In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1.
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלוהים) says:
In the first line of the first book of the Bible I identify Myself as “Elohim (אלוהים)” which you translate as “God.” El is also translated as “God.” The difference is “El (אל)” is singular, referring to Me, the Father, and “Elohim (אלהים)” is plural, referring to the One God in three divine persons. But since most people do not read the Bible in Hebrew or know the Hebrew letters, their meanings, and numbers, they miss the mystery revealed in the Hebrew letters in My Name of Elohim.
But in this Life Lesson, I want to show you the Hebrew letters that form My name “Elohim,” just as I showed you for Yahavah, My Covenant Name, in the last life lesson. And there are mysteries the letters reveal in all My Covenant promise names as well. For as Jesus told you, and hearing Him you hear Me for He is My Word, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter (yod) or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17-18.
My Name is awesome in power, majesty, and richness of revelation. In many languages names are just that and the letters have no specific meanings but in My language of Hebrew that is not so. Names and indeed, all words, give lessons in the letters and numbers of what they mean.
“He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.” Psalm 111:9.
All My promises are sealed in My Name. And the access is in the Spirit by the Name of Jesus, who is in the center of My Name. He is the Lamb in the center of the throne.
When I speak of My works of the creation of the heavens and the earth I identify Myself as Elohim. And I identify Myself that way alone in the full chapter of the work of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. But in the second chapter of Genesis there is a change in how I identify Myself, in a closer view of My dealings with man and in forming him from the dust of the ground, the details of which were not revealed in the overall view of creation in the first chapter, I refer to Myself as the LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים), that is, Yahavah Elohim. Covenant with man has entered as I blew My breath into his nostrils and I pulled the woman out of the man and introduced the covenant of marriage, which images My covenant with you in the spirit.
But yesterday I focused on Yahavah, today I want to focus on Elohim. Just to refer to the translation of Elohim as God you do not see what is hidden for you in that Name. So let us go deeper.
In the Hebrew letters in which the Old Testament was originally written the word Elohim is אלוהים. Let us look at each letter forming this word.
It begins with the letter aleph (א) which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (aleph-bet). It is the number one, that is, “1,” and is used as such in numbering things in Hebrew. Its pictogram is an ox, which is the strong one and also the sacrificial offering for sins as well as the peace offering.
The word for “father” is formed of the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, being aleph (א) and bet (ב). The picture for bet is a house and the word for house in Hebrew is the name of the letter, “bet”. The name for “father” in its letters shows that the father is the strong one of the house who sacrifices himself for the good of the family. Also the very first letter I use in the Bible is bet, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Why? Because in creating the earth I was making a home, a house, for My family where they would have dominion authority. Their own beautiful home. The highest heavens belong to Me, but the earth I have given to the children of men. Psalm 115:16.
So the first letter of Elohim is aleph, which also signifies the One God. And the letter aleph (א) itself is formed of three other Hebrew letters. It is formed from two yods attached to a vav, so even though the completed letter is number 1 the compound of what it is formed by is the number 26 (yod is 10 and vav is 6, so 2 yods is 20 plus the vav is 26) which is the number of My Name Yahavah (יהוה). If you recall from the last life lesson, My Memorial Name as a yod (10), a hei (5), a vav (6) and a hei (5), which adds up to 26. So there is great power, My power, in the letter aleph.
The next letter of Elohim (אלהים) is the letter “lamed (ל).” It is number 30 in Hebrew numbering. This letter’s pictogram is the Shepherd’s staff. It is the largest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Lamed, the name of the letter, means to teach (למד). This identifies Me as your teacher and shepherd. So if you look at Elohim (אלהים) in the singular, that is, El (אל), you see Me as your one God and true teacher and Shepherd. And so I am, just read Ezekiel 34, I Myself will shepherd My sheep, Ezekiel 34:11-16. But you will note as Shepherd, I only identify Myself as Adonai Yahavah in that chapter of Ezekiel, which is translated as Lord LORD or Lord GOD, with Lord in small letters, which is Adonai, which can be used in referring to both God and Man, and you know who that is, the great good Shepherd of the sheep whom I raised from the dead by the blood of the eternal covenant, Hebrews 13:20-21.
Adonai when used in the Old Testament always refers to Jesus. Jesus Himself told you this in the context of Psalm 110, which is a psalm about the Messiah and more. I tell you of His seat of power at My right hand and all enemies under His feet and that I have made Him a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. And in that teaching, Jesus clearly showed you the three persons in One God, that David called Me Yahavah and the One I anointed Adonai and that David said this truth by the Holy Spirit:
And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself said by the Holy Spirit, ‘The LORD (Yahavah) said to my Lord (Adonai), sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.”’ David himself calls Him ‘Lord (Adonai)’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him. Mark 12:35-37.
And this goes deeper yet, for Jesus is in the center of Me, My very bosom, John 1:18, and for you He is on the throne of David, Ezekiel 34:23-24, Luke 1:32-33, yes, the Lamb in the center of the throne will be your shepherd and will guide you to springs of the water of life; and I will wipe every tear from your eyes. Revelation 7:17. Springs of living water, and Jesus told you that is speaking of the Holy Spirit. John 7:37-39. And I will show you more on this as we continue to consider the Name of Elohim.
