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Devotional: John 2:4

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:

John 2:4: “Jesus said unto her, Woman what have I to do with thee, my hour has not yet come.”

Woman:  Aramaic (Syriac)  ‘anath – a married woman, a woman who is not a virgin.  Greek: gunai – a married woman In the KJV rendering of this verse it sounds like Jesus was being very harsh and disrespectful to His mother.   Indeed we tend to lose a lot in translation.  Even if the Book of John were not written in Aramaic, John would have taken his notes in Aramaic and the conversation would have been in Aramaic.  Hence the Syriac version of the Bible would carry the more correct word used here for the word woman (‘anath)  and the Greek rendering (gunai) seems to agree.  He was addressing  his mother as a married woman. One would have to ask, would not simply saying the Aramaic word for mother (‘amah) have accomplished the same thing and been more respectful?  I do have a pet theory. The Aramaic word, ‘amah, sounds an awful lot like the Hebrew word ‘almah, which means an unmarried woman, either she has never been married or was widowed. In some cases it might refer to a woman who was divorced or abandoned.  This is the same word used in Isaiah 7:14 which was a double prophecy.  There would be a fulfillment in Ahaz’s time as a sign that his enemies would be destroyed by God as well as a future event of a coming Messiah who would be born of a virgin.  The word alamah was an excellent choice of words for this prophecy as it could mean both a virgin and non-virgin.  The term would be used for a non-virgin and unmarried woman who bore a son during Ahaz’s time and a virgin, Mary, who bore the Messiah.  Perhaps Jesus was making a little play on words hinting a little secret shared only between He and His mother at that time, that is, that He was the Son of God and maybe He would do a little miracle to sort of set the stage for His entry into His Messianic mission.

Calling His mother ‘anath in Aramaic was really a sign of respect in that culture.  Joseph would have most likely died at this point but not before Mary had other children and would thus no longer be a virgin.  In a sense Jesus was doing her an honor calling her an ‘amah as this would be declaring that she was as single mother, by the death of her husband who raised her children under the hardship of widowhood.  I have heard successful men and women speak with pride for their mothers when they say: “My mother was a single mother and raised me.”  I think the NIV, which did a little paraphrasing, expressed it best – “Dear woman.”

The expression “my hour has not yet come” is really an Aramaic idiom.  The BYOB concept was a common practice at oriental weddings with everyone male bringing his own brew and trying to show off that he had the best wine. Maybe the other women were starting to give Mary a hard time that her son did not bring any wine to the wedding as was the custom.  Mary may have been keeping a little secret that her son was going to offer the best wine ever.  Jesus response to His mother in the Aramaic was literally: “what to you and to me, not yet woman.”  Again, my pet interpretation of that phrase, based upon what I view as the context, would be almost conspiratorial: “What we talked about dear woman, but not yet – patience.”   With a little knowing and maybe the smugness of a proud mother, she went to the attendants and instructed them to do whatever Jesus said.  She knew what Jesus proposed to do would be a bit strange and she had to prepare the servants.  Jesus was going to use the water in the vessels that the guest used to wash their hands and feet in before the meal.  When he ordered the servants to fill the vessels he was saying to add water to replace the water splashed out during the bathing.  Keep in mind, people did not wash their hands and feet for hygienic  purposes in those days, they did it for ritualistic purposes as required by Jewish law to symbolize purification or cleansing.  Jesus was going to demonstrate His role as the Messiah by taking the filth and dirt and purifying it.

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{Word Study} Yod

WORD STUDY – YOD

John 8:6: “This they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him.  But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground.” YOD – An abbreviation for the sacred name of God  – Jehovah

During the day of Jesus the religious teachers taught that the divine name Jehovah refers to the aspect of mercy while the divine name Elohim refers to the aspect of Justice.  In the creation story you have the divine names of Jehovah and Elohim combined (Lord God) to teach us that the world can not endure on justice alone nor mercy alone.  He had to mingle justice with mercy for the world to endure.  Hence when God speaks to Moses as Jehovah He is speaking from the aspect of mercy and when He is speaking as Elohim He is speaking from the aspect of judge and administering justice.

In John 8 some scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who was caught in adultery to Jesus and advised that the Law of Moses commanded that she had to be stoned.  In an attempt to test Jesus they asked what they should do, follow the law or not.  Jesus gave his famous answer: “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.”  Before he gave this answer, however, he wrote something on the ground.   Scripture does not tell us what he wrote and there has been much speculation.  I asked a rabbi about this story and he suggested that due to the dramatic response from the religious leaders and that fact that Jesus did not speak but wrote on the ground, it is very possible he simple wrote out the Hebrew letters “Yod” and “Hei,” or maybe just simply a “Yod.”  A scribe or Pharisee would instantly know what that meant.  He would have written out the abbreviated form of the sacred name of God – Jehovah.   He could have spoken the name “Elohim” and that would have meant justice or stone her.  But to appeal to the name that was so sacred it could not be uttered, the name that these religious leaders would automatically associate with mercy, would have a profound affect.  Then to say “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone” would have left these leaders speechless for they could not say that they were without sin and they had to admit that they themselves must appeal to Jehovah – mercy and not Elohim – justice.

