5784 Prophetic Signs in Rosh Hoshannah

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It’s that time of year! Your newsfeed may be filled with various prophecies of what the Jewish New Year 5784 holds, but have you wondered how people are deciphering these prophetic symbols and coming up with their meanings? As with any prophetic word, it is important that we test the words against scripture and what we know of God’s nature. We unpacked all this last few years for 5781, 5782, and 5783 but here’s a refresher for this year plus our prophetic insights for Rosh Hashanah and 5784.

Numbers, New Years, and Prophetic Words

What is Gematria?

Most of the words being given about 5784 prophetic meaning (and any other year) rely on a form of numerology using gematria. The Hebrew language does not have separate characters for numbers, so the letters themselves have assigned numeric values. Del gets into these number values in the third book in the Healing in the Hebrew Months series, looking at how these numbers correlate to musical frequencies. Gematria itself is not inherently good or bad, it’s just a way of communicating numeric values in the Hebrew language. Numerology using gematria (or any other numerology) can be good or bad, depending on how it’s being used.

Very simple forms of numerology are common in Christianity. Three representing the trinity, seven representing God’s completion or perfection in the days of creation, and ten representing law and authority as with the Ten Commandments. Recognizing symbolism in numbers throughout scripture is a great way to go deeper in your Bible study and have a new language for Holy Spirit to communicate through.

Other forms of numerology use the gematria number value of the letters to spell out words, or use the meanings of the letters themselves to derive significance. Besides having a numeric value, each of the Hebrew letters has pictographic meaning. Aleph in its most ancient form depicts an ox’s head and represents strength, leadership, and power. Lamed depicts a shepherd’s staff and represents guidance, teaching, control, and direction. 

5784 Gematria and New Year Prophecies

With 5784 the gematria can be spelled out two ways:

This method uses the gematria for 5,000, 700, 80, 4

היןפד

These letters don’t really spell anything since they have a final form Nun in the middle, and even with a space don’t form any words. Even if you changed the final form Nun to a regular Nun it doesn’t spell any words. And regular Nun has a different numeric value.

But the letters themselves also have meaning:

ה Heh – Look, reveal, breath, window, eternity

 י Yod – Work, throw, hand

ן Final Nun – Fish, seed, to sprout, offspring, heir, continue

פ Pey – Blow, scatter, edge, mouth

ד Dalet – Door, pathway, movement in/out

So from those letters’ meanings you could come up with all sorts of “prophetic” meanings: looking for our work to continue as it scatters along the path, revealing the open door of the offspring that has been sown. The combinations could go on and on, but what is God highlighting as you ask him about these numbers, letters, and meanings?

This method uses the gematria for 5, 7, 8, 4

הזחד

Using this method you also can look at the meaning of words it spells
הזחד The beggar
הז חד This is sharp

and there are still the meanings of the individual letters

ה Heh – Look, reveal, breath, window, eternity

ז Zayin – Foot, cut, nourish, weapon, sword, completeness, perfection

ח Chet – Outside, divide, half, enclosure, fence, new beginning, new creation

ד Dalet – Door, pathway, movement in/out

From these letters you could say 5784 will be a window of complete new creations going forth or breathing with our feet outside the door. Just because there are meanings doesn’t mean they are meaningful 😉

Another way to interpret numerology is to add the numbers until you have a single number.

5+7+8+4 = 24

2+4 = 6

So the meanings associated with the number 6 would apply to the year 5784.

You could also then take that 6 and look at it through gematria. Vav ו represents the number six and the shape of the letter resembles a nail or tent peg and is thought to represent joining together or securing.

You might also consider meanings from Strong’s concordance numbers. This method isn’t based on gematria, but is another form of basic numerology similar to looking for biblical references to a number. Like looking for verses 57:84 or mentions of that specific number in scripture. Strong’s is not scripture itself, but we can still explore this resource with Holy Spirit to see if there are meanings he wants to highlight. Each Strong’s number also lists the Bible verses that contain the word.

