When is the ninth hour, scripturally speaking? During scriptural days, there were no watches with which to tell time. Sun dials were utilized to tell time during the day. Thus, no matter how long a day was in the summer, or how short it was in the winter, there were always twelve hours in a day. The major divisions of a day were the third hour (mid-morning), the sixth hour (high noon), the ninth hour (mid-afternoon), and the twelfth hour, which was the last hour of the day.

The question is this; What can this tell us about various times mentioned in scripture, especially critical times of observance? The answer is, of course, a great deal!

Three of the evangel (gospel) accounts report that Yahshua died around the 9th hour (Mt. 27:45-50; Mk. 15:33-37; Lk. 23:44-46).

We discover that the 9th hour of the day was the hour of prayer, “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour,” Acts 3:1.

What else was associated with this hour of prayer? The Psalmist David gives us a hint, “Yahweh, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice,” Psa. 141:1-2.

The prayers of Yahweh’s saints are as incense to Him (Rev. 8:3-4). Zechariah, the priest, was burning incense during the hour of prayer, “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zachariah, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before Elohim, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of Yahweh blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before Yahweh in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of Yahweh. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense,” Lk. 1:5-10.

The times of burning the incense are revealed in the book of Exodus, “And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations,” Ex. 30:1-8.

The timing is not necessarily as specific in the morning, as it is in the even in the above verses, but the morning time of prayer, the trimming of the menorah, and the burning of incense was probably at the third hour of the day (mid-morning). This is actually the time that Yahshua was crucified, “And it was the third hour, and they crucified him,” Mk. 15:25.

Also, on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out, Peter declared that it was the third hour (Acts. 2:15) to wit, mid-morning.

“At even” gives us a very specific time for the lighting of the menorah, as well as the burning of incense (including the hour of prayer) because the Hebrew terminology was biyn ha erebim (~yBr[h !yB)!

Biyn HaErebim was the exact time that the second daily sacrifice was offered, “Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even (biyn ha erebim): And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto Yahweh. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before Yahweh: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee,” Ex. 29:38-42.

Biyn HaErebim would better be translated as “between (biyn) the (ha) evens (erebim). Biyn not only means between, but it also has to do with discerning (through dividing with wisdom), or among, etc. We are to rightly divide (biyn) the word of truth (2 Thes. 2:15) with the wisdom imparted to through the Holy Spirit (ruach ha qodesh).

ERRONEOUS UNDERSTANDING

We know that the scriptures say that “the whole world has been deceived by the great dragon” (Rev. 12:9). “The whole word” would not include those who belong to Yahshua who are in the world, but not of the world any longer. However, even when we are called to Yahweh’s truths, we must study His word in order to continually learn the “mysteries” that have been locked up to us all of our lives. The giving of the Holy Spirit through Yahshua is the key to unlocking those mysteries.

The general world has no idea what “biyn ha erebim” is at all, but many of us who have been called out of the world, still haven’t come to the truth of the matter either. In our process of coming out of the world, we have been initially taught that “biyn ha erebim” is the period between sunset and total darkness, a period of about 18 – 30 minutes.

This period of light has been attributed to the next day. In other words, our people have observed their 24 hour day as the period between sunset of one day, to sunset of the next day. Therefore, sunset ends the day and the period of light between sunset and darkness (which would include biyn ha erebim [the so-called  period between sunset and darkness]) belongs to the new day that has begun at sunset.

If this concept is true, then how can the SECOND daily sacrifice, which is sacrificed at biyn ha erebim, be exactly that….THE SECOND? That would make it the first sacrifice of the day, not the second! In actuality, the first sacrifice of the day was performed in the morning!

The sun was given to rule the day, while the moon and stars were given to rule the night (Gen. 1:14-18). The 1967 Zondervan Pictorial Dictionary, under the article CALENDAR, page 138, says, “I. Days in the Biblical record of time begins with the account of creation. Various reckonings and measurements were derived from these early records. The order of the Jewish day, beginning in the evening, was based on the repeated phrase, “and there was evening, and there was morning” (Gen. 1:5b). While the Babylonian day, like that of most Near Easterners, began at sunrise, the Jewish day began at sunset (Deut. 23:11). Actually the demarcation between the end of one day and the beginning of another as observed by the ancient Israelites was that moment when three stars of the second magnitude became visible. This is confirmed in Nehemiah (4:21) “so we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn till the stars came out.”