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Devotional: Matthew 23:6

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{Word Study} Failed "Kalah"

WORD STUDY – Failed

Lamentations 4:17: “As for us our eyes yet failed for our vain help, in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.” Failed – Kalah: exhaustion, to be completely finished.

Judah had called upon the Egyptians for help. They were facing sure destruction at the hands of the Assyrians but were still clinging to that last bit of hope that at the final hour the Egyptians would come riding up to rescue them.   The Egyptians never came. The Egyptians owed them, had promised to help them.  But such is the nature of trusting in the arm of the flesh.

The sins of the people of Judah have finally reached its climax.  For almost four hundred years the nation of Judah went through periods of idolatry to the destruction of the idols and worship of God and then back to idol worship again.  It was not that they totally abandoned God at any one time.  The temple still existed, the people still celebrated the many feasts, and the priest still offered their sacrifices.   But it was mainly for appearance sake or to fulfill a sense of duty.   They were a religious people who had no heart for God.

When Jeremiah would give God’s warning of coming destruction, the people would mock him and say: “Oh, come on Jeremiah, people have talked about destruction for years, and look, we are still here, the temple still stands.   Look at the temple, we are the people of God, do you honestly think God will destroy this building constructed in His honor?”

In Lamentations 4:17 we see where the hearts of the people laid.  The Assyrians were ready to march on Judah and instead of turning to God for help; they looked to the nation of Egypt to deliver them.  Yet Egypt had their own problems, they would not come to deliver Judah.  The people placed their hope of salvation in the arm of the flesh.

The words “our eyes yet failed for our vain help in our watching” is a very sad picture.   A clearer rendering would be “our eyes have become exhausted watching for the help that never arrived.”   The word “failed” is “kalah” which has the idea of becoming exhausted after putting every part of your being into something.  Kalah is like waiting for that phone call that never comes, that letter, or that e-mail that would signal you deliverance from stressful situation.   The word is spelled Kap – empty vessel like your heart, being filled with the Lamed – stress, weariness, exhaustion and ending with the Hei – brokenness and self-deception.  The deception here is the hope of help from the arm of the flesh, but it is a “vain” help.  The word “vain” is “haval” which is the word used for a vapor. It is like a cloud, you can see it but when you walk into it, there is really nothing substantial there.   Yet, you continue “watching.” The word for “watching” is “sapah” which is not just a watch like being on guard duty, but it is a watch that is filled with hope and anticipation.

To the very last moment the people pinned their hopes on the arm of the flesh, but the phone never rang, their last hope of escape that they could see in the natural, never materialized.  We can’t be too hard on Judah, as we do the same thing.  We face a marching army coming against us and start to look for all avenues of escape. Sure we are the people of God, we support the church, we do our religious duty, and surely God will not allow us to be destroyed, surely at the last minute the arm of the flesh will rise up and save us.  We have resources, contacts, talents, or whatever to fall back on to deliver us.  Yet, all these are the arm of the flesh and they can kalah (fail, bring to exhaustion) us.

Years earlier a former king of Judah,  Jehoshaphat, faced certain destruction but rather than depend upon the arm of the flesh, he and the nation fell before God, joined their hearts with God and declared “His mercies endure forever” and God stopped the advance of the three kings in a miraculous way.   Yet now the people were not seeking to join their hearts with God. They sought God only with their minds.  They figured God would use the Egyptians to deliver them and so they pinned their hopes on what they could see and not on what was unseen.

Jehoshaphat spent the 24 hours before the battle preparing a choir to sing praises to God.   The people of Judah during this time spent their last hours watching and waiting for an army. This dependency upon the arm of the flesh caused them to Kalah (become exhausted).

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Devotional: Matthew 5:22

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{Word Study} Vibrations (virtue)

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Devotional: Psalm 47:4

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:

Psalms 47:4: “He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.”

Do you ever feel like a loser through no fault of your own, the low man on the totem pole, the one who seems to always draw the short stick, the last one chosen in your Physical Education class when choosing up sides?   Are you the one who always scored average or below on the SAT, never get that front office job, just barely passed your classes even though you studied twice as hard as the guy who made the “A?”  Perhaps you are the one who never gets to sing with the worship team, speak before the congregation but is always the first to be asked to clean up after a church social, which you faithfully do.  Are you that minister that just has a ministry that never gets off the ground, the pastor who never sees his church grow and preaches every week to more empty seats than filled?

Is that what is troubling you Bunkie?   Is that what is getting you down?   Then take heart, you have your own special Psalms, twelve of them to be exact.   Psalms 42-49, 84-85, and 87-88 are dedicated to you, the underdog, the ones destined for a life of mediocrity.  You are a spiritual Korahite.

