INTO THE CATSKILLS YOU RE A BETTER MAN GUNGA DIN

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1 INTO THE CATSKILLS YOU RE A BETTER MAN GUNGA DIN Jeremiah 1:6, Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak: for I [am] a child. One of the great lessons that the Catskills have been teaching me is just how small and insignificant I am in light of this great beauty of majesty of God s creation. I wonder if He could ever use someone as small and as imperfect as I am to accomplish anything for His kingdom. Before I left for the Catskills I watched an old movie called Gunga Din (pronounced as deen) which was very loosely based upon Rudyard Kipling s poem by the same name. The last lines of the poem however were quoted in the movie and really expressed the true nature of the British soldier who lamented the death of the water bearer who saved his life and pondered the unsolved riddle of love. Unlike the Cary Grant s character who was very benevolent to Gunga Din this soldier had been very cruel, abusive and condescending to the young servant whose only job was to carry water for the soldiers. Yet, this humble Indian servant laid down his life to spare the life of this British soldier. This soldier only saw an

2 ignorant, uncouth, Indian servant who did not have the dignity of a British military officer. Someone whose only value in life was to bear water for the British soldiers. Yet in the end this British officer realized that Gunga Din was just as much a creation of God as he was and in the long run this humble servant was a better man the he. Tho s I ve belted you and flayed you, By the livin Gawd that made you, You re a better man than I am, Gunga Din. As I reflected on Kipling s poem I could not help but think of Jeremiah. Jeremiah never really wanted to be a prophet. I was told in Bible College that he resisted the call of a prophet because he knew of its dangers. Yet when I analyze Jeremiah 1:6 I get more of a picture of a man who was like Gunga Din. It wasn t that he was afraid more than he felt totally inadequate. We are led to believe that God dragged poor Jeremiah into the prophetic ministry kicking and screaming. Yet, look at his response to his call. I said, Ah, Lord, I cannot speak because I am a child. The word for child is na ar which could mean a servant or a young maiden. This is not your typical word for a child which is yalad. Na ar comes from an old Persian word meaning to boil. In other Semitic languages it has the idea of being agitated or stirred up which is a picture of boiling water. It eventually came to be associated with a young child or a baby who is constantly being stirred up and crying and whining. It is often used in the Hebrew and Aramaic for a baby about three months old. So what Jeremiah was saying is that he could not be a prophet because he is as helpless as a three month old baby, why he cannot even speak. The word used for speak is dabar which are words spoken from the heart. He is basically saying that he cannot even express his own heart, how is he going to express the heart of God.

3 We really get the true motive behind his response from the use of the word ah. In Hebrew this is ahah and is merely an injection. But this particular interjection is an express of helplessness and self-pity. Jeremiah is really saying, Oh, Lord, I am just a simple man, I cannot speak eloquently like those other prophets, I am not gifted and talented like they are. I mean look at these others who call themselves prophets, why when the prophesy it is like pure poetry flowing from their lips, they are charismatic, handsome, flamboyant, and I am just a simple Gunga Din with no other talent than to bear water for these other warriors. Yet God responds by saying, Don t be afraid for I am with thee. That word with thee is iteka which means more than just with thee, it is an expression of saying, I am in a relationship with you, I am as near as your heart. With that assurance Jeremiah set forth on his prophetic ministry only to be mocked, ridiculed and tossed into prison. Yet, in the end God did a mighty work from this humble man who felt he was so small and insignificant. I look around at the mighty mountains, the moving streams and I cry out, Who am I that God could use me. Yet, God is saying I am His instrument and it is in His power and His might that whatever I accomplish in life will be done through Him. I have a relationship with Him and He is as near to me and as close to me as my heart. HEBREW WORD STUDY

4 FORETELLER OR PROPHET Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: Malachi 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. If one foretells the future and the events come true, he has succeeded. If a prophet foretells the future and the events come true, he has failed. Old Rabbinic teaching. Someone recently pointed out to me that the word turn and curse are not your usual words in Hebrew for turn and curse. I feel I would have to agree. The word turn used in Malachi 4:6 is hashiv which means a turning in the sense of restoration rather than just turning around or turning to look at something. It is in a Hiphal perfect form. Initially I felt it was an infinitive construct but grammatically that would not fit, so I would agree with Davidson who points out that this is in a Hiphal perfect form. It is Elijah the prophet who will come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. This is a prophetic event that speaks of a

