THE SERPENT AND THE MESSIAH

In the Hebrew language, letters also represent numbers. This means that each letter has a numerical value. Numbers are also expressed in letters. Thus, the letter A (Aleph) stands for 1, B (Beth) for 2, C (Gimel) for 3, D (Daleth) for 4, and so on. In modern Israel, however, the Hebrew letter-numbers have been replaced by Arabic numerals. In the Bible, however—especially in the Old Testament—gematria (a hermeneutical system, or Jewish study of letters, in which letters are equated with numbers—and this is explicitly not esoteric-occult numerology or Kabbalah!) is an indispensable tool that leads to a better understanding of the ways of the God of Israel.

Gematria is a profound and very ancient science in its own right, but even at its most superficial levels, it serves as an insightful aid for Western Christians in better understanding certain matters within a spiritual context.

For example, in the Book of Genesis, we read about the serpent in the Garden of Eden, in the east: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made..." (Genesis 3:1). We Christians probably know very well how this story ended.

But what word in the original Hebrew text stands for "serpent"? It is the word נָחָשׁ (Nachash, read from right to left in Hebrew). We already know that Hebrew gematria assigns a numerical value to each letter. The name of the serpent (Nachash) consists of three consonants:

N (Nun, נָ) – CH (Chet, חָ) – Sch (Shin, שׁ)

The numerical values are as follows: Nun, נָ – 50 / Chet, 8 – חָ / Shin, 300 – שׁ

If we add these numbers together, the total is 358.

So far, so good, but now the question arises: What is the meaning of all this?

Just be patient; we'll look at the next word right away:

The Anointed One of God, the one true and only Son of God, is: Jesus Christ. The word Christ (Greek Χριστός, Christos) is referred to in Hebrew as Mashiach – מָּשִׁיחַ (Messiah). Here, too, we'll now apply Hebrew gematria:

מָּ (M, Mem, 40), ש (Sch, Shin, 300), י (J, Yod, 10), ח (Ch, Chet, 8).

And when we add up the numbers above, we arrive—probably to our great surprise—once again at the number 358!

The word "serpent" נָחָשׁ (Nachash) and the word "Messiah" מָּשִׁיחַ (Mashiach) thus have the same numerical value in the Hebrew (Biblical and figurative) language, namely 358!

In Hebrew gematria, when two or more words have the same numerical value, this is called a gematria equivalence or gematria equality. In traditional Jewish thought, this means that there is a deep, sometimes hidden, and significant spiritual connection between these words—or that they share an essential identity. It would take more than a few books to write about this phenomenon. However, we will limit ourselves here to the two words mentioned above, "serpent" and "Messiah"—and even then, only within a very narrow scope, since a careful exploration of the spiritual meaning of these two words alone, when compared, would fill an entire book.

In the Jewish science of gematria, these two words represent one of the best-known and most profound mysteries—or discrepancies (or absurdities). One could write a great deal about the Jewish-mystical context. But there is one thing we want to establish right away and also mention emphatically and explicitly: We know who is meant by the serpent in Eden, namely Satan, the devil, the ancient serpent, as he is called in Revelation 12:9 and 20:2, among other passages. We also know that the one true Messiah, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God and God Himself, as the Bible testifies in various passages (including John 20:28). And we know that these two figures have nothing—absolutely nothing—in common, but are diametrically opposed to one another. One can equate them with light and darkness, holiness and sin, and indeed—God and the devil.

Nevertheless, these two words, "serpent" and "Messiah," share a common gematric value. As mentioned above, we will focus on a tiny aspect of this phenomenon. This small aspect pertains to the final phase of the end times—a period that, while brief, will have extremely grave consequences.

In the Bible, in the Book of Revelation 13:12, we read:

"And he [the second beast, the false prophet] exerciseth all the power of the first beast [the man of sin, the son of perdition, who is today referred to as the Antichrist] before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."

Jesus Christ warns us in the Gospel of Matthew 24:24:

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

These two Scripture passages get right to the heart of what this essay is about: deception.

How is it possible to be deceived? There are two ways: one recognizes the deception and consciously and decisively goes along with it, or one is careless, ignorant, and reckless and "accidentally" succumbs to the deception.

Almost all of Christendom refers to the man of sin, the son of perdition, who is expected in the near future, as the "Antichrist." As we have seen in the two Bible passages cited above, this is not in accordance with Holy Scripture.

The Apostle Paul also writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 about the "man of sin," though not literally about an "Antichrist":

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition…"

Although the Apostle John writes about one (and even several) "anti-Christs" in both his first and second epistles, he does not specifically mean the "man of sin" or the "son of perdition" as he is expected in our day, at the end of the age, and whom Jesus Christ will destroy with the breath of His mouth, as described by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

To bring the discussion back to gematria and the number 358, to the serpent and the Messiah, let us briefly examine the "anti-Christs" mentioned by John in his epistles. To do so, we must once again consult the Greek language, since the New Testament was written in Greek.

The word "anti" (ἀντί) has not just one meaning, but two—and we must absolutely attach great significance to this fact!

On the one hand, the Greek word "anti" means: against, opposite, or in opposition to.

On the other hand, however, it also means: "in place of"—and that should be the more important—because it is far more dangerous—variant for us!

If something bears a deceptive resemblance to the original and sounds like the original, and reads and acts like the original, and—by imitating it—truly behaves as the original behaves or has behaved, then we can speak of a deception—and if it appears deceptively genuine, then the imitation can also be regarded as "in place of" the original. And if one thinks—indeed, is convinced—that the imitation is the original, and then regards or accepts the imitation in place of the original and obeys its demands, then, as we know from the Bible (Revelation 13:12, 16–17), lead to a fatal mistake for which there is no turning back, no mercy, and no grace (Revelation 14:9–11, 19:20, 20:10).

This gematria equivalence described here—between the number 358 and the biblical words "serpent" and "Messiah"—can, among other things, serve as an urgent reminder that we must keep our eyes open, remain sober and alert, and ask God at all times to purify our hearts and strengthen our spirits (Psalm 51:10) in the Holy Spirit, so that we do not succumb to temptation and ultimately be led astray and make the wrong decision.

We must not allow the devil—who once stood before God as the angel Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12, King James Bible), who once stood before God as a protective cherub (both the Schlachter 2000 and the King James Bible refer to an "anointed" one) and was described by God Himself as "the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty" (Ezekiel 28)! Yes, Satan, the fallen cherub, was defeated by Jesus Christ; nevertheless, Peter warns us emphatically against him in his first epistle, chapter 5, verses 8–9: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith…"

We can resist the devil only with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6), for Lucifer's perfect wisdom has been corrupted into a brilliantly deadly cunning that we can recognize only when we walk in the glory of the Holy Spirit!

So let us, each one for himself, work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) and pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

In this way, we will not mistake the coming serpent for the Messiah, we will not bow down before him, and thus we will not rush into eternal destruction!

Shalom!

Dietmar Reichenberger, www.IMJC.world