We are still considering the letter “Lamed.” The letter Lamed (ל) is formed of a kaph (כ) and a vav (ו), kaph is the number 20 and vav is the number 6, so Lamed is also a letter with the same number as My Name Yahavah. The power of the Shepherd, the good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep is equal to Mine for we are ONE. And the number of the letter Lamed itself when used is counting is 30, which is the age considered full manhood and the time the Levites could minister in the tabernacle. It is when Jesus started His public ministry at the age of 30 years to be your great good Shepherd and your Teacher (Rabbi).
If you proceed the aleph and the lamed, that is, from the singular to the plural, you will see the addition of the second and third Persons of the One God in the name Elohim (אלהים).
The next letter is hei (ה) of which we spoke in our first life lesson of this series in explaining My Name Yahweh (יהוה). Hei is the number 5 and it means grace. Its pictogram is an open window to Heaven or a man with his arms raised in awe and praise as he receives grace upon grace. Thus, in the middle of the Name Elohim you see grace in the center. The first two letters are joined to the next two letters by the place of grace, this letter ushers in the final two letters. Therefore, having been justified by faith, you have peace with Me through your Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also you have obtained your introduction by faith into this grace in which you stand; and you exult in hope of My glory. Romans 5:1-2. You are standing in the center of Me in Jesus, who is in the very center of My Name, proceeding forth out of My bosom filled with grace and truth, for the law was given to Moses but grace and truth come to you through Jesus. John 1:14-18.
The next letter after Hei (ה) is Yod (י). You know this letter also from our prior Life Lesson on My Name Yahavah (יהוה). It is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Yod is the number 10 and its picture and meaning is “hand.” And it is My Hand of power. I save you by My mighty hand. And who is My hand, My arm, by which I reached down and redeemed you? To whom as My arm been revealed? Isaiah 53:1. It is of course Jesus who became My hands in the world to reach out and bless, heal, and save you.
As a side note though I would like to point out that Elohim, to form the “o” sound after the Lamed (which is the “L” sound) there is a marking called a “holam” (אֱלֹהִים) as a small round dot placed at the left of the top of the Lamed that is used or you can write the vav letter to make the “o” sound. If you add the vav before the hei (אלוהים), the pictograph for the vav, as we discussed in the last Life Lesson is a nail, so you again see the nail, grace, and the hand of My Son which was pierced to give you that grace.
And where does this good Shepherd coming forth from the center of My throne of grace lead you? To springs of living water. And after He died for you and I raised Him from the dead and He ascended back to My throne, what did He do? Having been exalted at My right hand and having received from Me the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured Him forth on the believers. Acts 2:33.
And that brings us to the next letter of Elohim (אלהים), which is a mem (מ) (because it ends the word it is written as a mem sofit (ם)). It is the number 40 in Hebrew. The pictogram (picture) for mem is flowing living water (like a line of waves) and it signifies My Spirit (for when I began the work of creation My Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters). Genesis 1:2. The third Person of the One God ends the Name Elohim.
There is much more to the Name Elohim then the three letters you read as God in English or Dios in Spanish, Dieu in French, and whatever other translation you use. Only in Hebrew do you see the three Persons in the One God. “In the beginning God created . . .” Now, I think you will pause and say, “Yes, God indeed, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, my good Shepherd, my Teacher and my saving redeemer created all things for me and all mankind as our home, our place, and filled it with His saving grace and provision for all our needs. And that is all in My Name Elohim (אלהים).
The very first verse that opens all My Word in the Bible is a Menorah verse, it has seven words. I gave the design for the Menorah or golden lampstand with its seven lamps with the servant lamp in the center and is six branches holding six other lamps to Moses in the plans for My tabernacle in the wilderness. This verse with its seven words fits on the seven lamps of the golden lampstand as a light to the world and to the church:
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
There are seven words and the middle word you will note, which would fit on the lamp on the center shaft (which was called the servant lamp and all the wicks of the other six lamps had to face towards this center lamp) and the other words line up on the lamps on the six branches that proceed out of the center shaft of the golden lampstand, is not a word whose meaning is known by the Jewish people. It is simply the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the aleph and the tav, אֵת. This denotes My Word, for all words are formed from letters of the alphabet are between and include the aleph and the tav (like A to Z) (alpha to the omega). You know the pictogram for the aleph is the sacrificial ox for the sin offering and the peace offering. The pictogram for the letter tav is a cross. The sacrifice on the cross was the body of My Son for your sins. His eternal life in the flesh for the eternal life you lost. He is the Word, the aleph to the tav. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1. Yes, the aleph tav is with the Elohim from the beginning and all things were made for Him and through Him, and without Him nothing was made that is made.
In the beginning created God אֵת the heavens and אֵת the earth.
I love you. I AM. But the first Name I gave you to know Me was Elohim (אלהים), the name of the Three in One. There are many more Names for Me and for My Son and for My Spirit. And they are all Wonderful. His Name shall be called “Wonderful.” And so it is.