5 certain time. In Christianity we teach that this was fulfilled with John the Baptist. Although I had problems with the birth of Christ as a dreadful day. That word dreadful in the Hebrew is yara which could also mean marvelous or glorious. That softens it a little. The reference is also to the house of Israel and it is generally agreed by Biblical scholars both Christian and Jewish that this is a reference to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob returning to the beliefs of their fathers. Some believe that the sharp divisions caused by the school of Hillel and Shammai were restored at the coming of Jesus. The early Christians were Jews who forgot their petty differences created by the contradictory teaching of Hillel and Shammai and were united under their love for Jesus their Messiah. Today the Jews are looking for the literal return of the Elijah to herald the coming of the Messiah. They will even open a door during the ceremony of the Passover to symbolically welcome the coming of Elijah who will unite all the Jews of the world. What gets my attention in these passages is the fact that the prophet is prophesying that Elijah is going to come to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers and if this does not happen, the earth is going to be smitten with a curse. I will smite the earth with a curse in the text is hikethi eth ha arets charam. Hikethi is a Hiphal perfect form of nakah. Hence the earth is already

6 smitten with this curse. It is like, you know, too late, we ve got the disease, what we need now is the cure. The cure is the uniting of the hearts of the children with their fathers. The hearts of the father to the children should be read a little differently. There is considerable debate of the rendering of the Hebrew word al. The word is commonly rendered as with but many translators insist it should be to. There is a subtle difference between restoring the hearts of the fathers to their children rather that with their children. I believe we should go with the traditional rendering of the word al as with. Hence the hearts of the fathers are restored with the children and the children with the fathers. This would be more in keeping with an old Semitic idiom, the child s heart is with his father. This is to say, he is in agreement. It is often said that the best settlement to a business deal is where neither party walks away happy but are in agreement. In other words, neither party got all that they wanted but they met somewhere in the middle and found acceptable terms which they could agree upon. This is kind of the idea behind that Semitic idiom. The hearts of the fathers are in agreement with the hearts of the children, he may not go along with everything, but they do agree on the important issues, we call it a compromise. Compromise is a dirty word among many Christians. Unless you believe exactly the way I believe you are going to hell and don t you even try to get me to bend on my dispensational view of the rapture. Yet when we stand in the presence of Jesus who came on that great and glorious day it is not going to matter whether we are dispensational theology, covenant theology, replacement theology, orthodox theology or whatever theology. All that matters is that we love Him. It won t matter if He turns out to be a Capulet or a Montague, that

7 Rose by any theology still smells as sweet. Yet, if we do not unite under one common bond of love in Jesus Christ, we will come under the curse that has smitten this earth. The word curse is a very unusual word to be rendered as curse. It is the word charam in Hebrew. In its Semitic origins it comes from a Canaanite word meaning to flatten one s nose. As it passed through the Semitic languages it took on the idea of tearing off one s nose or mutilating. It became known as defacing, scorched earth, making something ugly. The nose is really the focal point of one s beauty. If someone does any cosmetic surgery usually the first thing to be changed is the nose. You rip off someone s nose and they will instantly become ugly. I believe that is the curse that God is speaking of here. The reference is to petty doctrinal issues like those that arose between the schools of Hillell and Shammai. The infighting becomes so great within the church that they can rip the nose off of God and turn Him into something ugly. One of the greatest curses charams or making ugly on the church today is all it s infighting over petty theological issues. People on the outside watching all the infighting, arguing, and petty disputes will say, I cannot be a part of your God, he is too charam, ugly. The wonderful thing about a prophet foretelling the future as opposed to a foreteller of the future is that the prophet s prediction does not have to come true if you follow certain rules. In this case if the heart of the father is with the heart of the child, that is if they agree on the most important issue that the great and marvelous day of the Lord has come with the loving appearance of Jesus Christ, then this charam, curse, or ugliness will not fall upon the church.

