Tibits from Hebrew

In Hebrew class, we are translating through the story of Joseph. Today we translated Genesis 40:20 which reads:

Thus it came about on the third day, {which was} Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

Now the word I would like to focus on here is, surprisingly, "feast." This translation (NAS) which is usually quite good at a reasonable translation of Scripture, in fact does this word an injustice. Others translate it a bit more accurately as "banquet" but even that falls short at conveying the idea behind this Hebrew word.

In English a "feast" means what? What do you picture? If you're anything like me, you picture a huge table filled with food--meats, breads, etc., right? "Feast" seems to imply food to eat. But this word is not talking about eating at all.

The Hebrew word here is "mishteh" and to explain what it means, I'll take you on a short journey.

All nouns in Hebrew are built off of verbs. Therefore things (nouns) are understood by the action (verb) associated with it. To briefly depict this, take a pencil. If someone asked you to describe a pencil, you might say that it's about six inches long, yellow, and has an lead on one end and an eraser on the other end. This is a description of what it looks like. A Hebrew of Bible times would rather describe it as something you hold in your hand and write with. They would describe it by it's action. This idea makes its way into the language, where nouns are always built off of verb roots.

Now, in Hebrew, one way that verbs are made into nouns is by simply adding an "m" sound on the front of the word. For instance one Hebrew word a lot of people are familiar with is mitzvah, as in a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Mitzvah means "commandment." It comes from the root tzavah meaning "to command." Do you see how the "m" sound in front changed the root from a verb to a noun?

Our word in Genesis is mishteh. This word uses the same format as mitzvah--it is a verb root preceded by the 'm' sound. So what is the verb root? The root here is shatah meaning "to drink." Therefore in the Hebrew mind, this kind of a banquet is a place of drinking.

I can hear American minds start to buzz. Drinking? Drinking, like, alcohol? Well, the word shatah equates fairly well to our word 'drink,' which is equally applicable regardless of what you're drinking. However, in Scripture mishteh does seem to refer exclusively to a place of drinking wine.

Now, I fully realize that a good portion of the American church believes that all alcohol consumption is sin. I am not of this mind. I don't, however, intend this one post to go into all of the reasons I see in Scripture on the subject, but rather to point out this one word and one very important application.

The Old Testament uses this word mishteh many times, referring specifically to a gathering where wine is drunk. In the New Testament, Jesus presented the idea of a very important application of this idea:

Matt 22
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son ..."

Could this wedding feast also be a mishteh? I very strongly suspect it. Jesus was a Jew, raised on the Scriptures, and he spoke to a Jewish audience. Early on in His ministry he attended a wedding feast which featured wine as a key element. Did He anticipate then that His audience would understand that this feast He spoke of also included wine as a key element? I definitely think so.

If this is the case, then what is the wine which will be present at the wedding supper of the Lamb? I believe this to be a direct reference to the Holy Spirit, whose work in the lives of men is not only paralleled to wine many times, but also seems to produce a very similar effect to that of wine.

I see then, in this one word mishteh, the promise that at the wedding supper of the Lamb the wine of the Holy Spirit will be poured out for all who are there. It will be a day of great drinking and dancing and rejoicing.

Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

the Reply

At church on Sunday a four year-old revealed to me that he was being beaten at home. My heart broke.

"I want to tell you something. When you're here, no one will beat you."

"Who will??" His eyes riveted on me, wide and fearful.

"No one will. I won't. The teachers won't. The kids won't. No one will beat you. You're safe here. We love you."

"I want to stay here! I want to stay here!"

Reflections

In my post yesterday, I related a piece of a conversation I had with a four-year old boy in my class in Sunday School.

Can I just ask? WHY?? Why does abuse happen right under our noses? Why does it pass invisibly by? Abused people learn rather quickly to hide their real selves deep inside. Surface clues are rare--sometimes dismissed, often ignored, many times misinterpreted ... and never more than by the abused themselves.

I want to have my eyes open. Wide, wide open.