I also have an excerpt from the Encyclopedia Judaica which admits that the day ended when two or three stars were visible in the sky.

Thus, the day doesn’t actually end at sunset. The sun rules by the power of its light. It was established in the heavens to rule the daylight portion of the day. The same would be applicable for the beginning of the sun’s rule. When only two or three stars can be seen in the sky at sunrise, then the sun is ruling. This takes place before the sun crosses the horizon. It continues to rule, even after sunset, until two or three stars can be seen in the darkening sky.

THE EVENS

The Hebrew word for “morning” is boqer. The morning (boqer) begins when the sun begins its rule, that is, when only two or three stars are left in the waning darkness. The morning (boqer) continues until the sun reaches high noon, which is zohar in Hebrew.

Once the sun has crossed the high noon (Zohar) median, it has entered into the western sky. One of the Hebrew terms for west is ma-erev. This is the beginning of erev, that is, the first erev. Erev ends when the sun relinquishes its rule because of the darkening sky and the appearance of two or three stars.

There will be charts prepared for you to look at below, but first we must address the Passover.

PASSOVER

Yahweh initiated the Passover sacrifice and observance in Egypt.

“And Yahweh spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening (biyn ha erebim),” Ex. 12:1-6.

When is biyn ha-erebim? Haven’t we established that it is the 9th hour of the day? Haven’t we established that it is mid-afternoon? The Passover was to be sacrificed at the exact same time that the second daily sacrifice was offered. It was the same time that the Menorah was lit. It was the same time that incense was offered. It was the same time as the hour of prayer.

“And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Yahweh. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to Yahweh throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever,” Ex. 7-14.

Which day is memorialized as the feast? Isn’t it the 15th? Don’t the seven days of unleavened bread begin with the 15th day? Doesn’t unleavened bread end on the 21st day?

“These are the feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even (biyn ha-erebim [mid-afternoon]) is Yahweh’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto Yahweh: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day (the 15th day of the month) ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein,” Lev. 23:4-8.

“And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month Abib. And it shall be when Yahweh shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters,” Ex. 13:3-7.

Moses commanded the people to REMEMBER the day that they came out of Egypt. Isn’t there a command to REMEMBER the Sabbath day? It is the same Hebrew word! The day that Israel was delivered from Egypt was to be memorialized, remembered. That day is also specified in the book of Numbers, “And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,” Num. 33:3.

Let’s continue in Exodus 12 now, “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day (the 15th day of the first month) ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day (the 15th day) there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day (the 21st day) there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even (ba-erev), ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even (ba-erev). Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread,” Ex. 12:15-20.

Notice that they/we were/are to begin to eat on the 14th day of the month “at even.” The Hebrew term utilized here is ba-erev, it is not biyn ha-erebim! Ba-erev is the end of that day, which yields to the beginning of the next day, the 15th. Unleavened bread is to be eaten until the 21st day at even, that is, until the end of the 21st day! Count it yourself! The 15th is the first day, the 21st is the seventh day. Unleavened is to be eaten seven days!

In order to get this firmly in our minds, we have prepared some charts as shown below:

YAHSHUA’S SACRIFICE

Yahshua’s sacrifice fulfilled all of the sacrifices that were offered by the Israelites of old. The first daily sacrifice was to be offered at the third hour of the day (mid-morning) which was the same time that the Menorah was to be trimmed, incense was to be offered on the altar of incense, and the people were to be without praying. The second daily sacrifice was to be offered at mid-afternoon (biyn ha-erebim/the ninth hour) along with the lighting of the Menorah, the burning of incense, and the prayers of the people. When the 14th day of Abib (the first month) arrived, the Passover lambs were to begin to be slaughtered at this same time.

Yahshua was crucified at the third hour (mid-morning) of the 14th day of Abib. He died at the ninth hour (biyn ha-erebim, mid-afternoon) in order to fulfill the two daily sacrifices, as well as the Passover sacrifice. (All other sacrifices were included as well.)

The Holy Spirit, according to the Apostle Peter, was poured out at the third hour on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:15).

Paul says that the pattern is to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. (Ro. 2:9-11) It is interesting to note that the Holy Spirit was first poured out on the Hebrew followers of the Messiah. The people of that day didn’t even believe that Yahweh would deal with non-Hebrews (Gentiles) until He began to work with Cornelius of the Italian band (Acts 10:1). He was praying and given a vision at the 9th hour of the day (Acts 10:2-3).

