BEYOND THE DALETH HOPE בטח

Transcription

1 BEYOND THE DALETH HOPE בטח Ecclesiastes 9:4: For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. how hard it must be to live only with what one knows and what one remembers, cut off from which one hopes for there can be no peace without hope. Albert Camus The Plague. A living dog is better than a dead lion. Now I suppose that is supposed to mean something? In the first century the school of Hillel and the House of Shammai both questioned whether the Book of Ecclesiastes should be include in the Canon as it was book filed with despair and hopelessness. It was like a primer for existentialism. It gave no meaning to life and in fact suggested that life was worthless. It does not matter whether you are rich or poor, in the end the rich die just like the

2 poor and the cycle of life continues. So why work and struggle all your life and then go to a grave. Such thoughts give rise to hedonism. Just live for the moment and find all the enjoyment you can. The Talmud, however, instructs us that Ecclesiastes is telling us that what is done under the sun is of no value as it will pass away. However, what is done above the sun will have eternal value. Our focus should be not on what will quickly pass away but on that which will continue to exist. Thus, our existence on this earth is only to prepare that which has eternal value. So long as we are alive we have hope,. A dog in this context is considered a vile animal, not the domesticated animals we are familiar with today. A lion was considered to be a noble animal. Yet it is better to be a vile beast and to be alive than to be a noble animal and be dead. We can envy the wealth, power and fame of JP Morgan but he is dead and wherever he is and whatever he accomplished for eternity is long past. But here we are alive and we still can accomplish something of eternal value. It is interesting that the word used for hope which is the central thought here is the Hebrew word batach. Batach is the word used for trust, security, to confide in, to cling to and to have confidence in. Using the English word hope is seems to be stretching it a bit. The basic thought is that the opportunity we have in being alive is to trust and to cling to something. The word batach is spelled Beth, Teth and Cheth. Can the meaning of life be spelled out in these three letters. Well, I tell you, right now the meaning for life for me is to just get some sleep, it has been a long day and I keep dozing off

3 so I think I will just shut down my computer, close my Hebrew Bible here and. Say what? Batach, is that you? It s time to go to bed, go on get some sleep. No you are not going to jump through my Looking Glass hanging from my Daleth, it is just too late at night to visit Hebrew Esoteric Land. Oh, so you want to show my me own personal journey with you Batach (hope). I know that journey and I want come back here you, you you Hebrew word you. He s gone, that crazy Batach has so many different English words that if you follow him you will never know what he means. Batch can be a very individual word. Well, I guess I will have to go after him. Come on you can follow me behind my Looking Glass, maybe you will find your own English word for Batch, but I need to caution you that this can be a very personal journey and Batach may look different to you that he does not me. So as I step behind my Looking Glass I find a bright, sunny day. Birds are singing, grass is growing, not a dark cloud in the sky. This ain t too bad, it is better weather than we have been seeing in Chicago of late. It is close to zero on the other side of my Looking Glass. Ah ha, there he is, that first letter to Batach, the Beth and he is waving to me. I think he wants me to visit him in his home. You see Beth represents a house and boy he does have a very comfortable home, with a nice white picket fence, well cared for lawn surrounded by flowers. My landlord is selling the building I live in and I am in the market for a new home, I could go with something like this. We go inside where Beth serves a cup of tea just the way I like it. We start to have a nice conversation about the weather, the Blackhawks Hockey team winning the World Series. Excuse me I mean the Super Bowl. What s that? Whose Stanley? What do I care about the cup he drinks his tea out of. What do you mean he doesn t want to drink tea out of that cup? Beth, you have been hanging around Batch too much, you are not making sense. I am finding this

