Chapter 1 of Creation Revisited

                                                                       Chapter 1

Introducing the Creator

In order to answer those questions, we need to be introduced to the Creator, who says about Himself:  “I am Y-H-V-H, and there is no other; There is no Elohim besides Me…  I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil [literal translation]; I, Y-H-V-H, do all these things” (Isaiah 45:5, 7).  The fact that Y-H-V-H/Elohim created darkness and especially evil is very puzzling.  This point will be discussed in a later chapter.

    

 “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

In this opening creation-account’s statement of intent, the Creator is referred to as “Elohim” – the plurality of El, meaning the Mighty One.  El or Elohim is not a name; it is a title for the presence of omnipotent, omnipresent, unseen, divine Spiritual Persons, with multiple names that meet all the needs that arise in creation, especially Man’s.

 In Genesis’ second chapter, we encounter an additional name or title appended to “Elohim” – “Y-H-V-H”.  Y-H-V-H is the Spirit of the Father - “EL” manifesting in and through the Living Word, the Son, who carries out His Father’s will in creation, and particularly among humanity.  He reveals the Father to mankind, as “no one has seen Elohim [the Father] except the Son” (John 1:18).  That the life of a father is in the son is a very important concept in the Biblical account of human history.   This is why Yeshua said “I and My Father are one”… (John 10:30), “… the Father who dwells in Me does the works [miracles]” (John 14:10c).  It is the Father’s Spirit that is the essence and manifest “Oneness” of Elohim.

 The Unity of the One Spirit is of “Father” and “Son, a fact which gives us a glimpse into the reason for the creation itself, as stated:  “For it was fitting for Him [Yeshua the Son], for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10).  Thus, the resultant beautiful creation will be like a womb, or a field in which the Father of all spirits (sons) will bring forth progeny.  With the objective of “family” in mind, the Father and His only begotten Son (see John 1:14; 1John 4:9) whom we all know as “Yeshua,” set out to prepare a place, a home, for this “family”.

In the Introduction, we saw that Yeshua the Son was with the Father in the beginning, as the Apostles John and Paul stated.  More of Yeshua’s role in the creation process is revealed in what He declared to John about Himself, when he appeared to him on the island of Patmos: “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning (resheet) and the End” (Revelation 21:6a).   The word that is highlighted in this statement leads to another clue in identifying Yeshua’s presence in Genesis 1:1.

 

Let us examine this first word in the Hebrew Bible - Beresheet, which quite surprisingly thrusts us immediately into the reality of the Creator, His creation, and beyond.  Beresheet can be easily broken up into several other words.  All of the letters are consonants, as in Hebrew, the vowels are small symbols that are external to the letters/consonants.  Thus, setting aside the vowels, “beresheet” may be divided according to its consonants.  The first two are “bar”, son, while the following letters can be read as “asheet,” resulting in: "I will establish a son (the “I” being the Father)".   If we remove the first consonant and the last two, we are left with “rosh” – head.   Adding the first consonant to “rosh” will read “berosh,” and if combined with “asheet”, it will read: “in the head I will establish.”  The two middle consonants (alef and shin) make up the word– “esh” - fire.  Flanking “esh” on one side are bet and resh (b and r sounds), and on the other, yod and tav (y and t sounds).  Altogether, these first two and the last two form the word “brit” – covenant, with “esh” - fire – in the middle.  (This evokes the covenant of the cut-up pieces that Elohim made with Abram, with the pillar of fire walking in the center.  Ref.  Genesis 15.)  Finally, if the silent “alef,” which is the third letter, is attached to “bar” (son), “bara” – created – is formed.  Thus, the Son is found in the verb “created,” indicating, once again, His role in bringing forth the world/universe.  Hence, not coincidentally, the words that may be extracted from "Beresheet" reveal much about the Persons and elements involved in the act of creation and beyond.

בראשית - bar – son

בראשית- bara – created

בראשית – re’sheet – beginning

בראשית – rosh – head

בראשית – be\rosh – in the head

בראשית – asheet - I will establish

(in the head I will establish)

בראשית – esh – fire

בראשית – brit – covenant

Indeed, “…by Him [Yeshua] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth…” (Colossians 1:16)!

 Being with the Father in the beginning, Yeshua would have been in Spirit form and thus He could declare: “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).  Additionally, coming forth from His Father and being the Word-manifest attests to Yeshua being the Spirit of the Word, whom Elohim sent forth to accomplish His multi-phased plan for the creation.

 When Yeshua addressed the congregation of Laodicea, He revealed Himself as “the Amen, the faithful and true witness; a beginning of the creation of Elohim” (Revelation 3:14b).   Note that Yeshua is not only the Word, but the constructer of the creation!  In his letter to the Colossians, Paul elaborates on the One who: “...is the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn over all creation.”   To this, the Apostle adds, “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:15, 17).  The word “consist” stems from the Greek “sunistao” and means “to bring together” or “band together,” making Yeshua/the Word the spiritual ‘glue’ that holds everything seen and unseen intact.  Imagine, embedded into the entire creation are His “Love, Joy, and Peace”!  Please keep this in mind as we take a journey into the seen and unseen realms of the creation process.