These twelve Psalms were dedicated to the sons of Korah.  Korah was the one who rebelled against Moses in Numbers 16:21.  This is the Korah who was the son of Izah, the great, great grandson of Levi. Although the Talmud is not the inspired Word of God and its historical accuracy is often called into question, it is nonetheless, the best extra Biblical history we have.  The Talmud teaches that Korah discovered the treasures hidden by Joseph in Egypt and became a wealthy man.  This wealth did not come from God and he used this wealth to purchase privilege and power on the journey to the promised land. He was a Levite priest who, through his wealth and influence incited Dothan, Abiram and 250 influential men to rebel against Moses. He accused Moses of making up the commandments; of never even being with God and that as the sons of Levi they had just as much right to the priesthood as Moses and Aaron and not just serve as mere ministers.  They had men of wisdom and knowledge who could make up laws just like Moses and in fact he even challenged Moses’s laws with laws of his own.  Since Korah carried the money bags (quite literally on the backs of 300 mules – Pes. 119a) he was able to buy his influence and support where Moses pretty much had only his personality to go by.  Moses was a sure loser in this popularity election as he did not have two shekels to rub together to buy his way into office.  Not only that but this election was a dirty one, the Talmud teaches that half the silver donated to the tabernacle went missing and they accused Moses and Aaron of pocketing it for themselves (turned out to be an accounting error).  Then they tried to accuse Moses of adultery.   Well, some things never change.  With the polls showing Moses as a sure loser he left the matter to God who put an abrupt end to this election and re-established Moses as the chosen leader.

Unfortunately, as seems to always be the case in these matters, it is the children who had to suffer.  From that point on the descendants of Korah, the sons of Korah were looked up as suspect and never allowed to perform the duties of a priest.  They assigned the lowest and menial tasks of servitude in the tabernacle and later the temple.  They were the janitors and porters; some might rise to be greeters or ushers but never more than that.  They polished the silver but could never minister to the people.

David felt sorry for these people and he worked to elevate their status and eventually started moving them into positions of ministry such as the temple choir or worship teams as we call them today.  But still people looked down on them, and to them David dedicated twelve Psalms. In Psalms 47:4 he tells the sons of Korah that God chooses our inheritance.  The word inheritance in Hebrew is Nachal which means a portion or possession, but this possession is not just things or wealth, but it is something that is life giving, something that brings peace, comfort, joy and rest.   David explains this further by saying this inheritance is the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.   Jacob was the father of all the Levites, not just the privileged or special Levites who got all the honor and the perks of the office.  The Sons of Korah have just as much right to the excellency of Jacob as the privilege descendants of Jacob.  The word “excellency” in Hebrew is gi’al which is the word for pride.  This is a pride built upon the lovingkindness one receives from God for being an example to others.

Maybe the sons of Korah do not get all the perks of the priest, the honor, the respect, the opportunity to wear the garments of praise, to stand before the people and offer a benediction, but their position is chosen by God and their faithfulness to their chosen position will bring them the love of God that their ancestor Jacob knew.

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{Word Study} Mizpah

WORD STUDY – MIZPAH

Genesis 31:49:  It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.” Mizpah – Hebrew: a watchtower.

I remember watching an old movie made during World War II called “Stage Door Canteen.”  It was about celebrities who gathered together at an old theater set up as a nightclub to give soldiers about to embark on the war overseas an evening of relaxation and food.  At one point a soldier commented that as he and his wife parted they said “Mizpah” to each other.  Another soldier overhearing the conversation ask what “Mizpah” meant.  Francis Langford then went into the lengthy explanation that it meant a tender, emotional bond between two people when they are separated either physically or by death.  She went on with a few more paragraphs in her definition.  My first thought was: “All that from one word?”  When you look at this word in the Bible and your lexicons you will find it only means a place or a watchtower. Yet, this word, like so many Hebrew words, has a broad range of meaning.  This is a prime example of how lexicographers use the context a word from a dead language to determine the meaning.  The problem is that in looking at this verse to apply the meaning of Mizpah they only went as far as “the Lord watch between you and me” and concluded that it meant a watchtower.   They overlooked the last phrase “when we are away from each other.”  The Jewish sages included that in their definition as well and we find the word “mizpah” now used as a form of prayer, a word used by two lovers who are separated from each other, a word used on jewelry, often printed on a necklace in the shape of a heart and the heart split in two where each lover wears a half of the heart around their necks as a memorial to their bond with each other while separated.

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Devotional: Exodus 33:14

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Haymon:

Exodus 33:14: “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”

The other night was a warm, beautiful December evening.  It was late at night and I was in Southern Illinois on my way to Terre Haute, Indiana.  I walked outside alone with God and together we sat under the stars and shared a few moments together.  I was reminded of Exodus 33:14. In looking at the phrase: “My presence shall go with thee…”   I find a couple things that give me pause.   The first is that the word “to go” is  “yeleku” in Hebrew which is in a simple qal imperfect form. I would expect God to put this in a piel form or add a Nun at the end and make the word a paragogic, in other words intensify the word where it would be rendered, “I will most certainly go.”  The other question that comes to my mind is why the word for “presence” is in a plural form.  Literally this reads: “My presence they shall go.”

