Happy New Year!

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 Happy New Year!

    I hope you have had a wonderful time of rest and fellowship with your family and friends over the past week or two as we have celebrated the birth of Jesus and welcomed in the new year. 

    As we embarq on a new (or old) set of goals and resolutions for 2024, I came across a really fascinating tidbit of information I wanted to share with you.

    Apparently, in Hebrew, every fiftieth letter in the book of Genesis spells out the Hebrew word for Torah. The Torah is the term for the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Books of the Law.  So the very first letter is Tav, 49 letters later is Vav, 49 letters later you will find Reish, and 49 letters later you will find Heh.  Putting those Hebrew letters together is the TORH, or in English, Torah. 

    This is exactly the same in the book of Exodus!! Starting with the first letter of the book, and moving by groups of 50, you will find that Torah spelled out in Hebrew.

    Leviticus is a little different.  The first Hebrew letter you will find is Yod.  Every seventh letter spells out YHWH, or the Hebrew name of God. The theme of Leviticus is the sacrifices made for sin. Keep that in mind.

    In Numbers and Deuteronomy we see the same pattern as in Genesis and Exodus, but the pattern is reversed.  Starting with the last letter of TORH, and moving 49 letters is the Reish, and then 49 letters later is the Vav, and lastly, the Tav. So it spells out Torah in Hebrew, backwards!

    This seems almost weird, and I have absolutely no idea who discovered this. However, I am thankful for that person, because it really points out the character of our God, as well as the theme of Scripture. The entirety of the Law points us to Jesus, the God-man who became the atoning sacrifice for all of humanity!  Genesis and Exodus point us to Leviticus, and Numbers and Deuteronomy point backwards to Leviticus! God is in the details! What an absolutely mind-blowing, amazing God He is!

    This year, my goal is to point to Jesus.  My children, as they grow and spread their wings need Jesus more than ever. There are so many people sick and hurting in this world that need Jesus. Our brothers and sisters in the Lord, need to be pointed back to Jesus. This is the theme of Scripture, and this should be the theme of Christ-followers as well. Will you join me in this resolution? 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Heather Sparks

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