Joy
Neh 8:8-10 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
I find this interesting, it says that the book of the law made sense and then the Israelites understood its meaning. Once they understood the reading the Israelites wept and mourned.
You see, the law does condemn, sin is brought out into the light when one reads the law. It shows us that no-one is worthy and everyone is a sinner. So, of course when understood completely you will feel condemned and will want to weep in repentance.
Yet, after this national repentance they were told to eat the fat and drink the sweet drink because this day was to be a joyous day.
First weeping and repentance because they truly understood, then joy.
Neh 8:12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth,
because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
In context this is before the feast of tabernacles was discovered to be a feast that they should all be celebrating.
Neh 8:14-17 And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
The booths are symbolic of the Israelites salvation because of their coming out of Egypt. This celebration had been forgotten for quite some time. It is celebrated now by the Jews in a celebration called the ‘Feast of Tabernacles/Booths‘.
It will have its ultimate fulfillment when we tabernacle with Christ. What we see now is just a shadow of things that are promised to come.
I did find it interesting, that the book must be understood first which naturally leads one to weep and mourn because the book condemns, but there is a hope and a promise of a feast after this weeping and crying. That hope can only be our salvation through a sin offering which gives us our salvation - just as the lamb had to be sacrificed for the Israelites to be spared judgment - we know that sin offering to be our lamb of God called Jesus Christ. As Christians we understand the feast to be the marriage supper. Jesus said that He has gone to prepare a place for us … and He will come back for His bride.
The feast of tabernacles is a seven day feast. Is this our marriage feast?
No. 3 Gimmel
Gimmel is the third letter in the hebrew alpha-bet, it is given the gematria of 3. If I look at it I can kind of see the english letter g. It is pronounced as ‘g’ for girl.
The pictgraph for this letter is architecture and the letter is constructed from a Vav and a Yod … apparently there is a significance that the letter looks like a man walking and the yod indicates he is walking to the left. The man is chasing the next letter in the Hebrew alpha-bet which I haven’t got to yet.
The gematria being 3 means it is stable like a stool and is said to mean that the world stands on three things, those being:
- Torah
- Worship
- Acts of loving kindness
Also it represents the 3 patriachs of the Old Testament. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
It has been said that it can represent the Holy-Spirit because Aleph = 1(is the father of the alpha-bet) and Bet = 2(Son/bara see this post) and then comes Gimmel =3(Holy Spirit).
This is my new letter that I will have to practice in writing and in recognising. Below are the correct step taken to write Gimmel.
If you are interested in learning Hebrew you can go to Hebrew 4 Christians, this is where I am going on a regular basis, and have found a wealth of information to help understand this ancient language. I have enjoyed it so far.
