Elijah, (meaning ‘the Lord is my God’ or ‘spiritual champion’) and Elisha, (meaning ‘God will save me’ or ‘protected, God is salvation’ or ‘My God is salvation’) Their names carry the record of what they represent.

The word ‘mantle’, often refers to one’s calling.

The word ‘mantle’ in Hebrew, is Adderet.  

Adderet/Addereth: glory, a cloak.

The root meaning of Adderet is ‘Adar’ and means  glorious, splendid, marvelous, and mighty.

In a noun form it is rendered as a cloak or mantle.

Original Word: רֶתאַדָּ֫

Part of Speech: Noun Feminine

Transliteration: addereth

Phonetic Spelling: (ad-deh’-reth)

Short Definition: mantle is

Scripture speaks about the mantle Elijah threw over Elisha’s shoulders calling him to rise to the mantle of the prophet.

“And Elijah passed over to him (Elisha) and threw his mantle on him” (vs. 19).

This mantle was the official garment of a prophet.

Although there were three types of mantles worn in biblical times, this one is the adderet/addereth, a cloak that could be made of animal hair

and was a garment of distinction worn by kings and especially by prophets as in (1 Kings. 19:13, 19; 2 Kings. 2:8, 13-14; Zech. 13:4).

The mantle automatically marked a man as a prophet, a spokesman of God.

It was also a symbol of sacrifice and commitment.

The life of a prophet was not a life of luxury.

The mantle represented a man’s gift, the call of God, and the purpose for which God had called him.

Throwing it over the shoulders of Elisha was a symbolic act denoting his summons to the office of prophet, but it was also a sure sign of God’s gift that enabled him to fulfill the prophetic office and ministry.

This act by Elijah was a prophetic announcement that the gift of prophecy had been given (or would come) to Elisha.

This Mantle is very important, for it speaks of both the prophetic message of Elijah, and the double-anointing of the Holy Spirit that was given to Elisha, in order for Elisha to take up the call of God that he inherited from Elijah.

It was immediately understood by Elisha even without words and he did not hesitate in his response.

The oxen and the implements, the wooden plow with the yokes, represented the tools of his trade and the means and basis of his past life.

Verse 21, then, is basically Elisha’s declaration of his commitment to follow the Lord. In essence, he was burning his bridges and counting his past as loss for the Lord that he might gain and attain the new life and ministry that God had for him as a prophet (Phil. 3).

Elisha was showing family and friends that he had new goals, aims, aspirations, new commitments, values, and priorities.

It showed his determination to never look back, seek to go back, or leave the calling of God no matter how tough it might get.

This is a must for believers and especially spiritual leaders.

Romans 12:1-2 forms the foundation for the emphasis that follows.

Romans 12:3-21 exhorts us to know and use our gifts in ministry.

As previously noted, the word mantle in Hebrew is addereth; its root word being adar, which is also the word for the last month on the Hebrew religious or spiritual calendar.

The month of Adar, (February/March), is the best time to remove any barriers in our pursuit of personal holiness, it’s a time to create and also has the potential for the greatest joy. As Adar is the final month of the year, it is a time of completion.

Worthy of note:

Elisha was working with twelve yoke of oxen that is a huge number of animals. Two or four were a more usual number.

He had to have been very skilled and strong to manage and control so many, we miss the importance in the reference to the number of oxen that were yoked together.

updated information at: https://www.minimannamoments.com/crusts-and-crumbs-explaining-some-obscure-scriptures/

We too have a mantle or calling in our lives.

the calling, pursuit

Hebrew words:  רְדִיפָה; מִקְצוֹעַ, מִשְׁלַח יָד, עִסּוּק   מרדף  קַחלְֿךָ

pursuit of one’s calling:  קַחלְֿךָ כְּלִי רֹעֶה אֱוִלִי

What God has gifted us to do, He has called us to do. What He has called us to do, He has gifted us to do.

How do we know God’s call?

By knowing our gift(s).

Today, every believer is a priest of God (1 Pet. 2:5, 9) and is in some sense called to full-time service to represent the Lord even if their occupation is secular. As believers in Jesus/Yeshua, we are God’s representatives and called to ministry according to the gifts God gives us.

