TODAY'S WORD
2010
A devotional based on the Greek and Hebrew texts
Written by
A. J. Moen, D. Phil.
Copyright 2010
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
January 1 The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses and Miriam. 1 Chronicles 5:29
Starting Out Right
Children – It’s true that the children of Amram were Aaron, Moses and Miriam, but this isn’t what the Hebrew text says. The Hebrew word oovnei appears a second time in the same verse, but it isn’t translated “and the children of.” It’s translated “and the sons of” because that’s what oovnei means. So, if the verse literally says, “And the sons of Amram were,” then why do we change it to “children”? Ah, you say. It’s obvious. Miriam is not a son. She is a daughter. You’re right, of course, but by changing the translation “and the sons” to “and the children” reveals our implicit chauvinism. You see, the Hebrew text isn’t mistaken. Miriam has the same status as the sons, Moses and Aaron.
Think about Miriam. She is a priestess. She is a central figure in the story of the Exodus. Her actions are responsible for saving Moses. She is a prophet. In fact, she is the second person to be designated a prophet at this point in the Torah. Micah 6:4 tells us that she was divinely commissioned as a leader. Tell that to the theologians who proclaim that women are not to lead men. Who’s right? MacArthur, Piper and Grudem or God? Miriam’s death is prominently mentioned in Scripture while nearly everyone else in the Exodus account fades into the background. Finally, there’s this verse. In a chapter about male genealogies, we find Miriam’s name. Scripture doesn’t make mistakes. We do. We have ignored the place God gives this woman because we read our mistaken misogynic theology into the Bible. It’s time to get started on the right foot. It’s time to pay careful attention to what the text says, not what we want it to say.
Hebrews 13:6 quotes Psalm 118:6. “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?” We acknowledge that God is our ‘ezer. Because He cares for us, protects us and provides for us, we do not need to fear any man. But this special word, ‘ezer, is the same word God uses to designate the role of the wife, the ‘ezer kenegdo. When my wife exhibits the full design God built into her, I am cared for, protected and provided for. My wife follows in the footsteps of Miriam, an ‘ezer among her people. She was God’s chosen instrument of proclamation, leadership, comfort and compassion. If you want a role model as a woman, you might start with Miriam.
Our misguided theology usually highlights the times when Miriam stumbled. Ah, she’s human, just like the rest of us. Did Aaron stumble? Did Moses? Apparently God loves to use those who stumble. Did you think that being a leader meant being perfect? As far as I can tell, every biblical leader trips along the way (with one notable exception, of course). What makes us think that failure disqualifies anyone from God’s use?
So, we have a new beginning today. We see Miriam in a new light. Maybe that will spur us to see God’s women differently, and stop getting in the way of what He is doing with His chosen servants (plural, female noun).
Topical Index: Miriam, women, leader, ‘ezer, oovnei, 1 Chronicles 6:3
January 2 And they cast lots for their duties, all alike, the small as well as the great, the teacher as well as the pupil. 1 Chronicles 25:8
To Learn
Pupil – What does it mean to learn the Scriptures? Just stop a minute and think about your definition of learning. What characteristics describe a learner – a pupil? Did you include attentive study, memorization, understanding and apprehension? Is the focus of your idea of learning cognitive or experiential? Most of us in this Greek-based worldview think of learning in cognitive terms. We think about gathering facts, understanding problems, drawing conclusions and developing a storehouse of information. In other words, in our world it’s possible to learn without ever actually doing anything with the information.
But this is impossible in Hebrew. The word “pupil” is talmiyd (singular). You will recognize the similarity with the word Talmud, the collection of oral instruction in Judaism. The word for pupil comes from the verb lamad. This verb appears sixteen times in Deuteronomy, usually translated at “teach” or “learn.” Are the instructions in Deuteronomy intended to be cognitive collections of facts? Are we supposed to learn God’s commandments (Torah) so that we can recite them during a scholarship contest? The same verb shows up in Proverbs 5:13, a verse that gives us a very good picture of the opposite of lamad. You’ll notice that the emphasis of the verse is about obedience, not information. In fact, the etymological background of lamad is to chastise, to discipline even with the rod. Believe me, this is not about beating the facts into you.
A pupil of Scripture in one who bends his will toward God’s instruction. Without obedience, nothing is learned. No matter how many times I tell my horse to move to the left when I pull on the reins, if the horse does not obey, no instruction has occurred. This is why it isn’t possible to deepen my relationship with God until I learn – and obey - the lesson He has for me today.
One more Scripture example cements the concept (a mental activity). Jeremiah 12:16 says, “And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people.” The phrase “diligently learn” is really the verb lamad repeated twice (eemlamod yilmedoo). It is to “learn learn.” The Hebrew motto for learning is “Just do it!”
Are you a talmiyd? Yeshua called twelve men to be his talmiydim. They could not be pupils without being disciples and they could not be disciples without copying his life. “By this they will know that you are my disciples; that you love one another as I have loved you.” Making it real, that’s what it means to learn.
Topical Index: learn, pupil, talmiyd, disciple, 1 Chronicles 25:8, Jeremiah 12:16, Proverbs 5:13
January 3 And Cain talked with his brother Abel, and as they were in a field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:8
The Story in the Story
Killed – Do you know the story of Cain and Abel? Well, maybe you do. But Genesis is often a much deeper account than we imagine and what happens in its narrative often hides more insights. Let’s take a look and see if you really know this story.
Two factors govern our deep study of Scripture. The first is the recognition that there are no incidental words (or letters). Every word tells a story (with apologies to Rod Stewart). The second factor is the pictographic background of the Hebrew consonants. The words are made up of pictures. Understanding the pictures often reveals something important about the words. Now, let’s examine this text.
