Hebraic Thought

Fear and Trembling?

Lois Tverberg

Many Christians are caught off guard by what Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

We struggle over these words because they appear to say something that seems incongruous with the rest of his writing. This passage sounds like we should be in perpetual worry about our salvation. He seems to be saying that salvation is something to be earned, yet we are taught throughout scripture that salvation comes through faith in God. Two Hebraic concepts Paul might have had in mind may shed some light on this verse.

Salvation is a relationship with God

First, in Hebraic understanding, salvation begins during our lives. It is not just something to look forward to after death. Someone who is not saved is estranged from the family of God — wandering from the flock — “lost.” Salvation comes through restoring a relationship with God by believing in the atoning work of his Son; it is to be rescued from a life separated from God.

The phrase “eternal life” is sometimes used to describe life in relationship with God here on earth that extends into eternity, and not just after our death. We can hear this understanding coming through in John’s writing:

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

Unless we understand eternal life as life in relationship with God, both now and in the future, this verse makes no sense to us. It is true that there are many places where the scriptures speak of salvation in the future, in terms of being saved from judgment. So, of course salvation in that sense is something in the future.

It is clear from John 17:3 that in some sense, eternal life begins the moment we repented and believed in Christ. As Paul says, “By grace you have been saved…” (Eph. 2: 5, 8), using the past tense, not the future tense. In that sense, our salvation has already happened, and we are new creatures!

The Fear of God

The second Hebraic concept that may have been in the background of Paul’s saying is the concept of “the fear of the Lord,” yireh adonai. This is an often-used phrase of the scriptures which means an awe and reverence of God that causes us to want to do his will. It does mean to respect God, who will discipline those whom he loves (Rev. 3:19). The emphasis is on a positive, respectful relationship with God, not in terms of being terrified by him. Moses says to Israel:

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul? (Deut. 10:12)

Also, as we read Proverbs this week, we will often hear about the wonderful benefits of “the fear of the Lord”:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Prov. 9:10)

In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge.
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
That one may avoid the snares of death. (Prov. 14:26-27)

If having a “fear” of the Lord causes us to live with integrity and wisdom about God’s ways, it will ultimately transform us. Paul was using the word “fear” in this sense: having awe and respect for the Lord.

He is exhorting us to live new (eternal) lives in obedient relationship with God, so that we can see him working out his plans to redeem every aspect of our lives. We may be looking forward to a future in heaven, but we will be enjoying the richness of our relationship with the Lord on this earth as well.

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[For more on this topic, see “Does God Want Us to Fear Him?“]

Photos: Mélody P on Unsplash, Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash

First Things First

Lois Tverberg

The concept of the first, in terms of firstborn and firstfruits, comes up often throughout the scriptures. As Westerners, we tend to think only literally about being the “first” in terms of being the initial child or animal born, or the beginning of the harvest of the crop. But grasping the significance of the “first” in Hebraic thought will greatly enhance our appreciation of what we read in Scripture.

Firstfruit of the Crops

In biblical times, the first portion of every crop was considered to be intrinsically holy and set apart for God. In fact, until the first crops were offered to God, the whole field was considered to be holy, and none of it could be eaten (Lev. 23:14).

The idea that the crops of the land are holy until an offering is made is still practiced today among some traditional Africans. In these agrarian cultures, the fertility of animals and ability to grow crops is essential to survival, and assumed to be due to God’s favor.

In biblical times, the same thing applied to animals: the first male born of the mother was set apart to be given to God, out of thankfulness that he gave the ability to produce, trusting that he would bless with more later. The first products of animal and land, therefore, were considered to be great blessings, the most special offerings to give back to God. That is why  Proverbs 3 says,

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov. 3:9-10)

If we want to apply that to our own lives, that means that we should assume that the first and best of everything we have is a special blessing from God, and something we should offer back to him. He gave us our relationships, our family, our time, our job, and our money. Do we offer the best back to him, or do we give him the “last fruits” of our time, our effort and our money?

Firstborn son of the family

The firstborn son of a family also had great honor and status, and usually received a double portion of the inheritance, unless the father decided that another son was to be given preference. God also claimed the firstborn son of each family as his own, because he would have been the most valued child, the heir and successor to the family.

The other children of the family would treat the firstborn with special honor and respect, reflecting his status as the successor to the patriarch of the family. Because of this special favor that was given the firstborn, the term “firstborn” could mean “most exalted” or “closest in relationship” or “preeminent in status” even if it wasn’t literally speaking about something that actually came first. For instance, this week in Psalm 98 we hear God saying,

I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him… He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’ I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. (Psalm 89:20,26-27)

David was youngest of his family, and God passed his other brothers by to choose him as king. When God said he would appoint him firstborn, he doesn’t mean that he would be first before anything else in sequence, but that David would be preeminent in favor and status.

Another instance of this is in Exodus when God spoke metaphorically of Israel as his “firstborn son.” God told Moses,

Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'”
(Ex 4:22-23)

Once again, the term “firstborn” means “closest in relationship.” Israel is God’s “treasured possession,” his nation especially set apart for relationship with him.