Part of this occurs in the work place, part in the home, part may occur in congregations, and part may occur with a neighbor, etc. Every believer has a spiritual gift (or gifts) and this represents at least a portion of the mantle of God’s call on one’s life.

Mantle in Hebrew is Adderet and it holds other secrets.

It comes from the word adir meaning powerful. אַדִיר

God has called you with a powerful calling.

He’ll equip you with the power to fulfill your calling.

Another reference for the Hebrew word for mantle addereth, Strong’s Number <0155> also means “glory.” 

It also means excellent.

He’s given you an excellent calling.

You’re called to excellence.

The word also means glorious or splendid.

God has given you a glorious and splendid calling for your life.

It also means worthy.

We’re never worthy in ourselves any more than Elisha was worthy of that mantle, but the Lord makes you worthy.

The mantle is always bigger than we are right now, so that we can grow into it.

Parents often buy clothes a little bigger than their child so there is room to grow into them.

As babies and children and young adults grow very quickly. Just as we do when we get saved we need to feed on the sincere milk of the word and then progress to eating meat.

As believer priests, this mantle is our God-given spiritual gift(s). As gifted ones, we are each to be good stewards of the stewardship He has entrusted to us regarding our time, talents (including our spiritual gifts), treasures, and His truth.

For these are the days of Elijah and Elisha.

song by Robin Mark

This requires Elisha’s kind of commitment. When commitment is not there, we will be tottering on the fence and we will be unable to make the tough decisions needed to follow the Lord.

This is no doubt what Jesus/Yeshua meant in Luke 14:26, 27 and 33.

The three conditions mentioned in Luke 14 deal with the necessity of total surrender. Without total surrender, we cannot be His disciples; we simply will not be able to make the sacrificial decisions that following Him will require.

This means a reevaluation of our values, priorities, attitudes, and pursuits, but above all, answering the question, who and what is the source of our faith?

Is it the Lord? Do we truly believe He will be all we need? Or is our faith in reality anchored in the details of life–pleasure, position, power, prestige, possession?

Elisha, like Elijah, was an ordinary man, but he became extra-ordinary because he was available to the Lord, because he turned his life over to the Lord, lock, stock, and barrel, and God was able to use him in tremendous ways.

You become worthy of the mantle, as you live it and walk it, you become it.

He may not have called you to be prophet like Elisha but God has given each of us a mantle to take up.

(1 Kings 19:19-21)

Hebrew/Israelite traditions recount that the mantle that fell from Elijah when he was later taken up in the whirlwind, was a tallith/talit or prayer shawl.

The tallith/talit of a prophet or master teacher would have dark purple-blue threads in the corner tassel.

People believed that the purple thread contained miracle power.

 The mantle God gives is powerful and it is given for us to live excellently, mightily, gloriously and worthily – for that, and nothing less, is the calling of your mantle.

 

Click the arrow below.

Because of what He has done for me I will sing unto the Lord, as long as I live I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

Ps 104:33

 

33. Ashi•ra la•Adonai be•cha•yay azam•ra le•Elo•hai be•o•di.

33. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

From the original text: Shir means sing/song

PRONOUNCED: SHEER

However, “ashira”,  A-SHEER-AH

means: “rich, I will sing”.

rich is associated with wealthy, giving the meaning of:

‘rich and wealthy I will sing to the Lord’.

The dawn chorus is usually the first sound we hear

unless the alarm clock takes priority.

Listen to them sing as if it was for them the first time they have ever sang those notes.

Never letting season or climate or anything deter them from their course, their priority of heralding of the new dawn.

They put every effort into that song

they are choristers of distinction and dedication, singing for all they are worth.

Their whole bodies swell with effort

and vibrate with the harmonies implanted by their creator.

 

Never a day goes by without they sing their praise back to Him and tell of His creation and love

and of His attention to the details of each and every corner of the earth which declares His love and beauty.

We have a new song to sing…

of our new day

since we are saved and blessed by His enduring mercies and grace and as they are new every morning,

let us sing to Him, our songs of praise, worship and love as long as we live..

Because … we are rich and wealthy in Him and all He has done for us spiritually.

Continuing from the previous post

https://www.minimannamoments.com/i-will-put-my-name-here/

and keeping the Hebrew letter Shinin mind while looking

at an old map… 

we’ll follow through to an amazing conclusion.

