Windows on the Word

Hebrew Nuggets

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Thank God for Israel

In Israel
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Thank God for Israel!!

At 4:00 pm on Friday, Iyar 5th, 5708 (May 15th, 1948), David Ben Gurion (who would be the first Prime Minister of the new state)  stood in the Tel Aviv Museum (today known as Independence Hall) and opened the ceremony to which about 250 guests were in attendance – by invitation only.  The group spontaneously sang Hatikvah – which soon became Israel’s national anthem.  Behind Ben Gurion hung a large picture of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, flanked by Israeli flags – which were soon adopted as official. Ben Gurion announced to the crowd, “I shall now read to you the scroll of the Establishment of the State…”.  The full reading took about 16 minutes and ends with the words, PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE “ROCK OF ISRAEL”, WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION.  Ben Gurion concluded by saying, “Let us accept the Foundation Scroll of the Jewish State by rising” and calling on Rabbi

Fishman to recite the Shehecheyanu blessing. After the last of the signatories of the Declaration had signed, the audience again stood and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played the “Hatikvah”, the Israeli national anthem, ( הַתִּקְוָה ) which literally means ‘the Hope’. Ben-Gurion concluded the event with the words “The State of Israel is established! This meeting is adjourned!” 

Sunday at the local Yom HaShoah ceremony in my city, one of the Rabbi’s present again reminded everyone that Jewish people always take their past with them forward into the present.  [I mentioned this in last week’s Nugget, and the same Rabbi mentioned it again this year.]  He gave the example of the children of Israel taking the bones of Joseph with them as they left Egypt.  And so on the day of the re-birth of the nation, there were so many reminders of Israel’s past going all the way back to the time of the Bible.   For example, the Declaration was a three-part scroll (Heb: מגילה – Megillah).  This was a clear and strong picture of the connection between modern Israel and its ancient past in the time of the Bible since all of the books of the תנך – T’nakh (Old Testament) were written in Hebrew on scrolls.  The very first paragraph of the Declaration begins: ERETZ-ISRAEL (Heb: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל) – the Land of Israel, was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books (the Bible).

 

Israeli Independence Day is called Yom HaAtzma’ut 

( יום העצמאות ).  The root of this Hebrew word HaAtzma’ut is etsem ( עצם ) and has several meanings: “bone, substance, matter, essence or core of something or someone.”  The Hebrew word atsma’ut (עצמאות), meaning ‘independence’, comes from atsmi which means one’s own personal being and bones. This gives new meaning to the Ezekiel 37 passage on ‘the valley of dry bones’ (which was partly fulfilled on this day) since the Hebrew root etsem is part of both the word ‘bone’ and the word for ‘independence’!

 

Israel is the only nation that God created and this goes back to the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3) What nation EVER died and then revived after 2,000 years?  Only Israel!  What language EVER died in common use and then revived after 2,000 years?  Only Hebrew! The language of Israel and the Jewish people.  Read the history of the War for Independence, and actually, all of the history of ‘Modern Israel’ since 1948, and you will find plenty of miracles. Israel’s first prime minister, David ben Gurion said, “In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.”  Actually, according to the prophet Jeremiah (16:14-16), the first Passover and the exodus from Egypt was a small miracle compared to the rebirth of the nation which we have seen in this generation. Truly, the People of the Book have returned home!  
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Remember the Six Million

In Holidays
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Remember the Six Million

  

A few years ago at the Yom HaShoah ceremony here in Charleston, one of the Rabbi’s present reminded everyone that Jewish people always take their past with them forward into the present.  He gave the example of the children of Israel taking the bones of Joseph with them as they left Egypt.  The nation of Israel was re-established in 1948 amid the horror of the Holocaust.  In order to permanently weave the memory of the six million Jews who lost their lives in the Holocaust into the fabric of the new nation, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion established Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day in 1953 as a national day of commemoration for the six million Jews murdered by the Nazi’s in the Holocaust.

  

There are many holidays of remembrance among the spring holidays of the Hebrew calendar.  Last week we discussed Passover, which is from 14th – 21st of the Hebrew month Nisan (it ended last night at sundown).  Solomon tells us in his book, Kohelet, (Ecclesiastes), “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Eccl. 3:1  So as God is in charge of human events, it happened that the re-birth of Israel occurred on the 5th of Iyar – exactly 3 weeks from Nisan 14th and Passover – the original birth of the nation.  When the leaders of the newly re-established nation of Israel sought for a day to honor the six million who perished in the Holocaust, they placed it among the other holidays of remembrance – exactly one week prior to Yom HaZicharon – the Memorial day for all IDF soldiers who have been killed – which is exactly on the eve of Israeli Independence day.  And thus these new dates of remembrance are added to the Jewish calendar to give it a wonderful symmetry.       

