Friday, November 22, 2013

God's Word Is Fractal

— by David D. Herring

Fractal is my favorite word.

A “fractal” is a never-ending repeating pattern in which many smaller shapes together comprise a larger whole that is a scaled up version of the many smaller shapes comprising it.1  Fractals are made by repeating a simple shape, or process, over and over in an ongoing feedback loop, as illustrated below.  On the left is a single, equal-sided triangle.  Beside it is an equal-sided triangle made up of four smaller, equal-sided triangles which, themselves are comprised of four equal-sided triangles, and so it goes forever.  The triangle on the far right is made up of an infinite number of smaller equal-sided triangles.1  
Fractals aren’t merely mathematical abstractions, they’re also found in the real world.  Consider, for example, grains of salt tend to be cube-shaped.  If you mash a salt grain into smaller pieces and examine them under a microscope, what do you see?  Smaller salt grains that tend to be cube-shaped!  Fractals come in many different shapes.  Consider the dendritic patterns of snowflakes, tree branches, or river networks, or lightning bolts.  Consider also the spiral shapes of water going down a drain, or hurricanes, or galaxies.     

Fractals are both simple and infinitely complex.  Because a single shape in a fractal is a picture of the larger pattern, once you understand one small shape you understand the big picture too.  Simple.  What boggles the mind is that fractals go on forever into the infinitely small and the infinitely large.  Complex.    

The Bible is God’s Word.

God’s Word is both simple and infinitely complex.  The stories of The Bible convey wisdom so simple a child can understand, and yet they contain wisdom so deep and profound that the wisest of philosophers can never fathom it.  God’s Word reveals His character, and His character is consistent and true to His Word.   


The imagery, symbolism, and meaning of the stories show a repeating pattern throughout the Old and New Testaments — all pointing to Jesus as the Messiah who came to fulfill God’s promise and purpose.  Consider that the very first word in the original Hebrew scrolls containing the Book of Genesis is B’reishit, which is translated: “In the beginning.”  Scholars note that the Hebrew bet symbol, or “B,” in those manuscripts is enlarged to call attention to itself.2  When it stands alone, the bet symbolizes “a house.”  It is a pictogram — both an alpha-numeric character and a symbol that resembles a house or shelter — that looks like this:  ב

Hebrew doesn’t have vowels so when you add the resh (or “r”) symbol, you get the Hebrew word bar, meaning “son.”  The remaining letters form the Hebrew word reishit (pronounced ‘ray-SHEET’), which means “beginning” or “first”; though, in particular contexts, the Israelites understood it to more specifically mean “first fruits of the harvest.”2  For example, in Leviticus 23:10, Hebrew manuscripts used the word reishit where today’s English Bible translates: “first grain you harvest.”2  Combining the first two letters and the last two letters of b’reishit produces the Hebrew word brit (pronounced ‘breet’), which means “covenant.”2
Thus, unpacking and expanding the embedded meanings in the very first Hebrew word in the Book of Genesis into a modern English sentence, we can see there’s a bigger picture and a greater meaning:  “In the beginning (B’reishit), the God of Israel created Heaven and Earth because He desired to have a house (bet) for His Son (bar) by means of a covenant (brit) for those who are classified as His first fruits (reishit).”2  

I am awestruck and inspired by the fact that the whole story of the Bible — every story that points to Jesus as the Messiah and giver of eternal life — is encapsulated in the first Hebrew word B’reishit that was written on a scroll about 1,500 years before Jesus was born.  This word, God’s Word, is like a seed containing the image of a tree — the Tree of Life — into which the seed would grow.  And then, through the stories of the Bible, we see it did grow!  These very same images — house (tabernacle, temple), son (firstborn, heir, inheritance), covenant (promise, rainbow, commandments, forgiveness), and first fruits (beginning, first of the harvest, choicest, chosen ones) — are main themes that play out over and over again throughout the stories of The Bible.    

God affirms this point in Psalm 78:  “My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.  I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old — things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.  We will not hide them from their descendents; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done.” (Psalm 78:1-4)

The repeating patterns in the stories are intended to teach us of the divinity and purpose of Jesus in a way that goes beyond mere telling.  Though they tell of Israel’s history, the stories also convey a deeper symbolic meaning and, therefore, they are also parables.  God’s truth and wisdom is embedded in the very language, history, and culture of the Israelites.  God’s Word remains consistent and true throughout; and it not only tells, it shows!   

