Gematria is a Hebrew system that assigns numerical values to Hebrew letters, and uses the resulting sums to find hidden meaning in Jewish texts.

This week Jewish people read the Torah (Bible) portion of Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20; Hosea 2:1-22) in synagogue.

The word “Bamidbar” means “in the desert” and this part of the Torah takes place while the Jews are wandering there after leaving slavery in Egypt. God commands Moses to take a census.

The Gematria of “Bamidbar” — במדבר — is 248.

What else has a Gematria of 248? See Gal Einai:

• The name of our forefather Abraham
• The number of positive commandments in the Torah
• “In the image of God” (Jewish people say that man was created in His image)

In 2024, the United States turns 248.

Initially Abraham’s name was Abram. God added a letter to make it Abraham to signify that He would keep His promise to bless him.

Abraham was worthy of God’s promise because of Abraham’s faithfulness.

Abraham courageously turned to God when the entire world worshipped false Gods…wandered the world preaching monotheism…and willingly endured so many trials.

If we will only turn to the Lord, redemption will come so swiftly.

By Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal (Dossy). A portion of this post was generated or edited using artificial intelligence. All opinions are the author’s own.