 

Today we study Yom HaShoah (Heb: יום השואה ) which this year falls on Wed., April 15th (and Nisan 27th) at sundown [Jerusalem time] and continues through to Thursday. The official name is Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah (Heb: יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה ).  Let us examine these words etymologically. The Hebrew word Yom (יום) means ‘day’ and Shō’āh Heb: (שאוה ) means ‘catastrophe’.  It is found once in the T’nakh in Proverbs 1:27 and is translated as ‘destruction’ in the KJV.  The word G’vurah (Heb: גבורה ) which means ‘heroism’.  The Hebrew root is   (ג ב ר ) from which comes the important word gibor (Heb: גיבור ) meaning ‘hero’. This word is found in 1 Samuel 17:51 describing Goliath and is translated as ‘champion’. David used it to describe both Saul and Jonathan in 2 Samuel 23:1 when he lamented their deaths.  [Note: The English word holocaust is derived from the Greek word holokauston, meaning “a completely (holos) burnt (kaustos) sacrificial offering”.

    

Yom HaShoah is a solemn day in Israel, always beginning at sunset on the 27th of the month of Nisan and ending the following evening. Places of entertainment are closed throughout the country. The central ceremonies, in the evening and the following morning, are held at Yad Vashem ( יד ושם ), the National Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Israel.  On the evening of the 27th of Nisan at sundown, the President of the State of Israel and the Prime Minister along with dignitaries, Holocaust survivors, children of survivors and their families, gather together with the general public to take part in the memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem in which six torches, representing the six million Jews who perished, are lit.  The following morning at 10:00 AM, a siren sounds throughout the entire country for two minutes. For the duration of the sounding, work is halted, people walking in the streets stop, cars pull off to the side of the road and everybody stands at silent attention in respect for the victims of the Holocaust.  (See video in the side-bar)

 

The Hebrew phrase ‘Yad VaShem‘ (Heb: יָ֣ד וָשֵׁ֔ם ) is taken from the Bible from Isaiah 56:5, ‘Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.’ It is translated into English as ‘a place and a name’.  If you visit Israel be sure to visit Yad VaShem and if you have the chance, be sure to take your children and grandchildren.  The next generation must be educated about the Holocaust.

 

The Jewish Talmud says: “He who saves a single life, saves the entire world”.   Jesus also emphasized the value of one person’s soul as recorded in the Gospel of Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  Any philosophy or religion that cheapens life or glorifies death is not of God because God says only one life is worth more than the whole world! 

Let us be sure to stand with Israel and the Jewish people at this critical time in history.  Again, be sure to hear a Holocaust survivor speak (and let your children hear them) as they are quickly passing away from us.  As long as the Lord lets us live on this earth, let us be a positive voice for the Jewish people and stand against those who deny that the Holocaust occurred. 
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Birth of the Miracle Nation

In Holidays, Israel
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Birth of the Miracle Nation

Mah Nishtanah HaLila HaZeh MiKol HaLayLot …And so begins the Passover Seder as the youngest person

present traditionally gets to ask what is know as “the Four Questions”. In Hebrew, we actually “sing” them and it turns out that the “Four Questions” are really four answers to one big question: “Why is this night different from all other nights?”  I recently heard a Rabbi speaking about Passover and the Four Questions.  He said, “The Talmudic way of studying Torah is questions and answers.  Not statements.  Jews live on questions.”  The Hebrew word for ‘questions’ is שאלות (she-eh-lot), but in the case of the phrase “The Four Questions”, the word קושיות (koo-she’ot) is used. It is from Hebrew root: קשה – ‘ka-sheh’ which means ‘difficult’.  The Rabbi’s say this is a question in which you must really dig and search for the answer.  The writers of the Passover Hagadah built in the “Four Questions” so that the answer is the story (Heb: מגיד – Maggid) of the Passover (Heb: פסח – Pesach).  This method of teaching is also evident in the New Testament. Read the four Gospels and note how often the Scribes, Lawyers (experts in the Law of Moses), Pharisees, Sadducees and others come to Jesus always asking questions.  And how did Jesus answer them?  With more questions!  

  

Freedom (Heb: חופש – cho-fesh) is a major theme of Passover celebrations. The children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years to the day (Exodus 12:41) until the night of Pesach. On THIS night, Nisan 14th, the exact night the 430 years ended, God birthed a nation and led them out of Egypt! God had promised Jacob in Genesis 46:4: “I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again”. The children of Israel went from being slaves (Exodus 1:11) to being an army (Exodus 12:51) in one night. Every miracle that God works in has two components: physical and spiritual.  On the night of Passover, God did not just free slaves, but He redeemed the children of Israel as well. (Exodus 12:21-28) The blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts of each home was a mark of that salvation. Notice that salvation must be at the individual level. For Israel, it was home by home. It depended entirely on the application of the blood of the Passover lamb to the doorpost of the house. The freedom was at a national level – the children of Israel went out of Egypt en-masse. 

