Form versus Function (5 of 6)

Shane Willard

Page 9 of 10
John 1 is just a commentary on Genesis 1, which says: “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. John 1 says: “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God”.

So John 1 is a commentary on Genesis 1, it's about the same thing, and John says things like: “in Him was light, and the light was the life of men”. Genesis 1: “and God said 'let there be light', and there was light”. In Him was light, and the light was the life of men; John is expounding on Genesis 1.

Then he says this in Verse 14: “we have seen His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father” - which in the Hebrew language is a tongue twister.

The word dwelt (from the word ‘became flesh and dwelt’), is the word Shaken. It looks like the word 'shaken', but it's pronounced [shi-caan]. Shin+Chaf+Nun. Now the way Hebrew words are formed, you normally have a three letter root-word, and then it's formed about that.

Shin=Teeth, or Name. Name is more common, so name. Chaf=the covering over the head (same as in Kippur). Nun=Fish-multiplying.

So in Hebrew, the comic strip says: “and the word became flesh, so that the covering of His name would multiply”.

Now it says: “the word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory”. The Hebrew word for glory is Shekinah, it’s very similar. Taking the vowels out, its: Shin, Chaf, Nun, Ha - same three letters, with a 'ha' on it.

So the Hebrew idea of Glory was: “the covering of His name, multiplied, revealed”.

In other words, what would we look like, if we were covered in God? Jesus showed that, He revealed that that the glory of God is what we would look like, completely covered.

Interesting, it says: we have seen His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Where did they see the glory of God in the Old Testament? By the way, this is still Old Testament; because when Jesus was walking, the New Testament hadn't been established yet. It just happens to be written in the New Testament, but it was still ‘Old’ - Jesus hadn't established the new covenant yet. That happens at like the end of the book.

Where did they see the Glory of God? In the tabernacle! The word for tabernacle is: Mishcon - same word. Mishcon has: Shin, Chaf, Nun with an [m] prefixed to it. ‘M’ means ‘Water’, or it could mean ‘From’.

Mishcon (the word ‘tabernacle’), could mean one of two things. It could mean: “the power, of the covering, of His name, multiplying”; or it could mean: “from the covering, His name multiplying”. So the tabernacle was a place from where the covering of His name multiplies.

But do you see the tongue twister? These are the same words; shaken, shekinah, mishcon - same root word and everything; so in other words, he's like: the shekinah of the mishcon is now shaken. Hmm, it's pretty cool.

How about the word ‘Tsedek’? That's the Hebrew word ‘righteous’. Tsedek = Tzadi + Dalet + Kof. Tzadi is a fish hook with bait on it; Dalet is an open door; and Kof is the back of a head. The comic strip is: “The desire of one's heart, opens the door to humility” - that's righteousness.

If you then put a 'ah' on it, tzedakah, it means 'righteousness revealed'; which means, in a word: Generosity. “The desire of one's heart opens the door to humility – revealed”. The ultimate act of humility, is to meet someone else's need first.

How about the word praise? The word ‘praise’, there's seven of them, and I'm just naming one: Judah [pronounced yehuda] We'd say Judah - it's: Yud + Dalet + He.

Yud is: the upraised-hand thing. Dalet is” an open door. He is: a window to reveal something. So in other words, this is how they taught Judah. They said: “as I raise my hands to God, He opens the windows and the doors of heaven for me”. Or you could think of it this way: “as I raise my hands to God (as I submit my life to God), the pathway to revelation is made known”.

How about God's name? When God says His name first, it's Yahweh: Yud + He + Vav + He, which is a Hebrew anomaly - its four letters that don't phonetically go together. So Moses is asking Him His name, and God in essence looks at Moses and goes [gibberish]. In essence, He says: I'm not playing this game with you. You want to know My name? My name is: [Koshperovenavonshaven] [Robinhavenshavenoven]