First, Cain in Hebrew is Qayin. The text of Genesis 4:1 draws on a similarity with the verb qana. The verb means “to acquire.” Qayin is “acquired” from the Lord (that text is difficult in itself). On top of this, the picture of Qayin (Qof-Yod-Nun) is “the last to make life.” If we read this on the lips of Havvah, we can see that her name for this son is really the next man making life. Qayin comes after Adam. He is Havvah’s substitute for her lost man (she calls him an ish – a man – not a child). Adam departs the scene. Qayin takes over. He is the next man – at the time of his birth, the last to make life.
This “last to make life” man talks with his brother “as they were in a field.” This description contains the verb “to be” (hayah) connected to the noun “field” (sadeh). Field is the pictograph “what comes from the door to consuming.” In an agrarian society, the field is the place where we find life sustenance. So, the last to make life talks with his brother in the place of life. They exist in the place where life is nourished.
But something happens that destroys all these pictures. Qayin “rose up” against his brother. The verb stem is qwm. It paints the picture of “the last to secure chaos.” The last to make life now becomes the last to secure chaos. Life and chaos are opposites. Qayin becomes the vehicle of destruction. He opens the door that allows chaos back into the ordered world. He kills his brother.
Two pictures emerge from this statement of fratricide. First, the verb is harag. The picture is “what comes from a person of pride” or “what comes from lifting up the head.” Pride kills Abel. Qayin is its instrument. It’s important to note that the very word qayin has a homophone, a word that is spelled the same and sounds the same but has a different meaning. You can find the homophone in 2 Samuel 21:16. It is the word for a weapon! Pride uses the weapon qayin to kill Abel. The second picture is the word “brother.” This word (ach from the consonants Aleph-Tau) means “the strong fence.” A brother is a strong protector. In a field, the last man to make life lifts up pride and becomes a weapon that tears down the strong fence of protection. The last man to make life becomes the first man to take it and the weapon he uses is his pride.
When God comes to Qayin, he asks, “Where is your brother Abel?” The Hebrew word for “where” is ay, a word of surprise, not of location. In other words, God asks why this brother is not with the other brother. Why are the strong protectors not together as they should be? Qayin replies that he is not his brother’s ha-shamar (guardian). He is not “the person who destroys chaos.” Qayin is correct. He is the man who makes chaos, not the man to eliminates it.
Now do you know the story?
Topical Index: Cain, Abel, Genesis 4:8
January 4 “And in the fourth generation they shall come here again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” Genesis 15:16
Better Safe Than Sorry
Not Yet Full – Are you full? If you’re thinking in Hebrew, that question has nothing to do the capacity of your stomach. You see, the word translated “full” in this verse is shalem. In Hebrew, the word shalem has a lot of homophones. That means there are many words constructed from the same consonants but with different meanings. Shalem can mean to be safe or to be completed (verb), to complete or to finish (Aramaic verb), peace (noun), thanksgiving offering (noun) or full, complete, safe, whole or peaceful (adjective). Did you notice that the adjective encompasses all of the verbal meanings? You will also notice that this is the root behind the greeting shalom; a greeting that means all of these great things – peace, completeness, safety, fullness and wholeness. So, are you full? Is shalem an apt description of your present state?
You might consider this imagery when you think about Yeshua’s statement, “I have not come to abolish the Torah but to fulfill it.” In other words, Yeshua’s objective was to fill up the teachings of Torah, to complete the actions only partially seen before His arrival by giving us a completely full representation of what it means to live according to God’s Word. Before He came, we knew some of what it meant to express the Father’s heart. But once He arrived, we got the full picture. This is considerably different than the popular Christian interpretation that “fulfill” means complete, that is, make no longer applicable. But in Hebrew such an interpretation is quite impossible.
Of course, being full isn’t restricted to just the good things in life. I can be full of anger, jealousy or deceit. I can be filled to the brim with hatred or evil. In this regard, the Hebrew view of man is more a pipe than an cup. I am what pours through me. I am the transporting mechanism of the actions that passed from my heart to my hands. When the Lord speaks to Abraham about the Amorites, He uses the word in this sense. The complete measure of their wickedness had not yet come to pass.
What does this expression, lo-shalem (not yet full), imply? First it suggests that there is a day when men are no longer able to respond to the grace of God. At some point in life, their indulgence in evil overtakes them completely. They stop being able to hear God’s appeal to repent. When that happens, their iniquity is full. Their disintegration into animal-existence is complete. They are no longer human – and they are not animal either since they were never designed to respond to God by instinct alone. They become something that has no place in the created order, and God gives them up to destruction. When they are filled with iniquity, they have no home here.
That day is a terrible day. It is terrible not only because it brings God’s wrath, a cleansing obliteration of what no longer belongs, but it is also terrible because it is the waste of life, the tragic consequences of refusing to hear the Creator and the end of what was intended for joyous and passionate delight. It is a terrible day because it stands as a stark reminder of the need for perseverance. No man starts life full. Filling up happens as the actions accompanying my choices become conduits through me. None of us is full – yet. You are what you pour.
Topical Index: fill, shalem, Genesis 15:16
January 5 Behold, when we come to the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window from which you let us down, . . . Joshua 2:18
Red Between the Lines
Line – Usually translated “cord” in this verse, the Hebrew word tiqva has a different meaning in every one of its additional thirty-one occurrences. The fact that it isn’t translated in the normal way in this verse isn’t an accident. It’s an intentional word-play; another example of the elaborate interconnections found in the Hebrew Scripture that are invisible to us in English. By now you must realize that the story of the Scripture just wasn’t written to you. It was written to Hebrew readers because only Hebrew readers can read between the lines.