Secret of the Hebrew letter Vav

Transcript of “Secret of the Hebrew letter Vav”

The sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is VAV.

The numeric value of VAV is six.

The pictogram or symbol behind the shape of the letter VAV is a nail.

VAV is a connecting letter. A VAV at the start of a Hebrew word almost always means “and”. There are virtually no words in biblical Hebrew that start with a VAV, other than words where VAV is there as a prefix, meaning “and”.

Because it occurs so frequently as a prefix – more than fifty thousand times in the Old Testament – translators sometimes use English words like “but ... also ... including ... now”, and many others. This is so that the word “and” does not become too repetitive in the Bibles we read. If readability was not such a big issue, we would have Bibles full of “and ... and ... and ... and ... and”.

The first VAV in the Bible is at the start of the sixth word in Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. In Hebrew, “Bereshit bara Elohim et ha'shamayim ve'et ha'aretz.” The sixth word is “ve'et” ... “Ha'shamayim ve'et ha'aretz”. The VAV connects the heavens and the earth – “the heavens and the earth”.

Now, let me ask ... Who is it Who connects heaven and earth? Who made it possible for fallen human beings to have the hope of heaven?

Well, Jesus, of course. He came down from heaven and took on human form. And He purchased us for God, through His blood sacrifice on the cross. Jesus, the Son of God ... and the Son of Man. Jesus ... Who connects the spiritual and the material. Jesus ... Who connects the invisible world (which is eternal) with the world that we can see and feel – the world that is temporary, and destined to be done away with.

And it was all made possible when Jesus was nailed to the cross.

One of the key titles for Jesus in the New Testament is “Son of God”. It occurs nearly fifty times. But another key title for Jesus is “Son of Man”, and that occurs more than eighty times in the New Testament.

The expression Son of Man in Greek, is “Vios tou anthropou”. The numeric value of the expression, by the way, is 2960, which is a number divisible by 8 and by 37. 8 is a number that speaks of resurrection life, and 37 speaks of Jesus as the Living Word.

Jesus did not give take the title "Son of Man" without reason. Jesus was identifying Himself with human beings. Because we live our lives in the weakness of flesh and blood, Jesus also took on flesh and blood.

The expression, “Son of Man” – in Hebrew, is “Ben Adam” – and occurs more than 100 times in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Ezekiel.

The numeric value of the letter VAV is 6. On Day 6 of creation, God created man. Genesis chapter 1 verse 27, says “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him ...”. In Hebrew that reads, “Va'yivra Elohim et ha'adam be'tsalmo be'tselem Elohim bara oto.”

There are 36 Hebrew letters in this phrase. That is 6 x 6. Or 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6.

The first letter in the phrase is a VAV. And the last letter in the phrase is a VAV. The total numeric value of all the words, all the letters, is 1782, which is a number divisible by 6.

The value of the middle word, “be'tsalmo” – “in His own image”, is 168, which breaks down to 3 x 7 x 8.

The value of the first word, “Va'yivra”, is 219, which is 3 x 73. And the value of the last word is 407, which is divisible by 37.

We see the prime numbers 3 and 7 on view, and in the first and last words we see the prime numbers 37 and 73 “bracketing” this important verse. God’s fingerprint of design, I would say.

“God created man in His image” ... but man fell. Adam disobeyed God. He did what God told him not to do. We were all born as descendants of Adam and we inherited his sinful, selfish, fallen nature. But Jesus redeemed us. He “bought us back” for God. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross.

When we believe in Jesus – when we place our faith in Him – then His righteousness, His sinless perfection, is credited to us. We get born again. We obtain the right to enter into an endless spiritual existence. Our bodies fade and die but, as we continue in faith in Jesus, our spirit lives on.

It is all because of Jesus. Jesus was the “second Adam”, so to speak. Adam (in Hebrew, “Adam”, ALEF DALET MEM), is the word for “man”.

In the first Adam, we came to life, in the natural state of this existence. It is a state where our bodies slowly decay, and then die. But in the second Adam – the second man, Jesus – we enter into eternal life. Our bodies will die but we will live on. Our spirit will inherit a new, glorious, incorruptible body.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 say, “The first man Adam (became) a living soul. The last Adam (became) a life-giving spirit. (46) However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. (47) The first man (Adam) is from the earth, earthy; the second man (that is Jesus) is from heaven. (49) ... we have borne the image of the earthy, but we will also bear the image of the heavenly (of Jesus).”

On the sixth day of the week – by Jewish reckoning, by the Hebrew calendar – a Friday by our reckoning, Jesus was crucified. At the sixth hour, darkness came over the land. Judgment for sin was poured out on Jesus.

God cares for you. He loves you. He gave His Son, to take on the form of man, to suffer in your place, to die for you, so that you – as you trust in Him – will never die (John 11:26).