4 conversation is getting pretty boring as I can t make any sense out of it at all. Beth admits he is a pretty boring fellow. I kind of yawn and wonder if this is all there is to my visit to Hebrew Esoteric Land, I mean I could be getting some good sleep right now and Huh? I am? I couldn t be dreaming all this Wow what was that? There is a sudden gush of wind outside. We look out the window and see a snow storm approaching. Oh my Gosh, I shout, it s the Boston Snow Blizzard and it followed us into Esoteric Land. Beth picks up the phone and calls his friend Teth over as it appears things are going to get pretty exciting and we will need some shelter. Teth, the second letter to Batch, appears having arrived by riding on a gust of a powerful wind and some nasty looking snow clouds. Beth and I run to meet him just as the storm dumps him on Beth s doorstep. Beth did not think his house could stand up against such a powerful storm and Teth is built like a readymade shelter, a half circle with two arrows like points at the top which are pointing inward. The arrows seem to indicate self-examination. Beth and I dive inside just as another gust of wind picks Teth up, with us inside and begins to bounce us around Esoteric Land. Feeling the end is near I being to do some pretty heavy self-examination. Beth explains to me that his friend Teth has a direct link to the creator as he is the first letter to the Hebrew word Tov which is goodness or harmony with God. It is this self inward examination, like I am doing now, that helps to bring us into harmony with God. Outside the storm rages. Teth is being bounced around like a rubber ball in a tennis match and inside it feels like we are on a roller coaster. Well, said Beth this is a little more exciting than inside my house and trying to explain Hockey to

5 you, wouldn t you say? You re right, I reply, I could care less about this fellow Stanley and his cup. But, oh, your poor house! We take a peek at the outside in time to see Beth s beautiful little house being blown away in the storm. Beth just shrugged and said: No big thing, it was not built to last and it was getting a little boring anyways, in a few months Stanley s Cup will not be an issue anyways. Suddenly Teth calls out: Hang on the storm is really about to hit and hit it did and we were tossed around bruised, battered and beaten, but Beth was smiling and said; Far out, what a ride. Finally we came to rest against a huge tree. I looked out and found it was not a tree but it was Chet, the last letter to the Hebrew word Batach (hope) who represents a unity or binding with God. Beth and I climbed out of the Teth. The storm is past and I trudge through two feet of snow back to my Looking Glass. As I walked away I saw Beth, Tet and Chet (Batch hope) waving at me. They formed the word Batach or hope. I could not help but think that this is the hope mentioned in Ecclesiastes 9:4. Perhaps the translators were correct to render Batch as hope in this case. There is a time for peace and comfort with Beth, but a time of raging storms where we are seeking shelter in the Teth but it is when Chet joins up with Beth and Tet to form Batch (hope) that the good times roll and the bad as well, that all contributes to a binding together with God. The good times and bad have no value unless it is joined by the Chet to give it eternal value. I mean a hundred years from now nobody will care whether Stanley finds his cup or not. I return from behind the Looking Glass understanding the message of Ecclesiastes. Whatever we experience in this world is short lived. What we do with those experiences can have eternal value if we use them to help bind us to God. So if

6 you happen to see a Hawk that is Black, tell him not to worry about Stanley s cup, it won t matter in the long run, he can drink his tea out of a glass, what s the diff? Devotional Genesis 2:7 Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim: Genesis 2:7: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. I remember attending a rather boisterous prayer meeting where everyone was praying at once and out loud. There was one old boy who was really wailing and repeating over and over: Oh, Lord, I am but dust I suppose he was impling that but dust meant he was nothing. Well, I will admit but(t) dust sounds pretty low but if he was referring to aphar which is rendered as dust in Genesis 2:7, that could border on bragging. What we think of when we hear the word dust is very fine particles of skin, dead dust mites, fine dirt, etc. It is everything on earth that has been broken down to it s lowest component. What is thought provoking is that God fashioned man out of these dead broken down particles. If you check it out, you find that man is the only creature to be made from the Aphar adamah (dust of the soil). Genesis 1:24 tells us he made the creatures of the earth from the Ha eres not from the Aphar (dust) or the adamah (soil)..