This author would venture to say that when Peter arrived and began to speak concerning Yahshua, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles (non-Hebrews) at the 9th hour. You see, it is important to Yahweh that His plan be presented to us out of the Scriptures and their fulfillment also take place on the corresponding date and time of their observance. Therefore, Yahshua was sacrificed on the corresponding day and time of the Passover, and the morning and evening sacrifices.

The official days of Unleavened Bread began and ended at their prescribed times, that is, the 15th and 21st days of the moon/month.

Yahshua was resurrected at the prescribed time between the end of the seventh day Sabbath, and the beginning of the first day of the week (also the weeks, that is Shavout, the count-down to Pentecost).

He ascended at the prescribed time of the offering of the wave-sheaf (Lev. 23:9-16), to be accepted as the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead on the day following the seventh day Sabbath that fell in the midst of the days of Unleavened Bread (Jn. 20:17, Col. 1:18).

The count-down to Pentecost which consists of seven perfect Sabbath cycles began on that first day of the week, and culminated with the Holy Spirit bring poured out to raise upHis firstfruits assenbly on the day of Pentecost as prescribed in the Torah (Lev. 23:16-17).

Yahweh fulfills His plan perfectly and at His own prescribed times, whether we understand it or not.

Hopefully you can understand.  J.H.

THE HEBREW ALPHABET

THE TET

The tet is the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, thus it serves as the number 9. It is the first of the two letters that are equivalent to the English letter “T.” It looks like this u in the more ancient Pictorial Hebrew, and like this f in the Paleo Hebrew, and finally like this j in the more modern Babylonian/Aramaic style.

By Jerry Healan

We will find that this 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is quite ominous, intriguing and also amazing. In other words, it is an enigma.

It’s first appearance in the Scriptures is in the Hebrew word tov (good, Gen. 1:4). Tov looks like this bfu—bwf—bwj in Pictorial, Paleo, and Modern Hebrew respectively.

In reality, tet has to do with something that is hidden, or surrounded. For instance, the gestation period for a child is nine months. It remains hidden, surrounded in the womb of its mother until the time that it is brought to light.

As we have written before, one of the  Hebrew words for womb is beten     (nub/!jb, Pictorial and Modern Hebrew respectively). The beit (b/b) is the picture of a house, the tet (u/j) represents that which is surrounded by the house (hidden), and the nun (n/n) is the seed, the germ of life that is being surrounded.

One of the more sinister aspects is that  of the word Satan nus/!jv (Pictorial and Modern Hebrew respectively). Notice that the two last letters (remember that the Hebrew reads from right to left) are exactly the same as the ones for womb, only the first letter is changed or replaced by the shin. The shin (s/v) is a picture of teeth which, in this instance, pictures something consumed by destruction. Thus, Satan (nus) surrounds (u) the seed, the (n)  with destruction (s)!

THE SERPENT

The Pictorial form for the letter tet is that of a coiled serpent, or a serpent with its tail in its mouth! (See illustration)

What most people don’t understand about the incident of the forbidden fruit of the book of Genesis is that the serpent enticed the woman with his lies to take and eat of that fruit. The man, who was personally instructed by Yahweh to refrain from it, didn’t even protest, but ate the fruit out of her hand. This resulted in curses to be pronounced on each participant.

The serpent’s food was assigned to be dust, “And Yahweh Elohim said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life…,” Gen. 3:14.

Then Yahweh told the man, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Gen. 3:19.

The serpent and his followers are able to eat Yahweh’s people like bread, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Yahweh,” Psa. 14:4.

In other words, man’s flesh has been assigned to be the serpent’s food!

The serpent has ensnared all men in the pangs of sin, corruption, and death, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of Elohim,” Ro. 3:23, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” Ro. 5:12.

It is death that returns the flesh to the earth as dust. Isaiah speaks of the serpent’s tenacity because he is the one of whom this verse in scripture speaks, “That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?” Isa. 14:17. (His prisoners are held in death!)

This is certainly brought to reality by taking a look at the next illustration below:

In the Genesis account (chapter 3), the Hebrew word for serpent is nachash (shn/vxn). Looking at the Pictorial Hebrew, the life/seed = nun (n) is fenced in (h = chet) with the shin (s = destruction).

THE SERPENT’S PRIESTHOOD

The Prophet Ezekiel is inspired to write, “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Sovereign Yahweh; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of Elohim; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of Elohim; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of Elohim: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee,” Ez. 28:12-18.

