The Object of Action and Expression

"ME" is the object of an action (a verb) and an expression (preposition).  If our actions and expressions define us as the object, then we are self-defined and originate inwardly.  Scientifically, this wouldn't make sense, because we would be our own creator.  Yes, to a degree we create our situations, our destiny, and our character, but when there is little to no action or expression at the beginning then we need some kind of action or expression to define who we are.  Even the "Big Bang" has both action and expression in it.

I would like to share something that I find quite remarkable that opposes the notion that human beings are fallen, sinful creatures that are destined to some mythological hell.  In Genesis 1:27, "God created the human being in His own image, male and female He created them."  The word, "human being", "mankind",  or "man"--depending on what translation you use, is the word "adam" in Hebrew.  THIS IS NOT SOME DUDE'S FIRST NAME, but the general word for "humans."  The reason it is not masculine only is because of the next sentence--"male and female he created them."  If I can, I want to break this down mechanically and hopefully it will be something pretty cool and life-giving.  


Hebrew is such an awesome language and I've grown to love it over the years...especially when it comes to this verse.  "Human" in Hebrew is the word "adam."  Adam has three Hebrew letters, the aleph, the dalet, and the mem.  Many times in the ancient Hebrew text, aleph was a symbol they used for God.  Even Jesus described himself as the "aleph" (or in Greek the alpha)--or the beginning.  The dalet and mem make up the word "dam" which means, "blood."  This compound word could be broken down as "God's blood."  God created the human (God's blood) in his own image. 

Here is where it gets really cool!!  Each Hebrew letter has a definition that in essence, "tells a story" by the way it is shaped or by the way it was formed.  At this point it is so hard not to be pedantic and give tons of details that you may not find interesting, at the same time I'm afraid I will leave something out of great importance...SOOOOO, here goes nothing!  Rabbis describe the aleph as the paradox between God and man.  It is made up of a few other Hebrew letters, two yuds and one vav, describing pictorially creation.  In the beginning, the Hebrew Bible speaks metaphorically of the waters above and the waters below, the upper atmosphere, and the lower atmosphere.  The vav that separates the two yuds describes the separation between the two like a mirror.  They are identical, just flipped around.  The "yud" is the little mark above the big diagonal line.  You will notice that there is another one upside down on the opposite side of the line.  This little "yud" is the first letter of God's name, "Y-H-W-H."   This is the first letter that defines the human being.  The aleph begins to describe who we are and how we are a snapshot of God, but through a mirror.  We are not "fallen" creatures destined for doom, but images bearers of God.  This tripped me out when I first saw it because even Paul talks about this idea in his letter to the church at Corinth: "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known"(1 Corinthians 13:12).  The beginning of maturity is seeing yourself for who you really are--the image of God...just in a mirror.

The second letter is the dalet which rabbis describe for us as "the door."  The door is that which leads into the house, commonly referred to in Hebrew as the "beit."  The beit is the second letter of the aleph-bet...coincidence?  I don't think so!!  Scholars have much to say in regards to this letter and its early Semitic pictograph roots.  One of the definitions that goes along with "a door" is the action of the door--"back and forth movement" as one goes back and forth through the tent.  The dalet symbolizes back and forth movement into God's dwelling place.  

The last letter, MEM,  is described as "water" (mayim) or the fountain of God's Divine Wisdom.  Rabbi Ginsburg described "mem" like springs flowing from unknown subterranean sources.  The springs/water flowing is symbolic of God's wisdom flowing through creation and through his Word.  Early Semitic writings have the mem as horizontal squiggly lines that look like water.  The mem is the flow of God's wisdom.  

CHECK THIS OUT: by breaking down the Hebrew word (adam) to it's core we see that the human being is the door(movement/action) to God's Wisdom(expression)--just flipped in a mirror.  We--you and I, are God's object of action and expression.  Question: Is God's action and expression doomed?  I would argue, "of course not."  Can it be misinterpreted...SURE!!  Can it be misunderstood...yes!  But, what if we began to understand each other in this light.  Not just each other, but what if we began to understand our self (ME) as God's object of action and expression.  We are just "mini-me's." Just a few thoughts...LECH LECHA!!