For Strong’s number 5784 the corresponding word is “ur” and it means to expose or lay bare. It’s interesting that the past two years 5782 and 5783 the Strongs number is also “ur” but different meanings. The 5782 “ur” means to rouse or awaken. And Habakuk 3:9 uses the 5783 “ur” to reference a bow being unsheathed, prepared for battle. So while being exposed sounds vulnerable, there is also a strength to being laid bare. This year the 5784 “ur” is used in reference to chaff, so continuing with the idea of being laid bare, clearing away the chaff.

Don’t Forget Discernment

All of these meanings and more could be taken from 5784 and their gematria. The problem is that your own biases and perspectives can shape your interpretation strongly, or your sources could be wrong. And none of those meanings are actually prophetic, unless you’re exploring all of this with Holy Spirit as your guide and leaning into whatever he wants to communicate through it.

Interpreting symbolism doesn’t make something prophetic, hearing God’s voice is what makes it prophetic. Without God’s voice you’re simply practicing divination – operating out of your own earthly wisdom. But hear me clearly. I’m not saying that it is wrong to engage gematria as a layer of language for Holy Spirit to speak to us through. Scripture is full of symbolism and examples of God using symbols to speak to his people.

With the Hebrew calendar God set in motion layers upon layers of seasonal symbols and rhythms. What is wrong, is for us to take all those symbols, rhythms, language and prophesy from them without God actually speaking through them. It’s one thing to interpret symbols about the past, to examine data and structures and understand their meaning. That is what Del has done with the gematria values and musical frequency – she is exploring data that is already there. It’s an entirely different approach to take these symbolic meanings and then try to declare what they mean about the future. 

Prophetic Words for 5784

So, what can we expect in 5784? It is fine to explore gematria and symbolic meanings in regards to the coming year, but it should all start from a place of listening to what God is saying. All that data above – is he saying anything about it or is it just data? His voice is what makes something prophetic, not the use of Hebrew symbolism and complicated interpretation (that would be gnosticism not prophecy). 

Now go back to what you wrote down earlier – what was God telling you about 5784? Does any of that 5784 gematria make sense with what you heard from him? He may give you confirmations through gematria or other symbols, he may not. But the goal in any prophetic word should be to connect with the heart of God, not to find layered secret meanings.

Please take time to test any word you hear. Maybe it’s a good word, it just doesn’t apply to you, maybe it’s mixed with the writer’s own perspectives, maybe part of it is good but part of it is a bit off. No matter who the word comes from – test it. Does it agree with scripture and what we know of the nature of God? Pray about it. What is Holy Spirit saying to you about it? Does it resonate with your spirit or feel off? Do others using discernment to test the word agree with it as well?

Now all that said, here are what I (Leah) have heard when I’ve gone through the exercise of listening to what God has to say about 5784. Take or leave any of it and talk to God about it yourself. I’m not declaring any “thus saith the Lords” I’m just sharing where my own process of listening has taken me.

What We’ve Heard

Leah:

For me, sometimes when I ask God what he has to say about a year, I hear a reply right away. Other times I ask and then over the course of a few days events he highlights things. This year I asked on a Friday but didn’t really hear anything back immediately. Over that weekend three different baby announcements caught my attention, especially because 2 of the 3 are older mothers who have longed for a baby, one for 22 years. So as I’ve prayed into what God is highlighting about these babies this is what I hear for the year: A pregnant year. Long awaited desires fulfilled. Miraculous breakthroughs. Passing wealth, influence, bestowing inheritance from one living generation to the next. This is a season of the older generations supporting and giving platform to the younger unlike ever before – it’s not about passing the torch or who’s in control like there is so often generational fighting for power. It’s about the older generations finding new purpose as (spiritual) mothers and fathers that support and uplift their children.

One thing is for certain as we enter this new Hebrew year – the rhythms God set in place in his calendar are still in motion.

Leah Lesesne, MA

Author

If you’ve enjoyed this post from Leah, check out her books the Healing in the Hebrew Months: A Biblical Understanding of Each Season’s Emotional Healing and Miracles and Dedication: Christian Devotions for the Festival of Lights.