Notice that this being had been in the Garden of Eden. Only Adam, Eve, Yahweh, and the serpent (nachash) were recorded to have been there. Adam and Eve were dead long before Ezekiel’s day, but the great dragon, that old serpent called the devil and Satan is recorded to still be around at the end of the age (Rev. 12:9).

Notice that he has sanctuaries. The Hebrew word for sanctuaries is miqdash, which are consecrated, holy places.

Because of the pride in his beauty and greatness, he left the righteous paths of Yahweh and grievously sinned. Iniquity is lawlessness. Sin is transgression of the law (1 Jn. 3:4). Violence is translated from the Hebrew word chamas, pronounced like khamas, or hamas!

He evidently had a breastplate of gold which had nine (9) stones embedded in it. (Count the stones in the above Scriptures.)

JUDGMENT

In the spiritual significance of numbers, the number nine (9) is the number of judgment. The serpent has deceived mankind into worshipping at his altar of sin, iniquity, violence, corruption, and death, rather than the righteous altar of Yahweh, thus bringing judgment on man and the earth.

The serpent’s idolatry is that primarily of the worship of the creation rather than the Creator. The principle item of worship is that of the sun. The Egyptians were worshippers of the sun, which they represented in their hieroglyphics as a point, or dot within a circle. (See image below) This typifies the serpent as the circle, with the sun as the dot in the middle. Of course, he leads mankind to worship the host of heaven which is the sun, moon, and stars.

Notice that the tet in both Pictorial, and Paleo Hebrew are identical (u/f). The Pictorial Hebrew is that of Moses’ day, and the Paleo Hebrew is the Hebrew of King David’s day. It appears to this author that since the tet is the picture of a serpent, these two tets would typify that the way of salvation and deliverance was closed because of the power that the serpent has over mankind. Man is under the curse of judgment.

The serpent (devil) told Yahshua that he had power over all the kingdoms of the earth, “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine,” Lk. 4:-7.

This should alert Yahweh’s people to the fact that all of their leaders worship the devil, who, in turn, empowers them. (Read Psa. 2:1-3, Rev. 17:1-5; 18:3; Jer. 23)

THE MESSIAH

We can only escape the serpent’s grasp, his power over us through the Messiah Yahshua. Only He has the power to break the serpent’s hold on us.

Interestingly, the Hebrew word for serpent, nachash (shn), totals to 358. Nun (n) = 50, chet (h) = 8, and shin (s) = 300. 50 + 8 + 300 = 358.

The Hebrew word for Messiah, Messiach (hism) also equals to 358. Mem = 40, shin = 300, yod = 10, chet = 8. 40 + 300 + 20 + 8 = 358.

Yahshua is the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Psa. 110:1-4).

The Levitical priesthood was a forerunner and type of Yahshua’s Melchizedek Priesthood. The Levitical priests wore a breastplate which was called a choshen (!vx/nsh) which is a permutation of nachash (vxn/shn). Their breastplate had twelve stones arranged in four rows of three each. Each stone also had one of the names of the tribes of Israel on it.

The Levitical priesthood was a type of the Melchizedek priesthood, each having the capacity to nullify the works of the serpent, the modern day Melchizedek especially.

Yahshua was a type of the rod of Moses, which when cast to the earth, or ground, was changed into a serpent that swallowed up the serpents of the false magicians of Egypt, the representatives of the serpent Satan (Ex. 7:9-12).

The Hebrew term for Moses’ rod is mattah (eum/hjm), which is what the first book of the New Testament evangel accounts witnesses. The book of Matthew, of course, is presented in the English, but its Hebrew name would properly be Mattiyahu, in other words, the Rod of Yahweh!

Yahshua also said that He had to be lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up,” Jn. 3:14.

Have you ever heard of the term “fight fire with fire?” This is what Yahweh is in the process of doing with Yashshua the Messiah in order to nullify and swallow up his power over the people.

The Modern day tet reveals that the circle of confinement (u Pictorial Hebrew/f Paleo Hebrew) has been broken (j Modern Hebrew). There is now an opening at the top which will allow that that has been hidden and ensnared to escape. Yahshua now has power over the grave, and His people will be delivered at the resurrection!