In the old biblical map of Jerusalem.

There are three significant valleys that make up this city.

Two that flank its outskirts and one that runs near the middle of the old city they are called Kidron, Hinnon and Tyropean.

Some significance has been applied to the fact that there are three valleys that comprise the city of Jerusalem’s geography:

The Valley of Ben Hinnom, Tyropoeon Valley, and Kidron Valley, and these valleys converge to form the shape of the letter shin, and the Temple in Jerusalem is located where the dagesh, (horizontal line) is.

This is seen as a fulfillment of passages such as Deuteronomy 16:2 that instructs Jews to celebrate the Pasach at “the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name” (NIV).

You can see a remarkable geological phenomena as these 3 valleys converge to also form the shape of the letter shin, and where the Temple in Jerusalem is located.

The map below identifies the geography of ancient Jerusalem during the times that the scriptures reference above.

Three valleys surround Jerusalem, the Kidron Valley on the east, The Refaiim Valley, just east of the City of Zion, and the Hinom Valley south and west of the City of Zion.

There are three mountains in Jerusalem

from base to top are Mt. Ophel, Mt. Zion, and Mt. Moriah.

 

Mt. Ophel is where the pool of Siloam was.

This symbolizes cleansing.(2 Chron 27:3).

Also where Jesus/Yeshua healed the blind man.

John 9:7-11

Mt. Zion is where David’s tabernacle sat.

This symbolises deliverance (Ps 2:6, Oba 1:17).

Mt. Moriah is where the temple sat.

This symbolises God’s Glory (2 Chron 3:1, 7:1-4).

These three mountains represent salvation, separation unto God (worship), and the power of Holy Ghost/Ruach HaKodesh.

 Kidron Valley (Valley of the Shadow of Death)

During the Feast of Tabernacles at night, four enormous oil lamps burned in the Temple courtyard.

Each lamp had four large bowls of oil on tall stands, with wicks made from worn-out garments of the priests.

It is written in a Hebrew commentary, that “there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that did not reflect the light” (Mishnah, Sukkoth 5:3).

The lights could be seen throughout Jerusalem; however due to the depth and angle, the Kidron Valley remained in shadow.

The Kidron Valley has many burial sites, since many believe that the resurrection will begin there.

For these reasons, it is said that the Kidron Valley was called the “Valley of the Shadow of Death,” as in Psalm 23:4.

David likely wrote Psalm 23 when fleeing from his son, Absalom (a type of the False Messiah), across the Kidron Valley – 2 Samuel 15.

Psalm 23 is likely a prophetic reference to the Messiah, Yeshua, who was arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane, then brought to Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley.

 Tyropoeon Valley

The rugged Tyropoeon Valley separates Mount Moriah from Mount Zion and was spanned by bridges, most notably Zion Bridge, connecting the royal palace on Mount Zion to the Temple.

A fragment of an arch of this bridge, called “Robinson’s Arch”, was discovered by historian Edward Robinson in 1838.

 Hinnom Valley

The name of the Hinnom Valley in Hebrew is GeHinnom, “Gehenna.”

Gehenna became associated with eternal torment (the lake of fire) because detestable infant sacrifices to Molech took place there.

Gehenna is translated “hell” in the KJV (Matthew 5:22, 29).

Gehenna is the valley of slaughter that will be used in the future (end times) as a place of slaughter, flames, and punishment for the wicked:

“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.” – Jeremiah 19:6.

Amos 4:12-13  He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth –  the LORD God Almighty is his name.

It is only El-Shaddai, God Almighty, who can do such amazing wonders.  He is an almighty, all powerful, unlimited-authority, omnipotent God.  No words come close to describing His infinite wonder.

An Olive Tree near Jerusalem shaped like a letter SHIN

Together with the Temple Mount and Jerusalem in their midst, they form the Hebrew letter Shin (high-lighted in red).

Could it be that God constructed the geography of the region to fulfill the verses above and actually, and physically, put His name on Jerusalem?

Is the fingerprint of God on Jerusalem for all to see?  Maybe.  Just an unusual occurrence.. perhaps, perhaps not, but it is something quite remarkable to meditate on.

God chose this little mark, out of all the letters in the Hebrew alphabet, to be used in a mighty way God also decided to use the Shin ש, this small humble marking, to carve His name into His chosen city, Jerusalem.

