CHET: The Resurrection and the Life

"And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." - Gen. 1:2

The preceding letters, vav - the man - and zayin - the bride - are said to come together in the letter chet (the "ch" is pronounced similar to the "ch" in Bach). The chet is, thus, a man and wife united as one in the sight of God under the canopy or chupah.

It is understood that this union, sanctioned by Heaven in Genesis 1, will produce offspring and, consequently, ensure that life or chai continues. It this concept that identifies the letter chet as the letter of life.

In fact, the word chupah, the canopy under which the man and woman are united, is also interpreted as chet po, or "life is here." In other words, the man and woman come together as one under the chupah in order to procreate.

Said to be "hovering" over this union is the Spirit of God, just as He was hovering over the waters in the beginning. The Hebrew word translated as "moved" in Genesis 1:2 is m'rachefet and more literally means "hovering."

And so, the Spirit of God is pictured as hovering over the waters like a mother hen, about to bring forth life. Interestingly, it was in the seas on the fifth day of creation that life first appeared in the Creation account.

Another interesting point to note in the Creation account is that the word m'rachefet is the eighteenth word in the Torah. It just so happens that 18 is the numerical equivalent of the word chai or "life."

This numerical connection unites the "hovering" over the waters at the beginning with the idea that God hovers over the union of a man and a woman within the sanctity of marriage. Though the miracle of life requires that a man and woman come together, it is, in fact, God who breathes into the womb in order that life may occur. It is He, then, who provides the spark that ignites life.

HIS NAME IS LIFE

The sages teach that m'rachefet is the first word in the Torah to be a multiple of 26, the value of the name YHVH juvh. The numerical equivalent of m'rachefet (728) is viewed as 26 (the value YHVH) multiplied by 28, the value of the Hebrew word koah, which means "power" or "strength." Therefore, it is the "power of God" which hovers over that which is about to bring forth life.

The sages further teach that this "hovering Power" is the essence of the Mashiach, In other words, it is actually the Mashiach who "secretly" hovered over the waters at the beginning. The obvious ramification of this belief is that it is actually the Mashiach who possesses the power to bring forth life from that which is empty and chaotic.

The very title "Mashiach" can be permutated to read shem chai, the "living name" or the "name of life." This demonstrates how the Mashiach Y'shua could declare, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

THE RESURRECTION

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death" - 1 John 3:14

The full expression of life is love. It is, according to John's first epistle, love that resurrects someone from death to life. Because God is love (1 John 4:8), He is the "life of life"; He is the essence of life, thus He declares, "Eh'yeh asher Eh'yeh - I am because I am" (Exo 3:14.)

The One who exists simply because "I am" is, thus, the One who keeps alive as well as the One who restores life. He speaks and the dead rise again - He is the resurrection!

According to the sages, we have been given the key to resurrection. This key is said to be found in the account of Elijah and the widow of Zarafet. After stretching himself upon the dead body of the widow's son, the prophet cries out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, I pray you, let this child's soul come into him again. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived" (1 Kings 17:21-22).

After presenting the resurrected son to his mother, the widow declares, "Now, by this I know that you are a man of God, that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth" (1 Kings 17:24).

In other words, the key to resurrection, the sages say, is the Word in our mouth. We already understand that "death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Pro. 18:21). Remember the word chupah? Not only can this word be read as chet po "life is here," but also chet peh "life/resurrection (is in the) mouth." So, it would seem the sages are correct. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul validated this idea in his letter to the Romans. He writes:

"But what does it say? The Word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the Word of faith which we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth the LORD Y'shua, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10: 8-10).

In other words, the true Word in our mouths can resurrect one from the death of sin into life everlasting. The difference between life and death is in our mouths. By simple confession of truth, we can pass from death to life through Messiah Y'shua.

THE DIVINE IN PHYSICAL REALITY

"I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." - John 11:25

Imagine a three dimensional cube. That cube possesses 12 lines (which are one dimensional), six sides (representing two dimensions) and eight vertex points, which are dimensionless. Eight, of course, is the numerical value of the letter chet.

These values (12, 6, 8) total 26, the numerical equivalent of YHVH. Thus, the essence of the cube, which is a picture of physical reality (3 dimensions) is actually the Creator of physical reality, YHVH. The Creator, YHVH, is then reflected by the value 8 and the letter chet (26 reduces to 8; 2 + 6 = 8). In other words, the eight dimensionless points establish three dimensional plurality. Yet, because they are DIMENSIONLESS, they more accurately demonstrate how the DIVINE defines physical reality.

Considering what we have learned about the letter chet, this means that, though God created the physical world, He transcends that physical world - He is dimensionless. Nevertheless, He manifests Himself in physical reality as the letter chet, or shall we say, the resurrection and the life. Thus, it is written, "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life within Himself.... For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life" (John 5:26, 28-29).