The First Represents the Whole

One other generalization in Hebraic thought was that the first of anything was a representation of the whole. Adam was the first human, so he was the representative of the whole human race. Likewise, the Amalekites were the first enemies to attack Israel, so in Hebraic thought, they are seen as representative of all of Israel’s enemies. Often in the Bible, the name of a father of a tribe was used interchangeably with the tribe itself. For instance, it says,

You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. (Amos 6:6)

Using the name Joseph was a reference to the tribes that came from Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh, the largest tribes of the north who were destroyed by Assyria. The father of them, Joseph, represented them as a whole. So the prophet is talking about grieving over the destruction of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

In the New Testament, we see Paul using the logic of the “first representing the whole” about Jesus:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Cor 15:20-23)

Adam was the representative of humanity, and because he died, we all will die. Christ is the representative of all those in his kingdom, and since he was resurrected, we all will be resurrected. He is the firstfruits, the promise of the harvest to come. He is not only representative of all because he was first, he is supreme over all because he is first. We find a similar thing in Colossians:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Col. 1:15 -18)

Listening to this passage with Hebraic ears yields insight on this passage. Since Jesus is co-eternal with the Father, to speak of him as firstborn suggests he is a created thing, not fully God. To think of him as firstborn in terms of being of greatest honor and closest to God, makes more sense.

He is firstborn from among the dead, a promise that all who are a part of his kingdom will rise too. Not only is he representative of all of his kingdom, he is also highly exalted over all creation, worthy of honor and glory as the firstborn son of God.

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Photos: Marina Khrapova on Unsplash, Tim Bish on Unsplash, niklas_hamann on Unsplash

The Psychology of Idolatry

Lois Tverberg

The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger. They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, “You shall not do this.” (2 Kings 17:7-12, edited)

To modern Christian readers, it is hard to imagine being tempted by idolatry. This is because we are strict monotheists–we simply don’t believe any other gods exist besides God. However, if we understand the psychology behind the ancient practice of idolatry, we can draw lessons for our lives today.

The Mindset of Idolatry

In the Ancient Near East, people believed each nation had its own gods, and that gods had limited powers and territories. These “gods” controlled the prosperity and fertility of the people that worshiped them. They did not make moral demands, but only expected to be venerated through sacrifices and rituals to grant their favor. A person who became prosperous through devious means was admired for his or her cleverness in gaining the favor of the gods.

The God of Israel, however, insisted on moral conduct and gave the nation many laws to obey. (Normally the king wrote the laws, not the gods.) Besides the fact that it was more difficult to be honest than dishonest, it was very challenging for the Israelites to believe in this strange kind of deity that chose to to be so unlike every other god they knew.

While other nations had gods that inhabited idols, this God insisted they not make idols to worship him. The gods of other nations were human-like, but this God was invisible and incomprehensible. Other gods needed to be fed sacrifices to gain power, but this one did not need their sacrifices for power. The other gods were subject to manipulation to gain their favor, but this God could not be manipulated.

It was hard to grasp the concept that God was utterly greater than the gods of the other nations. The Israelites were probably not sure if their God would win in the contest Elijah set up between the true God and Baal.

When the Israelites worshiped idols, they were committing several sins. Most importantly, they were violating their covenant with God, who insisted that they serve no other gods. Israel’s covenant was often likened to a marriage, and idolatry was adultery to with God. Additionally, worshiping idols required that they abandon the moral laws that God had given them. They engaged in perverse sexual practices, sacrificed infants, and sank to the depths of depravity.

They also showed the world they didn’t believe that God was greater than the gods of the nations around them. God’s intention was for Israel to be a light to teach the world about the True God, but in idol worship they caused the nations to mock God instead.

Modern Day Idolatry

Ancient Israelites wanted the same things we do: prosperity and happiness. They had a choice of obeying God and letting him bless them, or trying to gain their blessing through idolatry. Likewise, many things we want are good, but the means to achieve them show whether we are serving the Lord or serving “idols,” in a sense.

A church can want its congregation to grow, but if it chooses activities because of their popularity rather than their spiritual content, it shows that filling pews has become an idol. Or, a man may feel like the Lord called him to a certain job, but when he starts acting unethically to maintain his position, the job has become an idol to him.

Once we start using motives God wouldn’t approve of, even if we think we are serving him, we have shifted our service to something else. After all, God demands we act morally, but idols let us act any way we please.

We also act like idolaters when we aren’t convinced of God’s greatness in comparison to other awe-inspiring things. God is not threatened by scientific discoveries, intellectual achievement or medical advances. He is not thwarted when the wrong party wins the presidency. He is in control when the things we fear happen, like our business closes or we get cancer. Like the Israelites who weren’t sure whether God could defeat Baal, we often give voice to our worry that God isn’t truly sovereign over the world. 

Many things in our world command respect, and it is tempting to be overawed by them. When we give up on God’s ability to accomplish his purposes because his opposition seems too great, we are shrinking God down to the size of this world. We can hardly grasp that as powerful as the things around us seem, God is more powerful yet.

Photos: Destination8infinity [CC BY-SA 3.0], NASA on Unsplash

A Judge as a Savior?

Lois Tverberg

In the book of Judges we read the history of the Israelites right after they move into the land of Canaan. When they fell into idolatry because of their Canaanite neighbors, the Lord allowed them to be oppressed until they cried out to him, and then he would raise up a judge to save them from their enemies.

These judges would sometimes act as rulers by making decisions in court, but often they did not. The term “judge” referred to heroes like Gideon or Sampson who won battles that freed the Israelites from foreign oppression.

