Welcome everyone to Torah Today Ministries and our continuing series The Hebrew Key, where we look at some of the details that reveal themselves only in the Hebrew.
And I call this lesson “The Ark and the Matriarchs,” but I’ll confess right up front — it’s a horrible title. But I couldn’t think of a better one, because in this lesson we’re going to look at two of the matriarchs and Noah’s Ark and God’s four-letter holy name of transcendence and Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה) — and we’ll also consider the new heavens and new earth and New Jerusalem. So how do you pack all of that together and have a title that comes anywhere close to describing it?
You may wonder — well, how do all these elements fit together? Well, that’s what we’re going to get into.
But I want you to understand something. You know, growing up in the United States and modern society, you go to school and you study science. You study trees, and the tree is broken down into systems — so you’ve got the bark and the roots and the leaves, and you study these things individually. And when it comes to the human body, you study the circulatory system and the nervous system, the digestive system, and so on and so forth. And we start thinking that the body actually exists as these various systems. But it doesn’t. The body doesn’t think of itself as a respiratory system and a circulatory system. These systems all work exactly hand in hand. They work as one. We artificially divide them into these systems so it makes it easier to understand, but that’s not the way they exist in nature.
Because your circulatory and nervous system work as one. Your digestive system and your musculature and everything all work together as one. It all works as one — completely, completely connected and involved with every other part of the body.
And that’s the way the word of God is. So though we may be talking about Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה) and Noah’s Ark and two of the matriarchs and the New Jerusalem and God’s name, they’re all connected. And I hope that one of the things you’ll see by the end of this lesson is just how interconnected everything is in the word of God. Because things that are spiritual are all connected together in profound and deep ways.
So without further ado, let’s get right into this. Now, we’re going to start in Genesis chapter 8, verse 13. And this is after the Flood, and Noah and his family are preparing to emerge from the Ark. It says:
In the 601st year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the Ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. — Genesis 8:13
So as the rabbis look at this, they realize — okay, if this is the first month, it must be Tishrei (תִּשְׁרֵי). And if it’s the first day of the month, it’s got to be Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה) — the head of the year, the new year.
Now, later in the book of Exodus, Nisan (נִיסָן) in the spring would be established as the beginning of the months, but the beginning of the year is considered to be in Tishrei (תִּשְׁרֵי), in the fall. And so I can’t argue with this, but it’s tradition to believe that the Ark came to rest, and the door was removed, and they could look out once again — on Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה).
Now, there’s this rather cryptic passage in the Babylonian Talmud, in Tractate Rosh Hashanah, page 10b. And it says:
On Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה), Sarah (שָׂרָה), Rachel (רָחֵל), and Hannah (חַנָּה) were remembered by God and conceived.
If you remember your Bible, these three women were barren. They couldn’t have children until God intervened. Then Sarah (שָׂרָה), when she was 90 years old, gave birth to Isaac. Rachel (רָחֵל), after much prayer, much grieving — after her sister Leah and both of their handmaids bore children to Jacob — finally God opens Rachel’s womb and she gives birth to Joseph. And then Hannah (חַנָּה) — you know the story of Hannah. She so much wanted to have a child but just couldn’t. Her husband’s other wife was having children galore. But so Hannah (חַנָּה) prayed, “Lord, if you’ll give me a son, then I will give him to you to serve in your Tabernacle for life.” And so God heard her prayer, and she gave birth to Samuel — the great prophet Samuel.
But what does this have to do with Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה)? Well, let’s take a look.
Let’s look at the names of these three women. Now, Sarah (שָׂרָה) and Rachel (רָחֵל) are both matriarchs. Hannah (חַנָּה) was born later. But these three women were barren, and after much intercession, God heard their prayers and gave them sons.
Now, if we look at their names, we notice that each one is three letters long, and each name shares two of its letters with the other two names.
So let’s take a look. Sarah (שָׂרָה) — if you look at the last letter of her name, the letter hey (ה), you’ll notice it is shared over here with Hannah (חַנָּה). Hannah’s name also ends with the letter hey (ה). And the second letter of Sarah’s name — resh (ר) — is shared here as the first letter of Rachel (רָחֵל).
But her first letter — the shin (שׁ) — remains hers alone, unique to her.
If you look at Rachel (רָחֵל), you notice the second letter of her name — the chet (ח) — is the first letter of Hannah’s name, which is actually Chanah (חַנָּה). We’ve already seen how the resh (ר) is shared with Sarah (שָׂרָה). But the lamed (ל) at the end of Rachel’s name is unique to her.
And with Chanah (חַנָּה) — the middle letter of her name, the nun (נ), is unique to her.
So Sarah (שָׂרָה) — the first letter of her name. Rachel (רָחֵל) — the last letter of her name. And the middle letter of Hannah’s name. These are unique to them. But in each case, the other two letters are shared with the other two ladies.
Now why is this unique? Well, if we take the numerical values of these three letters, we’ll discover that:
Now — do these numbers mean anything to you? Can you think of some place where you’ve seen these numbers before? If you want to pause the teaching and do some thinking and some research, please be my guest. I’m going to move on.
And here’s the answer. Here’s where you’ve seen those three numbers before. In Genesis 6:15, it says:
This is how you are to make it — the Ark, that is. The length of the Ark: 300 cubits. Its breadth: 50 cubits. And its height: 30 cubits. — Genesis 6:15
These are the same numerical values of these three unique letters to these three barren women whose wombs God did open. Hmm.