8 I fear with many parts of the church today, the prophet Malachi has failed, his prediction has come true. WORD STUDY THE ASAPHITES Psalms 77:2: In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. The title of this Psalm attributes it to Asaph. Little is known about Asaph. The traditional view is that he the chief musician. However, I always had problems with that because a chief musician would have lived a sheltered life and this old boy seems to have gone through some real trials. But, he s an artist and an artist suffers. Still it is a little odd that someone who wrote 12 Psalms (50, 73-83) would not have had more biographical information given about him.

9 I tend to lean more towards my liberal brethren s viewpoint which is that Asaph was an office and not one person. Although, there were individuals named Asaph, when applied to the Psalms it was really not a person but a religious sect or a musical sect. More than that, it was a group of prophets who prophesied through music. Ok, am I getting some of you to warm up to my foray into liberalism? Actually, when you look at these twelve Psalms through textual criticism, which incorporates the style and various Hebrew dialects, of these twelve Psalms you find it is impossible to believe it could have been written by the same person. It would have had to encompass people from various points of geographical origin. These musically gifted people formed a little club (let s call it that) and call themselves Asaphites. Like I said the Asaphites were a prophetic group. Even my liberal friends own up to that. I often wonder if in these last days we will see a new Asaphite movement where musically gifted prophets will arise and minister to the saints who are going through deep trials. The word asaph in its root form means a harvest or a fulfilled prophecy. It is believed by some that it could come from a Semitic root meaning a portal. Thus, the Ashaphites may have called themselves by this name to suggest that their music helps to open a portal to the heavenly realm. If quantum physics has anything to say about it they teach that music is simply vibrations, everything has a certain vibration and hence God created the world through vibrations. When the vibrations of music comes close to the creative vibrations of God, a portal to the heavenly realm could open or possibly it could help usher in fulfilled prophecy. Remember in Luke 8:46 where the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus and he said that power or virtue went out from him. In the Aramaic that word is chayla which means vibrations. But I digress, back to Psalms 77. Look at Psalms 77, particularly at verse 2, can you relate? I

10 believe more and more in these troubled times believers will begin to relate to the Psalms of the Asaphites or these vibrators. In the day of trouble. I ve talked about this word trouble or sarar which means a distress, a distress so great that you can t think, you can t enjoy anything, you can t sleep, all you do is think about your trouble. That is sarar. We all go through it. So you seek the Lord, but nothing seems to happen. Your sore runs into the night. The word sore is yad which means hand or could also mean human strength. This runs into the night and does not cease. The word runs is nagar which has the idea of being poured out. The word cease is pug which is used in an imperfect tense. Pug has the idea of being chilled or frozen. Water runs until it is frozen then it stops. Thus his strength is being poured out into the night then freezes. Night is the worst. During the day you have many distractions but at night there are no distractions and your sarar (trouble) really takes hold of you at that point and chills you to the bone. Your soul at that point refuses to be comforted. Ever feel that way? If you do this Psalm is for you. Check out the prophetic word that is given in this song found in verse 6: I call to remembrance my song in the night. The word song here is neganah. The root word is nagan spelled Nun, Gimmel and Nun. This is a song that keeps repeating itself. Ever have one of those tunes in your head and you can t get it out. That s a neganah. Only this tune that keeps repeating itself is one of faith and lovingkindness. I could picture the Asaphites singing this song or Psalm. It would start off slow and melancholy then as you approach verse

11 6 it picks up to a regular Fats Waller catchy rhythm with hand clapping and dancing. Before long that tune get s stuck in your head and you keep singing it over and over and over and can t get it out of your head. But that is good, because it is a tune of the Spirit of God that delivers you from your sarar (trouble). So next time you go through a sarar and you can t sleep or you can t enjoy anything, ask the Spirit of God to give you a neganah. If you enjoy the Hebrew Studies please like our facebook page, join our mailing list and/or pass along the Word Studies to friends and family. Thank you and we truly appreciate all your support! WORD STUDY STEALING GOD S WORDS Jeremiah 23:30: Therefore, behold, I am against the prophet says the Lord, that steal my words everyone from his