At first I found it very odd that the term “judge” could be used to describe a savior or a hero. I thought of the word “judge” as the very opposite of “save.” Didn’t Jesus say he came into the world not to judge it but to save it (John 12:47)? But reading more of the Old Testament, we find that often the words “judgment” and “salvation” are used as synonyms:

From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet — when you, O God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. (Psalm 76:8-9)

For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us. (Is. 33:22)

So how can a judge be a savior? A key can be found in the fact that the word for “judgment,” mishpat in Hebrew, is also the word “justice.” If we look at a judge from the perspective of the guilty, we see him as one who punishes; but if we look at a judge from the perspective of a victim, the judge is one who brings justice.

Imagine a woman is abused by her husband, and the police arrive and arrest him. When her husband is put in prison, this act of judgment is salvation for her from her abuser. So these “judges” who act as saviors in Israel were those who brought justice — who set things right after people have been suffering because of injustice. They saved the people of Israel by freeing them from those oppressing them.

That is why the word judgment and salvation are often linked. When God saves the ones being wronged from those who are wronging them, he is both judging and saving at the same time — bad news for one side, good news for the other.

This has made me revise my picture of God. I used to think of God as evil when he judged sin, and good when he was merciful. I imagined that any kind of anger at sin was wrong, so Jesus would have just smiled and talked about love even when a person had swindled the elderly out of their last dime, or beat their children, or blew up large buildings full of people.

This is perverse! Because God loves the people who have been victimized by sin, he is angry and will bring the guilty to judgement at the end.

It is out of his love for the guilty that he is merciful and desires to forgive. God is good both when he is just, and when he is merciful.

So how does this fit with what Jesus said, “I came not to judge the world, but to save it”? Here we see that God has come up with a shocking, amazing answer to the problem of sin that even exceeds the good he would do by being perfectly just.

The key is atonement and repentance. Through Jesus’ atonement, he made it possible for sinners to be saved by repentance rather than be condemned in God’s future judgement. Jesus says that he himself will stand in judgment at the end of time, but he has come to atone for the sins of any who would repent and follow him.

God would rather have an abusive husband transformed into a loving husband than to sit in jail. He would rather have a terrorist find Christ than to just be caught and punished. In this way, he can both stop the damage of sin and bring redemption to the life of the sinner.

Because we all are sinners, he bids us all to repent and to find new life following him. Only through Jesus’ atoning blood and the work of the Spirit can lives be cleansed from sin and be transformed to reflect his love.

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Peter Paul Rubens [Public domain], Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

New Beginnings, Again and Again

Lois Tverberg

The Hebraic, Eastern teaching style of the Bible often used imagery to explain theological truths. We can have a much greater understanding of the stories of the Bible if we look beyond the immediate events to see the patterns that keep coming up over and over again. For instance, consider this scene at the parting of the Jordan in the book of Joshua:

When the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. (Joshua 3:14-17)

If we just read about the parting of the Jordan without thinking about any of the rest of the Bible, we miss 90 percent of what is going on. What other stories are reminiscent of this? The first thing that comes to mind is the parting of the Red Sea forty years earlier. In both instances it is clear God is present: before by the presence of the pillar of fire, and now by carrying the ark in front of them, which signified his presence as if he was walking ahead of them into the Jordan.

One interesting difference is that before, the people stood back while the wind blew to part the water, but this time God required them to set foot in the swollen river waters of the Jordan before he parted the river. Before, he did the miracle to give them faith, but now he required their faith to do the miracle. The steep banks of the flooding river Jordan would surely have swept them away, just as the Egyptians would have killed them before, but this time the fear was in following God, not in lingering behind. This was a test of whether they had learned what they spent forty years in the desert taking lessons on — how to trust the Lord.

A New Creation

Beyond the parallels to the Red Sea crossing, we also see a really fascinating theme that runs through all of the Bible: the picture of God beginning a new creation. Genesis begins the story of creation with the Spirit of God “hovering over” the deep (tehom,) and one of his first acts of creation is the separation of water from water.

This imagery recurs over and over in the scriptures, every time God starts something new. There is a poetic motif in that the word for “the deep” is Tehom, which was symbolic of chaos. It is a picture of God conquering evil and chaos to bring order and a beautiful new thing into existence. The word for Spirit in Hebrew is ruach, which also means wind or breath. When God parts the waters by a great wind, it is a picture of God in the act of creating.

Where do we see this? First we see it in Genesis 1:1 of course, but only a few chapters later we see it again after the flood destroyed all of life on earth. In Genesis 8:1-3 God caused a wind, ruach, to pass over the earth, and restrained the waters of the deep, tehom. The flood waters recede, giving the world a new, clean beginning. This is also an image of cleansing too, as the world is cleansed of all of the evil that had been done because of the wickedness of mankind.

The next place this image occurs is in the parting of the Red Sea, as the wind, ruach, blows to separate the waters so that the Israelites can pass through. This marks the beginning of God’s new nation of Israel, who now would have their own sovereignty and identity as the people of God. Interestingly, the Israelites fall into sin, just as Adam and Eve did after God’s first act of creation, and judgment comes from God just as it did to the generations after Adam with the flood.

Looking back at the parting of the Jordan, we see that as they pass through the river Jordan, that once again God is parting the waters, and in a sense, recreating them as his people and cleansing them of their sin. It is then that they take on the covenant again, just like they did at Sinai, and make a clean beginning.

