את

    The bible we have today is very different from the one back when the characters and the stories were written. Inspired by God and written by 40 different authors over the span of about 1500, the Bible we know has been translated into a language we speak and know. The original, however, was written in 3 main languages Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. As the scribes and the prophets sat down to transcribe the texts, there were some words that were lost in translation. One example of this is the letter את, which translates to TavAleph. In the Hebrew alphabet, these letters, read from right to left rather than left to right as we read it in English, are the first and the last letters, essentially AZ to us. This word, found over 7000 times in the Old testament alone, was hard to translate, because at the time, it made no sense. This word is found all throughout the Torah, the major and minor prophets, and the psalms, but it wasn't until the Book of Revelation that this word began to take on meaning. We see in the book, right near the last chapter of the bible, that Jesus, in a vision tells the apostle John,

            "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."-Revelation 22:13

    Jesus, the Son of God, the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, has been around since before the beginning, even before the world was a thought. Even back in the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, in the Hebrew, we can see this see right next to the first name of God, this word את appears. 

    After Jesus came to the earth, lived a perfect life, and died on a Roman cross, he revealed that he is, has been and always will be the beginning and the end. The Alpha and the Omega. The First and the Last.

            "I am the Alpha and the Omega', says the Lord, ' who is, who was and who is to come, the Almighty."- Revelation 1:8

    What these 2 letters represent throughout all of scripture is that Jesus has been in and through all of the history of the Bible people: through the prophecies and exile, throughout all of Israel's history of creation, slavery, wilderness period and the promised land; through the gospels and epistles and visions from the Garden to the Island of Patmos and beyond. Jesus is weaved throughout all the whole timeline of God's creation. 

    So what does this mean for us today? How do 2 little letters that make up the whole of the alphabet bring us closer to the Father? If God is in the beginning and the end, how do we fit in the middle of it all?

    God is omniscient and omnipotent, meaning he is everywhere and all powerful. He is before us at the beginning, and he is waiting for us at the end of all things, but because he is everywhere all at once, it means that while we seem stuck in the middle, God is there with us too. He was there to set the plan in motion, Jesus is at the end to bring it all to conclusion and the holy spirit resides with us, to get us to the goal set before us. These 2 letters are essentially Jesus' signature on the earth that what is done is done. What will come has already been set in motion. Our job is let the holy spirit work through us trust that from the beginning to the end, God plans to bring everything to completion, and Jesus' seal is the proof we need to keep pressing toward the goal.     

    God is the TavAleph, the Alpha and the Omega. The one who is, who was and who is to come.

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Mission From God.

Psalm 119 TAV

 "May my cry come before you, Lord;

    give me understanding according to your word.

May my supplication come before you;

    deliver me according to your promise.

May my lips overflow with praise,

    for you teach me your decrees.

May my tongue sing of your word,

    for all your commands are righteous.

May your hand be ready to help me,

    for I have chosen your precepts.

I long for your salvation, Lord,

    and your law gives me delight.

Let me live that I may praise you,

    and may your laws sustain me. 

I have strayed like a lost sheep.

    Seek your servant

    for I have not forgotten your commands."

Psalm 119:169-176 

    The more I have dived in and studied this chapter in Psalms, the longest chapter in all of the Bible,  comprising of 176 verses spilt into 22 stanzas, all 8 verses in length, I am amazed and in awe of the significance and the wisdom that is given to us by its Writer, David, King of Israel. We we read the bible in present day, we have the whole book in its entirety. All 66 books, split into Old and New Testament, 39 in the Old, 27 in the New, and we can see the way God has been weaving his way throughout the whole of creation and His divine word. It may be easy to forget that the people who lived through the stories and timeline of the Bible did not have such a luxury. In fact, during multiple seasons of the Israelite history, God was silent, and when he did speak, it was only to a small handful at a time, on behalf of the king and or the nation. When know that David was a man after God's own heart, even from the time of his youth up until the moment he took his last breath, and even he had to talk to God through a prophet, with the Holy Spirit coming upon him at various times in his life, but it didn't stay like he does in the lives of believers today. With all that being said, Psalm 119 continues yet again to guide us to the Father and the ultimate sacrifice Jesus would one day make on the cross for all of our lives. When we look at the pictures above, we can see 4 depictions of this last letter of the psalm, TAV. In its original design, it translated as "a mark or a seal. The period at the end of a statement. " In the Greek, the lines that ones were straight, like a t or a cross, shifted into the 2nd picture of more of an X shape, "X marks the spot, you did it, here is your treasure." One picture I saw in my research for this blog showed the letter as more of a sword, as if when it is used, you are fighting for and defending with truth the words you are saying. David understood this principle both as a warrior and king and as a man of God. The enemy will do all he can to make us question what God "actually said" and has been using this tactic since Adam and Eve in the Garden. What David is doing with TAV is demonstrating the fact that the things that have come before are setting things in motion for when Jesus would come the first time, and then when he returns at the end of the age. 