1 Kings 11:36  I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name.

Maybe this scripture is not figuratively speaking but literal.

Look on the map below, follow the valleys, shaded in grey, to see God’s signature upon Jerusalem:

It is interesting to remember, when King David had conquered this area and settled it as his capital city, he would have had no way of knowing that the city was seated on top of the name of God.

Yet it was the place that God took him and told him,”This is the place where I have put my name” ( I Kings 11:56).

In a way, the city sits on the top of the name of God.

The standing geographical significance does not end with the sign of the sheen.

As the city is also made of three mountains hills Moriah, Ophel and Zion.

It actually sits on the top of the mountain called Zion which is why it is sometimes called Zion or the city of Zion

But it has three heads the upper most head is called Moriah, the centre one is called Ophel and the bottom head of the mountain is called Zion. Zion refers to the whole range.

There is one mountain out of the 7 that surround Jerusalem, it has three different heads or hills, it sounds very like our reference to One God and the similarity does not end there. The three heads have three significant names, these significances could not have been known by the Hebrews, who gave them their names originally. This in light of the fact that the full revelation of Jesus Christ the Messiah, Yeshua Ha Mashiach and the new Testament had not yet been given.

Consider These Names

Ophel – in Hebrew   0-fel

My Fortress, tower stronghold.  Our Stronghold. The word opel in Hebrew means “a hill, to build a wall, to keep.” It refers to the hill to the east of Zion which was surrounded and fortified by a separate wall.

All of them are names for Yahweh God, Our Father God.

Zion – in Hebrew tsee-yoon it means The mark.

The sign the waymark the guiding pillar

Ephesians 1:13

Marked with a seal the promised holy spirit that means our father God the Holy Spirit.

Zion refers to the whole range, but it also refers to a specific area.

It means “stronghold, fortress.”

It also means “to show the way, to be white and to be pure.”

Moriah – to see God to be seen of God mo-ree-yaw

The first mountain that we will consider is Moriah. Already noted that it was in this area that the first and the second temples were built however, there are some other interesting things.

Jewish scholars say that Moriah was the first land to appear during creation.

It is further taught that it was from the red dirt of Moriah that Adam was created.

Moriah was the top of the range known as Zion.

Rabbinical legend also states that Moriah was in the center of the Garden of Eden and that this exact center of Eden was the location of the future Holy of Holies.

It is also taught that Moriah was the place where Adam was buried.

Moriah, from the root marah, was the place of God’s presence.

Where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son Isaac, thousands of years later, the temple was constructed there on Moriah. It was also within a stone’s throw of the place that Jesus was crucified. So God provided a lamb once again on Moriah.

It is in Jesus Christ / YeshuaHa Mashiach, that we saw God, (If you have seen Me you have seen the Father), and it was in Him, that we were seeing God face to face.

Ophel –

Our Fortress, Our Stronghold Yahweh, Our Father God



Moriah –

To see God or to be seen of God. It is Jesus Christ, God the Son.

Zion –

The mark that means our Father God the Holy Spirit.



Here is something worth a look..

It appears that

1 Kings 11:36

the city where I chose to put my Name,

may be more literal than simply a reference.  The amazing photograph (below) taken from high above Israel, seemed worthy of further inspection. Maybe just a trick of the light on the mountain terrain but nonetheless curious and fascinating, simply because until recently in the modern era of satellites no one had been able to see it.

This satellite picture shows some Hebrew letters formed from the shadow of mountains on top of Israel.

The shadow looks exactly like Hebrew letters in an order as a sentence.

The letters spell this sentence “Because of Bethel the Lord God have made me fruitful.” The word ‘fruitful’ is ‘Ephraim’. These words appeared right in the area where the tribe of Ephraim was.

Recently a satellite picture discovered five rock structures that formed in a shape of a shoe on a foot in Gilgal 

This is related to Ps 108:8-9 and Ps 60:8.

Gilgal is the place where the Israelites camped before they entered the Promised Land.

The shape is formed by five structures.

It is also where they were circumcised – Jos 4:19-22.

‘Gilgal’ means ‘to awheel’ or ‘to recircle’.

More pictures of the ‘Name’, in the mountains.

Zion refers to the whole range of hills.