Yet another beginning

There is one more significant scene in the Bible when we see this imagery of God at the waters: the baptism of Jesus. Here the heavens are parted (reminiscent of the waters being parted) and we see the Spirit of God “hovering” over, in the form of a dove, just as it hovered over the first waters of creation.

Here is God’s new creation, God on earth in the form of the Son of Man. Interestingly, the next scene after his baptism is the temptation in the desert, like the temptation of Eve, and the Israelites in the desert, right after their “creation.”

Whereas as both Eve and the Israelites sinned, Jesus triumphed over sin, showing that he is God’s final and perfect creation, God himself in the form of a man.

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Photos: Dimnent Chapel [Public Domain], Giga Khurtsilava on Unsplash, ferdinand feng on Unsplash

In the Name of the Lord

Lois Tverberg 1 Comment

Often in the Bible we encounter phrases like “in the name of the Lord” or “in my name,” being used in puzzling way. The phrase “in the name of” is one of those Hebraic figures of speech that Christians frequently misunderstand. What does it mean?

Remember that in Eastern, oral cultures a person’s name was connected with the person’s identity, authority and status. When God caused a major change in a person’s life, he often changed his or her name, to show a change in their identity in society. Abram becomes Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah, and Jacob becomes Israel. Likewise, when the Bible speaks of God’s “name,” it often refers to God’s authority, power and identity.

The meaning of the Hebraism “in the Name of”

For the sake of. We see this meaning in Matt. 10:41: “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward.” A prophets is given a message by God that he is to relay to the world. Some listeners reject him and some accept his message. A very few will encourage and support the prophet because they realize God has sent him — because of his identity as a prophet of God. Jesus was encouraging his disciples by saying that God would provide for them, and even provide for those who support their difficult work. Of course this line doesn’t mean that somehow by saying the prophet’s name, a person will be rewarded. The word “name” refers to the prophet’s identity and authority as a man sent by God.

We also hear this in John 14:13 – 14: “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” When we end a prayer “in the name of Jesus” we are really saying, please listen to my prayer for the sake of Jesus, who died for my sins. Because of his sacrifice, we can come before the Lord with our petitions and God will listen. Or, you could say that we are praying with his authority when we pray in his name.

The reputation of. To speak of someone’s “name” can also refer to his or her reputation, as it is used today. We hear it used this way in the following passages:

But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. (Ezek. 20:22)

You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the Name of your God; I am the LORD. (Lev. 19:12) 

To swear falsely is to break an oath made before God, which shows lack of respect for God, and causes others to scoff at the God who has such followers. When God’s followers act sinfully, they bring shame on reputation of God.

Think of the TV evangelist sex scandals and how they harden non-Christians from believing in Christ. That is what it means to “profane the Lord’s name.” In contrast, “to hallow God’s name” is to cause God to be honored because of your actions. Jews still use the phrase “to sanctify God’s name” as meaning to give your life for your beliefs.

The authority and power of. A name can signify a person’s authority and power as well:

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. (1 Samuel 17:45)

David came against Goliath, who mocked God, in God’s authority and power, acting as his representative, and God gave him the victory.

Even today in Hebrew “in the name of” can mean “by the authority of.” As I got off the plane on my last trip to Israel, I heard them say over the speakers “B’shem El Al, shalom,” literally “In the name of El Al, peace (greetings).” meaning, “We represent El Al airlines in greeting you.”

Misunderstanding “the Name of the Lord”

Bible readers sometimes so misinterpret this phrase that they violate biblical intent. People think it means that by literally speaking the name of God, they can use it to cause God to answer prayers or confer salvation.

One Christian movement believes that if the phrase “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is not used in baptism, then that person is not actually saved. By leaving out any of the three names, it renders baptism ineffective. Some Jewish Roots ministries place a great amount of stress on pronouncing Jesus’ name a certain way. They feel that saying “Yeshua” or “Yahshua” is critical if we want to have power to answer prayers.

This misunderstanding invokes an ancient belief about names that the Bible refuted. In pagan cultures, the way humans interacted with gods was by manipulating them through magical rituals. Pronouncing secret names was used as a way to coerce the spirits to do one’s bidding. The implicit assumption is that gods were finite and can be forced into doing human bidding. By the power of uttering the correct words, people could cause their will to be done.

Unlike in the rest of the Ancient Near East, we find no instructions in the Torah for using sacred incantations or formulas in the Tabernacle. Just as no engraved image could be used to invoke God’s presence, no incantations could be used to manipulate him.

When we pray, we should always ask ourselves whether we are focusing on the Lord or on our words. If we use the name of God (or Jesus) to conjure him up like a genie, this implies that he is merely a spiritual force who responds to coercion. Instead we should realize that he is a gracious and compassionate God who listens to our sincere prayers, and whose heart is moved to respond because of his great love toward us.

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Photos: Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash, Josh Applegate on Unsplash

All in the Family!

Lois Tverberg

I used to continually struggle with some of the things that seem so foreign about the Old Testament. What is the reason for the endless lists of names? Or, why do we have the stories in Genesis about the sons of Jacob destroying the city of Shechem, or Reuben sleeping with his father’s servant girl? My expectation was that it was going to be a book of simple, understandable stories with morals to teach me how to live.

Genesis has a different purpose and a bigger story if you can get into the minds of ancient the Hebrews. What was the theme that they were developing?

It’s all about family, and inheriting God’s blessing.

