“In (the) beginning created God the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Genesis 1:1 consists of 7 Hebrew words. The transliterations of these words are: Berisheet (In beginning), bara (created), Elohim (God), et (a particle used in front of the direct object of a verb, in this case, “the heavens and the earth”), hashamayim (the heavens), ve’et (conjunction that means “and” and is used to connect two nouns), and ha’aretz (the earth). It looks like this in Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ
In Hebrew, the verb is sometimes placed before the noun, so bara (created) is the second word, and Elohim (God) is the third word. Also, Hebrew is read from right to left.
The very first Hebrew word that is recorded in Scripture (Genesis 1:1) is ‘בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית.’ The transliteration is bə·rê·šîṯ‘ (berisheet or berishit). It is translated in nearly all English translations as “In the beginning” (the word ‘the’ is only added in the English translation). The first letter, בְּ, is a preposition (In), and the next five letters, רֵאשִׁ֖ית, spell the word or transliteration, ‘rē’šîṯ’ or reshith.
Strong’s Concordance lists this Hebrew word or transliteration as H7225. The KJV translates Strong’s H7225 in the following manner: beginning (18x), firstfruits (11x), first (9x), chief (8x), miscellaneous (5x).
ANCIENT HEBREW PICTOGRAPH ALPHABET
The ancient Hebrew language was originally written with a pictographic script similar to Egyptian Hieroglyphs. ‘Berisheet‘ is composed of six Hebrew letters. Each Hebrew letter has a number, a picture, and a word attached to it. The Hebrews could read the words or understand the pictures to read God’s Word. The first letter in Berisheet (Hebrew is read from right to left) is the word Bet. Its picture is that of a house or a tent.
The second letter in Berisheet represents the word Resh. Its picture is that of a person’s head, meaning the head person or prince. Note: Daniel called the Messiah (Jesus) the Prince of princes in Daniel 8:25. The third letter in Berisheet is Aleph. Its picture is the head of an ox, representing strength or a strong leader. The ultimate strength is, of course, God. The fourth letter in Berisheet is Shin. Its picture is of teeth, meaning devouring or destruction. The fifth letter in Berisheet is Yod, and its picture is that of a hand. The sixth letter in Berisheet is Tau. Its picture is a T or a cross.
If you take the first two letters of Berisheet, Bet and Resh, they spell the Hebrew word bar, which means son. The first three letters of Berisheet spell out Bara, which means created or creator. Of course, this is also the second Hebrew word of Genesis 1:1. Only God can create (bara) something out of nothing (Ex Nihilo). The verb appears three times in Genesis 1 (verses 1, 21, 27), marking pivotal creative acts—matter itself, living creatures of the sea and sky, and humankind.
And if you sound out all the letters in Berisheet, it says, “The head of the house (and buried within Berisheet’s first three letters are two words, Son and Creator) is destroyed (willingly) by His own hand on a cross.” The first thing God tells Moses about the creation account is that His Son, who is the Creator, will go to the cross and have His hands pierced in order to shed innocent blood to pay for our sins. This prophecy is confirmed in John 1:1-18, when God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is introduced.
The third Hebrew word (or transliteration) in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim (H 430), which means ‘God’ (or ‘gods’). It is the plural of El (H410) or Eloah (H433), other Hebrew names for God. Using the plural form of this Hebrew word is the first indication in the Bible of the Trinity or the triune Godhead consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is seen working in Genesis 1:2, and the Son isn’t formally introduced in the creation account until John 1:1-18 (besides the pictographic typology in the ancient Hebrew language).
FIRSTFRUITS AND CREATION
However, that might not be entirely true. Let’s examine the first Hebrew word in Genesis 1:1 (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית) more closely. The first Hebrew letter in this word is בְּ. When בְּ appears at the beginning of a word, it is considered a preposition (such as in, on, with, for, & as) that comes before a noun or pronoun that it introduces. It functions as a prefix to indicate location, accompaniment, or condition.
The noun that follows this preposition is רֵאשִׁית. The transliteration is rē’šîṯ (or reshith) and is listed in Strong’s Lexicon as H7225. As mentioned before, the KJV translates Strong’s H7225 in the following manner: beginning, firstfruits, first, chief, and miscellaneous other translations. Of course, in Genesis 1:1, most Hebrew-to-English translations agree that ‘beginning’ is the best translation for reshith. I agree with this assessment; however, as a secondary translation, I think ‘firstfruits’ is typologically interesting.