A Note About The Eastern Gate,

 also known as the Beautiful Gate, or the Golden Gate, has been blocked for 1,000 years.

Many people believe the gate will be opened again when Messiah comes. Moslems see it as standing upon the threshold of heaven and hell. By being buried there they wanted to be first in line for resurrection.

When God said Jerusalem was where he put His Name He meant it literally.

The very valleys declare His Name and the mountains that the city sits upon calls out His Name.

This could be very well what Jesus meant when He said as He entered the city through the eastern gate, recorded in Luke 19:37-40

‘And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed [be] the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.’

‘And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.’

 

When the Jews told Jesus to silence his disciples Jesus replied that even if they are quiet the very rocks will cry out My Name.

He could not have spoken more literally or more truly.

How much more can we be assured that He cares for each of us who have His Name written on our hearts as He repeatedly touches Israel, Jerusalem and His children saying, “Mine, mine, mine.”

What is much more wonderful is that we can say we are His, His, His!

PLEASE Don’t leave this page without assurance in your heart that you are saved.

Do you remember when you were a child, and somebody would take something from you?

Sometimes, you would say, “Hey, that’s not yours!”

Then the reply would come:

“I don’t think so, it doesn’t have your name on it!”

This is often a battle between siblings when both want the same thing, and there isn’t enough to go around.  No doubt we’ve all heard that at least a few times in our lives! Many will recall repeatedly touching the disputed item while saying ‘Mine, mine, mine’!

 

There are scriptures in 1 Kings 11:36, telling us that God has chosen to put His ‘NAME’, on the location of the place we know as

 

 JERUSALEM

The  word ‘NAME’ in Hebrew is Hashem

and the holiest name of God also known as the ineffable/unspeakable name is

read in Hebrew from right to left above

Hey <Vav <Hey< Yod<

YHVH

with the letters

Yod Hey Vav Hey

(reading from right to left in English and is also sometimes  translated as Jehovah.)

Below is a look at Jerusalem, its location and the place where Jesus/Yeshua will appear when He returns and where the New Jerusalem we all look forward to will be located.

Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushaláyim

pronounced Yeh-roo-sha-la-yim

Looking at Israel from space and focusing in on the city.

In the verses shown below, God states that He has chosen Jerusalem and would put His name there.

And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.    1Kings 11:36

And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 2 Kings 21:4

And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son,

In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put My name for ever: 2 Kings 21:7

But I have chosen Jerusalem, that My Name might be there; and have chosen David to be over My people Israel.  2 Chronicles 6:6

Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall My Name be for ever.          2 Chronicles 33:4

Located on a plateau in the Judean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, is one of the oldest cities in the world.

It is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Israelis and Palestinians both claim Jerusalem as their capital, as Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power.

During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.

The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE.

In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent.

Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters.

The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old City’s boundaries.

In tradition this is where it is believed

Adam was created from the red dirt of the ground

and where Noah brought an offering after the flood.

Mt Moriah is also the place where Abraham met Melchizedek,

where Abraham brought Isaac to be offered as a sacrifice. Genesis 22. In Hebrew called ‘the akedah’.

Scholars have identified that the same mountain is actually the mountain of myrrh (Song 4:6). Myrrh is mentioned more than any other single plant in the Bible and it held great value for the owner.

Myrrh comes from the word ‘morr’ in Hebrew, the root can refer to something that is a little bitter.

It is used in the anointing oil (Exo 30:23-25) and also for perfume on the priest garment (Ps 45:8).

Esther was soaked with myrrh for 6 months (Esther 2:12). It was one of the gifts given to Jesus/Yeshua.

Mt. Moriah is named after the moriah plant that looks like a Menorah.

                      

A 9 branched Chanukkah menorah

The plant name is similar to the root word for ‘Moriah’. The plant grows in Mt. Moriah. When it is squeezed, beautiful fragrance will come out. This is a picture of Jesus being crushed.

           

A 7 branched Temple menorah

The area on top of Mt. Moriah, the place where the temple used to sit, was in the shape of the letter ‘yud’

(the tenth letter of Hebrew alphabet).

This is the first letter of Gods Name, YHWH. Also the 1st letter for Jacob, Jerusalem, and Judah. So God put the first letter of His Name to things that are related or special to Him.

