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~~Value~~: '''[[Contents]]'''::'''[[Section 1: How we got the Bible]]''':::'''[[Part 1.1: God invented an alphabet]]'''::::'''[[Chapter 1.1 .11 Aleph א]]''' ----

The aleph is first noticed by it's absence in the beginning of Genesis 1:1 which starts with the bet; the second letter of the alphabet. Modern rabbis remember to ask the question; Why does it not start with the aleph(the first letter), but they do not remember the proper answer. They attribute personality to the letter and say that it was humble. Others say it is a reminder not to speculate what came before. <ref> http://jewishexponent.com/so-why-it-torah-begins-%E2%80%98bet%E2%80%99</ref>

==Aleph as ''God spoke and created...''== ===bar-a בר-א===''the son בר spoke and created the heavens and the earth א''. <ref>[[Joh 1:3]] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.</ref> ===bara ברא===''created''. Previously stated, the Word pre-existed creation. And since words are used to make the Father known, and only the Son makes him known, the Word is the Son AND the Son is the Word. The word bara says that the son created, but it also says ''the Word created'' or ''the Word who created''. The ~~second visible~~ aleph has the same meaning as before. ===ra רא===''see''. ''Seeing'' is a metaphor for ''understanding''. <ref>[[Isa 41:20]] That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, ....</ref> By the letters: ''it is revealed ר that God spoke and created the heavens and the earth''. True understanding comes from acknowledging that God alone is the creator God. <ref>[[Isa 43:10]] Ye [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I [am] he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. </ref> ===rash ראש===''head''. ''Seeing רא that did not return void ש''; understanding that was put into action. The aleph carries its meaning as it is embedded in the ra רא. What happens if a revelation returns but does not have the aleph in the ~~second~~ middle? If there is no acknowledgement of God as the creator? The word resh רש (dropping the aleph from the middle) means ''destitute'' and ''evict''. If one returns to God and does not acknowledge him as God hes is evicted and destitute. ===at את ===''eternal'' or ''everything/all''. This word is not translated, but it means ''from when God spoke and created until his work was completed'' or '' from beginning to end''. It is every thing and every time. ==Aleph secondary metaphors=====Aleph as separation between heaven and earth===The primary metaphor speaks of the creation of everything in heaven and earth. They are separated in creation but also joined as one creation. ===Aleph as the separation between light and dark===One of the main tropes of the Bible is that of light and dark. Light represents the holiness of God and dark represents his love/grace. Throughout the law are prohibitions against mixing. These prohibitions are against mixing law and grace. When men mix then they become confused. If a judge sets a criminal free, men do not marvel at the wonderful grace... they complain that there is no justice. But if they are the criminal and not set free, they do not praise the wonderful justice, but complain that there is no mercy. <ref>[[Ge 1:3]] ¶ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. [[Ge 1 at :4]] And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.[[Ge 1:5]] And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.</ref> ===Spirit===John uses the aleph in the word for ''earth'' ארץ to represent the Spirit. <ref>[[1Jo 5:8]] And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.</ref> The other two letters represent the water and the blood. Similarly he derives Father, Son and Holy Ghost from the word for heaven שמים. <ref>[[1Jo 5:7]] For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.</ref> John is teaching us to use the metaphor as we read scripture. The vav separates two things and joins them. Originally it was the word which separated the heavens and earth in creation. Here it is the Spirit between two waters. <ref>[[Ge 1:2]]... And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.</ref> ===Firmament=== It is the firmament between two waters. <ref>[[Ge 1:6]] ¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. </ref> Sometimes the focus is on the firmament reconciling the two things rather than dividing. So although it CAN mean war, it can also mean peace. The context is king. It can refer to the one who created or the creation, the ~~end~~ time of ~~bara ברא~~ creation (the beginning), the river between two lands, or the thing that divides two nations in war or joins them in peace. ===War===One extra-biblical author uses the aleph for ''~~create~~war''. <ref>Gospel of Thomas saying 16: Jesus said, "Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary."</ref> This symbol agrees with biblical doctrine of a war between God and man, the spirit and the flesh. <ref>[[Ro 8:7]] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.</ref> It is more significant to observe that the author of the Gospel of Thomas was familiar with the metaphoric nature of the alphabet letters, and that his usage is consistent with that of the New Testament authors.

Chapter 1.1.11 Aleph א