First of all, we need know what the ancient Hebrews valued. In this culture, family and heritage was absolutely everything in terms of a person’s identity and goal in life. Becoming the father of a great nation would be like being elected president, an enduring legacy of honor – whereas to be childless was to be cursed and forgotten from history.

Usually, the children took on their family’s profession and spiritual life. It was also assumed that children would take on their father’s personality. If your father was wise, you would be wise, if he was warlike, you were warlike. As a result, explaining who was part of each family is very important to understanding society as a whole.

Family history is important in most traditional and non-Western cultures in the world, even today. A Bible translator from the Philippines told me that for many years, they used a New Testament translation which did not include the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Matthew, since the Americans thought it wasn’t important. As an afterthought they decided to include the genealogy of Jesus at the beginning.

When the Filipinos saw this new text they said, “So do you mean that this Jesus actually was a real person?” Without that genealogy, they had assumed for many years that this was a set of fables told about a magical, fictional hero! In many cultures in the world, a family line is essential to have any identity at all.

So, looking at Genesis we see that because Abraham was faithful, in his culture God gave him the greatest of blessings — to raise up a nation of people from him. Abraham would teach his children to follow the Lord, and a nation of believers would result, ideally. For an ancient person hearing this story, this would be a tremendous epic of how God would honor his covenant to this man who believed and obeyed him. Each time descendants are listed it shows that God has been honoring his covenant.

Bearing God’s Blessing

After establishing a lineage, the next most important thing in Eastern cultures would be to understand the inheritance. In each family it was critical to establish an heir, typically the first-born son. He would receive a double portion of the inheritance and become the spiritual leader of the family, and the rest of the family would serve him. Genesis takes great care to explain in each generation who inherits the blessing: of Abraham’s sons, Isaac receives it rather than Ishmael. Of Isaac’s sons, Jacob receives it rather than Esau. It’s God’s choice each time an heir is chosen to carry on Abraham’s blessing.

If you understand this underlying theme of tracing God’s blessing and establishing who would carry it to the next generation, it makes many stories make a lot more sense. A large amount of time is spent on stories of Jacob’s family, to see what happens to Jacob’s twelve sons, because each will be head of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Let’s review who they were:

Reuben Leah
Simeon Leah
Levi Leah
Judah Leah
Issachar Leah
Zebulun Leah
Dinah (daughter) Leah
Joseph Rachel
Benjamin Rachel
Dan Bilhah
Naphtali Bilhah
Gad Zilpah
Asher Zilpah

(Note that in addition to Jacob’s two wives, Leah and Rachel, two more women bear children for him. This was because it was acceptable at that time to have a servant girl bear children for a wife, to build up the family of descendants.)

After the children are born, the primary plot of Genesis revolves around who would receive the blessing, and why one son rather than another receives it. Jacob declares the blessings in Genesis 49 when he gives his last will before he dies. The very firstborn of the family is Reuben. Why doesn’t he receive the blessing? Because he dishonored his father by sleeping with Bilhah he is disqualified as the heir (Gen 35:22, Gen. 49:3). Simeon and Levi are next in line, but they are both disqualified because they were the ones who destroyed the city of Shechem (Gen. 34:25, Gen. 49:5-7).

The reason why the Bible includes the ugly stories about Reuben, Levi and Simeon was not to serve as moral examples, but to show how the actions of the patriarchs influenced God’s decisions about who would bear his blessing.

Jacob’s Chosen Heir

What is interesting is that Jacob had his own ideas of who should be the heir. His clear favorite was Joseph, the first born son of the wife that he loved. That is the source of conflict in the family.

In many cultures a special garment would be given to the heir to designate his status, and that is why Jacob gave Joseph the coat. That is also why Joseph’s dreams that his family will bow down to him made his brothers so furious.

When Jacob was old he gave Joseph the inheritance of the first-born, a double portion of the estate. He does this by adopting Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manassah as sons of his own, and giving each an inheritance. They will both be included in the tribes of Israel, and are sometimes called the tribes of Joseph.

God’s Ultimate Decision

With all these twists and turns, you’ll still be surprised to learn which of the tribes does God chooses to carry his ultimate blessing.  He uses Joseph to save his family, so in a sense he blesses Joseph. But, believe it or not, the ultimate blessing goes to Judah, the fourth-born son of Leah, the unloved wife, who becomes the instrument of God’s redemptive plan. He is the one who will ultimately give rise to Christ.

An obviously messianic passage says, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his” (Gen 49:10). This will be fulfilled at first when David, of the tribe of Judah becomes king, and then when Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, arrives on earth!

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Photos: BL King’s 395 [Public Domain], Dulwich Picture Gallery [Public domain], Owen Jones [Public domain]

The Gospel as a Year of Jubilee

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

In Leviticus, we read an intriguing law that God gave Israel about observing a year of Jubilee:

‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. ‘You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. ‘You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. ‘You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. (Lev 25:8 – 11)

God proclaimed that every seventh year was to be a sabbath for the land: crops were not to be planted, and they were to live on what God had provided before that time and what grew up by itself.

After seven sabbath years came a year of Jubilee, which along with being a Sabbath for the land, also was a “year of release.” This meant that all Israelites who were in bondage were freed, and anyone who had sold his ancestral property would receive it back, and all debts were forgiven. The word “Jubilee” comes from the word Yovel, a Hebrew word for the ram’s horn that was used to proclaim the year.