It is said that the divorce rate in the church meets or exceeds that in the secular world. I have heard this decried for many years. How pathetic is it that Christians don't have any more secrets than the world without Christ as to how to make relationships healthy?

In my own journey, I have found what I believe to be one gigantic key into what is apparently a profound mystery--why Christians marriages fail at the same rate as the world--and that is ABUSE.

I would like to delve into writing on this subject, and am only waiting on the Holy Spirit to lead the timing and the words. I will lead off with this thought however: abuse is not behavior, although behavior is associated with it. Abuse is not hitting, although hitting can be associated with it. Abuse is not yelling, although yelling can be associated with it. Abuse is not name calling. Although name calling may be associated with it. ABUSE IS A SPIRIT. Because he is a spirit, he cannot be fought with flesh and blood. He cannot be reasoned with with the mind, or 'talked through' with good communication. He can only be fought in the spirit. I don't know if "Abuse" is actually his name, because this term doesn't appear in the Bible. I am still seeking God as to what title he goes by in Scripture. More on that at a later time.

For most of my life I had this idea that abuse was something 'those' people dealt with. You know, the Jerry Springer types. Abuse was outside, in other words. I was inside. It was a realm that didn't touch me. Now ... my eyes are being opened. Abuse is everywhere. And--what was perhaps the most sobering--abuse is right smack dab in the middle of the church ... and no one seems to know. In the past I knew this beast existed. But I had no idea what he looked like, and how far his principality extended. Even now, I'm sure I am only seeing in part.

The 2005 census reported that 38% of marriages in the US end in divorce every year. That's one out of three. Does that mean the other 62% have healthy, thriving marriages? Of course not. I suspect at least another third deal with major dysfunction in the relationship, and are holding on to their marriage for reasons of principle, rather than health. Does abuse exist in all of these relationships? I don't know. I would guess, however, that some form of abuse exists in most of them. I believe that abuse is the #1 contributor to dysfunction in relationships. I will also say this: most of those relationships have little to no idea that they are dealing with abuse. It really is that insidious. So what percentage of marriages in our country and our churches actually experience a Christ/church type relationship? Very, very few.

This beast is killing us. Slowly suffocating us, choking off the life that we profess. We are half-dead. Like frogs in boiling water, death creeps on us so slowly that we are never jolted out of our stupor.

Those who are alive must choose life.

Those who are dead do not believe they have a choice.

CHOOSE LIFE, that you may live.

Windows

"Do you know Jesus loves you?"

"NO."

"Why do you think Jesus doesn't love you?"

"Because he beat me yesterday."

The above was a piece of conversation I had today with a four-year-old in my Sunday school class. Whether he thought I said his father, or whether he sees them as one and the same thing at this age, I don't know. I thought it profound though, both for him and for many of us. How we are treated by those who come in His name clearly affects our impressions of Him. The slight muddling of communication here opened up a window into his soul that I would not have seen otherwise.

Would God really ...

Have you ever really considered what actually happened on Mt. Moriah?

I mean, really.

We hear this story over and over and over and over ... and we kind of accept it without really processing. Kind of like, 'Oh yeah, the whole earth was covered with water. Yeah that happened.' But when we consider the tallest mountain and think that that was underwater ... well, that's a little different.

There are three events which set the faith of Abraham apart, and which, from God's perspective, qualified him to be the father of our faith (as it says many times in the New Testament). One is his willingness to leave his family and follow the voice of God to a distant country. The second is believing the promise of God for seed that would number as the stars of the heavens. The third is the offering up of his son on Mt. Moriah.

Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten {son;} {it was he} to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED." He considered that God is able to raise {people} even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

We know the story. We've seen the pictures. We know the end, so we don't question the beginning.

But let's think about it.

Let's say someone in your church approached you and said, "I hear God asking me to kill my son."

I think 99% of the Christians I know would say, "God wouldn't say that. You're not hearing God. That is the devil trying to deceive you."

WATCH OUT CHURCH.