Probably one solution to this is that we need to keep in mind that the plural in Hebrew is a little different that the plural in English.   In Hebrew, when something is in a plural form it does not have to mean “more than one.”   If something is in a plural form it could also be used to express the uniqueness of something or that something is in its ultimate state or is supreme to all others. This would explain why the word “to go” is not in an intensive form.  The plural more than makes up for this.   Perhaps, what God is saying to Moses, is that he will be guided by the very unique presence of God.  This will not be a feel good presence or a counterfeit  presence that he drums up with fast music and wild dancing.  He will not need to spend hours reciting “praise God” over and over until he feels that “rush.”   This will be the genuine article.  There is a picture drawn here.  It is the presence of God  coming softly and naturally as a husband stepping quietly into the bedroom and embracing his wife who is asleep. She then quietly awakes in his arms and returns his affection. The title of Jeanette Oakes’s first book could be Yeleku in Hebrew – Love Comes Softly.

In verse 11 we read: “And the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.   The word for friend is “ra’ah” which means to consume.   The picture is one of two lovers staring into each other’s eyes just consuming each other with their passion. It is like two lovers lying on the ground looking up at the stars and dreaming of their future, the house, white picket fence,  dog, children, etc.   Then all of a sudden the man will say, “Well we have to get back to work and paint the living room.”  His wife would respond by saying: “Ok, we will paint the living room under one condition.  I hold a brush in one hand , you have a brush in your hand and we have our other arms around each other and you just keep holding me as we complete this project.  When it is done, then let’s come back to this spot and lay here together under the stars” The husband looks at his wife  and says: “Yes, I will not only continue to hold you,  but I will never take my eyes off of you as we paint.”

Moses and God are sharing a very intimate time on the mountain, just totally absorbed with each other’s presence.  All of a sudden God says: “Well back to work getting these people to the promised land.”   Moses responds: “Ok, but under one condition, that you continue to hold me, we continue to be absorbed with each other.”  God responds by saying: “Of course, but not only that, my eyes will never leave your eyes and when the job is done we will lie together on the mountain again like this and never leave.”

As God and I sit out under the stars talking of our journey together, He suddenly says: “Well, let’s get to work to encouraging My people to study  My Word.”   I rebel and say: “No, I like it here with you. If we have to go, I will go under one condition that you just continue to hold me.”  God responds and says: “Yes, I will continue to hold you on your journey, but not only that I will never take my eyes off your eyes. And one day the journey will end and we can lay out under the stars together forever.”

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{Word Study} Habitation "Anvehu"

WORD STUDY:  HABITATION

Exodus 15:2: “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he is become my salvation, he is my God and I will prepare him a habitation, my father’s God and I will exalt him.”

Habitation: anvehu – to sit, dwell, adorn, praise, glorify

Our various English translations are pretty well split down the middle in how they would translate the phrase Zeh Eli ve-anvehu.   Some will say “I will prepare him a place of habitation.”  Others will render this as “I will praise Him” or “I will glorify Him.”

Literally, the word “anvehu (place of habitation)” comes from the root word “navah” means a dwelling place and in the Hiphil form, as it is here, it means to prepare a place for dwelling.  This creates the problem of determining what that means to give God a dwelling place.  The NIV, NAS, ASV makes the assumption it means to praise or glorify God.  Both these renderings are based upon the Masoretic text.  Jewish literature, however, pays little mind to the Masorites and looks at this without its vowel pointing (Shabbat 133b).

Without the vowel pointings, you are free to view this word (anvehu – dwelling) as two smaller words, or a compound word ani (I) and hu (He).   This would render that as “I and He.”  Here you have the best of both worlds. It would not only carry the idea of offering God a place of habitation, but glorifying Him as well.  What Jewish literature is suggesting by viewing this as a compound word and rendering it as I and He is to say that “He is my God and I will try to be like Him.  I will try to imitate His divine traits.  It is often said that the highest compliment someone can pay you is if they try to imitate you. Such a declaration would be glorifying to God and would praise God.  Of course if you want to imitate Him you would have to provide a dwelling place in your heart for Him so you readily have Him available as an example before you to follow. To glorify God means to prepare him a place of habitation, whatever that means.  It is also to praise Him.  God wants more than just uplifted hands and repeating over and over “I praise you.”    When we look at this word anvehu (place of habitation) in its root form naval (dwelling place) we find it is spelled “Nun, Vav, and Hei.”   These letters tell us that it is faith that creates a relationship with His presence.  Well, that is after all what we have been doing, seeking to develop a relationship with His presence. But wait, there is more.

The numerical value for “naval” (dwelling place) is 61.   Chamal (passionately in love, filled with desire to be with your beloved) has a value of 61 and vekalah (be a bride) has a value of 61. This would be rendered as to be passionately in love and be a bride.  This makes it a little more clearer.   To glorify God I would need to be passionately in love with Him and to be a bride to Him.  Finally, I found in Jewish literature that “naval’ could be a construct word giving the idea of being like Him, imitating Him.

To glorify Him is to be more than just a bride and groom, it is to be like an old married couple where you know each other so well you begin to act and even physically look like one another.  People who have been married for many years tend to take on each other’s traits. They even begin to look like each other.

