Today we’re going to look at the second and the third letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Beth and Gimel, and how they connect to Jesus. Benjamin Franklin said, ‘Give me twenty-six lead soldiers, and I’ll conquer the world. The pen is mightier than the sword.’1 According to Franklin, there is power in the English alphabet. The same could be said for its Hebrew counterpart.2 How the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet Point to Jesus; that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.
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[Tweet “Part of the house of Adam was God walking through it in the cool of the day.”]
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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This weeks call is:
The Hebrew Alphabet points to Jesus. Everything we’ve spoken of in this podcast points to Him. You can encounter Jesus. You can come to know Him. Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If you haven’t, now is the right time to receive Him into your heart and life. Jesus was and is the only sacrifice for your sins. He is the only way to heaven. Pray this prayer with me.
Father God, I come to you now in the Name of Jesus, your Son. I do believe He died for my sins. I receive Him right into my heart. Thank you for saving me. I now declare Jesus as my Lord.
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Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:
Question: Did you see Jesus differently after listening to this podcast? If so, would you please share your observations in the comments section below?
Episode Resources
You can find additional information on the subject of Jesus in the resources listed below.
- What Happens When You Encounter Jesus? [Podcast]
- Are You A Passionate Seeker of Jesus? [Podcast]
- Just Who Is Jesus to You? [Podcast]
- Why Jesus Is the Powerful and Blessed King [Podcast]
- How Jesus Being Lifted Impacts Your Life [Podcast]
About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 37 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com.
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Podcast Notes
Beth and Jesus: The Second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet
- Equivalent to ‘b’ in the English alphabet
Definition: house, tent, or family
Beth,
Beth and Jesus: The Second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is Used in the Bible Geographically
- Bethabara – house of crossing in Jn. 1:28
- Bethel, a place Abraham visited in his journeys (Gen. 13:3), means house of God.
- Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, means house of bread.
- Bethany, which means house of figs, had a population of 726 in Jesus’ day and was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Beth and Jesus: The Second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet Also Describe Generations of Family
- If you were going to describe your family lineage, you would use the letter, Beth.
- You can see this family use of Beth in Bible phrases like…
- “the house (Beth) of David.”
- “the house (Beth) of Moses.”
- “the house (Beth) of Aaron.”
Beth and Jesus: The Second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet Describes Nations
- Beth is used on a national level not only to describe families but to describe nations.
- What is a nation? It’s the government or the president or the rulers. Nations are families like “the house (Beth) of Israel.”
Beth and Jesus: The Second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet Has A Spiritual Component
- The word ‘synagogue’ is Beth-Knesset, which means house of gathering.
- How common is it for us to refer to the church as Bethel or the house of God?
- So, you can see the word Beth used at all these levels.
- These levels are interconnected because strong families make strong churches, and strong churches make a strong nation.
- The letter Beth covers families, churches, and nations.
- The first institution the Lord God ever built on planet earth was Beth or the house of Adam.
- You remember, in Genesis 3:8, the Lord walked with Adam in the cool of the day?
- Part of the house of Adam was the Lord God walking through it.
- There is no real house, there is no real Beth, without the Lord walking in it.
- The Lord, who sits on high, knows where every Beth is on planet earth, and He is sensitive to what goes on in it.
Beth and Jesus: The Second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet and Psalm 119:9-16
Psalm 119:9-10 (KJV) – 9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole HEART have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
- Beth is located in the word ‘heart’ in vs. 10.
- Have you ever heard the saying “home is where the heart is”?
- In Hebrew, the heart is the home for God to dwell.
- This is a consistent revelation throughout the Bible.
- There is nothing more than the Lord desired but to have fellowship with His creation.
- When Adam sinned, it brought a separation between God and man.
- It hurt God to be separated from His man.
- He was forced to drive him totally out of the garden.
- No more walks together in the cool of the day.
- No more sharing.
- Can we say it this way?
- Sin had caused an eviction from the house, from Beth.
- Sin put the light out in man.
- The Lord embarked on a plan to remove the darkness forever. He sent Jesus.
- But, the real reason for Jesus coming to planet earth was a mystery hidden in God. None of the people who crossed paths with Jesus knew the real reason why He came. Some thought it was for political reasons.
- Not even Satan knew the real reason.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8 (KJV) – 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
- What was the reason then? 2 Cor. 6:15-18 gives us a clue.
2 Corinthians 6:15-16 (KJV) – 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- Jesus did not just come so that our sins may be forgiven.
- It was that but yet so much more than that. God said, “I am going to fix this thing so that I will never again be separated from my man. I am going to ‘dwell in them.’ Therefore, they cannot leave me because everywhere they try to go I am there in them. I will never leave them. I will never forsake them. I’m not even going to try to get them to come to where I am. I am going to do one better than that. My Beth is going to be in them.’
- ‘But before I move in, there has to be some interior redecorating done,’ God said. ‘I have to fix up the place to my tastes (2 Corinthians 5:17).’
1 Corinthians 6:19 (KJV) – 19 What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
- What? Don’t you know your body is the Beth of the Spirit of God?
- Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which means a sacrificial animal paves the way to Beth God’s new home in man.
- Because Jesus was our Aleph, God has a new Beth.
- You have a new birth, and God has a new Beth.
Gimel and Jesus: The Third letter of the Hebrew Alphabet
Definition: camel
Background on the letter GIMMEL
Genesis 31:17-18 (KJV)
17 Then Jacob rose, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; 18And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
- Strong’s concordance defines the word camel, in vs. 17, as ‘burden bearer.’
- The camel is called the ‘ship of the desert.’
- They were used as a form of transportation before horses, ships, chariots were ever used.
- They are especially suited and equipped to operate in dry arid conditions.
- Camels are legendary for their ability to go long spans in desert conditions without water.
- Camels can store fluid in their excess body fat, and they have special water storage cells in its stomach.
- They have an internal supply of water, which can be released, as needed, making them independent of any dry environment.
- Camels are equipped to carry burdens in desert places.
Jesus and Gimel: The Third letter of the Hebrew Alphabet
- How does this picture of a camel have any correlation to Jesus?
- Jesus is our bearer of burdens in the wilderness.
Jesus and Gimel: The Third Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet and the Atonement
Leviticus 16:5-7 (KJV) – 5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and his house. 7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
- Note, this sin offering was not just for Israel’s children, but it was also a type that foreshadowed Jesus.
- It is important to note the type was a goat, not a lamb.
Leviticus 16:8-9 (KJV) – 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
- One of the two goats became the sin offering for Israel.
- The other goat?
Leviticus 16:8-9 (KJV) – 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
- Where will the goat be released? — ‘Into the wilderness.’
Leviticus 16:8-9 (KJV) – 20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
- What do they do with this live goat?
- They laid hands on him, transferred Israel’s sins onto the goat, and released him into the wilderness.
- The goat head is well known today as a satanic symbol.
- Why was a satanic symbol used here? (Now, be careful here. Listen closely. Don’t go off and say something I didn’t say. If you need to re-listen to this a few times, please do so.)
2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV) – 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
- Jesus became sin.
- Sin is connected to Satan. He is the originator of it. That’s why God used a goat for typology.
- In this type, sin, which is of Satan, was transferred to the goat’s head.
- Jesus became what originated in Satan so that you might become what originates in God, the righteousness of God in Christ.
- Jesus only stayed in that ‘goat’ state, where he was made sin, for three days and nights.
- Then God raised Him.
- Note, it took two goats to show the perfect type of the Crucifixion.
- One goat had to be killed.
- The second goat had to bear the sins of the people into the wilderness.
Gimel and Jesus: The Third letter of the Hebrew Alphabet and Life on Planet Earth
- How does Jesus as our burden bearer come into play as we live life on planet earth?
Psalm 55:22 (KJV) – 22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
- Is Jesus able to bear your burdens if you cast them on Him?
- This verse sounds like something you read in one of the General Epistles.
1 Peter 5:5-7 (KJV) – 5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
- The word of God says, cast your care upon him.
- Cast your burdens on the Lord.
- Do you remember the characteristics of a camel?
- He was an internal supply of water to get through dry places.
- Is Jesus able to bear your burdens if you cast them on Him?
- Is Jesus well equipped with an internal water supply that will get you through any dry place you are in?
Jesus – Our Root Out of DRY Ground
- Did you ever read Isaiah 53, the great chapter foretelling the crucifixion of Jesus? Listen to the words.
Isaiah 53:1 (KJV) – 1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a DRY GROUND: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath BORNE our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was UPON HIM; and with his stripes we are healed.
- In the midst of the dryness and destitution of the human situation, when no prophet had spoken a word from God for nearly 400 hundred years, sprang a root out of the dryness.
- This root in the midst of the dryness was prepared as a vessel to BEAR our griefs and sorrows.
- He BORE our sins, sicknesses and the chastisement of our peace, or mental state, was UPON Him.
- Jesus is our burden bearer.
Jesus, our GIMEL the Third Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, Has A Supply of Water Within Him
John 4:7 (KJV) – 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
- Notice vs. 14 – ‘….the water that I shall give’. You can’t give what you don’t have.
- If Jesus is giving out water, it’s because He has a water supply in Him.
Psalm 119:17, Jesus and Gimel: The Third letter of the Hebrew Alphabet
Psalm 119:17 (KJV) – 17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
- Using the letter Gimel in the words ‘deal bountifully’ emphasizes the abundance of Jesus’ ability to bear your burdens and supply you with life-giving water.
- Here’s another way to look at it.
- The psalmist is crying out to God and saying, ‘Pour out your blessings on me.
- Deal bountifully with me!
- I need your bountiful blessings.
- And, I want it to be so strong, I am going to need a camel to carry it away.’
- Does this sound like good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Lk. 6:38)?
- And what about the ‘there shall not be room enough to receive it blessing’ in Malachi 3:10?
- When you see the letter Gimel, you see the greatest burden-bearer that ever walked this planet – Jesus Christ.
#S4-016: The Cleansing of the Leper: Why God Put It In The Bible for You – Part 2 [Podcast]
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