Genesis 1:1 could, grammatically speaking, be translated as “With (or As) firstfruits, God created the heavens and the earth.” Paul said that Christ is the firstfruits of them that have died and been resurrected unto eternal life.
“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). So, in essence, one might say, “With (or As) Christ, the firstfruits, God created the heavens and the earth.”
In the New Testament, the English word ‘firstfruits‘ is derived from the Greek transliteration ‘aparché’ (G536), which is equivalent to the Hebrew transliteration ‘reshith.’ James said we, as Christians, are a type of firstfruits. “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures’ (James 1:18).
THE WORD BECAME JESUS CHRIST
John 1:1-5 describes the second Person of the Trinity, known as the Word, as one of the acting agents of the creation account of Genesis 1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). It is thought that the Word spoke creation into existence.
John 1:14-17 confirms that Jesus Christ is the incarnate (from the Latin incarnare, “to make flesh”) second Person of the Trinity, known as the Word. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.“
If the Word was with God at creation, as John 1:1 says, and the Word is Jesus Christ, and Christ is the firstfruits of the dead, then I think it’s logical to say, “With Christ, the firstfruits, God created the heavens and the earth.”
THE FIRST RESURRECTION
Here is the order of the resurrected dead in Christ (mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:23), known as the First Resurrection (the resurrection of all believers, which includes Old Testament saints, New Testament Christians, and Tribulation saints):
1) Jesus’ Resurrection: Most Christian Bible teachers (including this one) believe Jesus was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits (the start of the Omer count, per Leviticus 23:10-16). Matthew 27 says there were other resurrections that occurred after Jesus’ resurrection. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27:52-53).
Jesus Christ and the “many saints” are the first fruits of all believers in Christ who will be raised from the dead with an incorruptible body. The word ‘firstfruits’ indicates there will be more to come.
2) The Resurrection at the Rapture: 1 Corinthians 15:23 says the order of resurrected saints is Christ first, and “afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.“ Of course, we, as pre-tribulation rapture adherents, believe Christ’s second coming is in two parts (separated by at least seven years). The first part concerns the rapture of the Church, as prophesied by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17.
The second part will be at the Second Coming of Christ after Daniel’s 70th Week (the seven-year Tribulation) is completed. See below.
At the Rapture, those Holy Spirit-indwelt believers in Christ who have died since the Church began on Shavuot/Pentecost in 33 AD will be the next to be resurrected/translated into a spiritual, incorruptible body. This will occur sometime before Daniel’s 70th Week (the Tribulation) begins.
3) The Resurrection after the Second Coming: The second part of Jesus’ coming will be at the end of Daniel’s 70th Week. It is known as the Second Coming and is described in Revelation 19:11-21. Most Bible scholars believe the Tribulation saints (those who become believers in Christ after the Rapture) and the Old Testament saints will be resurrected after Jesus returns to establish His millennial kingdom.
The Old Testament saints’ resurrection is mentioned in Daniel 12:1b-2a, “But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life.”
Some Bible teachers believe Isaiah 26:19 also refers to the resurrection of Old Testament saints. “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”
Job also speaks of his own resurrection and his redeemer’s resurrection. “For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me” (Job 19:25-27).
THE THREE APPEARANCES BEFORE THE LORD GOD
Exodus 23:17 says, “Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the LORD God.” Verses 15-16 stipulate these three times in the year are during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (including Passover and Firstfruits) in early spring, the Feast of Harvest (Shavuot/Pentecost) in late spring/early summer, and the Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles) in the fall, “when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.”
These yearly Feasts of the Lord all occurred during the harvest seasons. However, before the harvests began, the first samples or first fruits were brought to the priests to be presented before the Lord in acknowledgment and thankfulness for the bountiful harvest to come.
Many Bible teachers believe these ‘gatherings’ or ‘appearances’ before the LORD God are typologies of “the First Resurrection.” All of the Feasts of the Lord were, and will be, fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ.
1) The early spring Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits were ultimately fulfilled by Jesus during his First Coming to the Earth in 33 AD. See The Great Harvest – Rapture Forums for more details. Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits when he was resurrected after three days and three nights in the grave. He was the ‘firstfruits’ of the dead (in Christ) to be resurrected with an incorruptible body.
The Feast of Firstfruits occurred when the barley crop was ripening and ready for harvest. In Israel, barley was the first crop to rise from the earth. Jesus is the fulfillment of the barley sheaf of the ‘first fruits‘ (Strong’s H7225) to be waved before the LORD, as mentioned in Leviticus 23:10-11, and the male lamb without blemish in verse 12.
