INTO THE CATSKILLS MOUNTAINS AND STREAMS

INTO THE CATSKILLS MOUNTAINS AND STREAMS Ps 98:8 Let the floods clap [their] hands: let the hills be joyful together. Let me share with you something interesting as I read my Hebrew Bible sitting here by a stream flowing from the mountain. The word for floods in Hebrew is naharot which comes from the root word nahar which means a stream or river. How the KJV got a flood out of that I do not know. I find no floods in the Catskills at this time but I do find a stream and this morning God and I parked the car by a parking area near a stream that runs along Highway 23A. Both Highway 23A and this stream pass through the heart of the Catskills. It appears this stream flows right from the mountain in the heart of the Catskills. As I just close my Hebrew Bible for a moment, God and I just sat and listened to the water running down stream. It really did sound like it was clapping its hands as David describes in Psalms 98:8. It was like a joyful appreciative clapping of hands after a great performance. I felt something joyful about this stream as it passed over the many rocks. The sun was beating down on the rocks and the water passed over them as if the waters were intended to be a constant cooling companion to the rocks. Of course right behind the stream stood the great Catskills mountains. Many mountains are snow covered, some are just rocky and barren but the Catskills are covered with trees that are in full bloom. It is late September and the leaves are all

changing color to create a glorious colorful blanket that appears so soft and comfortable I told God I would just love to jump in the middle and roll around in it, then slid down this marvelous carpet into the cool stream and just ride the rest of the way through life guided by the ebb and flow of the currents. I felt God sort of chuckle and say, Bingo, isn t that what I have been trying to get through your stubborn head all these years? The word for hills is harim which is really the word for mountain. Somehow I get the idea that the KJV is trying to play down the glory of God. This is not a flood or a hill, it is a gentle stream and a mountain, just as I am looking at right now. The Catskills are a range of mountains and if you listen closely, that is if you listen with your heart, you will hear them rejoice together. The word rejoice in Hebrew here is the word ranan which literally means a ringing cry of joy. Oh come on Lexicon, get with your Semitic roots already. This word means more than that just a ringing cry of joy. Go back to its Canaanite origins and you find the word to describe bedouins who sit around a campfire at night singing a joyful song without any instruments. The word itself has been used to express a melodious sound or a series of sound that are in harmony with each other and in this context in harmony with God. The word singing is often associated with ranan. You could almost say it applies to an acappella chorus like Billy Joel s song The Longest Time. As I close my eyes and begin to listen with my heart I can almost hear the streams and mountains singing a beautiful acappella chorus. I picture God standing up, waving his arms as if leading a great orchestra or directing a choir singing a joyful song. Many come to the mountains because of the fishing in the streams, some come to hunt and others come in the winter to

ski. I have little interest in fishing, do not hunt and I am just getting too old to ski. But for me the mountains are there for something even greater, I find them there to teach me of the beauty, strength and faithfulness of God. Here is what I find interesting and never noticed in my forty years of studying Classical Hebrew. The word for stream is spelled just like the word for mountain (har) only a Nun is added to the front of the word (nahar). The word for mountain is Hei and Resh, the word for stream is Nun, Hei and Resh. These two words are very closely related. The only difference between the two is that the word for stream has a Nun in front of it. The Hei carries the meaning of Hinayni, which means here I am. It s very spelling cries out to be noticed and to gain our attention and to listen to that still small voice. The Resh urges us to move forward. That still small voice coming from har (mountain) is whispering its message from God, I am as formable as this mountain, I will always be there, and I have your back don t be afraid to move forward.. The word for stream has the same message only with a Nun in front of it. That Nun is encouraging us to break down walls of separation, don t let anything stop you when God tells you to move forward. This stream appears to be gentle flowing from the mountain, just moving forward. I feel as if it is telling me that like this stream my life is flowing from this mountain of God and all I need to do is hitch a ride, sit back and enjoy this ride through life. In fact the Nun is the word for fish. It is almost like God took the word mountain Har which esoterically means, I am here, and with you don t be afraid to move forward. Then the word stream adds the Nun meaning a fish which just flows along with the currents of the streams, feeding, relaxing and enjoying the ride. So too if my life flows through the mountain of God, I will, like that

fish, just flow with the stream of life, feeding relaxing and enjoying the ride, regardless of the obstacles, we just keeps moving with the flow of God, never needing to worry because like a great mountain, God is watching our backs. As I just laid back and enjoyed the singing of the mountains and the clapping hands of the stream I listened to them tell me to pay attention to that still small voice of God and when He tells me to move forward, I should just flow with the life stream of God not letting any obstacle stand in my way, knowing that I am flowing from a Great mountain that has my back and no one will challenge that mountain. BEYOND THE DALETH A NEW BEGINNING

Isaiah 55:12: For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you with singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Summer and winter, springtime and harvest Sun moon and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see. Thomas Chisholm, Great is Thy Faithfulness Have you ever been filled with the joy of the Lord such that it seems like all nature joins with you in praising God. I really believe that this is what the prophet Isaiah is trying to express here. Recently, as I was sitting on my porch, I noticed a squirrel running across the lawn. Suddenly he ran up to by the bottom of the stairs to my porch. You know how they are, once they see you they stop, get up on their hind legs, and twitch their nose at you as if to say: Hello there, any peanuts today? and then they run off. Only on this occasion, I suggested to my furry chipmunk friend, that he join me in a little worship session with our creator. As if to answer he gave a little squeak and then ran off. I took that as a Praise the Lord.

