I didn't think this up. Like other prophecies in the bible, they are hidden in plain sight. One needs eyes to see and ears to hear.
Genesis 3:1-10 reads:
1 "Now the serpent was cunning, more than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had made, and it said to the woman, "Did God indeed say, 'You shall not eat of any of the trees of the garden?'"
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat.
3 But of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, "You shall not eat of it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.'"
4 And the serpent said to the woman, "You will surely not die.
5 For God knows that on the day that you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like angels, knowing good and evil."
6 And the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise; so she took of its fruit, and she ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves and made themselves girdles.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God going in the garden to the direction of the sun, and the man and his wife hid from before the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called to man, and He said to him, "Where are you?"
10 And he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked; so I hid."
This is one of the most consequential stories in the entire bible. This is the event that changes everything. Mankind ĥas never been the same since the serpent tempted Eve.
I'd love to breakdown all ten verses, but instead, in this post I am only going to look at the first Hebrew word nachash (וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙).
358 is Hidden in Plain Sight
Nachash is ordinarily translated as Serpent." You can practically hear the hiss in the word "nachash."
Nachash in Hebrew (נָּחָשׁ֙) is comprised of the letters:
Chet (8)
Shin (300)
Total 358
Moshiach (or Mashiach) is the Hebrew word for Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ), which translates directly to "anointed one" or "chosen one". The gematria of Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ - Messiah) is 358.
Jews arrive at 358 another way. It is interesting how this number, 358 is equal to the value of Moses name, 345, plus 13. 13 is the value of Echad (one). 13 is also the value of ahava אַהֲבָה (love).
Jewish tradition states the Messiah will build the Temple, gather the Jewish people back to Israel, and restore the religious laws and court system. This belief is formulated by the 12th-century scholar Maimonides (Rambam) based on his interpretation of a few verses in the Tenach.
What do Christians make of 358?
While Jews are expecting the Messiah to enter the 3rd Temple, believers is Yeshua have the belief the it will be the antichrist. Which will it be? There are some fascinating clues in these versue.
Numbers 21:6-9—So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
John 3:14-15— And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
What Do Muslims think about 358
There is another clue related to 358. It is called "The 358 Prophecy." But this comes from Muslims. The "358 Prophecy" generally refers to Quranic predictions surrounding the Battle of Badr. This battle is pivotal in the rise of Mohammed and Islam.
The Battle of Badr (624 CE) was the first major military encounter between the early Muslim community and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. It took place on the 17th of Ramadan, two years after the Prophet Muhammad's migration to Medina. Although the Muslims were heavily outnumbered—approximately 313 men against a well-equipped Meccan army of 1,000—they achieved a decisive victory that solidified Islam’s survival and the Prophet's leadership.
What are we to make of 358?
This copper serpent (358) appears one other time in the Bible, in the description of a religious reform said to have been carried out by King Hezekiah in the 8th century B.C.E, as a part of which he destroys it (2 Kings 18:4):
2 Kings 18:4— He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Ashe’rah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had burned incense to it; it was called Nehush’tan.
The name Nehush’tan is derived from the Hebrew word for bronze (nechosheth), intentionally chosen to mock the object's perceived divinity. Nachash (נָחָשׁ), the general Hebrew word for "snake" or "serpent" that appears in Genesis 3 as the tempter and later in Numbers 21:9 is linked to nechoshet (copper/bronze), emphasizing that the object created was made of bronze.
Over centuries, the Israelites began worshiping the artifact, burning incense to it. King Hezekiah destroyed it, contemptuously calling it Nehushtan to emphasize it was merely a "piece of brass" rather than a divine entity.
As you see, the serpent, number 358, is pretty charged with religious associations. Form your opinion on what it reveals.
The Fall
While there are serpents in our life that tempt us. You can do that, surely you won't die. We are all vulnerable to a fall. But while the clever evil serpent may lead to us to a fall, Adonai works all things together for the good.
Sources:
An academic article about the bronze serpent
