afterWORD Revelation Blood and Adam

Life Truths faithful servants,
This week we got waaaaay too aggressive in studying Revelation, and for that I apologize.  But I wanted to try to develop a systematic approach for your private reading of this incredible book.  I hope there was some good in what we did, though I recognize several were overwhelmed at how fast and how much we were covering.  Point taken...

But I'd like to hit one point we glossed over, and that's numbers.  As such, this week's afterWORD is dam.  Not like beaver's build. It is the Hebrew word for "blood."  In numerology it is represented by the number 44. 

We were talking about blood moons (full lunar eclipse that is aligned exactly such that red light from the sun bends around the earth and makes the moon look blood red).  Specifically a tetrad, which is four consecutive blood moons.  In this case, we're specifically talking about a tetrad that exactly falls on Jewish feast days.  In just about a month, we'll have the fourth blood moon of the current tetrad falling on feast days, and it's only the fourth to have occurred in the last 500 years (only 10 since 1AD). Even more specifically, in the middle of the four blood moons was a full solar eclipse. 

So the word "dam" means "blood" and numerically equals 44 through a millenial old system equating letters with numbers.  The third of the fourth blood moons occured on 4/4 (Passover) and was the shortest full eclipse expected in the entire 21st century. Guess how long it lasted...yep, 4 minutes 44 seconds.

That's 4/4 4:44 of the "44" moon.  Let's not go down the path of "moon," but suffice to say it's got more to it, too.  Crazy stuff.

The next blood moon occurs September 28th, 2015, also falling on a high day, Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles.  It's always interesting to consider blood with the Passover, spreading the blood of the lamb on the doorposts (also having to do with 4).  And of course, the crucifixion that occurred on Passover when Christ the Lamb of God was sacrificed to take away the sin of the world. 

For those who missed, the three previous tetrads of this nature occurred:
1492--Spanish Inquisition, persecution of the Jews (some escape to the Americas with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage)
1948--establishment of the Jewish state
1967--reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule for the first time since 70AD.  (6 day war)

Next word.  "A-dam".  Isaiah talks of the Messiah as the second Adam or Son of Man, and rabbinical tradition says the only thing that can save man is "44 plus one" or through blood of a "man" plus one, the Messiah.  "dam" plus "a" or aleph, numerically the first letter of the alphabet, is A-dam.  This is in Isaiah, but we'll recognize it more clearly where Romans 5 describes Jesus as the second Adam, as one man sin entered the world, so through the One Man death might be defeated. 

What is the tie?  Some say that 44 is relevant in that if you put Israel's number of kings (including Absalom unseating David and David returning), you get 44.  Similarly there have been 44 presidents...Some say the 44th president will spell disaster (or "blood") to Israel and 44 plus one will bring Israel's greatest triumph. 

Whatever the case, numbers mean a lot in the scripture.  Here are a couple just to toy with:
Genesis 1

1 There are 7 words

2 There are 28 letters = 7 x 4

3 The sentence divides into 2 equal halves.
The first 3 words contain 14 letters = 7 x 2
The second 3 contain 14 letters = 7 x 2

4 The second half divides into 2 equal halves
“The heavens” contains 7 letters
“And the earth” contains 7 letters

5 The 3 nouns God, heavens, earth have 14 letters = 7 x 2

6 The numeric value of the 3 nouns is 777 = 7 x 111

7 The numeric value of the verb created = 203 = 7 x 29

8 The middle word and the word after it contain 7 letters

9 The middle word and the word before it contain 7 letters

10 The value of the first and last letters of the first half = 42 = 7 x 6

11 The value of the first and last letters of the last half = 91 = 7 x 13

12 The value of the first and last letters of all the words taken together = 1393 = 7 x 199

13 The value of the first and last letters of the first and last words only = 497 = 7 x 71

14 The numeric value of the 1st letter of the first and last words is 7 = 7 x 1

15 The numeric value of the last letters of the 1st and last words = 490 = 7 x 70 = 7 x 7 x 10

So there are 15 features of 7 in a single sentence.

(I'll spare you the primes and triangular numbers).

foreWORD Revelation 12 The Forbidden Chapter

Life Truths family,
Thanks to Jeff for a great discussion of the trumpets.  Boy, this stuff is thick and complex.  You might be like me, spending more time in commentaries than in the scripture. I'll send out a fore WORD in a day or two to help us break out of that in preparation for this coming and next Sundays.  This Sunday the core passage is Rev 12, but we will survey much more of the book and focus on the truth hidden in plain sight, and the surprising inability to see it plainly due to our current, personal, educational, historical, literal, and cultural taints and biases.  May not give you the answers you want, but I hope it will give you the skills you need to pursue the character of God as revealed to the seven churches in this letter.  Next Sunday we'll focus on Rev 19-21 and survey the whole book yet again and discuss the profound aspects of worship replete in its pages.

So if you can read as much of Revelation this week, even more than once, and try not to dive into the imagery but just read it at face value and stay focused in the book, that will help tremendously as we train to study together.

In the meantime, yesterday it came up about the Jews, the 144,000 being sealed, and the emblem of the nation of Israel.  Well, speaking on the context of culture and what you've been taught, did you know that long ago the Rabbis decided to stop teaching a certain chapter of the Bible?  And this systematic elimination of this one chapter, which we know and love in our Christian culture, is a hinge pin in the very fabric of understanding the Messiah.  In the Old Testament, prophets saw primarily the coming of the Messiah as a single event, and even the disciples seemed to not be able to get past it, either, at least not until the resurrection.  But we know that it is two appearances, first the cross, then the conquering.  When Jesus read the scriptures and said "this has come true this day in your hearing" He only read the first half of the verse that spoke of the first coming and not the conquering.

Please take 9 minutes this week and sit and watch this video about the "forbidden chapter of the Bible" and see the profound impact it has on everyday Jews as this young man reads with them from the Hebrew scriptures...and watch them see the Messiah in truth for the first time in their lives.  You can almost feel their hearts burning within like the disciples on the road to Emmaus as he reveals what the scriptures say about the coming of the King.

https://www.facebook.com/MedabrimEnglish/videos/828796167189961/

Love y'all.  Praying for you now.

foreWORD Revelation 5 the ONLY Lamb of God

Worthy is the Lamb, the ONLY Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world!

Listen, watch, and read the words of this scripture song: Acts 10:38-42.



now read v43.


See you Sunday.  Praying for each of you today.