12 neighbor. I ve got a million of em. Jimmy Durante During the eighties when I was teaching Hebrew in a Bible College I started having students come to me asking to explain the word wait as found in Isaiah 40:31, They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. I explained it came from the Hebrew word kavah which is a process of binding. It is the word used for making rope. Rope is made from binding hundreds of delicate strands of fiber together. Any one strand would break alone, but bound together they cannot break. Thus, when you wait upon the Lord, you are binding yourself to Him. My students appeared very shocked at this and even questioned my accuracy. I soon learned the reason for their doubt. A very famous radio and TV teacher happened to be sitting in restaurant and had sort of an epiphany. He began to figure that his waitress was waiting upon him and thus was serving him. From that he concluded that Isaiah meant that if you wait or serve God he will renew your strength. This teacher was obviously looking only at the English text and defining the English word wait ignoring the fact that the English word is merely a translation from the Hebrew. However, this teacher was very famous, popular and everything my students dreamt of being. To my surprise, over the next few months I started hearing all these preachers and teachers who were dreaming of hitting the big time like this famous teacher, who could purchase a few minutes of air time also preaching this very same thing. What is so telling of this is that you do not need to take one Hebrew class to know that service has nothing to do with the word for wait in Isaiah 40:31. A few minutes of research and

13 anyone could discover the true nature of the word wait in Isaiah 40:31. These teachers and preachers were not showing off their ignorance, they were showing off their laziness. They were not seeking and searching for God with all their hearts. They were, as Jeremiah points out, stealing God s word from their neighbors. Worse yet, they put their own spin on what they felt service to God was, i.e., sending a donation to their ministry to keep them on the air. Send a love gift of $20.00 and you re strength will be renewed. These teachers were showing that they were not studying Scripture for themselves, they were seeking little gems from other teachers that they could use to wow their congregation to gain more support, finances and build their following. I remember I had a pastor of a small rural church ask to audit my Hebrew class. He said: I want just enough Hebrew to preach from the pulpit. He faithfully came to every class for two months. He would drive up to the school in the church bus, take his place in class and take notes. After two months I never saw him again. I guess he got just enough Hebrew to preach from the pulpit. When God says he is against such prophets, he uses the word alah for against which has a number of different usages. The word basically has the idea of a weed growing to the point where it chocks out the plant. God is saying that He is going to eventually chock out those who seek to consult their neighbors for the best spin they can find on God s Word. The word neighbor is ra ah. The word is sometimes rendered as shepherd or friend. But this is a shepherd or friend that you totally rely upon. Sheep totally rely on their shepherd. But stop and consider, you have wannabe preachers, teachers and prophets running to shepherds to give them a spin on God s word. Some preacher comes along with a new revelation which

14 sounds great and before long everyone is teaching that new revelation with no one really taking a close examination of it in Scripture. Before long the teaching becomes dogma and if anyone tries to contradict it they are accused of heresy. They teach it because it is popular, the newest thing and makes them appear to be cutting edge and clever. They will purchase the books and work books talking about this new thing. Yet, the people will never sit down with the Word of God and seek a revelation for themselves. Instead they will just steal God s word from their neighbors. These people steal. The word used for steal in this verse is ganav which is to carry away, like a storm comes through and carries away all it can. This is in a piel form so it is more than just to carry away it is snatching something away with little regard to the consequences. As I study God s Word and share my thoughts in these little studies, I need to continually be aware that I do not take God s Words and twist them and use them for my own purposes to force people to my way of thinking and try to say something that will make them think how clever I am. I must continually avoid trying to make people think, Oy, what a learned teacher, come, come we must sit under your teaching, in order to win their support and following. I have said repeatedly that these studies are not teachings, nor will I ever declare, Hey, listen up, this is good teaching! These studies are simple musings in my search to understand the heart of God. True understanding of God s Word comes from the Holy Spirit. In other words if you are a pastor or Bible study leader, don t go preaching my little insights as some new revelation. I do not copyright my writings as I do not believe they are worth a copyright. I am not the only one in the world who has these thoughts or musings. Anyone can quote or even publish my

15 musings but I would prefer my little insights will spur you to dig further into Scripture and discover your own insight and revelation. You do not need to waste your time with my cornball musings which have a personal application for myself. You don t need to steal God s word from your neighbor because you know what? God has a million of em. WORD STUDY A PROTECTED TREASURE Jeremiah 1:5, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. This is one of those verses you listen to all your life and then one day it just hits you. Unfortunately it hit me while