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Devotional: Matthew 19:16-17

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:

Matthew 19:16-17: “And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And He said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God.” KJV

Whoa, whoa, wait just one minute, is Jesus suggesting here that He is not divine, that He is not God Himself?   It appears from this English translation that Jesus is declaring that He is not equal with God.   Thank goodness for our modern translations which render this as: “Why are you asking me what is good” rather than “why callest thou me good?”  This is a very good example of how we are privy to documents or manuscripts that were not available to the translators of the King James Bible 400 years ago.   We now have earlier manuscripts and writings by church fathers unknown to the translators of the King James Version that shed more light on this passage.  It is now accepted by Greek scholars that the earliest manuscripts read: “Why do you question me (Greek – erotas: ask, question) on what is good.”

Whew, that had me a little worried for the years I was raised on the KJV.  I’m not knocking the KJV, just saying that the Oxford scholars did the best they could with what they had available to them at that time.

Now I can concentrate on this matter of “good.”  There are two key words in the Greek for “good.”   One is “kalos” which means beautiful, worthy, morally, excellent, righteous and valuable.  The other, which is the word used in this passage is “agathos” which means good.   Agathos is one of those words you can spend an hour looking it up in various lexicons and all you will get for a definition is – good.  What the duce is “good?” Webster defines good as morally excellent, virtuous, and righteous.  That’s no help, because that define Kalos which is not the word used here.  Agathos must mean something a little different.

This old boy is asking what “good” thing he must do to get eternal life, Jesus tells him to keep the commandments.  Well, another problem, are we not taught that Jesus fulfilled the law, that we are now under grace and heaven comes through no merit of our own?  Then why does Jesus seemingly contradict Himself and say we can earn eternal life by keeping the law?

Ok, if you are as exhausted as I am in trying to decipher this in the Greek, then let’s follow the lead of the Eastern Church and check the Syriac or Aramaic Bible.  The Eastern Church alleges that the original language of the Book of Matthew was written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek.    So, let’s go for it.

There are actually four words in the Syriac (Aramaic) language for “good.”  There is “sapar” which is the direct equivalent to the Greek word “kalos” and means to be worthy, beautiful, valuable.   There is also the word “taqan” which is also equivalent to the Greek word “kalos” and our English word for “good” and means morally excellent, virtuous, and righteous.   Then there is the word “hana” which means pleasurable and erotic.   I do not want to speculate on the equivalent word in the English or Greek for that one.  This now leaves us with just one word which is the word used in the Aramaic Bible and that is “tava’” The scribes who translated this into the Greek felt that agathos was the best Greek word to use for this which is probably why it is so difficult to find an English definition of this word, as agathos is not really a perfect match.

Tava’ is identical to the Hebrew word “tov” which means to be in harmony with God. In the Aramaic text the verse is literally translated as: “what good is good that I should do to obtain eternal life?”  Using the Aramaic word “tava’” we find that this man is asking:  “what is in harmony with God so that I may be in harmony with God?”  Then he really blows it by adding: “that I may obtain eternal life.”  I mean you can’t be in harmony with God if you have mercenary motives. Complete harmony with God means your motives and God’s motives are one and the same. If you are in complete harmony with God, you will have eternal life as that is God’s desire.   You will not “obtain” (Greek: scho – to grab hold of, obtain) eternal life, you automatically get it.  The Aramaic word is “dalah” which has the same meaning as the Greek.

In this case Jesus answered only as He could by saying that if you are in perfect harmony with God you will be following the laws.  The old boy still didn’t get it as he said, like so many of us; I have tried to follow the laws since I was a child.  So Jesus tried to explain it further by saying, “No, you lack one thing, your desires for riches are not in harmony with God.  Sell it all and follow me.”  The word “follow” in the Aramaic is “batar” which means to cut into pieces or separate yourself. It also has the idea of being surrounded.  In other words, Jesus was not saying that this man had to follow Jesus around, but he had to separate himself from everything that kept him from being completely surrounded by Jesus.  In this case, it was his dependency upon his riches and not God that kept him out of harmony with God.  The Talmud teaches that it is difficult for a rich man to know God because a poor man must depend upon God for his daily bread, but a rich man has less dependency upon God because his riches are his back up, his fail safe.   One who is poor and depends upon God for his daily bread must continually surround himself with God, seeks to be in His presence and be in harmony with Him.  But when you have a month’s supply in the pantry, you tend to not pray as much.

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{Word Study} Man of War "Ish Milechamah"

WORD STUDY – MAN OF WAR

Exodus 15:3: “Jehovah is a man of war, Jehovah is his name.”

Man of War – ish milechamah – man of war, warrior

This passage is part of the song of Moses that was offered in praise over the crossing of the Red Sea after God destroyed the Egyptian army.   This meaning is obvious, God will do battle for us.  Some translations will render this as “warrior” which is more accurate.  A soldier will fight when called upon.  A warrior looks for a battle.  A warrior is one who is experienced in warfare.

The literal translation of “ish milechamah,” however, is “man of war.”  Does that phrase mean the same to an ancient people as it does to us in the 21st century?  We need to step into the mind of the ancient Hebrew and their understanding of war.  Wars in ancient times were not fought to protect one’s country or homeland.  Wars were fought for two basic reasons, to obtain food and the basic necessities of life and/or for their gods, a holy war.

