost esoteric (of course the name that no one knows, except Himself, also leaves us wondering, but not having a clue regarding this name, it cannot be explored any further). However, The Word of Elohim is a term (and an ‘article’ and a record) that we refer to daily and thus for an ‘entity’, whether in flesh or spirit, or a combination of both, to be named such, truly arouses one’s curiosity. Again, how can YHVH’s Utterance, the Holy Writ, the Bible, be epitomized like this?

 The uttered and recorded Word of Elohim presents His actions, as well as His intents and their effect on humanity, or on a special section of the human race. Through the varied forms of His Word, YHVH’s remarkable attributes, characteristics and qualities are highlighted, casting their hues upon the entire body of this writing. Thus, the historical accounts, the poetry of praise and prayer, the wisdom sayings, the prophecies and other genres are all colored by the Spirit of the Elohim who inspired the scribes that recorded and collated these works.

 So how can YHVH’s Son, the emanation of His Being, the “express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3) be described as His Word? What’s more, in his gospel John already anthropomorphizes the Word, by saying that “Elohim was the Word. He was in the beginning with Elohim. All things were made through Him…” etc. (John 1:1b-2).

 Soon after the process of creation is introduced, with mankind as part of it, there arises a need to ‘repair’ it so that humanity may be restored to its original function and characteristics.  Thus, the rest of the Word is devoted, directly or indirectly, to the process of return and restoration, with the invisible Elohim (Ex. 33:20; John 1:18) making direct and indirect appearances, either by speaking or by appearing tangibly, whether as a “man” or an “angel/messenger” (e.g. Gen. 17:1, 18:2,3,9,10, 28:13, 32:24-29, 35:1; Ex. 3:4, 24:10; Deut. 31:15; Josh. 5:13; Jud. 6:1-24, 13:2ff; Is. 6:1; Ez.1:26-28; Amos 9:1; Zech. 14:4, 5b; Mal. 3:1ff. Dan. 7:13). These appearances can be none other than (once again) the pre-incarnate Yeshua, who is “the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15), as we already saw in the above-quoted Hebrews 1:3.

 Aside from these scenes that record Elohim’s appearances, much of Elohim’s Word prophesies or refers to this coming Person. During Yeshua’s ‘first coming’ He “fleshed” out the written word, and is expected to do so in the future again, as we noted in the initial quotation from Revelation. This is in addition to several of Scripture’s protagonists whose lives and characteristics were precursors to the person and life of Yeshua, as for example, Isaac (in the ‘akeda’), aspects of the characters and lives of Joseph and Moses, Jonah and even pointer-stories such as are relayed in 1 Kings 17, 2 Kings 4, both of which deal with resurrection from the dead. These are but a few examples out of countless ones, some of which are overt while others are more concealed.

 Even in the many historical passages where YHVH’s chosen people (who are actually to play a role in the process of redemption) are portrayed in their fallen humanity and rebellion, the striking vacuum (a default-vacuum), speaks loudly of the absence of YHVH’s Presence among those who were meant (and will some day), “flesh out” His tangible Presence by His indwelling Spirit. A foretaste of the Word incarnate in a people is exemplified by the description of the Spirit of Holiness infilling Yeshua’s disciples and the aftermath of this momentous event, as described in the epistles which follow.

 In dealing with the Incarnate Word, special attention needs to be given to the Torah. As we know, during the Messiah’s earthly journey He kept the Torah perfectly, as well as having fulfilled much of its major focus, which is the sacrificial system, intended to restore man’s relationship with his Creator. As to the more covert presence of Yeshua in Scripture (in the Torah), Chapters 13 & 14 of Leviticus are one example. These chapters are loaded with rules concerning leprosy, with a focus on the process of being cleansed (healed) from this condition. However, the only examples of such are found in the gospels, where Yeshua healed lepers, charging them to follow the rules enumerated in Leviticus (e.g. Matthew 5:1-4). This is a glaring example of a ‘concealed’ Torah projection toward Yeshua’s earthly appearance and actions that constituted a filling and fulfilling of Torah.  Moreover, Yeshua not only interprets the Torah accurately, by bestowing the Spirit on His disciples, He also imparts the ability to relate to the written Torah with the respect and obedience it deserves.

 Being filled with the Spirit, Yeshua’s followers become an extension of their Master, The Word. If He is The Word, and His followers are His Body, it is only logical to conclude that in some way they too become “The Word made flesh”.

 The ‘concept’ of Yeshua being the Word Incarnate is vast and deep. In fact, it may be described as a transcendent inexhaustible subject.Yet, with all of its vastness and certain incomprehensibility, because of its significance we should be able to relate to it, even if in a small and minute way…

 “The testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10), tells us that the prophetic word has actually ‘morphed’ into the witness and testimony of Elohim’s Son, the Messiah, King, Redeemer, Savior who is already found in the first word of the Holy Writ. If “b’re’sheet” – in (a) beginning – is broken up into its consonants it reveals the following: “bar” - son, “rosh” – head, “asheet” - I will establish. Or, another way of reading it: “bar” – son – “rosh” – head – “ashit” – I will establish.  One more possibility is repeating the first two consonants – bar - while adding to the second lot the letter alef. Thus we get “bar-bara”, meaning the “Son has created”. Following the first two consonants of “b’resheet” (forming the “bar” - son) is the letter “alef”, while the last consonant is “tav”. Thus the “bar” (son) appears as the alef and the tav in the very beginning of The Word, to never lose His place and position within The Word.

 In summing up this brief account, let us reiterate. Yeshua is declared in Colossians 1:13-19 to be “… the Son of His [the Father’s] love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.  He is the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  And He is the head of the body, the congregation, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.  For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell”. Creation having come into being by Yeshua, as we just read, was done so by uttering the Word, thus Yeshua is the Word’s very epitome. He is also the Father’s right hand, the One to carry out the Word. He is present in the Word, both in His pre-incarnate form and in the vast number of prophecies, pre-cursors and prototypes, hints, pointers, and in His incarnated form in the Brit Chadasha, in prophecies yet unfulfilled regarding His return (in the Tanach and in the Brit Chadasha), in the Torah whose injunctions only He can fully fulfill and interpret for His disciples, and finally, by His Body, to whom He imparted the Spirit so that the Word of YHVH may be ‘fleshed out’ continually.