7 In the creation story we have a reference to the Ha eres, which is often rendered as land or soil, and the Ha adamah which also refers to the land or soil but is mainly a reference to fertile land and soil. With man specifically we have the word Aphar which we render as dust. All three mean something different. Looking at these words carefully we discover a major difference between man and animals. Animals were merely formed from the Ha eres which is a reference to everything in the land, rocks, sand, soil, etc. Man, however, was formed from the Aphar of the Ha adamah. Ha adamah comes from the root word adam and is a reference to the life producing soil and God breathed a spirit (nephesh) into man and not into animals. However, we have other references in the Old Testament where animals had a nephesh. So this is not what sets man apart from animals. What does set us apart from Riley the cat is that he was not made with Aphar like man. The question comes up as to what is this aphar? Is it just fine particles ground down into microscopic size and blown in the wind? Is it the molecues or atoms or the Ha adam (soil)? I have heard of Christians experiencing gold dust falling during worship services. Analysis of these particles show it is not gold. Maybe this is not gold dust but aphar? This is the dust God used to form man? It is a sign that God has returned man to his original state before the fall. Somewhere in the history of the church some scholars with the right credentials examined the Hebrew word aphar and declared aphar to mean dust in English. These scholars saw that such a rendering was good and therefore anyone to suggest anything more from the word aphar would be a heretic. Yet, there appears to be something special about aphar and perhaps dust is not our best rendering, although I have no

8 idea what we could render it as. Looking at this word esoterically we find it is spelled Ayin, Pe, Resh. Right away I see Mind (Ayin), Body (Pe) and Spirit (Resh). The dust gave man a connection with both the natural world and the Spiritual word. This is something the animals do not have. The Ayin speaks of the mind, or deep insight. It implies the ability to reason and communicate. Now we know animals can communicate with each other and as a believer I believe they can communicate with God. However, no matter how developed an animal is in communicating, it can not form a language with grammar and syntax to carry on a conversation. For man to have a free will, he must have a language. This is the difference between an animal and man, an animal does not have a free will, it only acts on instincts. We are made from aphar and animals are not. Perhaps this dust, Ayin, Pe, Resh in Hebrew, really has a Resh a spiritual element, a light, something that forms a connection with the spiritual world and allows the Spirit of God to dwell in us. At the fall this capacity was closed, but because of the death and resurrection of Jesus our bodies can now be the temple of God as it was intended to be. Until the redemptive work of Jesus, God could only dwell in an early temple, but now, as both Jesus and Paul taught, our bodies are the temple of God. An animal s body can not be a temple of God as it was not formed from this mysterious aphar (dust). I have noticed, like you may have noticed, that sometimes an animal will pause from his activity and look up at me. I have studied the word dominion (radah) among rabbis. It is felt by many that the root word is really yarad to come down and flow rather than radah which means to subdue. In others when God gave us dominion over the animals, He did not mean for us to subdue the animals but to come down to their level and flow with the animals. It is believed that this understanding of the word dominion is how the angels shut the mouths of the lions in Daniel s lion den. Daniel came to

9 the lion s level of worship of their creator. The animal kingdom longs to be close it it s creator. Perhaps that is why a squirrel pauses for a moment to stare at you. It is not you but his creator that he senses. I once made a business call on some clients. I had never been in the home of these clients. When I came to the door a rather vicious German Shepherd threw himself against the screen door barking like he was ready to turn me into dinner. Because I had been in a meditative state while traveling to the clients, I was not thinking clearly and I did a foolish thing. I opened the screen door and put out my hand to the dog. The dog instantly became calm (I do not recommend this move, nor do I plan on repeating it). The owner looked surprise and said: Oh, I guess it is ok. He then went to his wife, whisper something about the dog being ok and then led me to the living room. As I sat on the sofa the wife suddenly addressed her husband and said; Honey look! She pointed to their cat who had entered the room and was just sitting and staring at me. The man said: That is really weird, every time a stranger comes into the house our cat runs to the bedroom and hides under the bed. I can t believe he is just sitting there. As I said, on my way to the appointment I have been in a meditative state, actually I call it a Devekut which I explained in an earlier study. I was still coming out of my Devekut and I did not realize that I responded by saying:: Well he just knows who his creator is. Boy did I have some explaining to do on that one However, I really believe that being formed from the dust or Aphar we are a notch above the animal kingdom giving us the privilege of carrying the living, loving life of Jesus Christ inside of us and also being given the duty of having dominion over the animals, or to lower ourselves to the animal s level so we can flow with the animals and nature in praising and worshipping our creator. The animals know who their creator is. (End of part I)

