Elohim's Aleph-Bet (Letters) - The Mem

Shabbat shalom, friends. my name is Chadwick Harvey, and you have reached Faithful Performance. Thank you so much for joining us tonight as we continue our journey through Elohim's Aleph-Bet by discovering the letter Mem. The letter Mem has two forms, so we will have a great deal of information to cover. There is the beginning form and also the final form, both of which give us profound revelation when we look at the scriptures.

If you have been with us through this series, I hope that these lessons have given you great layers of understanding through a Hebrew letter lens — layers that deepen our comprehension of the gospel account, the Torah, and the prophets. But if you are just joining us tonight and are not yet familiar with the Hebrew letters, tonight we are studying the letter Mem, the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. You can see it on the second row of the Aleph-Bet chart. The first form — the open Mem — appears in the middle of that row, and to its left, because Hebrew reads from right to left, you will find the closed Mem. We have an opening Mem at position 13, and directly beside it on the left is the final, closed form. We will go through both tonight as we focus primarily on John 3 and John 4.

The two forms are visually distinct. The open Mem is shaped with an opening at the bottom, which carries important symbolic meaning when we consider how the letter is formed and what that trajectory represents. The closed, or final, Mem appears at the end of a Hebrew word and is completely enclosed. We will begin with the open Mem.

As we always do, we will begin with a scripture and then tie everything together once we have moved through the information. This particular passage is one we read on the Feast of Tabernacles, because that is precisely when this event took place. It is Yeshua, on the seventh and last day — the great day of the feast — standing and crying out to the people:

*"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."* But this he spoke concerning the blessed Holy Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Yeshua was not yet glorified.

The 13th letter of Elohim's Aleph-Bet is Mem, and its numerical value is 40. The number 13 is widely described as a number of ill omen, and many superstitions surround it. In the holy scriptures, 13 is associated with rebellion. The most prominent connection between the number 13 and rebellion involves Abraham's son Ishmael. In Genesis 17:25, we see that, according to the custom of the circumcision law, Ishmael was circumcised at age 13 — though he was not from the pure royal lineage seed. For those unfamiliar with this account, Abraham and Sarah grew impatient with God, and Sarah gave her handmaid Hagar to Abraham, and through her Ishmael was born. He was not the son of promise — that was Isaac. The covenant line runs through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and on through the descendants to David and then to Yeshua, encompassing the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants flowing together. Ishmael was circumcised into the Abrahamic covenant, which tells us that there will be a remnant of believers in Yeshua from among Ishmael's descendants — from Arabia, from what we know today as Saudi Arabia — even though Ishmael was not the pure royal lineage seed. Elohim ordained Isaac to carry that line, and Ishmael rejected it and rebelled. As the Apostle Paul writes, Ishmael was born of the flesh and not of the spirit. Therefore, every occurrence of the number 13, and likewise every multiple of it, correlates to rebellion, apostasy, corruption, and disintegration.

With that said, here is the good news: the Hebrew word *ahava*, meaning love, has a numerical value of 13. That is remarkable. We will therefore focus on this aspect of the anointing as we embrace Yah's ahava in our spiritual purification process.

Mem's numerical value of 40 also gives us profound revelation in understanding the anointing. Throughout the Holy Bible, 40 signifies a time of testing, trial, probation, or chastisement. It is the product of five and eight — and as we discovered in previous videos, five symbolizes grace and eight symbolizes new beginnings. Therefore, 40 represents the action of grace, and it leads to revival and renewal. The following examples illustrate the great significance of the number 40: Noah endured 40 days and 40 nights of floodwaters. The Israelites wandered 40 years in the desert before entering the promised land. Moses was on Mount Sinai 40 days and 40 nights on three separate occasions, as recorded in Deuteronomy 9. Yeshua fasted 40 days before being tempted by Satan. After his resurrection, Yeshua spent 40 days on earth speaking about the things pertaining to the kingdom. And Jonah proclaimed for 40 days in Nineveh as well.

The ancient pictograph of Mem is a wave of water, representing a transitional time during chaos or uncertainty. This coincides with our purification journey, as we are transforming and transitioning our lives from rough waves of water to smooth, glass-like water. There is a transition we will see between the open Mem and the closed Mem as we move through this purification journey with the Hebrew letters. These waves of water call to mind when Peter attempted to walk on the rough waves of the Sea of Galilee and Yeshua had to save him. In our purification journey, as he transforms and transitions our lives, we must have faith to overcome the waves of the sea and break through to another dimension of intimacy with him. As it is written: *Deep calls unto deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.*

The Hebrew word for water is *mayim*, and it is connected to life, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. Water is a necessity for life — without it, we would all die. Likewise, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are essential for our spiritual nourishment and our journey with Adonai. Without reading the Word of God and listening to the Ruach, our purity and righteousness in Elohim will be tainted, for there are many pitfalls waiting for us in this life. The Word of God gives us wisdom, knowledge, and understanding on how to live a godly life and do our part for the kingdom of Elohim. As for the Spirit of truth, he will lead us, guide us, direct us, and protect us during our journey — and he will also convict us.

This connects directly back to John 7, John 14, 15, 16, and the passage we opened with. On the last and great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Yeshua cried out about the water — the Mem — and then he said: *"But this he spoke concerning the Holy Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Yeshua was not yet glorified."*

Now look at what John 14:15–18 and 25–26 say in connection: *"If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."*

Remember what the prophet Jeremiah told the people: *"You have rejected the fountain of living waters."* And Isaiah 12:1–2 speaks of the wells of salvation: *"Yahweh is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Out of you will flow rivers — waters, wellsprings of water."* Very powerful scriptures.

And John 16:13–15: *"However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify Yeshua, for he will take of what is his and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Yeshua's. Therefore I said that he will take of Yeshua's and declare it to you."*

John 14 through 16 are passages we return to again and again, and for good reason. They reveal the order of events Yeshua is laying out for us: if you love him, you keep his commandments — and then he prays to the Father, and the Father gives another Helper who will abide with you forever. The Spirit cannot be received by the world, because the world neither sees him nor knows him. But for those who belong to Yeshua, he dwells with us and will be in us. He will not leave us as orphans.