 

The nation of Israel was born, not by fighting a revolution, but through prayers from below and miracles from above. God choose Moses to lead Israel, not because of his military prowess – although Josephus tells us that he was a military commander of renown when he served in Pharoah’s court. But God choose Moses because he had a heart willing to pray for his people and intercede for them. Even to die for them! (Exodus 32:32). The books of the Torah are replete with example after example of Moses interceding with God on the behalf of Israel. Moses did not care for his own welfare, but only for His people – Israel.

 

The entire T’nakh (Old Testament) is full of miracle after miracle that God worked on behalf of Israel. The Ten Plagues upon Egypt were only plagues from the Egyptians viewpoint. To the children of Israel, these were miracles that Moses worked on their behalf so that eventually, Pharoah let them go! The modern Hebrew word for ‘miracle’ is ניס – nes. In Biblical Hebrew, miracle is often the translation of the Heb: אות – ot, Strong’s #0226. I love to read Exodus 14 and picture in my mind the great miracle (Heb: ניס גדול – nes gadol) of the parting of the Red Sea! Jewish tradition says that Nahshon ( נַחְשׁ֖וֹן ) was the very first person to step forward into the Red Sea. Nahshon was a prince of the tribe of Judah (1 Chron. 2:10) and grandfather of Boaz (1 Chron. 2:11). He is listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:4 (there his name is spelled Naasson). The writer of Hebrews specifically says that the children of Israel were able to cross the Red Sea because they had faith. (Hebrews 11:29)

 

But the miracle working God of the Old Testament has not gone on vacation!  If the birth of the nation of Israel was a ‘Night to Remember’, so was the re-birth!  According to the prophet Jeremiah (16:14-16), the first Passover and the exodus from Egypt was a small miracle compared to the rebirth of the nation which we have seen in this generation. Read about the miracle of November 29th, 1947 – the night the UN voted ‘yes’ for the partition. The people of Israel danced in the street.  Also, on this EXACT SAME DAY, the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls (containing the Isaiah scroll which prophesied of this rebirth), were purchased by Professor Eleazar Sukenik.  The events surrounding the re-birth of modern Israel in 1948 was also a nes gadol – big miracle! What nation EVER died and then revived after 2,000 years?  Only Israel!  What language EVER died in common use and then revived after 2,000 years?  Only Hebrew! The language of Israel and the Jewish people.  Read the history of Modern Israel since 1948, and you will find plenty of miracles. Israel’s first prime minister, David ben Gurion said, “In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.”  Israel is the land of miracles and almost every Jewish holiday is a celebration of some miracle!  In the end, Israel will be saved from her enemies the SAME WAY that Israel has always overcome – with prayers from below and miracles from above.   So let us stand in solidarity with our Jewish friends during their time of freedom and let us continue always in prayer for them.  And watch out for those miracles.  They will appear!

 

“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.  Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.” – Jeremiah 16:14-16
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Life on the Edge

In Desert, Israel
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Life on the Edge

  

In the last Nugget, we discussed the steep and jagged cliffs, often called the cathedral cliffs, that ring the western shore of the Dead Sea and guard the entrance to the Judaean Desert (Hebrew: מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה Midbar Yehuda).  This steep and treacherous area is the home of the Ibex.  The English KJV uses the word ‘hind’ – translated from אַיֶּ֥לֶת (ah-yeh-let), with the plural, אַיָּל֑וֹת (ah-yah-lot).  The word is first mentioned in Genesis 49:21 in Jacob’s prophecy of his sons: “Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.”  Job 39:1 and Psalm 29:9 speak of the time of year when the hinds give birth – which is right now in March.  

 

Saul pursued David relentlessly for many years and almost killed him many times, but God always helped David to escape. When David was finally delivered from King Saul, he wrote his thanksgiving prayer down in the form of 2 Samuel chapter 22 which was later placed into the Psalms as Psalm 18.  The verse I am most interested in is 2 Sam. 22:34, “He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet: and setteth me upon my high places.”  [also Psalm 18: 33]  David had intimate knowledge of the habits of the Yael because he often lived in their habitat at Engedi: “And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.” (1 Sam. 24:1-2)  [The phrase ‘wild goats’ refers to the Ibex.]

During the ten years that David lived in the Judean wilderness, “on the run” so to speak from Saul, he had to learn to trust in God alone.  However, one teacher that God sent to David were the graceful Ibex whose home he shared.  In 2 Sam. 22:34, David made particular mention of the feet of the Ibex.  This is because their feet is their most important asset. His hooves have a sharp outer rim and a soft inner pad, which provides traction on slippery rock surfaces. The rugged and trecherous terrain that is the home of the Yael is also his protection. The Ibex can climb up or down the sheer cathedral cliffs of the Dead Sea region.   The high places are their home!  When enemies approach, they climb even higher so that the enemy cannot follow.  What appears to be a precipice of danger to us, is a very safe place for the Ibex.