THE TWO FACES OF TET (j)

I want to finish this study with an excerpt from In His Own Words by Grant Luton:

“Tet (j) has a dual nature because it represents objective good as well as hidden evil. Only when we have been yoked to Yahshua (as depicted by chet [x]), can we be sure to distinguish between truth and falsehood. We shall examine several examples of tet’s dual nature, representing both the goodness of Elohim and the deceitfulness of Satan. Though tet (j) may often represent something evil, remember that our Elohim is sovereign, and ‘in all things Elohim works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose”. This is why tet (j) is such an important member of the cycle of letters dealing with the walk of faith. Faith requires us to act upon the basis of what Elohim says about a situation instead of relying on our own human reasoning. Some things which appear good are actually evil, while other things which are truly good, may often be quite unpleasant and uncomfortable. We must therefore exercise faith in Elohim’s ruling on every issue. The construction of this letter depicts this kind of faithful submission.

A brief examination of a Torah scroll will reveal that both chet (x) and tet (j) are constructed from the combination of a  waw (w) and a zayin (z). Chet (x) is comprised of a w and z yoked together as equals, but in tet (j) we see the w on the right bowing in submission to the z on the left. The illustration  below shows chet and tet as they appear in the Torah scrolls.

Not only are the x and j comprised of the same two component letters, but tet reveals a secret contained in the letter chet (x). As a yoke of oxen pulls a plow, it appears that each ox does fifty percent of the work—which is indeed the case for a matched pair of experienced oxen. But in order to train a young ox to pull a plow effectively, it is yoked to an older and more experienced animal so that the younger may learn from the older. The farmer in this case does not expect the young ox to do fifty percent of the work. His only purpose is for the younger ox to learn.

The same is true in the walk of faith. Yahshua said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me,” Mt. 11:29. Messiah’s yoke is not given to us that we can perform an equal amount of work as Himself. His yoke is given that we may learn of Him. This is the secret of the chet (x). Chet (x), as you may recall, stands for “life” which comes as a result of our union with Yahshua. Tet (j) represents “death”— dying to everything outside the yoke of Yahshua—death of self and our way of doing things, while at the same time submitting to His sovereignty over us…..Offering our bodies as living sacrifices is a prerequisite for the renewing of our minds. It is vitally important that we realize this because denying physical lusts enhances the perceptibility of the mind and spirit. It has been said that the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar. But the yoke of Yahshua will prevent this from happening because living sacrifices are not placed upon an altar—they are placed in a yoke. When we have experienced life in Yahshua (x) and death to self (j), then the way is made clear for us to demonstrate Yahweh’s good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (end of excerpt; pp. 103-106)

I would have to add that our life (x) in Yahshua not only represents death (j)to self, but to the serpent (j). Those who have not received the Spirit of the Messiah are subject to the serpent and his will.

EXPLAINING THE PICTURES

The combination of the waw (w) and zayin (z) is also important to understand in both of these letters. The waw (w), as we discovered, is equivalent to the number six, while the zayin (z) is equivalent to the number seven. Their combination 6 + 7 equals to 13. It just so happens that the Hebrew word for one (1) is echad (dxa). The dalet (d) is also the number four, the chet (x) is eight, and the aleph (a) is one. 4 + 8 + 1 = 13. In these pictures a person is either one with Yahshua, or the serpent.

The tet (j) is a picture of the waw (w) bowing to the zayin (z). It is interesting to note that Yahweh appointed the seventh day Sabbath for His people to congregate in worship before Him, while the serpent’s kingdom, the Roman beast power has appointed the first day of the week, Sunday, as the day of worship. Believe it or not, Sunday is also a seventh day, which is revealed by Albert Pike, a 33rd degree Freemason in his book Morals and Dogma, to be a mystic count beginning with the seventh day Sabbath and counting backward to Sunday in retrograde. (p. 414)

In this case, the tet (j) is a chet (x) that has been turned upside down (↑x↓j). This, of course, typifies to us that the serpent is totally opposite and contrary to Yahweh.

The seventh day Sabbath is a type of the millennial rule which will take place in the 7th millennium.

There are only two choices. Either turn to the King of kings, and the Sovereign of Sovereigns, Yahshua the Messiah, the Prince of life; bow to Him and submit to Him for life, or submit to the present god and king of this world, Satan the Devil, who has power over the flesh, and consumes it in sin, corruption, and death. There is no middle ground. There is no other way of escape!

Nine is the number of judgment. The serpent brings us to the judgment of death and destruction. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before Elohim; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire,” Rev. 20:12-15.

Become yoked to Yahshua. Learn of Him and have your name written in His book of life. He has made a way of escape from the judgment of the serpent! HalleluYah!!!!!

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