Another name for it was a “year of release (deror).”  The Hebrew word deror means “release” or “liberty.” Early Americans, who knew their Bibles better than we do, placed Leviticus 25:10 on the Liberty Bell: “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof.”

Our founding fathers found inspiration in the year of Jubilee as they were establishing the United States. What did they find so special about this concept?

The Purpose of the Year of Jubilee

As part of God’s covenant with Israel, he promised to give the Israelites the land of Canaan. After the conquest of the land, it was divided among the tribes so that each family had its own share. In the ancient world, owning land was greatly prized because it was a source of food, income and security.

In that economy where people depended on the crops they raised, if a family had a bad harvest and ran out of food, they were forced to go into debt or even sell their land. If they couldn’t recover but fell further behind, they would have to sell themselves into slavery or leave the country, like Naomi and Elimelech in the book of Ruth.

People did not borrow money and sell land for business purposes, they did it only out of desperate economic need. So the Jubilee was for one main purpose — to provide for the poor who had gone into debt or lost their land, so that they would be able to start over again. Without it, the wealthy would always do better in bad years, and the land would tend to move into their hands while those who had lost their land would become permanently enslaved.

Another effect of the Jubilee would be to stop the destruction of families. If a man lost his land and sold himself and his family into slavery, or if he moved out of the country, he would likely never see his family together again. Part of the reason Naomi was distraught was because not only had she lost her hope for future descendants, but by leaving Israel, she also lost her family and past. When she returned, she was reunited with her family.

The year of Jubilee was to be a year that people returned home and families were brought together again.

The evidence suggests that Israel never observed the year of Jubilee. In 2 Chronicles it reports that they never allowed the land to have its Sabbath every seventh year, and if they never did that, they most likely never observed the year of Jubilee either. Several of the prophets lament the exploitation of the poor by the rich, which also hints that they never observed a Jubilee year.

There is, however, evidence from other Middle Eastern countries that years of release were proclaimed in ancient times when a new king came into power. It would be a way to ensure support from the masses when a king would declare all debts void and set free all those in bondage to debt.

It is interesting that the prophets thought of this association of a year of Jubilee with the coming of the Messiah. The primary image of the Messiah was that he would be a king like David, so just as the new kings of other countries declared a Jubilee when they came into power, the Messianic king would as well. Isaiah says:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. (Is 61:1-2)

This is a picture of the coming messianic King, right after he is anointed by God, declaring good news of the jubilee year. Each phrase is about how great the “year of the Lord’s favor” will be to those who have been imprisoned or enslaved because of their debt. The king will let them go home and start life over, to their great joy.

Jesus and the Year of Jubilee

In Luke 4, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus reads the passage from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in his hometown, and he says “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing!” his audience would have heard this as an obvious claim to be the Messiah who has now come into power.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry he uses images from the year of Jubilee, but he takes the image of the poor person set free from debt, and uses debt as a metaphor of sin. For instance, when the sinful woman comes and washes his feet with her tears and Simon, his host, wonders if he knows what a sinner she is, he tells the parable:

Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. (Luke 7:41-43)

The poor who are set free in the Messianic kingdom are the poor in spirit, those who know they are in debt to God because of their sin. So the “good news of the kingdom of God” is that the Messianic King has come, and has declared complete forgiveness of debt — sin —for those who will repent and enter his kingdom. It is good news to the poor rather than to the rich who don’t see that they need to be forgiven.

We see in Jesus’ use of the picture of the Jubilee the greatest picture of God’s grace through Christ. Those in prison are those who are under a crushing debt they could never repay. We see Jesus, the new king, setting prisoners free of debt that they owe because of their sin. Through Jesus’ work on the cross, those who become a part of his Kingdom receive a forgiveness of a debt they cannot repay themselves so that they can start over as new person.

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Photos: Tony the Misfit on Flickr [CC BY 2.0], Nitin Bhosale on Unsplash, Peter Paul Rubens [Public domain]

Eating at the Lord’s Table

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

As part of an insatiable curiosity to understand the Bible’s message in the cultural “language” that it was originally given, I’ve been looking at original cultural message behind our celebration of Communion. Why? Because the ideas behind this practice are found from Genesis to Revelation, and can give us a deeper appreciation of our celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

Eastern cultures throughout Asia and Africa, from the distant past up to the present, have understood that sharing a meal together was a sign of true fellowship. For thousands of years, groups have shared a ceremonial meal together as a symbol of peace and mutual acceptance after making a covenant.

Covenants, in the Eastern mind, are not just business agreements, they are the making of a new relationship between two parties. Often they involve reconciliation after a grievance has been committed. After making a covenant to not take vengeance on each other, the parties sit down to a ceremonial meal. As they eat together, they celebrate their reconciliation with each other, and after that meal, neither party may bring up the grievance ever again.

A fascinating example of this is the account of the sulha, the Arabic word for “table,” or reconciliation meal, between Ilan Zamir, an Israeli Christian, and an Arab family. Zamir had killed the family’s deaf 13 year-old son in a car accident and wanted to seek forgiveness from the family.

He was warned against it, because the cultural traditions would have allowed the family to kill him as vengeance for their son’s death. But an Arab pastor helped him arrange a sulha, a covenant of reconciliation. The ceremony involved Zamir apologizing and offering gifts, the family refusing the gifts, and finally, their sitting down together for a ceremonial meal.