 

Like David, we also can learn much from the Ibex.  At the beginning of 2 Samuel 22, David wrote of God, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer.”  As the Ibex make their homes high on the rocks, David said God was his rock! When enemies come upon the Ibex their safest place is often the most dangerous looking place – on the edge of some precipice where no enemy will dare climb. There the Ibex is safe.  Perhaps the times in our life that appear to be dangerous is actually just the Lord putting us out of harm’s way.  


Again David wrote, “The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.” Psalm 104:18  The ‘high hills’ referred to are the cathedral cliffs and the wild goats are of course the Ibex.  The word ‘refuge’ is also important.  The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) says of the Hebrew word, מַחְסֶ֥ה (mahx-seh): “while it is used literally of taking shelter from a rainstorm (Isa 4:6; 25:4; Job 24:8) or from danger in the high hills (Ps 104:18), it is more often used figuratively of seeking refuge and thus putting confident trust in God.” (Deut 32:37)  David says the cliffs are the place of trust for the Ibex and God was the place of trust for David.  

 

God gave the Ibex sure-feet on the rocks, and He gave David sure-feet on the slippery slopes of life so that he could skillfully  maneuver.  The New Testament word for trust is faith. Hundreds of years after David, the prophet Habakkuk (חֲבַקּוּק) wrote his book reiterating David’s words as a closing doxology to the life of faith (אֱמוּנָתֹ֥) which is often life on the edge: “The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” – Hab. 3:19   
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Eden in the Wilderness

In Israel
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Eden in the Wilderness

  

Steep and jagged cliffs ring the western shore of the Dead Sea guarding the entrance to the Judaean Desert (Hebrew: מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה Midbar Yehuda).  The geographical term for the Judaean Desert is a “rainshadow desert”.  Rainshadow deserts occur in many places on the earth and are formed when prevailing westerly winds from the sea bring moisture laden air inland.  As the air rises to pass over the hills of Judah, the moisture condenses as rain and falls on the windward side of the mountains.  By the time the air mass reaches the leeward (or eastward) side of the Judaean hills, ie, the Dead Sea region, (better known as the Salt Sea (Hebrew yam HaMelahch: ים המלח) the air is dry and no rainfall occurs.  [The avg. rainfall for the Salt Sea region is less than 2 inches per year.]

Nestled in the midst of these towering limestone cliffs dotted with small caves is the oasis of Engedi  or Ein Gedi: עֵ֥ין גֶּֽדִי (Heb: aiyn gedi).  Aiyn means ‘eye’, but it also means ‘spring’ – like a spring of water.  [It is also a letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ע).] Gedi means a goat kid (or baby).  So Ein Gedi is basically the spring of the baby goats referring to the Ibex which make their home on the rock cliffs.  The waters of an oasis originate deep within the earth and flow up to the earth’s surface and therefore do not depend upon rain water. Thus, the Engedi oasis can exist in a rainshadow desert and provide fresh water for the Ibex and many other animals of the region.   

According to 1 Samuel 24, David sought refuge from King Saul in the “strongholds of Engedi”.  The word ‘strongholds’ does not refer to a fortress, but rather to the natural topography of the sheer cliffs that mark the region.  In one of the many limestone caves that pocket this region, David also spared King Saul’s life as detailed in the 1 Samuel 24 narrative.

There is a parallel spiritual component to every life experience and God uses everything that happens to us in the physical realm to teach us lessons in the spiritual realm.   Since the desert is a place of limited resources (ie, food, water), it has often been used by God as a training ground to develop in His people faith in Him as their all sufficient provider.  God allowed David to spend ten years hiding in the Judaean Desert from King Saul before he actually became King of Israel.  Why?  God was developing character traits in David that he would need as king and that could only be learned in the ‘desert areas of life’.

God declares many times in His Word that He is able to bring forth water (always a symbol of fruitfulness) in desert areas.  Isaiah writes, “Then shall the lame man leap as an hart…  for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” (Isa. 35:6)   One of my favorite verses has become Isaiah 58:11, “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”  Surely Isaiah was thinking of Ein Gedi when he wrote this powerful verse.  The spiritual meaning is a great comfort. When our soul is “in drought” … when we are in the desert of life where resources are very limited … God HIMSELF will provide our needs.  He is our garden to rest and regain strength.  And Isaiah says God will do this CONTINUALLY (Hebrew תָּמִיד֒ – tah-mid). God desires to be our inward source to satisfy our soul even in the most severe trials that come our way.  He does not want us to be dependent upon external circumstances for our peace and joy, but only upon Himself!  So, He sends us to the desert, like He did David,  in order to strip the external things from our life so that we can learn that we do not need them anyway.  We only need Him.   He is our ‘Eden in the wilderness’.