Note that if you take the Hebrew word for war,  “Milechamah” and remove the first and last letter you have the word “lecham”  which means bread.  In fact the root word for war is “lecham” or bread.  The ancient Hebrews recognized the basic reason for war and their word for war is bread with the preposition “mem” which literally means “because of bread.”  Wars were fought for food.  The last phrase “Jehovah is his name literally reads “Jehovah name.”  The verb “is” is not there, we put that in because we need a verb.  Wars were also fought for the sake of one’s god, as we even see today in the Middle East.  God was fighting this war in His name. God took the Hebrew people out of Egypt not only to take them to a land of milk and honey but to also give them the freedom to worship Him.

Thus, Jehovah is a man  who fights to bring His people bread and freedom to worship Him.  But soft, we have the word “ish.”  God is not an “ish.”  Ish is a man.   The preposition “of” is not there in the Hebrew, we put that in to create a phrase which is familiar to us, “man of war,”  but leads us into wrong conclusions.   Literally the whole phrase in Hebrew reads: “Jehovah man war.”    There is no verb.  In English we must always have a verb to make a sentence, you don’t need a verb in Hebrew to make a sentence.

This means there is some deeper meaning here that we seem to be missing.   What is “man war” or “man because of bread?”    The ancient rabbis teach us the word “ish” is spelled  “aleph, yod, shin.”    Yod shin  or “ish” means “there is.”   The “yod” represents the right, the “shin” represents the left.  This show extremes.  Even today in politics we talk about the “right” and the “left.”   We have two extremes, the conservative and liberal.   Maimonides once said: “Truth never lies in any extreme to the right or to the left.”   The “aleph” or God is in the middle.  God draws two extremes to Himself and creates peace.

So you see the ancients may have seen totally the opposite in the phrase “man of war” that we see today.  For in the ancient’s eyes “man of war” means that God brings two extremes together in peace for bread.   Even today in the Middle East, when one wants to make peace or reconcile with an enemy they will do this over  a meal.   In Psalms 23 where David said: “thou prepares a table in the presence of my enemies” he was speaking a Hebrew idiom for making peace and reconciliation.

Oh, and one other thing, the word Jehovah is used, not Elohim.  Jehovah has a feminine ending.  If man of war was meant to mean to create violence, punish and destroy, Moses would have said Elohim, not Jehovah.  The name Jehovah represents the feminine nature of God, the loving, caring and nurturing part of God.  Moses is calling Jehovah a “man of war” because he was saying that He is a God who provides food and brings peace with one’s enemy.  Sometimes the destruction of that enemy is necessary to bring peace, but the primary purpose is peace, not to punish or destroy.  The purpose of violence in self defense is not to punish or destroy but to protect.  “Man of war” is an expression of self defense.

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Devotional: Mark 6:52

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:

Mark 6:52: “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves for their heart was hardened.”

John 6:26: “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

I find these two passages to be very curious, particularly when you examine them in the Aramaic.  Jesus spoke in the Northern Aramaic dialect but his words were later translated into Greek.   In Mark 6:52 the passage tells us that the disciples did not consider the miracle of the loaves.   From the time I first heard this story in Sunday School as a child, I wondered why the writer only said “loaves” and not “loaves and fishes.”  Maybe even back then I was finding my calling as a Bible student, but doesn’t that bother anyone else or raise some obvious questions in your mind as to what was really being taught here?  In the Aramaic the word “loaves” is “lechem” which is the word for “bread” in both Aramaic and Hebrew.  Bread had great spiritual implications and even as a little child in Sunday School I could not help but ponder the significance of the disciples not considering the miracle of the bread or their failure to see the spiritual implication of the miracle.

Then in another Sunday School class I heard the story of the people following Jesus in John 6.  In this story Jesus rebukes them saying that they only sought Him because he provided food for them and did not consider the miracles.   This had a profound effect on me because even as a little child I found myself praying: “Jesus, I am not going to be like these people, I will follow you because I love you and not because you feed me.”    Perhaps, this is why, fifty five years later I am still on a quest to search out the Word of God to understand God’s heart and not to discover how to perform miracles or get my prayers answered.  Maybe I am so single minded that all I see in Scripture is God’s love and his tender heart and not a Santa Claus making a list and checking it twice trying to find out who deserves a miracle or not.

But, once again I am digressing and need to get back to the topic. The first thing to consider in Mark 6:52 is the disciples did not “consider” the bread not “the miracle” of the bread.  The word miracle does not appear in this verse either in the Greek or Aramaic; it is only put into our English Bible as a commentary because the translator believed it was a reference to the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. In fact, if you look at this from an Aramaic and Semitic standpoint it was not the miracle that the disciples were not considering but the nature of Jesus’s teaching as the bread of life.  In John 6:25, we learn that the people did not consider the “miracle” but only the satisfying of their physical need.  The word “miracle” in this verse is a play on words in the Aramaic.  It is the word “ata” which is spelled “Aleph, Taw, Aleph” which literally means “God is the beginning and the end.”