When the father took the first drink of the coffee at the meal, it was a demonstration of his forgiveness. The family then said to him, “Know, O my brother, that you are in place of this son who has died. You have a family and a home somewhere else, but know that here is your second home.” What a picture of reconciliation! (The full story can be found at this link.)

The Covenantal Meal In the Old Testament

We see this ancient tradition in many covenantal ceremonies in the Old Testament. Remember the story of Jacob in which he flees from his father-in-law, Laban, with his wives. Laban pursues him, and in their meeting they enact a covenant between each other that that neither will harm the other as they part ways. After they made the covenant, it says:

Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain. Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place. (Gen. 31:54 – 55)

We also see the meal as part of one of the most important covenants in the Old Testament: the covenant between God and the people of Israel on Mt. Sinai. After enacting this covenant on Mt. Sinai, there is a scene that we can hardly appreciate:

Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. (Ex. 24:9-11)

To a Middle Easterner, the implications of this scene would have been profound. God had made a covenant of peace with this nation, and before anything had been done to break it, they had perfect fellowship with God — they could eat and drink in his presence. Because of the covenantal bond made through the blood of the sacrifices, God had accepted them into his presence.

Not only could they be there, but they even could eat a meal, demonstrating their peaceful relationship with him. This was the beginning of God’s answer to the break in fellowship that occurred in the garden of Eden, when humanity was cast out of God’s presence because of sin.

Throughout the Old Testament, this ceremony of eating and drinking in God’s presence is reenacted through the fellowship offering, literally a “shalom” offering. A family would bring an animal to sacrifice to the tabernacle or temple, and the meat would be eaten by the family and the priest, with the best portions burned as an offering to the Lord.

They saw this as true covenantal communion with God — that they could sit down at a meal with him. It was as if he was truly present at the table with them as they ate. In Deuteronomy 14:22-26, God even tells them to save up a tenth of their money each year and bring it to the temple to have a great fellowship meal with him. They could buy anything they wanted, but they had to invite him to the party!

You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. (Deut 14:26)

We also see this fellowship meal in the great celebrations that occur at important redemptive events in the history of Israel. At the exodus from Egypt they celebrated the Passover, and they still eat this meal to celebrate his faithfulness to them. They celebrated either Passover or a great fellowship offering after they entered the promised land (Josh. 5:10), when they renewed the covenant on Mt. Ebal (Josh. 8:31), when Solomon built the temple (1 Kings 8:33), and later when Hezekiah rededicated it (2 Chron 30:21). The meal was a way to renew their covenant with God and rededicate themselves to fulfilling their part of the covenant.

The Meal in the New Testament

This picture of eating a meal together as a sign of reconciliation and peace also runs throughout the New Testament. In Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son, when the son comes home, his father arranges a feast to celebrate that he is now part of the family again. The meal is a celebration of the renewed harmonious relationship between the son and his family.

After Jesus’ resurrection, we read the odd story of Jesus cooking fish and serving breakfast to the disciples (John 21:9-19). The topic of conversation was a break in their relationship. Jesus says to Peter, “Do you love me?” three times, reminding him of his earlier denials at Jesus’ trial, and then Jesus reinstates him as his disciple. The meal is a demonstration of the reconciliation going on between Jesus and Peter.

We even hear this idea of a meal of reconciliation in the familiar words of Revelation 3:20:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Now we know why it says that Jesus would come in and dine with us: to show us his acceptance of us, and to celebrate the relationship that we have together! It also explains why the predominant picture of heaven is that of a wedding feast, the celebration of the covenantal union of the Lamb and his people. There, we will always have this unbroken fellowship with him.

Communion as Covenantal Meal

From all of this imagery in scripture, we can have a beautiful new picture of what Jesus intended when, at the Last Supper, he broke the bread, then held up the wine and said, “This is the blood of the new covenant – do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus chooses the fellowship meal that had been used many times to celebrate God’s redemption of his people, the Passover meal.

Now, through the blood of Christ’s sacrifice, he is saying that we can enter into the new covenant of forgiveness and have a new, unbroken relationship with him. Like the Arab father, God puts aside all grievances he has with us, and tells us that we are now members of his family! This ceremony assures us of God’s redemption, that we are acceptable in his sight.

We are also reminded that salvation is not just a future event, not just being saved from our sins when we die. Salvation is our coming into fellowship with God, like the prodigal returning to his family. This supper shows that we can enter into God’s presence and have communion with him even in this life, as the seventy elders did on Mt. Sinai. The beauty of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper lies both in the present enjoyment of fellowship with the Lord, as well as the anticipation of unending fellowship with him at the banquet in heaven.

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Photos: Eczebulun [CC BY-SA 3.0], Berthold Werner [CC BY-SA 3.0], Da Vinci [Public Domain] 

Listening Through Jesus’ Ears

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

Anyone who does much study of the Bible will notice that often it speaks in odd-sounding, poetic phrases. Some translations of the Bible interpret these for readers, but others leave them quite literal and hard to understand.

Why does the Bible have such an odd “accent”? Because it comes to us from languages and cultures different from ours. If we want to hear the Bible for what it really is saying, we need to get a sense for its idioms and thought patterns.

This is especially true as we read the Old Testament, which reflects an ancient culture very different from our modern, Western mindset. We can avoid misunderstanding when we realize that even words that have been translated literally may have originally carried a different connotation than they do in English.

Besides making the Bible clearer, hearing its words as they were originally meant is a tremendously enriching experience, giving us wonderful new insights into God’s word.