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For Such a Time as This

In Holidays
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For Such a Time as This

The holiday of Purim (Hebrew:  פּוּרִים  –  Pûrîm “lots”) commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire where a plot had been formed to destroy them by the second-in-command of the Persian empire – Haman.  takes place in the Persian (Hebrew: פרס) royal city of Shushan ( שושן). (Esther 1:2)  The palace in ancient Shushan was a place of great power because Persia, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great, had become the superpower of the ancient world. (Daniel 6:28)  King Ahasuerus (Xerxes was his Greek name) ruled 127 provinces which covered much of the known world. (Esther 1:1)      

Esther is a Second Temple Period book. King Ahasuerus reigned from 486-464 B.C. or about 40-50 years after the end of the Babylonian Exile. This places Esther in Bible chronology after Daniel and before Ezra and Nehemiah. The events of the entire book span approximately 10 years.

The entire story pivots around two ancient curses that God had decreed in His Word. Haman, the anti-semitic Persian minister, is a descendent of King Agag (Esther 3:1) who was an Amalekite (1 Samuel 15:8).  The Amalekites themselves were descendents of Esau (Genesis 36:11-12) and thus were Edomites.  They were under a 1,000 year old curse from God because instead of giving aid, they fought with Moses and Israel when they were trying to enter Canaan. (Exodus 17:14-16) However, Haman was also under an even older curse dating back to Abraham’s time from Genesis 12:3 when God said, “

I will … curse him that curseth thee” [the descendents of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob]. Haman is called “the Jews enemy” (Esther 3:10), so he has brought these curses upon his own life.  

Mordecai (Heb: מָרְדֳּכַ֥י), Queen Esther’s cousin and legal guardian, is of the tribe of Benjamin. (Esther 2:5-7)  About 600 years prior to our story, King Saul, also of the tribe of Benjamin, had failed to destroy King Agag as God commanded and thus lost the kingdom to David (1 Samuel 15).  So now in the Purim story, we see another battle between a descendant of King Agag and a descendant of King Saul that almost causes the destruction of the Jewish people.  So a practical lesson to learn is the long term impact of our decisions.   Because King Saul did not follow God’s will perfectly, he put his future descendents, the Jewish people, into great jeopardy.

A constant theme of the book of Esther is that ‘things are not always the way they appear’.  The name “Esther” is from the word mistar ( מסתר) and

means ‘hiding place’. [Note: her Hebrew name is Hadassah ( הדסה ) (Esther 2:7) and means “myrtle”.]  Esther hid her Jewish identity per Mordecai’s instruction (see Esther 2:10)  The book of Esther has an element of suspense and the characters in the Purim story are different from what they at first appear to be  and thus it is longstanding Jewish tradition to celebrate Purim by dressing in costumes.   

Another very unusual fact about the book of Esther is that God’s name is never mentioned, yet we see God’s hand at work throughout the book on behalf of the Jewish people.  All the “coincidences” of the book are Divine appointments.  God leaves His fingerprints throughout the book for the reader looking for them. And … God’s name (יהוה ), the Tetragramaton, [a Greek word meaning ‘four letters’], is “hidden” as an acronym in Esther 5:4.

The book of Esther and the story of Purim should especially encourage us who love and support Israel. In our time, we again see anti-semitic Persian leaders who want to destroy Israel.  They are modern-day Hamans (Esther 3:6-10).   However, just like in Queen Esther’s day, God is secretly working to affect the deliverance of those whom He considers the “apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8) – the Jewish people.  Haman had engineered decrees to cause the total destruction of the Jewish people, but in one stroke, God turned certain annihilation into a day of deliverance and salvation and, “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.”  (Esther 8:16)  The 13th and 14th of the month Adar, which Haman had chosen to be days of destruction for the Jewish nation, became instead days of “gladness and feasting” and became the holiday of Purim. (Esther 9:19)  

Esther was probably afraid when she went before King Ahasuerus and she certainly BROKE PROTOCOL by doing so!  Persian protocol said that NO ONE, not even the Queen, could come before the King unless he called them.  She risked her life because the punishment was death.  Esther broke protocol and risked it all because she cared more about her people, the Jewish people, than she did about herself.  She was a true leader and hero!  Prime Minister Netanyahu did the same thing yesterday!  Most leaders today only take actions that enhance themselves, their ratings in the polls or their party.  It is nice to see a world leader who truly cares about his people.