Abraham heard just this instruction from God. And His obedience to what he heard qualified him to be the father of faith for the multitudes who would come from him and cut covenant with God through faith.

Offer up your son to Me.

Hang on, do you mean God is asking you to participate in child sacrifice?? That's pagan! God does not do that!!

Umm. My Bible says He did.

"Well yeah," we say, "but God didn't actually want Isaac to die. He was just testing Abraham."

Abraham didn't know that.

Abraham was not calling God's bluff up there on that mountain. If God hadn't stepped in right at that moment, Abraham would have killed his son. How do I know this? It wouldn't have been faith if he didn't.

Hebrews says that Abraham considered that God is able to raise the dead. In other words: Even if my son dies, my promise won't. But either way, I will obey God. I can trust Him.

* * *

In the Christian church we have put marriage up on this pedestal. We figure we know the mind of God. We think we know the 'parameters' He works within. "Oh God wouldn't ask you to leave your husband." "God wouldn't be a part of divorce." "God wouldn't ask a husband and wife to separate."

Oh, really?

If God asked the father of your faith to kill his son, what makes you think He would never ask you to kill your marriage?

I mean, really. Think about that.

"But ... God says, 'What God has joined together let man not separate.'"

Yep. Exactly. Let man not separate. He is allowed to.

Oh, I know I'm stepping on toes here, but I'm gonna stomp away.

Putting my marriage up on the alter was not my idea. Being willing to let it die was a thousand miles from my thoughts. But I know the voice of God. I KNOW that He asked me to be willing to let it die. Will it die? That answer I do not know. I don't want it to. With all my being I don't want it to die. But my faith and obedience to God cannot waver regardless of whether it does or doesn't.

I used to be in the "God would never" camp. So I understand that view. But a year ago when God asked me to take the first step of faith regarding my marriage, my views had to start changing. I saw my marriage going down in flames if I obeyed God. Back then I had to face, in my imagination, the possibility of it dying. And I had to give it to God. Even if it died, I had to trust Him, and follow where He led. Never in a million years did I think it would actually face literal death. But the whole way I have kept having to stare death straight in the eyeballs and not flinch. And through this process I have discovered ... God really has taken the sting out of death. He really has conquered it. His love and faithfulness, care and protection for me will never cease regardless of what my husband does or doesn't do. Even if my marriage dies, my promise doesn't.

I am clinging to the rock. White knuckled, stubborn to the last breath. I will not move. Don't try to drag me off my rock. I will not leave it. I will not leave Him. Though He slay me, yet will I praise Him.

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.

Daniel 3:17,18
"... Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But {even} if {He does} not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

My Mt. Moriah

A little more than a year ago I blogged what is probably the shortest blog post in the history of my blog. I also posted about my own seasonal changes a year ago today. In re-reading these blogs, I realize that what I was experiencing foreshadowed so very closely what would happen in my heart in the coming year.

Throughout my life I have wondered occasionally about that trip that Abraham took to Mt. Moriah. Did he tell anyone about it? Did he tell Sarah? Did he tell Isaac? Did he keep it to himself? How was he feeling? What was he thinking? Did he second-guess himself? Did he ever wonder if he really had heard the voice of God?

I have wondered these thoughts. I have questioned myself so many times, it is impossible to count them. My trip to Mt. Moriah has taken a year, and now is the moment.

All my life I've dreamed of being married. From the time I was 6 I've thought about, dreamed about, imagined about being married. When I was 10, I had a moment with God when I realized the futility of breaking up. I asked that I never experience it. When I met the right man, that was going to be it for me. Forever from the first breath. I knew it meant I would have to be very choosy, and hear the voice of God very well, and I asked that He guide my life to that moment. He did that, and has faithfully guided me the whole way.