If the writer meant the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark 6:52, he would have said the “loaves and the fishes.”   The disciples were gawking at the miracle that took place with the ceasing of the storm rather than considering that fact that Jesus walked through this storm to join them on the boat.  I mean why did He not just end the storm and then come out to them?  Rather He waited until he reached them in the boat to end the storm.  Here He was trying to teach them a spiritual lesson as the bread of life, the life giver no matter what the storms of life brings.  Instead they just focus on the special effects that Jesus used to bring His message of tender loving care. They did not “consider” the significance of their Savior as the bread.   The word in the Greek for “consider” is synekan which means to understand, perceive, put together.  That corresponds directly to the Aramaic word used here for “consider” which is “sabar” and means to put together, to consider, hope or make an association with.  It is also the word used for a positive imagination.

The disciples, as the people in John 6, were so focus on the event, the natural, physical benefit of the miracles that they did not even stop to imagine something even greater than calming a storm or feeding 5,000 people.   They did not stop to consider that God Himself came in a human form and stood right before them and even walked through a storm or have dinner with them just to be with them.

I remember in Bible College I had a roommate who was going to go home for a weekend to visit his fiancée.  This guy was so in love, it didn’t matter that there was a major blizzard, road closings, and warnings out not to drive.  He was going to make that 150 mile trek to be with his beloved.   He wanted to, no, he had to tell her in person that he loved her.   He didn’t tell me but I am sure when he appeared at her house she did not say: “Wow, you made it through this storm? Tell me what the roads were like, did you get stuck?  Did you stop at a rest area?  Were there any white outs? OOOH! What an adventure!”   No, I think when he walked through that door she only said the words that he traveled 150 miles in a storm to hear: “I love you.” Then they did something that they could not do by phone that only a 150 mile trip through a snow storm could allow – they just held each other.

I have walked out of many healing or prophetic meetings where I heard people say: “Why did that person get healed and not me?  Why did that person get a prophetic word and not me?”  Rather than to “sabar (consider, understand, imagine, make an association with)” the Bread of Life and say: “Prophetic word?  Healing? What prophetic word? What healing? All I remember is my sabar (my understanding, my positive imagination) of Jesus holding me and telling me He loved me.”

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{Word Study} Cloud "Anana"

WORD STUDY – CLOUD Exodus 14:19-20 “And the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these so that no one came not near the other all the night.”

Cloud – anana: cloud, moisture that is evaporating, gas.

In Exodus 13:21 we learn the angel of God and the cloud are one and the same. Many believe, myself included, that the Angel of God is Jesus who had manifested Himself as a cloud.  In the Hebrew the Angel of God was doing more than going before the camp of Israel, it was “yisa” before the camp of Israel.  This is from the root word “nasa” which among its many usages also means to create a shelter.  The word camp is “chanah” which is an encampment, a place of rest. This encampment was always done on the Sabbath.    Apparently, the children of Israel had reached the Red Sea and set up camp and celebrated the Sabbath.   Now the Angel of the God was preparing them to move forward when the Egyptian army arrived.  The angel of God moves in between the Egyptians and the children of Israel and creates a barrier of light and darkness.  To stay within the proper context and syntax the next phrase is really telling us that this angel of God was manifested as a cloud.

The word “cloud” in Hebrew is “anana” which means “cloud.”  Look it up in any lexicon, it will tell you it means cloud.   What is a cloud? It is gas or  moisture that is evaporating.  Surely the Angel of God which I believe is Jesus Christ Himself, is more than just evaporating moisture or a gas. In searching through Jewish literature I ran across a better definition. The double Nun preceded by an Ayin would define this word as “flowing currents of life.”   That is what I call a good description of the presence of God or Jesus Himself.  This barrier between the Egyptians and the Children of Israel was one that manifested flowing currents of life to Israel and darkness to the Egyptians.

It is interesting that the angel of God or the flowing currents of life went behind Israel to create a shelter (yisa).  Originally the Angel of the Lord created this shelter (yisa) before Israel.  Now He creates a shelter (yisa) between  Israel and the Egyptians by creating darkness or by blinding the enemy.  We note that the cloud gave light to Israel but darkness to the Egyptians.  It is very possible that where the currents of life flowed, the light of God protected and where the flowing currents of life did not flow, the light caused blindness.  Could this have been the same light that Paul saw on the road to Damascus which struck him blind?   This would surely explain why the Egyptians did not attack the nation of Israel.  The darkness they were in was physical blindness.

Israel seemed pretty oblivious to the whole event that was taking place with the Egyptians. I  can understand why the Egyptians did not come near Israel, being struck blind and all, but why did Israel not come near the Egyptians.   It would have been a good opportunity to disarm them and send their horses running off.   I tend to think that if they were caught up in the “cloud” or “flowing currents of life” they would have been worshipping and praising God and could have cared less about the enemy.

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Devotional: Luke 1:32

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:

Luke 1:32: “He shall be great and He shall be called the son of the highest, and the Lord shall give him the throne of his father David.”