Throughout the book of Esther we are constantly reminded that things are not as they at first appear because we don’t know the full story.  Mankind can never know the full story because we are not omniscient like God.  God is always at work in all situations, often in secret and often unseen, but He is there and so we cannot possibly know or understand until God reveals His part. We should also remember that God is interested in individuals as well as nations and He is working in secret, behind the scenes, in our individual lives to show us His perfect plan for our life. Often the way we do not understand may be God’s perfect plan and as Mordecai told Esther,  “who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” -Esther 4:14  
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Scrolls & Scribes

In Bible
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Scrolls and Scribes

  

The year was 73 AD and the Roman general Titus was determined to stamp out all efforts by the Jews of reclaiming their land and sovereignty.  He had marched the infamous Tenth legion from Rome to Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the Temple in 70 AD.  Determined to eradicate the last vestige of Jewish resistance he was now marching the Tenth Legion towards Masada – the fortress of Herod located on the Dead Sea where Jewish zealots had held the fortress for over a year.  As Titus marched down from Jerusalem towards the Salt Sea (Hebrew: יָם־הַמֶּ֖לַח – yam HaMelach), also called the Dead Sea, he discovered a small enclave of Essenes (Hebrew: אִסִּיִים – Eisi-im), living in a compound in the old City of Salt (Hebrew: עִיר־הַמֶּ֖לַח – Ere HaMelach) [ref. Joshua 15:62 – the Arabic name is Qumran]  During the Second Temple Period, there existed three major branches of Judaism: Pharisees, Saducees and the Essenes.  Josephus wrote about the Essenes and Pliny, a Roman writer, placed them at the City of Salt (Qumran).  The Essenes were scribes (Hebrew: sofer – סופר) from the root meaning ‘to count’ and lived a monastic life at Qumran. They had a large Scriptorium of scrolls (Hebrew – מגיללות – megillot) that they had copied of the T’nakh (except the book of Esther which they did not copy). Knowing the Romans were approaching and would destroy anything in their path, the Essenes hid the precious scrolls in the caves of the marl hills along the shore of the Salt Sea.  With Jewish sovereignty lost and the Temple gone,  the Jewish people entered the period known as the Diaspora (Greek: ‘dispersion’).  The Essenes of Qumran were no doubt killed by the Romans, but their scrolls lay safely hidden in secret until the time when the prophecies they contained would be fulfilled.

Approximately 68 years ago this month, (Feb. 1947) a Bedouin herdsman named Muhammed edh-Dhib Hasan threw a rock into a cave in an attempt to scare a lost goat out of the cave when he heard a breaking sound.  Upon exploring the cave, the young herdsman found the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) that had lain undisturbed for Millennia.  He later sold the scrolls to Kando, an antiquities dealer in Bethlehem.  Six months later, on November 29th, 1947, Professor Eleazar Sukenik of Hebrew University was preparing to travel by bus to the old city of East Jerusalem to possibly purchase three of these scrolls.  Professor Sukenik knew the scrolls were ancient and were worth the risk of traveling to East Jerusalem.  His son, Yigdal Yadin, who would later excavate Masada, was currently the chief of the Haganah (the precursor to the IDF).  As an archaeologist, Yigdal Yadin knew the scrolls were of monumental importance, but as a son, he wanted his father to stay home that day!  Professor Sukenik purchased the three scrolls on this day and simply wrapped them in newspaper and rode the bus back to the safety of West Jerusalem.  That evening, the UN voted to end the British Mandate of the land of Israel thus paving the way for the nation of Israel to be born six months later.  This great event was met by extreme celebration in the streets of West Jerusalem, but rioting followed in Arab controlled territories.  One city that saw much rioting was Aleppo, Syria and the great Aleppo synagogue was burned and destroyed.  This synagogue had housed the much revered Aleppo Codex – the most ancient and accurate copy of the entire T’nakh in existence.  Written by the famous Masoretic scribe Aaron ben Asher around 1,000 AD, it was the source of the Masoretic text and the master copy of every Torah scroll in every synagogue throughout the land. 

Professor Sukenik would eventually purchase all seven of the original Dead Sea Scrolls for Israel (today they are housed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem).  One of those seven is the great Isaiah scroll written only about 500 years after Isaiah had written the original.  When compared with the Isaiah scroll of the Masoretic text, (written about 1,000 years later), the differences are minimal spelling differences thus proving the great care and accuracy of the Masoretic scribes who preserved the Word of God down through the centuries for us today.

Isaiah was a great patriot of Israel and wrote about the day of the nation’s rebirth that Professor Sukenik and others of his day were witnessing before their eyes:  “Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” – Isaiah 43:5-6   The rediscovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at this exact time in history was a miracle of monumental proportions!
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The Glorious Land

In Israel
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The Glorious Land

  

In all the T’nakh, the word אֶ֥רֶץ – eretz (Heb: ‘land’) occurs 2,400 times making it the 4th most frequently used noun in the Hebrew Bible!  Which makes it a pretty important topic!!  Eretz first occurs in the Hebrew text in Genesis 1:10 and is translated as ‘Earth’, however, the majority of the time, the word eretz refers to the Land of Israel.  The phrase, ‘land flowing with milk and honey’ is 

אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָ֑שׁ (eretz zavat chalav vd’vesh) and occurs 20 times in the T’nakh and of course always refers to Israel.  God Himself ‘coined’ this phrase and used it five times to describe Canaan – the land He was giving to Israel: Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; and Lev. 20:24. 

