Some Much Needed Rest for the 153 (This is for you, Hong Kong)

As a citizen and lifelong resident of the United States, I am accustomed to what is almost complete religious freedom. Persecution is hard for me to comprehend, though I am certain it's ugly head is right around the corner. If there was ever a year that's a candidate for persecution to begin, 2020 seems likely.

When I started this blog almost three years ago, I hoped that it might reach a handful of people who followed the link from social media. I remember the excitement I felt when 100 "hits" had been reached, because it had far exceeded my expectations. I am now at almost 33,000 and can see that many posts have been translated into other languages.

I want to call special attention to my brothers and sisters in Hong Kong. They are reading my blog at 10x the rate of readers in the United States. I didn't understand how that could be until I realized the peril these faithful members of the body of Christ are in. China is tightening its grip on religious expression and paving the way for imprisonment, torture, and worse.

America, pay attention. We will face the same here very soon. It's already starting.

I urge EVERYONE who reads this to pray earnestly for strength, faith, protection, and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Hong Kong. Our siblings need us right now. Pray hard, pray consistently. This is our family and they need us.

Today's blog post gives me great hope and encouragement. Read on.

This morning started out like any other. I woke up around 3:00 a.m. and my mind started to spin. I was determined to think about something other than my pending divorce and all the ugliness that comes with being married to a financial abuser. Instead, I started to listen to a reading of the book of Genesis to lull me back to sleep. It didn't work. Before chapter one was through, a question came into my head:

What is the 153rd verse in the Bible?

I know that's random to many people, but please remember that The Passover is 153 in Hebrew gematria, and that the miracle of catching fish in John 21:11 specifically mentioned catching 153 fish in the net. Also, 153 is the 17th triangular number. There's more. Look at this passage:

Ezekiel 47:10

And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

Gedi (גֶדִי) is 17 in gematria. Eglaim (עגלים) is 153. God is giving us another perfect message encoded in the inspired book of Ezekiel.

I looked up which verse was the 153rd in scripture while it was still dark, and I was safely tucked into bed. It's Genesis 6:15. The only information I found was that someone else had seen that the numbers 100, 50, and 3 are mentioned in the verse. That's interesting, but not nearly as interesting as what I would discover a few hours later. With a sigh, I queued up a bible study video to listen to as I fell back asleep. The videos kept streaming as I slept until one watchman blew a shofar in his video, which jolted me awake.

That's a pretty great way to wake up, readers. Who doesn't love a shofar blast?

After letting the dogs outside for a break and making a big mug of coffee, my pajamas and I settled into a recliner and started to look more closely at Genesis 6:15.

In Hebrew:
וְזֶה אֲשֶׁר תַּֽעֲשֶׂה אֹתָהּ שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאֹות אַמָּה אֹרֶךְ הַתֵּבָה חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה רָחְבָּהּ וּשְׁלֹשִׁים אַמָּה קֹומָתָֽהּ

In English:
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

The gematria value of this verse is 5,398. There's more to that value, I'm sure, but I'll save that for another day. Right now, I want to point out that there are 13 words in this verse in Hebrew. The number 13 is often associated with rebellion, but I think it can also be associated with retribution or recompense. There's another web page that lists the instances where 13 occurs and he has interpreted as the beginning of something. The references look more like retribution to me, but you can decide that for yourselves.

There are a total of 49 characters in this verse. There are important connections to the number 49. For example, there are 49 days (7x7) until Pentecost or Shavuot from First Fruits. If Jesus was the First Fruits, the Church is the 49. Also consider the TORH/TORH/YHWH/HROT/HROT pattern in the Torah, given at 49 letter intervals.

The center character of the 49 in this verse is Mem, with a gematria value of 40. Yes, just like 40 days and 40 nights of rain, and 40 days of temptation in the desert. But what's really interesting is that the letter Mem represents a FLOOD resulting in death, or RAIN representing life. That's a lot to pack into one tiny Hebrew character.

My friends will tell you that I am a big fan of ELS, or Equidistant Letter Spacing. I was inspired to look into some ELS within the Psalms and because I don't speak Hebrew, I asked a couple of people to help me translate the series of letters into Hebrew words. Why didn't I just use a translating app? Here's why.

If you're a native speaker of the English language:

thissentencecaneasilybebrokenintofamiliarwordsthatwouldnototherwisebeobvioustoanonnativespeaker.

If you are not fluent in English, it's almost impossible to decipher. One person confirmed that every 13th letter of Psalm 133 translated into "Do Not Be Afraid." A popular translation application also confirmed what I had discovered. I shared it with a native Hebrew speaker who berated me and unfriended me on social media. When I asked what I had done to make him so angry, he blocked me entirely without explanation.

Rude. But at least he won't berate me for this post. Back to Genesis 6:15.

I counted out every 7th letter and here's what I came up with: 

You will carry the eh.

My family is Canadian, so this amused me very much. I will, indeed, carry the "Eh?" Once I stopped laughing, I decided to add characters from the next verse, Genesis 6:16. I took four more characters, at seven-letter intervals. If a seventh character was at the end of a word, I used that as a natural break in words.

תשאם ה אהח לנח

I asked a friend of mine if the translation I got from www.doitinhebrew.com was correct, and he replied "Good girl!" Now, perhaps that was more of a comment about my value as a friend, but I'm going to interpret it as a confirmation from a Jewish speaker of Hebrew that it's a solid translation. Even if it isn't, who is to say that God can't use some flaw in a translation app for His glory? I don't have the gift of tongues, but I do have a laptop and insatiable curiosity. 

Before I reveal the message, I want to point out that we are on the verge of a "flood" that will seem like it's going to utterly destroy us. The world has become full of such evil, hatred, greed, lust, and pride. The Tribulation is upon us and we need to decide, immediately, whether we want to be on that metaphorical Ark, or remain outside scoffing at those who have devoted their lives to God, fully accepting Jesus as their Savior. I know where I stand. I hope you do, too.

Here's the message when I added four more characters to the ones I pulled out of 6:15, the 153rd verse in scripture. 

 

Don't forget that the name Noah means "rest, or comfort."

 

YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REST.

Hong Kong, this is for you.

Weary watchmen, this is for you.

Persecuted churches, this is for you.

Imprisoned, exploited, mocked, and poor people of the world, this is for you. 

153's of the Body of Christ, this is for you. Let's get out of this stinking mess.

Eyes up!