10 Devotional Genesis 44:18 Good Afternoon Yamon Ki Yesepar; Genesis 44:18: Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my Lord, let they servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my Lord s ears Oh, my Lord, let they servant, I pray thee is one that has no English equivalent. From the context we can pretty well guess what is being said: Joseph s brothers are standing before the prime minister of Egypt, who has the power of life and death over them. Now they face an accusation of stealing from the Pharaoh himself. Their lives looked like they were not worth one Darnius. Judah, stepping forward to offer a defense, such as it was, to the prime minister addresses the prime minister by Bi adoni yedaver na avedeka, devar be azeni Bi adoni, yedaver na is literally: Oh, my lord let (your servant) speak. It is that little word na that is difficult to translate, particularly when in a construct state with yedever which is in a cohorative form. Here s the problem. Sure he was being respectful before the kings right hand man having no idea it was his own brother he was speaking to, yet the address is used to express a oneness with someone. Perhaps Judah was making an appeal to the very basic nature of the prime minister, you are human like us. This would make sense. For one thing Judah is acknowledging that Joseph is like Pharaoh, but he is not a god like Pharaoh or he at least has a human side. The Pharaohs were looked upon as gods, and not totally human. Judah is appealing to the human part of this prime minister by saying we are alike in that. It then follows that he brings up the question Joseph asked earlier that they did have a father who loved the

11 brother that the prime minister wanted to hold as a hostage. He was appealing to the human emotions of fatherly love. It was a pretty gutsy thing for Judah, to declare that the prime minister was human and to appeal to that side. No wonder the lion is associated with Judah. Yet, maybe too, without realizing it he may have accidentally used a Hebrew expression which proved prophetic. For the Jews believe in the oneness of the Jewish people and thus they had a oneness with Joseph. This expression may have deeply touched Joseph. The Mishnah teaches: Who is the one who has honor, he who gives honor to other people as it says: those who honor Me I will honor, those who denigrate me I will curse. The Mishnah is here relating to the honor given God to the honor of men. The Jewish people believe they are as one person, therefore any honor given to another Jew is honor to God and the Jew giving the honor. Any fault that exists in another Jew is present in that person who points it out. Hope you don t mind if I quote Buddha, but he did say something very significant to a man who was insulting him. He said: Your insult is like spitting at heaven. The spittle will only return to defile your own face. In other words, if you re insulting me you re insulting yourself. So too the for the Jewish people, if you praise another Jew you are praising God and yourself, if you denigrate someone you are denigrating God and yourself for all Jews are as one. If one Jew has a fault, all Jews share that fault. If one Jew has honor all Jews share that honor. This is best explained from a story in the Talmud (Taanis 20b). Rabbi Shimon Ben Eluzer met a certain person who was ugly. When he saw the person he remarked, How ugly you are. The man replied: Then you should go and complain to the one who made me. Rabbi Shimon then realized his error and asked the man to forgive him.

12 Abraham Lincoln once went for a ride on his horse through what many years later would be named Roosevelt Park. He happened upon a woman also riding a horse through the park. She stopped and looked at this man on a horse and remarked: You sir, are probably the ugliest man in the world. Lincoln replied: Madam, you may be right, but there is nothing I can do about it. She remarked as she rode off: Well, you could at least stay inside. She did not realize she was addressing the President of the United States. So what does all this have to say for ourselves. Well, are we as believers not one in Jesus Christ? So if we insult or denigrate another believer, we are denigrating not only ourselves but Jesus as well. You don t like what some believer is doing, well complain to God before you call him a toad and blast him out of the water.