It is important to know God’s perspective on Israel and the Biblical names for this land.  It was also referred to as the Land of Canaan (Gen. 12:5; 17:8) and of course became the land of Israel. Ezekiel said it was, “… the glory of all lands” (Ez. 20:6, 15)  while Daniel said it was “the glorious land” (Dan. 11:16, 41). Moses explained that it was a land that God cared for in an unusual way: “A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” (Deut. 11:12)    

 

From the start of their existence, the Jewish people are bound up with the land of Israel.  The reason revolves around the calling God had for Abram’s descendents.  God laid out His plan at the very start in the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12:1-3, saying, “in thee [Abram and his descendents] shall all families of the earth be blessed.”  If the Jewish people were to be a blessing to all people, then they needed to be centrally located to the nations to carry out this task.  Israel is a natural land bridge between three continents: Africa, Europe and Asia.  Trade routes that connected the known world criss-crossed Canaan making it the hub of the world.  God states specifically that the blessing rested upon Abram being in, “a land that I will shew thee.” Gen. 12:1    

The Israeli Declaration of Independence, drafted on May 15th, 1948 begins: “The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.”  I love the phrase, “eternal Book of Books” which refers to the Bible of course.  The pens that wrote the Bible were held by hands of Jewish writers from the land of Israel.  Daniel’s use of the phrase, “the glorious land” certainly is fitting for the place that produced the Bible.  

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The Lowest Spot on Earth

In Israel
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The Lowest Spot on Earth

 

Last week we studied the Jordan river which begins at Israel’s highest peak, Mt. Hermon (elevation 9,232 ft. ), flows down what is called the Jordan Rift Valley and empties into the Dead Sea (elevation – 1,200 feet below sea level).  The name ‘Dead Sea’ is the English name while the Hebrew is: יָ֥ם הַמֶּֽלַח  – ‘yom HaMelach’ – ‘salt sea’.  It is first mentioned in the T’nakh in Genesis 14:3 as the general area where the king of Sodom, Gomorah and Zoar among others lived.  Previously in Genesis 13, Abram had given Lot the choice of land.  Gen. 13:10 says, “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD...”.  God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their wicked ways in Genesis 19, but since the salt sea is mentioned in Gen. 14, we know the location of Sodom and Gomorah was not the current spot of the Dead Sea, but it was very close to the area.  Some archaeologists believe Sodom was at the north east tip of the Dead Sea.   Numbers 34 tells us that the Dead Sea was the eastern border of the promised land. 

 

In the ancient world, salt (Hebrew: מֶּֽלַח – melach) was often used as currency because it was precious.  The Latin word ‘salarium‘ designates a type of payment using salt as the currency – which is how Roman soldiers were sometimes paid.  The English word ‘salary’ derives from this Latin word and the saying, “he was worth his salt” refers to this idea.  Ancient Jewish commentaries say that Lot went to Sodom “for the salt” (ie, the economic value) and this explanation fits with Genesis 13:10 and helps us to understand the clear symbolism of God’s punishment to those who looked back at Sodom (like Lot’s wife) by being turned into a pillar of salt.

As you can see in the computer image at right, the Dead Sea lies in the Jordan Rift Valley which extends from Mt. Hermon to Eliat (and actually continues on underneath the Red Sea towards Africa). The water that flows into the Dead Sea is trapped and has no outlet and therefore has a very high salt content.  The salinity of the water of the Dead Sea is about 32%, much higher than the ocean.  Even though this is too high for any life to inhabit the waters (hence its name), the mud of the Dead Sea contains great healing properties for those with skin diseases and Dead Sea skin care products are famous worldwide.

Sometimes God’s path for our life includes “low spots” and maybe we also feel “trapped” – like there is no way out.  A good Bible example is found in the life of Elijah who was no doubt the greatest of the prophets.  The New Testament book of James specifically mentions Elijah as being a man of prayer and a man whose prayers were answered.  But when this great prophet and man of prayer was in a very “low spot” in his ministry, he asked God to take his life! (see 1 Kings 19)  However, Elijah was one of only two people (Enoch being the other) that would never die, but would be taken directly to heaven.  God intervened in Elijah’s life and sent an angel who cared for him so that eventually he not only continued his ministry, but it was even larger than what he had before the ‘low spot’.  Ezekiel 47:8-9 is a future prophecy that one day, God will heal the waters of the Dead Sea so that it will bring forth “a very great multitude of fish”. As God did for Elijah of old, and as He will do for the Dead Sea in the future, God can bring healing and great productivity out of the ‘low points’ in our life if we trust Him with them. 

