The Number 61 - Self/Nothing and the Blood of the Lord

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood [lit. His Blood] that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Leviticus 17.11

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Isaiah 43.10

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

Joshua 3.11

There is a profound Jewish tradition relating the personal pronoun [i]ani[/i] (I) to its anagram [i]ain[/i] (nothing). It encapsulates the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ:

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

To serve God and find true life, we must crucify our flesh and deny ourselves. This is the great paradox of God's Truth!

The Jewish tradition then turns the word around again, and looking at God who calls Himself Ani (I) and takes the anagram Ain to mean that there is aboslutely nothing we can compare to the Lord, as it is written (Isaiah 46.5f):

To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none [Ain] else; I am God, and there is none like me.

The Number 61

Lord [Josh 3.11]