Ok, it is Christmas and I am compelled to study the Christmas story.  This year I decided to read the story from the Peshitta or the Aramaic Bible.  No new revelation, it pretty much says the same thing as the KJV would say. Yet, when reading something in the original you tend to be more sensitive to words and phrases that you would not be to a story you have heard over and over all your life.

What caught my attention this morning were the words: “He shall be great and He shall be called the son of the highest.”   What first struck me were the words “hala’ nahava’ reb” (he shall be great).  This is almost identical to the Hebrew and can be rendered as we have always understood: “he shall be great.”  Nahava is an imperfect verb which means “will be.”  This is followed by the word “reb” which means master, learned one, great one, and the chief.   Even today the father or patriarch of a family is known as the “reb” and is expressed as a title, like Mr (for instance Reb Sanders).  It is where we get the word for rabbi.   Yet, this is a relationship word and in the Hebrew there are two Beths which represent a joining of hearts.  The rabbi loves and respects his people and they love and respect him in return.  A reb is not a tyrant or slave master, but a humble person who welds great power over his people.  Gandhi would fit the definition of a “reb” as a peaceful man who taught love and respect for all people, yet was feared by the King of England and other powerful men because of the influence and control he had over the lives of the millions who followed him.  A reb is one who receives his power because people love him and not because they fear him.  A reb is one who has nothing to offer anyone in the way of material things and natural power, but he is one who is a link to God.  Hence Jesus was born to be “great” or a “rev” a humble man who would have great power over people, not through the offering of material things, or natural power, but of offering a direct link to God Himself.  People would follow him, not because He could make them rich, powerful, or famous, but because they love him.

There is one curious thing about this in the Aramaic Bible that I do not see in the Greek or our English translations.  There is no pronoun in the Aramaic Bible; instead the word “hala’” is used.  The word “hala’” literally means to move beyond.  In other words He will not be just a rabbi, a Gandhi; He will move beyond that, He will be greater than anyone before, during and after Him.

This is followed by a seemingly confusing expression: “He will be called the Son of the Highest.”  Why does Luke say “he will be called” and not “He is?”  The word call in Greek is “kaleo” which is very similar to the word used here in Aramaic “tamar” and means “to summon.”  In other words He will be called upon as the son of the Most Highest.   The idea here is not one of the relationship between God and Jesus but one of the authority that Jesus will have.  The son of a king has the same power as the king.  This phrase serves two purposes. To show He will have the same authority and power of God but to distinguish Him from earthly rulers.  Persian, Greek, Roman and Egyptian emperors were worshiped as gods and they were all married and bore sons who took over the throne after their death.  To one raised in the Eastern culture to say that a male child who is to be born is the son of the highest would be to say that God is married. By saying that he will “be called” the son of the highest would, in the Semitic mind then suggest not the product of a marriage, but one who is a spiritual son. That would be to say one who is both a part of and inclusive in the entire being of God Himself.

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{Word Study} Rest "Shabbat"

WORD STUDY – REST (SHABBAT)

Exodus 16:30: “So the people rested on the seventh day.” Rest – Hebrew: shabat – rest, to cease, be still, to interrupt,

The word “rest” in this passage is “vayishevethu.”  From the root word “shabat” which means to rest and to cease.   We learn in Genesis 2:2 that God “rested” on the seventh day.  I mean all that creating into being must have worn poor God out, surly God needed a rest, I know I would have.  The English rendering for the word “shabat” as “rest” can be a little misleading.  It is not to rest to regain your strength, it is to “cease” from your activity or to interrupt your normal activity to accomplish something.  What are you to accomplish on the Sabbath?   Used here in Exodus you have a sort of play the word “yashev” which means to dwell, or sit down.  Shabot has a numerical value of 702.  The word “macoreth” also has a numerical value of 702 and means to “to bond.”   This time of “resting” is meant to bond with God.  You don’t bond with God by worrying or fretting over the pressures and problems of the past week. You bond with God by wondering through the Alphabet.

The word shabat is spelled “Shin, Beth, and Taw.”  In Hebrew every word is built upon a three letter root word.  Some words are interrelated when they share the same first two letters.  In this case the first two letters of Shabat are Shin, Beth.  All the other words that start with Shin and Beth will in some way related to the Shin Beth Taw or rest. There are twelve other words in Hebrew that begin with Shin Beth.   In other words we are to take one day a week and rest or cease from our normal activity to do twelve things.  When you celebrate the Sabbath next Sunday or Saturday or whichever day you celebrate the Sabbath, remember the twelve other Shin Beth words which tell you what you are to do or what God wishes to accomplish on this seventh day that you cease from your normal activity. It is sort of God’s version of the “Alphabet Love Song (A You’re Adorable).”

Shin Beth – Aleph – Shava’: God’s passion.  The first letter of the alphabet is Aleph and represents God. Shin Beth Aleph refers to God’s passionate love.  The first thing you are to do this on day of rest is to just sit back and let God love on you, enjoy and His passionate love. Shin Beth – Beth – Shavav:  Kindle a fire.  The next thing you do on the Sabbath is Shavav which is to allow God’s passionate love to kindle a fire of love and affection for Him in return.

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Devotional: Mark 9:24