When I met my husband, there was something about him that affected my spirit in a way I had never experienced before. He just felt like home to me. Long before we even started dating. Unlike every other guy I had liked (and there were a lot), I never heard a 'no' from God ... and after several months of getting to know him, I actually heard a 'yes.' We started dating (by no planning on my part) on 7/21/03. My favorite numbers are 21, 7, and 3. Every step along the way I heard reassurrance after reassurrance; confirmation after confirmation that I was on the right path. There is absolutely NO doubt in my mind that God joined us together.

After a short time with him, I made what, in retrospect, was a catastrophic decision on my part. I chose him over God. God was asking me to follow Him, and because Ben became angry and fought what God was saying to me, I asked God to stop speaking. I would follow God, but only if my husband did too.

Well ... God did stop speaking. He was still there, and was always with me. He didn't abandon me. But the richness of following hard after Him waned. I thought I had made a noble decision. In reality, I had formed another god. I wanted my marriage more than I wanted Him.

About two years ago, I felt spring come to my heart. Suddenly everything started coming alive to me again. Why was this? Did my husband have something to do with it, or was it just the benevolence of God? I don't know the answer to that. But spring did come, and with it the richness of once again learning of Him. I became heavily involved in blogging, and met so many of you. Life was springing up everywhere.

Then a year ago, at the head of the year, I heard an urgent note sound in my spirit. I was impressed to start studying seasons, and heard God say, "Your seasons are changing and you need to understand what's happening." So I started studying. The result was, in short, what became the series on seasons I posted here. I discovered that I was heading into a fall season, as God started asking me to let go of things I had thought I needed. All pertained to my marriage. I had to let go of ways of doing things, ways of thinking, ways of treating my husband, and simply allow what I thought valuable to fall to the earth and die. As I wrote in that post, the things God asked me to let go of reduced me to a puddle of tears. I saw my marriage crashing and burning in 6 months time. Yet this time I knew I couldn't deny the Shepherd of my soul. I couldn't refuse to walk after Him. My own soul and spirit had to cling to the only source of life I know.

Over the next months more things kept being stripped away, as the leaves of fall. When I was bare and had nothing left, the first winter storm hit. It was 6 months later. Over the next 6 months there were numerous storms, interspersed with 'resting places' (thank you, Michaela!) that allowed us time to breathe. Yet the storms kept coming.

Throughout this year, I have walked the road to Mt. Moriah. I have obeyed the voice of the Spirit, to take the thing which I treasure most, and offer it up. I have known at each step that death stared me in the face; the death of this most precious marriage the Lord had given me. I came to realize that I can have no other gods before Him. I came to realize I will have no other gods before Him.

On December 29th, I laid in my niece's bed, and cried once again to the Lord. I took off my rings and held them up to Him, and said, "Lord, my marriage is yours. If you require it of me, I will give it. I will let it die. And if you raise it to life, it will live. But even if not, I will have no other gods before You."

So ... here I am. My marriage is on the alter. The knife is about to fall. I must follow the voice of my Shepherd. I cannot leave the Lover of my soul. Where He leads me, I will follow. My husband is still fighting. Still insisting on walking his own path. He is convinced in his own mind that he is right. And yet ... I cannot save him. Only the Lord can turn his heart.

I know, quite clearly, that life and death is on the line. I must choose life. I will choose life. Whether or not my husband will also choose it is an answer I don't know.

Today, at 3:00pm my time a moment of decision will come. I know that not only my marriage, but my husband's soul is on the line. It is literally life and death that hangs in the balance. I do not believe I exaggerate. It is hard to imagine the enormity of these things. SO hard to believe that we have come to this place.

If you are a praying person, I implore you to pray for the soul of my husband. If there can yet be a miracle, I am clinging onto the hope that the only One who can do it is still in control.

Thank you my friends.

Time for a(nother) listen

Happy New Year!! I hope your year closed out well and began well. On my New Year I found myself alone with my Lord, and simply worshiped. He gave me this song to sing, and I sang it over and over to my Lover as I rang in the New Year. I hope it ministers to you as it did me.

Time for a listen

I know I've posted this before, but I hadn't heard it in a long time, and ... it got me today.