    There are 2 words from the Hebrew language I want to highlight that begin with this statement of fact- Truth and Torah. 

  Truth( Hebrew-emet) spelled

                            Aleph(The Creator)

                            Mem(gives his life)

                            Tav(on the cross)

Torah-spelled in Hebrew

                            Tav(the cross)

                            Vav(the nail)

                            Resh(the Captain, or Leader)

                            Hey(Behold!)

    Truth- The Creator gives his life on the cross. That right there is the gospel! Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, came to earth as a man, born of a virgin and lived a holy, sinless, perfect life. He died for our sins on a Roman cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb for 3 days and rose from the grave, taking back the keys to Hell and the Grave. By his blood shed for us on the cross, the price of our sin has been paid, no longer allowing it to have any control or hold on our life. Now when the Father looks on His children, He doesn't see the sin that once separated us. Instead he sees the blood of the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God, His Son, covering our debt that we could never pay on our own. 

    Torah- Behold! The Leader, the nail, the cross. The very law that David was able to have read to him by the priests states that the Son of God would come, would die for the people and rise to free them from the oppression of Sin. 

    David was a man after God's own heart, because when the priests read these words of the Mosaic Law, it was just a bunch of rules and rituals, and they could not always see the promises within, but David heard them through the lens of the Holy Spirit, and I would like to believe that as a promise was spoken, the Spirit was nudging the heart of David, whispering to him, " Guess what, that is me. That is what I want to do for all people, and I will come down and do it just like it is written. Hold tight, press through. Not a single word of this law will be in vain or void. I'm coming to do a new thing in the hearts of the people who believe in and belong to me. Just Wait, Watch and Pray. You won't believe what I want to do in your life, as long as your believe."

    The first and last letter of the Alphabet ALEPH and TAV on their own paint a beautiful picture of who God is, but hold tight, because there are moments in scripture when these letters come together and the masterpiece they paint are absolutely incredible, but until then...

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a journey through the Psalms. 

(Hebrew breakdown taken from A Small Drop of Ink

Psalm 119 SIN and SHIN

"Rulers persecute me without cause,

    but my heart trembles at your word.

I rejoice in your promise

    like one who finds great spoil.

I hate and detest falsehood

    but I love your law.

Seven times a day I praise you

    for your righteous laws.

Great Peace have those who love your law,  

   and nothing can make them stumble.

I wait for your salvation, Lord,                                       

    and I follow your commands.

I obey your statutes,

    for I love them greatly.

I obey your precepts and your statutes,

    for all my ways are known to you."

                Psalm 119:161-168

    As we begin to land the plane on the longest chapter in the Bible, we come to a section that has a very cool and distinct balance. The Hebrew word SHIN is translated as Peace and Perfection (Shalom). It was the word proclaimed on the 7th day of creation when God declared the whole world good, and set in place a time of rest. It is the first letter of a familiar name of God, El SHADDAI, which we know to mean God Almighty. But here,  we see how as Christians, we need to have a balance in our lives of both fear and trembling, and peace and perfection. If we look back at this set of verses, we can see it is split into 2 sections. Verses 161 - 164 describes David's fear of the Lord, while also displaying his genuine love towards God. As Christ-followers, there are times when we need to walk in fear of the Lord. Not a fear that is afraid or scared to get to close, but a fear in terms of awe and reverence towards the almighty power of the God that we serve. When David walks with a reverent fear of the Lord, the enemies seem to surround him all on sides, but that doesn't stop him from praising God seven times a day,(vs. 164). The second half of the stanza reflects the truthful declaration that shows when we approach the Father with obedience and love for the things He has spoken and declared, his ways become known to us, and the enemy becomes nothing next to the Awesome El Shaddai. 

    It can be easy, even as Christians to stay in either the camp of Fear of the camp of Faith, but I want to be like David who operated out of a balance between the 2. God desires to have us close enough to hear Him whisper to our hearts the things He wants to reveal to us, but if the troubles of this life get in the way, his voice can become lost or silent to us. When we set our eyes on God and the truth he has spoken instead of the lies of the Enemy, we can see the path God has created to guide us out of the mess and into the Messiah. 

    As we approach the end of this chapter, it is my prayer that God will reveal himself as he has done before and show us the truth that can only come from a deep love for his commands and desire to follow his statutes wherever they lead us. 

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey through the Psalms