16 in church and I was following the Scripture reading for the morning with my Hebrew Bible. I guess I didn t get much out of the sermon for that day. Somehow I found I was not reading the same thing that the old boy up front was reading. The first thing that struck me was the word used for before. The word is beterem which is an adverb with a preposition attached. It literally means in but not yet. It sounds like before so translators go with that. I think that is a coward s way out. I believe this is to be taken in the context of the next two words. The next two words are the word formed which is repeated. Many commentators say this is just the Semitic way of expressing an emphasis. Yet, I tend to take a more Jewish approach to these two words and suggest that they are really two different words from two different roots and are meant to be translated as two different words. If I just ignore the Masoretic text and looked at this passage as it was before 700 AD I would come up with something more profound than God just knowing Jeremiah before he was born. The first use of the word for formed is etsoreka and I have no problem with the root word being yatsar which means to form, fashion or mold. In its Semitic origins it is a word that is used for a potter making a vessel. However, this word is seemingly repeated. The following word is similar but not the same; it is the word etsareka the difference being the deletion of the Vav. I recently heard a rabbi explain that when a Vav is deleted from a word where there really should have been one it is an indication that the word is expressing an act without God. Thus the first use of the word would indicate that God formed us, but with the word repeated without the Vav it would show that we also have a free will and we take an active part in this formation. Thus before we were born God not only knew the perfect being He created but

17 He also knew the flaws we would add to that formation through our sinful self-will. That is an interesting thought. Another reason for the repetition of the word is that they are really two different words coming from two different roots and both words were meant to be translated. The first root word would be atsak which would mean to form, create or imagine. The following word could then come from the root word natsar which means to watch over and protect. Thus God is saying that before he even imagined us, or created us in the womb He was watching over us and protecting us. The use of natsar is also a subtle play on the word atsar which means a treasure. Hence before God even formed us in the womb we were a protected treasure. That gives you something to think about when you consider the matter of abortion. As I said, using the word before for beterem is a problem. The word before is an easy out. You see, there is no word in the English that is equivalent to beterm. You need to take that word and sort of spread it out over the following phrase and let it absorb itself into the other words to create a meaning. So my own personal rendering of this phrase would be: While you were being formed in the womb your were a protected treasure, I knew the hardships you would face as a prophet and even then I laid out a course of protection for you. Then God says: Before you were born, I set you apart for a holy purpose. We again have the word beterem used as before. Literally in the Hebrew we have: Before you came forth from the womb, I set you apart. The word used for born is marchem which could mean from the womb, but the word is rooted in the word racham which is the word used for a

18 romantic love. It is used for a mother s love, to love tenderly and compassionately. It is often rendered in English as tender mercies. Racham is a reference to the womb in a metaphoric way. I read in Jewish literature that a mother s love is at its purest while the child is still in the womb because the child has not yet rebelled or challenged her love. Her heart has not yet been wounded by the child s rebellious nature. In trying to find a proper use of the word beterem (before) what I come up with is this: I have set you apart for a holy purpose even before you had a chance to do anything to wound my heart. Ok, here is what I think God is telling Jeremiah in this verse and what He might be telling us who also may feel a call upon our own lives. There are times as we pursue our calling that it will seem like God has abandoned us, or has withdrawn his calling because of the difficult circumstances we may find ourselves in or because of our own rebellion. But that calling was made while His love for us was in its purest state when we were His protected treasure. Although we may have wounded His heart many times in our maturing process to arrive at our calling, from our very formation He laid out a plan to protect us, a divine insurance policy, that would be in effect no matter what our circumstances or how we respond because we are His treasure. When Jeremiah sat in that dark, damp prison suffering for the prophetic message God called him to give, He may have wondered what type of God he was serving to reward him with this type of treatment. He could reflect on the words of God gave to Him: From the beginning of time I knew my calling upon your life would bring you to this prison, just remember, I called you out of a heart that was the purest it could be. You were my protected treasure before you were even born and I am