Rich Hebrew Words

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and even though the New Testament was written in Greek, it was written almost entirely by Jews growing up in a Hebrew-speaking, Semitic-thinking culture. Because of this, its ideas come out of a Hebraic world-view. Having a sense for the style of the Hebrew language is therefore very important for understanding the Bible and gives us clues on the thinking patterns of its writers.

Hebrew has a small vocabulary, and each word often has a greater depth of meaning than our corresponding word, to describe many related things. For example, the Hebrew word for house, beit, can mean house, temple, family or lineage. Also, the Hebrew language lacks abstractions, and uses physical pictures to express abstract ideas, like being “stiff-necked” (stubborn) or “heart was lifted up” (was prideful), which sound poetic to us.

Hebrew also often uses the identical word to describe a mental activity as the physical result of the activity. For example, to listen can mean just to listen, but it usually means to obey the words you hear, which is the result of listening. I have found it amazingly useful in my study of the Bible to get a sense of these wider meanings, so that I can get a fuller understanding of what this odd poetry really means.

 

Here are a few examples of the idiomatic meanings words can have in Hebrew, in addition to their literal meaning in English.

 

Name – Authority, reputation, essence, identity

“In the name of Jesus” means, “by the authority of Jesus,” or “for the sake of Jesus.” Often it speaks about the temple as where “God’s Name dwells,” which really means his authority and presence. See the examples below:

He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. (Meaning, because they know the person’s identity as a prophet or righteous man) (Matt. 10:41)

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name. (Meaning, those who believe in Jesus’ identity as the Son of God) (John 1:12)

 

Son – Descendant, including grandsons and later descendants, disciples

The Israelites, both male and female were called “sons of Israel,” and the Messiah was supposed to be a “son of David.” It was assumed that descendants would share the character of their forefathers too, so a “son of David” would be expected to be kingly and powerful. Jesus says peacemakers will be called “sons of God,” because they are like God in character (Matt 5:9)

 

House – Family, descendants, disciples, possessions, the temple

God plays on the multiple meanings of the word when King David asks if he can build a “house” for God (a temple) and God answers that he would build a “house” for David, meaning a kingly lineage that will never end (see 1 Chron. 17:4, 10). We are God’s house: his temple, but also his family.

 

Law (Torah) – Instruction, guidance, teaching – comes from the word for “to point, aim, or guide“

In Jewish translations it is usually rendered as “instruction” or “teaching.” It has a very positive understanding in terms of being God’s word that contains his guidance for living. This is one of the most misunderstood of words in church tradition, where the “Law” has taken on a negative idea of a legalistic body of oppressive rules.

 

Visit – Pay attention to, come to the rescue of, bring to judgement (a very wide range of meaning indeed!)

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely visit you (come to your aid) and take you to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Gen. 50:24)

What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you visit (take notice of) him (Ps. 8:5)

Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. (Meaning, I will pay attention to their sin and punish them.) (Ex. 32:34)

Interestingly, Jesus seems to be playing on this when, at the cleansing of the temple, he says,

“For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:43-44)

The “time of their visitation” could mean the time God has come to their rescue in the person of Christ, but for those who ignore him, it will be the source of their punishment, when God “visits” their sins on them through the destruction of the temple.

 

Listen, hear – Take heed, be obedient, do what is asked

The Shema is the first word of the Jewish “Pledge of Allegiance,” and it means “Hear.” But really, it means “take heed” or “obey.” In fact, almost every place we see the word “obey” in the Bible, it is translated from the word shema, to hear. When Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” he is calling us to put his words into action, not just listen.

 

Remember – Do a favor for, come to the aid of

After the flood, God “remembered” Noah and dried up the waters, meaning that he rescued him, and Hannah says God “remembered” her when she conceived — he did her a favor. The Psalms often plead with God to “remember his people” in the sense of coming to their rescue.

 

Forget – Ignore, not act on

 The cupbearer “forgot” Joseph — actually meaning he ignored his request. God “forgets” our sins — meaning he will never hold them against us, not that his omniscient mind actually loses the memory of them.

 

Know – Have a relationship with another person, even intimately, to care for another

Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived, and bore Cain. (Gen. 4:1)

The righteous man knows (cares for) his animals… (Prov. 12:10)

I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God… (Jer. 24:7)

Having a sense for this way of speaking will be a lot of help to those who want to explore their meaning in passages. Newer translations (ESV, NIV, etc.) tend to explain these words, while older translations (King James) will use a direct, literal meaning.

While it is nice to not struggle to understand, often the poetry and wordplays and parallels between passages are obscured in less literal translations. My recommendation is to have more than one translation available, and compare to see the range of interpretations for passages.

One thing we should notice about Hebrew verbs is that they tend to stress action and effect, rather than just mental activity. Our own Western frame of reference stresses that our intellectual life is most important, while the Hebrew assumes that actions will result from it. In the Hebrew sense, if you “remember” someone, you will act on their behalf. If you “hear” someone, you will obey their words. If you “know” someone, you will have a close relationship with them.

When you read a word that sounds like it is talking about mental activity, stop and think in terms of the action that is expected to result. If you are reading the scripture to apply to your own life, make sure that it goes beyond thought to concrete action: that you are a doer of the word, and not a hearer only.

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Photos: Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash,  Scott Webb on Unsplash, Acabashi [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]