Bereshit
More Than Just A Word
In The Beginning was the word
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:1-4
In The Beginning
Genesis 1:1
In The Beginning - בְּרֵאשִׁית - Bereshit
In the book of Genesis, the Bible begins with the phrase, "In The Beginning". There is so much packed into this one little phrase that it is astounding to one who chooses to search it out.
This phrase in Hebrew begins with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Many have wondered, why would God start His book with the second letter of His alphabet and not the first. According to the Hebrew scholars there is a reason. It begins with the second letter because before reading the Bible, the first thing one should do is acknowledge that they are about to enter into the very reverential Word of God. Once one prepares themselves, then and only then should they proceed to read on. Therefore Genesis starts with the second letter.
In Hebrew, every letter has a picture, a number and a meaning. Hebrew scholars say that there are 3 levels of the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible. The levels are PaRDeS,” standing for “Peshat,” “Remaz,” “Derash,” and “Sod.” Briefly defined,
Peshat:
Is based on the literal face value, and factual meaning of a verse, and roughly means “that which the author intends”.
Remaz:
A deeper look, referring to the subtle types of word games and puns that are embedded in the text. Sometimes this may take the form of Gematria (numerology), Temurah (anagrams), Notarikon (acrostics), and Chiasm (an unusual yet very common Biblical literary style that uses a unique repetition pattern for clarification and emphasis).
Derash:
Is a search for truth and authenticity backing up scripture with other scriptures, keeping the word in context, line upon line, and expanding on its true intent.
Sod:.
Concerns itself with revelation of the scriptures by the Holy Spirit OK, perhaps a bit deep for some, but what's actually in the word Bereshit?
Here is where it begins to make sense. Putting each one of these Hebrew letters together not only spells a word but also communicates different depths of knowledge. In the Hebrew word בְּרֵאשִׁית, also written above, (Hebrew is read left to right) pronounce Bereshit, the meaning of these individual letters reveal's God's whole plan of salvation.
בְּרֵאשִׁית:
"The Son (רֵ) of God (א), crowned with thorns (רֵ) upon His head (א), on a tree (שִׁי), a gift of covenant (ת)"...