God’s Word is fractal.


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1 Fractal Foundation: http://fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-are-fractals/ (accessed Oct. 2, 2013).
2 Chumney, Edward (1998): The Seven Festivals of the Messiah. 2nd ed. Treasure House Books, Inc. (Available online at http://www.hebroots.com/sevenfestivals.htm)

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Discussion questions
1. What repeating patterns, or recurring themes, have you observed in the stories of the Bible?
2. In your walk with Jesus, have you seen some of these same patterns play out in your own life?
3. If so, what wisdom has He been teaching you?

3 comments:

Melissa Joslin said...

Memra = The Word

It’s interesting that you “unpack” the very first fractal in scripture and explain how the Bible operates in this way. I completely agree that The Word is fractal and have a few things to add which Yahweh has shown me in this regard. I’d like to begin with one of the thoughts you presented: “…the Israelites understood it (Hebrew word, B’reishit,) to more specifically mean ‘first fruits of the harvest.”

In 1st Cor. 15:20-23, “…but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at his coming,..” Yahshua Himself is identified as the Father’s “First Fruit” from the dead, and then we, as you said, are considered His through the covenant. By virtue of the stake we are considered “IN Him.”

Romans 6:5 puts it this way, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” I bring that out just to show that it is all of us with Him, together as one, when first fruits are mentioned. This to me is another fractal — all of us “Little Christs” forming the one big body of The Christ — a perfect fractal, eh?

Then, exactly and precisely at the end of the first phrase of the first book from the First Fruit is this, Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning (את) Yahweh created the heavens and the earth.”
Notice in the parentheses the bold Hebrew letters, the Aleph Tav: את. You would only see these letters presented in the ancient Aramaic manuscripts, such as the Targums of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are considered to be the most accurate translations of the original Hebrew extant. These letters are enlarged and in bold font each time as if to stress emphasis not only on their meaning, but also on their placement in scripture. The reason they are not found in later manuscripts is that it was not clearly understood as to why they were inserted. It’s been suggested that they were used in Hebrew grammar as pointers to a direct object in a sentence but since most other aspects of grammar were completely left out of the ancient writings, such as commas, periods, paragraphs, etc., their usage was a mystery, and especially with enflamed font. Other than being used in grammar, they represent the first and last letters of the Hebrew language only. They do not spell any certain word on their own, any more than A-Z would represent anything to us other than letters in our alphabet. Even so, this enlarged symbol of the alphabet came to be called “Memra.”

The Aramaic word Memra means the “Word” or “The Word of the Lord,” and is used when physical manifestations of God appear or when God is mentioned more than once in the same verse. It was the “mystery Word” since it was written as a word within many sentences throughout both the Torah and the Tenach. When read aloud, the insertion sounds completely out of place: “In the beginning A-Z God created the heavens and the earth.” It seems to have no meaning. The Sages and Rabbis spoke of the Memra in hushed terms and did not discuss it in public forums; however, they understood that all the scriptures where Memra occurred pointed to the coming Messiah. It was the great mystery of the ages.

(continued...)

Melissa Joslin said...

Memra = The Word (part 2)
However, in light of John 1:1, the mystery begins to be understood. As it is written, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” A few verses down, John 1:14 states, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

In the Old Testament, God never explicitly identified Himself with Aleph and Tav as He did with Alpha and Omega in the New Testament, but He did use the same style of language three times in Isaiah, referring to Himself as the first and the last: Isaiah 44:6, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”

This parallels the words He used in Rev 22:13, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

Aleph and Tav, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, First and Last — these symbols are one. There is nothing surprising about Yahweh's use of them in His Self-Revelation, but the true glory of Yahweh’s wisdom goes well beyond the simple use of these symbols in the text of His Word. As it says in John 1:3: “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” There are many places where our heavenly Father draws attention to His Son with the use of the Aleph-Tav symbol. See, for example, http://oneinmessiah.net/TargumMemraTheWordOfGod.htm. It is exciting to go and find them! Proverbs 25:2, “The glory of God is to hide a thing, and the glory of kings to search out a matter.” ☺

David Herring said...

Thank you, Melissa. Your comments are insightful and inspiring, and were a perfect complement to my post. This is precisely the type of dialog I'm hoping to prompt through this blog series. I hope others reading this thread are as fascinated in learning about the Memra as I have been. Thanks again!