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The Way Up is Down

In Word Study
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The Way Up is Down

 

Often if we travel in Israel, we hear the phrase ‘to make aliyah’ – meaning to permanently immigrate to Israel. The word ‘aliyah’ is derived from the root עלה (alah) – meaning to ‘go up’ or ‘to ascend’. Literally it means simply to ‘go up’ (as it going up steps).  Since Jerusalem is located in the Judean hill country, any traveler going there is literally ‘going up’. In the T’nakh, we always read that anyone going to Jerusalem is ‘going up” while leaving Jerusalem is referred to as ‘going down’.  The same is true with going to and coming from Israel.  

This week we are discussing the root ירד (yarad) which has just the opposite meaning – to go down or to descend.  A bit about the geography of Israel will help us in understanding these two roots and the words formed from them. The western border of Israel is of course, the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern border is the Jordan river. Interestingly enough, ‘Jordan’ is a Hebrew word  (Hebrew: יַרְדֵּן (yarden) [Strong’s #909] and is formed from the root ירד (yarad).  The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) states that in the T’nakh, “almost all of the 183 occurrences of the word, with the exception of poetical passages (Job 40:23; Psalms 42:6), are with the definite article [the Hebrew letter hey – ה which translates as ‘the’].” So when you look up ‘Jordan’ in the T’nakh, the Hebrew is spelled הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן and is translated as ‘the Jordan’. Most scholars derive the name, Jordan, from the verb יָרַד “to descend,” and hence the Jordan is also called “the descender.”  

This is true not only etymologically speaking, but also geographically speaking. The Jordan is formed by four small springs along the lower slopes of Mount Hermon which is the tallest peak in Israel. One of these springs is near the location of Dan, Israel’s northernmost city (Judges 18:29). The Jordan flows through the Hula Valley and then onwards through a basalt rock gorge to the Sea of Galilee. The river reforms at the south end of the Sea of Galilee and descends to the Dead Sea, 1290 feet below sea level – the lowest spot on earth. The Jordan descends approx. 2,000 feet from Mt. Hermon in the Golan Heights to the Dead Sea following the Great Rift Valley (which extends onward to the great lakes of Africa). Since the much of the land of Israel is situated between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the Jordan valley on the east, travel is usually always either ‘up’ or ‘down’.  And since Jerusalem is the geographical and spiritual focus of the Bible, travelers are either ‘going up’ to Jerusalem or ‘going down’ from it.  

God always teaches us spiritual truths using physical means that we are familiar with.  Concerning the root, yarad, the TWOT states, “there is also the feeling of moving from a place of prominence to one of lesser importance, i.e. from the temple or palace to a private house (e.g. 2 Samuel 11:9f.). Further to come down is to leave one’s place of prestige, to humble oneself (Isaiah 47:1; Jeremiah 48:18).”  The root (ירד) – yarad is also used in the phrase “to go down to Egypt” meaning to leave the promised land to dwell among people outside of  the covenant. It also meant to forsake God and to seek the help of man which would fail (Isaiah 30:2; 31:1). The root yarad is also used to describe God ‘descending’ to earth from Heaven. We have several pictures in the T’nakh. God descended on Mt. Sinai in fire (Exodus 19:18) and on the Tabernacle He appeared in a pillar of cloud (Exodus 40:34). God came down to earth to investigate man’s wickedness both at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:5) and at Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20). God also comes down to bring salvation to his people; e.g., He appeared to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 3:8). 

 

Until I studied this root, I could not understand why Jesus choose to be baptized in the Jordan instead of the Sea of Galilee.  The bulk of His ministry was around the shores of Galilee.  Why did He travel to the Jordan for His baptism? Now I realize that He was teaching us a most important lesson!  God was once again descending to earth and this time, to save the whole world. John the Baptist, standing on the banks of this very river Jordan, identified Jesus this way as recorded in John 1:29: “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Speaking of the humility of Jesus, the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 2:7-8, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Matthew records Jesus’ words to His disciples concerning ambition just prior to His final visit to Jerusalem: “Are ye able … to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Matthew 20:22) Today many Christians want to be baptized in the Jordan river because Jesus was baptized there. However, the physical location of baptism is not what is important!  They are missing the entire point. One of the marks of a disciple of Yeshua is humility. Truly Yeshua descended more than any living person, leaving Heaven to come to earth and take on the form of man so that He could identify with mankind and bear the sins of mankind.  Thus Yeshua, the greatest “descender”, was baptized in the river known as “the descender” to teach us  this great truth! 
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