19 continuing to protect you. You may not understand it now; just know this whole thing was birthed with a love that is as pure as it could be for a protected treasure. Devotional 1Kings 17:7 Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin; I Kings 17:7: And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. This morning I read a story in People Magazine about the former president of MGM, a young, multi-millionaire who worked his way from selling movie posters up to the position of president of MGM. He was not only a multi-millionaire, but lived the life that most people dream of living; rubbing shoulders with celebrities, driving expensive cars and attending high profile functions like the Academy Awards. Then one day he was in Cambodia trying to help three poverty stricken children when he received a phone call from the agent of a movie star saying that his client was having a melt down because his private jet did not have certain amenities. He looked at the three dirty, starving children living in a garbage dump and made the decision to resign his job and move to Cambodia to start a medical clinic and school. When I read this story I felt a strong prompting to take a close look at I Kings 17 and it is like I heard this voice in the spirit whisper, look at the other side of the coin. There was a great drought in the land and God sent his prophet to hide from King Ahab and Jezebel down to Jordan where God

20 feed him and provided water. This was a lot more than most people in the land had. Yet three verses later we learn that the brook dried up. Did God ever give you something and then sort of like take it away or ask you to give it away? Maybe it was a job that you enjoyed for a while and then you lost the job. Maybe it was a relationship or a financial blessing As Job declared. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21. The brook dried up because the Lord had to move Elijah onto a new assignment. Old Elijah went from preaching to Kings and noblemen to ministering to one poverty stricken widow. Yet, did this brook really dry up? I wonder. The word for brook is nachal which means a brook, but the word has a double meaning, it also means to give as an inheritance. Water was the source of all wealth in those days, whoever possessed water to feed his livestock and grow crops was wealthy. The world around Elijah was dying of thirst but Elijah had his own private water source, all to himself, his inheritance from God. So it is possible that Elijah left this comfortable position, food, water, and security, to minister to one poor widow and her son. But if we translate this as and his inheritance dried up because there was no rain, who did he give the brook or his inheritance to? He gave it to the ravens. We learn that God provided him with food from ravens. That is a little strange considering ravens are not kosher. Doves could have done the job just as well. Taking a closer look at this word for ravens, avarim we find that it could just as easily be rendered The Arabians. The Masorites decided on a vowel pointing that renders this as ravens and the church, for whatever reason, ran with this rendering for the last 1700 years. But it would make more sense to render this as Arabians. If it were the Arabians who feed Elijah they probably sat around listening to his teachings and spread these teachings

21 throughout the land. This widow woman may have heard the teachings and prayed to God and God sent his prophet to her to care for her and her son. I like this rendering because it suggests that God just did not deal with the Hebrew people in the Old Testament, but he was always reaching out to all mankind. He had his missionaries and evangelist spreading the word. But why would Elijah leave such a comfortable position to go a starving village? Maybe for the same reason this former executive left his comfortable position to move to a foreign land to help starving children. He felt ashamed. God gave Elijah a flowing brook of water when practically the rest of the world was dying of thirst. A few Arabians found this brook and also found Elijah. Hearing the stories of Elijah s God and then knowing he was a fugitive from Jezebel they kept the brook and Elijah a secret lest their new friend and pastor should fall into Jezebel s hands. Yet when the rains stopped Elijah knew the people of his new friends were dying for lack of water, and he could not share his brook or inheritance without risking capture, he felt ashamed and left so they could gain the full benefit of the brook. But does not the Bible clearly say this brook or inheritance dried up? Well, that depends on which meaning you use for the word dried up. The word is yavash which means to dry up but it also has a double meaning which is to make ashamed. I think this passage should be rendered not as: after a while, the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land, but as: after a while (Elijah) became ashamed of his inheritance, because there had been no rain in the land. He saw the hardship of his new Arabian friends and knew they kept the brook a secret to protect him, so he left them with his inheritance and went to live among the destitute trusting God for his food and water. There s a lesson in there somewhere, but that is between God