David bought the threshing floor

from Jebusite King Aranuah

David said he wouldn’t make an offering to God that cost him nothing.

Mount Moriah is also where the Temples were built. These were all at the same location!

 The site of the 1st Temple

built by King David

and 2^nd Temple

built by King Solomon

and the very place which was the site

Golgotha, ‘Gol-go-tha’, Hebrew for ‘the place of the skull’, just outside the city walls. John 19:17-20

where

Jesus/Yeshua was crucified

The elevation of Golgotha, Calvary at the North of Jerusalem interestingly is 777 metres. According to topographical maps the highest point of Mt Moriah.

Above: Skull Hill as seen in 1901 from the northern walls of Jerusalem’s Old City.

777 could also be seen as representing three areas of perfection in body, soul, and spirit.

How else might God put his name on Jerusalem?

It begins with a remarkable letter “Shin” in Hebrew alphabet and it is the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

 

The Shin letter is shaped much like the English letter w.

It is pronounced like “Sheen”. It is the one letter that represents the unspeakable name of the one and only God “YAHWEH”. This letter holds great significance to the Hebrew People.

Shin (also spelled Šin (šīn) or Sheen) and literally means “teeth”, “press”, and “sharp”; It is the twenty-first letter of the Semitic abjads , including Phoenician Shin, and Hebrew ‫ש‎Shin,

Shin also stands for the word Shaddai, a name for God.

One meaning of Shaddai is, “the keeper of the doors of Israel”, and also:
The letter Shin is often inscribed on the mezuzot placed on all the doorways of Jewish buildings. as God told the Israelites to do in Deut. 6:9.

Because of this, a Kohen (priest)

forms the letter Shin with his hands

as he recites the Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers 6:24-26

 

Jerusalem was the place they came to offer their gifts and sacrifices.  This is where the tabernacle was, (and the Temple built later), where sacrifices and offerings were made daily.   There is great significance to this place.

God was known to Abraham in Genesis 17:1

Isaac and Jacob as

El Shaddai. in Ex 6:3

El = God is the strong or first authority

The word El is made up of E/alef and L/lamed

Alef Means Ox, bull, strength, leader, first.

Lamed means Staff, cattle, goad, prod, toward, control and authority

Shaddai means ‘almighty’

Shad =Breast  –  Dai = Sheds forth

and put together El Shaddai =

The Strong Breasted One -The Almighty God- Mighty to Nourish and Supply

To them, God was called the ‘Almighty God’.

The letter Shin is often inscribed on the case containing a mezuzah, a scroll of parchment with Biblical text written on it.

The text contained in the mezuzah is the Shema Yisrael prayer, the scripture portion from Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Num 15:37-43. which calls the Israelites to love their God with all their heart, soul and strength.

“Shema” in Hebrew and “To Hear” in English. It says ” Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord (KJV)”.

The mezuzah is situated upon all the door frames in a home or establishment. Sometimes the whole word Shaddai will be written on it. The exhibition of the Hebrew letter Shin is prominently displayed on the cover.

The sanctity of the home is symbolized by this small scroll and covering.  It is a solemn reminder to all who enter and leave the home that the house is Jewish and those who live there are devoted to the ideals of the scripture passages appearing on the scroll.

Interestingly each home, so configured with the mezuzot, could be said to have the name of God on it.

So if we are called by His name and He has formed us, would He sign His name upon us?   Isaiah 43:7 (KJV) Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Throughout Psalm 119 the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are listed.  The letter Shin is posted at 119:161.

There is one other place God has chosen to write His Name.

The shape of the letter Shin mimics the structure of the human heart:

the lower, larger left ventricle (which supplies the full body) and the smaller right ventricle (which supplies the lungs) are positioned like the lines of the letter Shin Follow the curve going under the right and left ventricles, and the ‘finger’ going up in the middle.

Once again, the letter shin…

the first letter of Shaddai.

God’s Name is not only written in the land of Israel, but physically on our hearts!

Humanity has the undeniable mark of being God’s creation.  Each of us have to choose whether to give our hearts totally to Him or not.  But, when we do, and the enemy comes against us, God can in effect say, “You can’t have them, because My Name is written there!”

Keeping this letter in mind while looking at an old map… 

To be continued.

Amazing conclusion coming in Part 2