The Word BIBLE
Jesus is the focus of ALL scripture from the WHOLE of its theme down to the very letters that were breathed from the Holy Spirit. This is confessed by the following verses:
Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the BOOK it is written of me,)to do thy will, O God. (quoted from Ps.40:7)
The Greek for BOOK in the verse above is "biblios", from whence we get the word BIBLE. The BIBLE is literally the BOOK.
In other verses Jesus calls himself the "Alpha and Omege" (The Greek for A-Z or Hebrew Aleph and Tav). He also says that not one "jot or tittle" shall pass from the scrptures until ALL is fulfilled and HE is the one who is the fulfillment of scripture.....so Jesus shall fulfill every letter, down to the smallest one (jot = iota for the Hebrew yod, the smallest letter) and down to the very crowns upon the letters (tittles). Therefore, from the whole volume of the BIBLE to the letters and crowns on the letters of the alphabet.....Christ is the fulfillment and the subject.
Now, the Greek word "Biblios" (BOOK) from which we get the word BIBLE, comes from a city called by the Greeks "Byblos" after the vast libraries that were there. The papyrus reed was available in abundance there, and so then also were books written on papyrus scrolls. The ACTUAL name for the city of Byblos was GEBAL. It is today called "Jebeil" and located in Lebanon. The city of Gebal is mentioned or referred to in the OT twice:
(NLT)1Ki 5:18 Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomons and Hirams builders prepare the timber and stone for the Temple.
(YLT)Eze 27:9 Elders of Gebal and its wise men have been in thee, Strengthening thy breach; All ships of the sea and their mariners, Have been in thee, to trade with thy merchandise.
If you read of the History of Gebal, you will find it was renown for two things....BOOKS and the oldest known ALPHABETical writing....now isn't that a marvelous "coincidence" that the BIBLE, the subject of whom the whole BOOK is Jesus and whose very LETTERS Jesus fulfills, is named after a city that was famous for BOOKS and LETTERS (alphabetical writing)!!!!
The Hebrew name for the city of Bybos, Gebal, means BOUNDARIES.
Ex 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
Ex 19:23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
Ex 23:31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
De 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
....But I find MOST interesting of all, that the two verses about GEBAL. The men from Gebal were called "ancients" and "wise". They provided the "timber" for the temple. The word "timber" is the same as "tree", as in:
Deut 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
This verse is quoted about the crucifixion of Christ in Gal 3:13....another allusion to the centrality of the CROSS in the BIBLE??!!
One other note.....the Hebrew counterpart to the word "BIBLIOS" or BOOK in the Greek is "cepher". Our English word "cipher" and "decipher" come from this word. Also the word sapphire is the same word in the Hebrew, and has retained its meaning and form in the English. The connection is the belief by the Jews that the tablets of the law were made from the sapphire stone under the throne of God that the elders saw when they went up the mount with Moses. Since it is the only stone mentioned in this particular account, they assumed that this is the stone that the tablets were made of. Cipher also means to "number" or "count" which reflects the fact that to the Hebrew, numbers and letters were the same characters, and all Hebrew words have a numeric value. This though too carries into the English, even though we no longer use the same characters for letters and numbers....for we use for "telling a story", an "acCOUNTing" or reCOUNTing, even though it has nothing to do with COUNTING as such. The word "DeCIPHERing" is used even when numbers are not involved, when it has to do with breaking a code of letters, or words.
Jesus was the "second Adam" (1Co 15:45) The phrase "the BOOK of the generations of..." is used only TWICE. Once to introduce the volume of the OT, after creation and once to introduce the volume of the NT in Mat. 1:1. The first the BOOK of the generations of Adam....the second the BOOK of the generations of Jesus (the second Adam).
JESUS and the aleph-bet.....
ALEPH A ox/strong Jer 11:19...I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to slaughter
BET B house/son Heb 3:6 ..But Chirst as a son over his own house; whose house are we
GIMMEL C/G camel/reward Gen 15:1 Fear not Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
DALET D Door/Sorrow John 10:7 ....I am the door of the sheep
HEY E behold/life Jhn 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
VAV W/U/V nail/secure Zec 10:4 Out of him(Judah) came forth the corner, out of him the nail.
ZAYIN Z sword/judgment Deu 33:29 ....O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who [is] the sword of thy excellency!
CHET H wall/protection Zec 2:5 For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about........
TET T serpent Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent....so must the Son of man be lifted up.....
YOD Y/J/I hand/working Psa 138:7 .......and thy right hand shall save me.
KAPH K palm/rock I COr 10:4........and that rock was Christ
LAMED L rod,staff/authority Is 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse........
MEM M water/blood John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give hime shall never thirst.........
NUN N fish/seed,prodigy Gal 3:16 ....and to thy see, which is Christ
SAMECH X support/branch Zec 3:8 ......for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
AYIN O EYE/fountain Rev 5:6 ...and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes...
PEY P/F mouth/word Rev 19:13 ...and His name is called The Word of God.
TZADI ** man on his side/slain Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death.
KOPH Q head/follow Eph 5:23...even as Christ is the head of the church............
RESH R man/chief Zec 6:12 .....Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH..
SHIN SH fire/passion Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire
TAV TH mark/covenant Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