Crazy, no? Well, what do expect from a guy who is always going through a Looking Glass with Hebrew letters visiting an alternative world to get spiritual insight. I know Isaiah 55:12 is just a metaphor and a personification. The mountains really do not break forth with singing nor do the trees clap their hands do they? Actually in the Hebrew the word for breaking forth is yiphasechu which could have two possible roots. It could be pasach which is to break forth with a loud joyful noise. But there is another possible root which would be paras which is the word used when a child is born or breaks forth through the womb for a new beginning. Both words have the idea of breaking forth either with a loud joyful noise or a new beginning or both. This breaking forth is done with rinah which is simply a joyful noise. Since we are given a separate word for joyful noise, I can only assume that the intended root word has to be parats (a breaking forth as in a child breaking forth from the womb) rather than pasach as a breaking forth with a joyful noise. That would make the word rinah (joyful noise) too redundant, even for Hebrew. So I would say that the root word for yipasechu would be parats which would mean the mountain are breaking forth with the joy of a new beginning. So how would this verse apply to us, personally, today, three thousand years after it was written? I think we would all love a new beginning. As my little furry friend and I shared the joy of the Lord together my mind went back to the realities I would be facing this day. Would the day be filled with its usual problems related to health, finances etc? I really didn t find any hope of a new beginning to rejoice about. As I ponder this thought I opened my Hebrew Bible to take a closer look at Isaiah 55:12 and have a little chat with

Parats (breaking forth with a new beginning) and give him a little piece of my mind, I mean what right has he got to go around spouting out breaking forth with new beginnings when there was no such thing in sight. I looked at the verse and noticed a blank spot where Parats (breaking forth in new beginnings) was supposed to be. That figures, I thought, Parats (breaking forth in new beginnings) is just as elusive as ever. Suddenly I heard someone say; Oh yeah? I looked around and there I saw Parats (breaking forth in a new beginning). Parats is spelled Pei, Resh and Sade. I looked at Pei, Resh, Sade and saw they were dressed in military fatigues and each wore sergeant strips. Pei, (which represents a mouth) shouted Tend hut! Tend what, who? I ask, Just what or whom am I tending to? I question. Resh (which represents following a path with an unknown destination) shouted Forward March! Sade (which represents performing a humble task) began a cadence One, Two, Three Four, One two three I decided to play along and marched back into my house and through my Looking Glass where I found myself in the midst of a field filled with hundreds of holes that have been dug by many other Christians this day. I was ordered by Sergeants Pei, Resh and Sade to start digging. Why am I digging a senseless hole? I asked. But Sergeants Pei, Resh and Sade just began to sing: You re in God s army now, to satan you must not bow. You begin a little bit by digging God s ditch, you re in God s army now. Huh? I asked. I still don t get it, what does digging a ditch have to do with a new beginning? Pei, (mouth, speaking) said that Lamentations 3:23 tells us that God s mercies are new every morning. The mountains and

hills break forth with joy every morning as every morning brings new mercies. You come forth in joy and lead in peace because every day is a new day. This joy in Isaiah 55:12 comes from the newness of God s mercies every day. I get it, I replied scornfully: So what am I digging for? Pei (the first letter to parats, (breaking forth with new beginnings), replies that he is the number 100, Resh salutes and says, Number 200, reporting, sir and Sade snaps to attention and barks, 90 present and accounted for, sir. As I continued to dig, I added this up and found it totaled 390. Suddenly my shovel struck something solid. Hey, I shouted, I struck a Mem. Well, pull em out Parats ordered. So I pulled out Mem who was attached to Shin, Kap and Lamed, (masekel) which means understanding. Boy, it was hot down there, thanks for digging us up. I looked at Masekel (understanding) and said with surprise: Why you are understanding. Right, answered Mem. Then looking at Pei, Resh, Sade he shouted, Hey, guys look, it s our counterpart Parats and immediately Mem, Shin and Kap (masekel- understanding) ran over and shook hands and embraced Pei, Resh and Sade (Parats breaking forth with new beginnings). I put down my shovel, scratched my head and asked, Numerical counterpart? Sure nuf, replied Paras (breaking forth with new beginnings) we share the same numerical value of 390 with Masekel (understanding), we re related. You just unburied our kinfolk Masekel (understanding) who were buried under all the cares of that world on the other side of your Looking Glass. Well, after the joyful reunion between Parats (breaking forth with new beginnings) and Masekel (understanding) I reminded Parats (breaking forth with new beginnings) that they really needed to return to my Hebrew Bible. But before we passed through my Looking Glass Pei, Resh, and Sade (parats breaking forth with new beginnings) snapped to attention and saluted me and said: Nice digging, you really found yourself

a blessing. They were right, I was on my way to having one miserable day with the cares of my world, but when I dug through that day I found the understanding that God was giving me another new day, a new day of life with a little blessing to start my day, which I had never realized was meant to be a new beginning for a new day, a simple beginning, one I would not have recognized but for my friend Parats (breaking forth with a new beginning). I found myself back on my porch and there was my little blessing on his hind legs, twitching his nose. He gave another little squeak, I swear it sounded like parats (breaking forth with a new beginning). For you see, every day is a new day with God, a new beginning. If I can t rejoice as the mountains and hills over this new day or beginning in a beautiful world that God created for me, then I must dig to find out the blessings that God gives each day, if I am to fully comprehend the meaning of Isaiah 55:12 in my life. With that I toss a peanut to my little morning greeter, this little bit of God s creation, I reflect how he gave me my first shovel full of blessings for the day.