So we see Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה) connected with all of this — and Noah’s Ark — new beginnings, new life.
But it doesn’t end there. Let’s go a bit further.
I love this quote by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, in his book In Her Perspective. He says: “The persistence of life through impossible odds is thus the binding thread of these three seemingly disparate ideas: the introduction of humankind to a world unformed and void on Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה)” — oh, didn’t I mention that? In Jewish tradition, Adam and Eve are considered to be — or thought to be — created on Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה). “And then the women who gave life despite their barrenness, and the Ark that gave a desolate world a chance to grow again.”
So — the Ark on Mount Ararat and Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה). Adam and Eve created on Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה). And then these three women who are considered to be tied to Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה), to have conceived on Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה) — if the Talmud is correct.
Oh well, let’s look at something else. We’re not quite done.
Here’s God’s name — going right to left: yud-hey-vav-hey (יהוה).
Now, if we take the numerical values of those four letters, we see that yud (י) is equal to 10, hey (ה) is equal to 5 — and there are two heys, the second and fourth letters are hey (ה) — and the third letter vav (ו) equals 6.
Now, something unique happens if we play with these letters and numbers a little bit.
If we take the first two letters of God’s name — yud (י) and hey (ה) — and multiply their numerical values: yud (י) being 10, hey (ה) being 5 — what do they equal? They equal 50.
And if we take the third and fourth letters — the last two letters of God’s name — vav (ו) equals 6, hey (ה) equals 5. And multiply them: 6 times 5 equals 30.
And since God’s name is made up of three unique letters — yud (י), hey (ה), and vav (ו) — the hey (ה) is repeated — but if we take the three unique, different letters and you multiply their values: 10 times 5 times 6 — you get 300.
And of course, I know that you recognize these numerals by now. Again — they are the dimensions of the Ark. 300, 50, 30.
It’s almost as if God is trying to tell us that this Ark is a picture of him. And if we are in him, we live. We are rescued. If you’re outside of him, outside of the Ark — well, good luck. Because out there is just death, darkness, and destruction.
Now — what do all these things have in common? I mean, we’ve got Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה), which is the head of the year, so it’s a new beginning. And if Jewish tradition is correct and Adam and Eve were created on Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה), well, that’s definitely a new beginning. And if the Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, was opened, and the flood is receding — well, that’s also a new beginning. And if these three barren women — Sarah (שָׂרָה) and Rachel (רָחֵל) and Chanah (חַנָּה) — all conceived on Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה), that’s three new beginnings.
And then God’s name — remember, I keep stressing this — God’s name is a verb. We pronounce it not with our lips; we pronounce it with our lives. By doing his actions, by following the Torah (תּוֹרָה) and doing the things that he does, then we find newness of life — a brand-new beginning.
And since God is a doer, everything he does has a newness and a freshness to it. And he wants us to walk in newness of life. He wants every day to be something fresh and new. And we should greet each day as if it is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime gift — because it is. Today can never be repeated again. This day has never come before. This day holds what this day alone can hold. And we should approach this day with a freshness and an expectation that God’s going to do something today that he would not do earlier, because it wasn’t the right time. But today is the right time for whatever it is he chooses to do in our lives today.
So I want to close this by going to the opposite end of the Bible. We started back in Genesis, but let’s go to Revelation 21. I love this passage. John writes and says:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. — Revelation 21:1
That sea — that God had used water to destroy the earth. And right now about two-thirds to three-fourths of the planet is underwater. But in the future world, the world to come, there will be plenty of water, but most of the planet will not be wasted underneath salt water. It’s going to be something brand new. It won’t have this destructive force, this thing that divides us from one another the way the oceans do now.
And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband — — Revelation 21:2
Like Sarah (שָׂרָה) and Rachel (רָחֵל) and Hannah (חַנָּה).
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” — Revelation 21:3
No more separation between God and us.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” — Revelation 21:4a
You know, these things — especially the pain — these are all a result of the curse. But the pain is gone —
“…for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” — Revelation 21:4b–5
If we make this passage here our spiritual focus — which I think Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) did as well, because it says “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” — he had his focus on the end of the story. The new beginning. The new heavens, the new earth, and New Jerusalem. The time when God and his people would dwell together. No more curse. No more pain.
We need to keep our focus on what is to come. If we do that, I think we too can endure whatever it is we have to endure today. Our God is alive. He is real. He’s the God of new beginnings.
And so I hope that this brief teaching that interweaves all these various themes and topics helps awaken a new awareness that God has something new for you and for me and for this world. And also, as I started with — that everything in the word is intertwined. Everything in the word is invested in the rest of the word. And the beginning is invested in the end, and the end in the beginning. It’s all one — because our God is one.
So until next time, I wish you shalom (שָׁלוֹם) and may God bless.
Open All Scripture in Bible Gateway
Genesis 8:13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
b.Rosh Hashanah 10b – On Rosh Hashanah Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered by God and conceived.
שרה = “Sarah”
רחל = “Rachel”
חנה = “Hannah”
ש = 300
ל = 30
נ = 50
Genesis 6:15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
R’ Levi Yitzchak Schneerson – The persistence of life through impossible odds is thus the binding thread of these three seemingly disparate ideas: the introduction of humankind to a world ‘unformed and void’ on Rosh Hashanah, the women who gave life despite their barrenness, and the ark that gave a desolate world a chance to grow again.” (From: An Inner Perspective)
5 6 5 10
י ה ו ה
50 = יה
30 = וה
300 = יהו
Revelation 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also, He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
