The Hebrew Letter Shin: Fire, Division, and Grace

We'll start with the scripture that we always start out with, just like we always do, and we'll come back to it once we go through the education of the Shin. This is from Messiah, Luke 12:49. And this is what the Savior says: "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wished it was already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished." Talking about His first coming events, the crucifixion. "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division."

So, my friends, this is a very powerful statement by Yeshua. This is something that you probably won't hear in the churches that much because of what it says. This is the true nature of Yeshua. We need to realize to read Him in this understanding. Even at the first coming events, He was ready for His fire to be kindled for the second coming events. And He speaks about His crucifixion as the baptism that He has to be baptized with and how distressed He was. Of course, think about the Garden of Gethsemane when He was praying for all of us at that time, sweating blood. And then look at what He ends up with. He says, "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, not at all, but rather division." And then He continues to say He's going to put father against son, daughter against mother, etc., etc. So, a lot of people don't like to read Yeshua in that sense, but that's truly who He is. And that's why we'll be going through the gospel accounts next year. When I say next year, after the Feast of Trumpets, we'll be going through the gospel accounts of Yeshua to really look at what He said in a different avenue, instead of all the things that we see today in the church, that He was very point-blank with everyone. And that goes into the Shin.

So, the Shin is a fire. And you can kind of see how it looks like flames in the character formation of the letter. So this is who He truly is, my friends. First coming events, of course, the second coming events, He's going to put out the fire on the earth, and He's the one that causes division of the entire world because of, again, what He said: father against son, daughter against mother, etc., etc., etc. So we want to start out with that, and now let's get the education so that we can go back and read what He said again and we'll have a better understanding of it.

The Shin is the 21st letter of Elohim's Aleph-Bet, and its numerical value is 300. The number 21 is a triple portion of seven, thus enhancing its significance in the Holy Scriptures. Interestingly, 21 is mentioned seven times, which I believe is a divine occurrence and not by coincidence. The number 300 is a heavily anointed number as well, broken down as three times 100, with three representing divine perfection and 100 symbolizing a double anointing of jubilation. So, I'll read that again. The numerical value of 300 for the Shin is a heavily anointed number, broken down as three (divine perfection) times 100, with three representing divine perfection and 100 symbolizing a double portion, a double anointing of Jubilee (50 + 50).

There's not a better story to convey the supreme magnitude of 300 than the story of Gideon. And Elohim reduced the number of his army from 32,000 to 10,000, and then again from 10,000 to 300. Very powerful. Remember the story of Gideon. I think most of us know that story in the Holy Bible, and we know how He reduced the armies. Why did He do that? Is because He wants to get the victory, right? Always in the Bible, He wants to get the victory, not mankind, not Israel, not the Jewish people, not the Christians, you name it. He wants to get the victory for all of us, Jew and Gentile, Jew and Christian. So, again, this is a great understanding of how Yahweh works, you know, with Him getting the glory. Because if it's up to us and if we had 32,000 men, then we would take credit for it, right? And not give the glory to Yahweh. And that's why He reduced the armies from 32,000 to 10,000, and then again He reduced it from 10,000 to 300 people. Remember He said He tested the people about lapping up the water and things like that in Judges 6. So He wanted Gideon, his army, and the Midianites to understand that it was a divine and sovereign victory by Him and Him alone. Gideon is a prototype of Yeshua, as He will literally fight in the land of Midian, the land of the Midianites, which is in Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula.

The pictograph of Shin looks like teeth. It also means tooth, steadfast, change, and also return. Amazingly, Shin is the letter of fire as well, and its shape is represented by the three flames of fire. So, again, the pictograph, if you look at the pictograph, it shows the flames of fire, but also the way that they write it today, the modern-day letter, it looks like a flame as well, as you can see with the formation of the character. The flames are symmetrical and consist of four yods, which is the number 40 (10 times 4), and also three vavs, which is 18, which totals 58, which is the number of grace. The Hebrew word for grace is "chen." Their seven components allude to the three patriarchs and also the four matriarchs of Israel, who are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah.

So, I'll say this again. The pictograph of Shin looks like teeth. It also means tooth, steadfast, change, and also to return. Amazingly, Shin is the letter of fire, and its shape is represented by three flames of fire, just like we said with the formation of the letter. And now here we have to have the education of the Hebrew letters and the values of them because the flames are symmetrical and consist of four yods. In the Hebrew alphabet, a yod is the number 10. So if you have four of them, then that means the number 40. And also three vavs, and the vavs have the numerical value of six, which is the number 18. And when you total that, that is 58, which is the number for grace. The patriarchs and the four matriarchs of Israel are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. That's pretty cool, isn't it?

Interestingly, the first time the Hebrew word for grace is mentioned in the scriptures, it is during the story of Noah, again tying into the number 58. Therefore, just as Noah found grace in the eyes of Elohim in his day, we can receive His tender mercies and loving-kindness in our time as well. We find the concept of Shin in relation to the sword of the fire at Messiah's second coming events. So, again, remember what we discussed at the very beginning about Him pouring out His fire. Let's look at this again before we continue. In Luke 12:49, it says, "I came to send fire on the earth." At the second coming events, "and how I wished it was already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished." "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, not at all, but rather division." So again, we can look at this as the Hebrew letter Shin as the fire that separates, if you will.