22 and I, you find your own lesson, if you choose to accept my rendering. Devotional II Kings 2:13 Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin: II Kings 2:13: He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. I have always been fascinated by the concept of passing a mantle. Now that I read this passage I discover that Elijah did not pass his mantle onto Elisha, it was the only thing left of Elijah after he was taken away and Elisha picked it up. I suppose if Merlin left his magic wand behind, I would pick it up and turn the neighbor s barking dog into a rabbit. What a prize for Elisha to get the magical mantle of Elijah. Imagine the miracles that you could perform with that mantle. I wonder what happened to it? Perhaps Indiana Jones will dig it up and turn his Nazi antagonists into goats. I m joking, right? Was it the mantle that caused the waters of the Jordan to part? Would Elijah s shoes or BVD s have worked as well? What was so special about this mantle? The word mantle in Hebrew is Adar which is also the word for the last month on the Hebrew Calendar. It s root meaning is glorious, splendid, marvelous, and mighty. In a noun form it is rendered as a cloak or mantle. The Talmud indicates that this was a Talit or prayer shawl. For a prophet this would have been a glorious appearing Talit and as it was worn by a prophet it would have had that purple or dark blue thread in the corner tassel.

23 Miraculous powers were believed to have generated from the talit of a master teacher or prophet who had that purple thread, which is why the woman with the issue of blood wanted to touch the hem of Jesus garment which was really the tassel with the purple thread on His talit. Just not any Ruben, Joseph or Henry wearing a talit had that purple thread. As soon as the woman touched it she was healed but then Jesus turned around and said (no it is not the purple thread but) your faith has made you whole. It would stand to reason that if Elisha was to assume Elijah s position as the prophet he would need a talit with a purple thread and that would be why it was left when Elijah went to heaven. After all, Elijah didn t need it anymore. Still, why is it called a mantle or an adar. The Talmud teaches that when the month of Adar arrives, it increases our joy (Taanit 29a). The sages teach that Adar is a time of joy because it is the best month to remove any personal barriers to holiness and when those barriers are removed you create the potential for the greatest joy. Perhaps the Elijah s talit symbolize that Elisha had removed any barriers to his relationship with God. The word itself is spelled Aleph, Daleth and Resh. The Aleph represents God, the Daleth is a doorway to the Resh which represents healing and wholeness. Hence the word Adar has the idea of God opening a doorway to healing, restoration and wholeness. The sages teach that Adar is the final month of the year, it completes the year and hence it is a time of completion. Now let s apply all that to the symbolic meaning of the mantle. The mantle is a symbol of joy and completion. In a way Elijah leaving his mantle was sign that he had completed his mission on earth. Like the end of a year. Elisha picking up the mantle would be starting a new year, picking up where Elijah left off. Just as we celebrate a new year, this picking up of the mantle was a time of joy, a celebration of completing the old and starting a new year or for Elisha a new

24 ministry. The esoteric meaning of the word Adar is God s doorway to healing, wholeness and power. The mantle was a doorway to God s power. Clearly the aleph in the word for mantle (adar) suggest that it is God s door way not Elijah s. That is why Elijah did not give his mantle to Elisha. Perhaps that is one reason (not the only) that Elijah told Elisha that if he sees him taken, he will have his desire to carry on his ministry. Obviously if Indiana Jones uncovers that mantle, he will not have the power of Elijah any more than he would if he were to uncover Moses s rod. You know, that is the rod that brought about the plagues of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, brought water from the rock, etc. There was no power in that rod, but people began to think there was. That is why when God told Moses to bring water from the rock a second time He told Moses to take the rod with him but to speak to the rock. Moses, however, could not function without that rod and so he struck the rock again with the rod and disobeyed God and lost his chance to enter the promise land. Actually, he just showed that he did not have the faith to enter the promise land himself. He still didn t get it. The rod, like the mantle was only a symbol of his authority given to Him by God. If Obama gives you a pass to the Oval Office and you give it to me, I will not be allowed into the Oval Office even with a pass given by Obama because Obama gave it to you and not to me. That pass is only a symbol of an agreement between you and Obama that did not include me. That mantle of Elijah was only a symbol of an agreement between Elijah and God with God giving Elijah his authority. Picking up the mantle by Elisha only symbolized that he was entering into the same agreement with God. Using it to part the Jordan river was just God s way of confirming the agreement or covenant between Him and Elisha.

25 Perhaps God will give you a mantle or a rod, but that mantle or rod is nothing more than a piece of cloth or a stick. The only power it has is symbolic of an agreement between you and God, and God granting you His authority. Ultimately, Jesus said it best. Your faith has made you whole (not a piece of cloth).