2) Most Bible teachers believe the late spring Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost was also fulfilled by Jesus during his First Coming, when he sent the Holy Spirit upon his disciples ten days after his ascension to heaven. However, this one is different than all the others (past and future) in that Jesus was not physically on the earth when it occurred. Does this mean it is still one of the Feasts awaiting fulfillment in the future, possibly at the Rapture?
1 Corinthians 15:23 says, “Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Will the Church be like the firstfruits of the wheat crop, the second crop to rise from the earth? Does the Church represent the two loaves of leavened wheat bread to be waved before the LORD? See Shavuot, Pentecost, and the Rapture :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready
3) Most Bible scholars and eschatologists believe the three fall Feasts of the Lord (Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles) will ultimately be fulfilled by Jesus when He returns physically to the earth, in what is known as the Second Coming. Will the Tribulation saints and the Old Testament saints be like the first fruits of the fruit crops, the third crop to rise from the earth in Israel? During Tabernacles, the priests were to take the fruit of the citrus trees, along with branches of several native trees in Israel, tie them together, and then wave them before the Lord.
It’s interesting that with all three yearly ‘gathering’ times for Israel, ‘firstfruits’ of the harvests were to be presented and waved before the Lord.
JESUS, THE BREAD OF LIFE
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24). “And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst…. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:35, 38-40).
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). “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” (John 7:37-38). Jesus is the “bread of life,” and the Holy Spirit is the “living water.” When you come to Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, you shall never hunger or thirst again. “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:16).
NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH
Most of what the ancient Hebrew people knew about their ‘coming’ Messiah is found in Isaiah 9:6-7. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
I’m sure the Israelites didn’t understand this prophecy in its entirety. What they mostly understood was that the Messiah’s kingdom or ‘dynasty’ (the Messiah and his descendants) would last forever. However, they didn’t know about the distinction between the Messiah’s 1000-year reign and His eternal reign. This was a mystery until God revealed it to John as recorded in Revelation 20.
According to Revelation 20, after Christ reigns for a thousand years, the Lake of Fire will receive more occupants (besides the Antichrist and the false prophet who were thrown in at the end of the Tribulation). Satan, unbelievers who have been judged at the Great White Throne, death, and hell, are cast into the Lake of Fire at this time. This will put an end to sin and death. Only redeemed, resurrected, and translated believers (and faithful angels) will be left. A new or restored earth (and heavens) must be created for these immortal saints. These translated saints with incorruptible bodies and minds will need an incorruptible home for eternity.
Because of Adam’s sin in the garden, a curse was placed upon the earth by God. It thus becomes necessary to remove the last vestige of this curse from the earth before the manifestation of the eternal kingdom. Similarly, the heavens, Satan and his fallen angels’ abode, must be purged of sin as well. According to Ephesians 2:2, Satan is the prince of the power of the air.
The Bible teaches that the present heavens and earth (the universe) will be destroyed, and then God will create or make a new earth and new heavens (Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1). Both the Hebrew and Greek words (for new) can also be translated as fresh or renewed. While some see the new earth and heavens as a complete replacement, others see it as a restoration. Both agree that the old will pass away and the new will be eternal, reflecting God’s glory and the perfection of His original creation.
Most theologians believe this destruction of the original creation and subsequent replacement or restoration of the heavens and earth will occur after the millennial reign of Christ and the events of Revelation 20, including the Great White Throne Judgment. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them” (Revelation 20:11).
Peter prophesies about these events in 2 Peter 3.“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.
“Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:10-13).
In my opinion, the destruction and subsequent restoration of the original creation is the most likely interpretation. This perspective emphasizes that God’s plan is to redeem and restore creation, not abandon it. It is a typology of the resurrection of the saints at the Lord’s return, when our bodies will be changed or transformed from corruptible earthly bodies to incorruptible spiritual bodies. We will not receive new bodies, only translated bodies made for eternity. See We Shall Not All Sleep, But We Shall All Be Changed.
Also, several passages of scripture speak of the earth and the heavenly bodies existing forever. “Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever” (Psalm 104:5). “One generation passes away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abides forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4). “It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven” (Psalm 89:37).
“Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass” (Psalm 148:3-6).
The original creation of the heavens and the earth will one day die. However, they will be resurrected and translated into an incorruptible form made for eternity. The original heavens and earth are a type of Firstfruits of creation and are only a sample of the bountiful ‘harvest’ to come. One might say, “With Christ (the firstfruits of resurrection), God will create a new heaven and new earth.”
“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished” (Isaiah 51:6).
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Randy Nettles
You searched for randy nettles – Rapture Ready – archived articles