RETURN TO THE ABBEY DIARY ENTRY #19 HOLLOWED OUT ה,חלות Deuteronomy 3:24: O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God [is there] in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? Moses wrote these words as his life was about to end. Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov said about this verse: Moses was G d s faithful servant, the greatest of the prophets, the recipient of the Torah from G d. Yet after 120 years of the most G dly life ever lived, he sees himself as only having begun in his relationship with G d!
As I come to the closing day of my time in silence I find myself repeating the words of Moses: O Lord God you have only begun to show thy servant thy greatness. Think about it, who had witnessed the power of God more than Moses? He watched God save a nation, humble a pharaoh, feed millions of people daily, give them water from a rock, allow them to cross a sea by parting the waters and much much more. I daresay no one, yes, no one in human history had witnessed the power of God like Moses and after 120 years he is declaring that he has only begun to see the greatness of God. You know there are times you need to sit back in your chair or bench as I am doing now and just look at a tree, my great white tree her at the Abbey, my trysting place with God. I mean look at that tree, look at each branch, each leaf and allow yourself to reflect what a great work it is. Yet there are millions upon millions of such trees on this planet created by the God who loves you personally. Still, that doesn t even begin to declare a minute part of the greatness of this God that loves you personally, speaks to you personally as he has done to me here at the Abbey this past week. I could not help but think of that old song that I sang as a child in church: What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms. I have blessed peace, with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms. As I sit back on my bench here in the Abbey courtyard I reflect over the past many years and I realize I have not received many hugs in the past years. I begin to pray: Lord, I don t want to lean on your everlasting arms, I want you to hug me with those everlasting arms. Oh, my Lord I really need a hug right
now. Instantly I feel a warmth envelop me, a peace, and a hug. I hear Him say: It s ok. You know, everything is really ok. It is all ok when you are resting in that hug, in those everlasting arms. Such peace, oh such peace, such joy, such rest. If only this hug would never end and then He whispers to me: One day it shall never end. The great impressionist paint Renoir on the day that he died was overheard by his housekeeper as she brought him his lunch while he sat painting his favorite flower and as he intensely reflected on that flower she heard him whisper: I think I am beginning to understand it. Most art historians believe he was referring to painting, but one art history reflected to me that this was the day he died and perhaps his mind was on eternal things and he realized it was God that gave this flower its beauty. Like Moses old Renoir was just beginning to understand the greatness of the God that we would soon stand before. Those words thou hast begun, is not what I expect which would have been the word berith which means beginning. This word in Hebrew, it is the word hachiloth which comes from the root word chalal. It comes from the idea of wounding, piercing and weakening. It means to be hollowed out to form a pipe to make a flute in which you blow air through to make a musical sound. This idea of beginning is a beginning that comes from being broken down, hollowed out so that something beautiful as music can flow. Renoir at the end of his life realized that to create great beauty he needed God. Moses realized at the end of his life that to really accomplish great things for God he needed to be hollowed out so that the breath of God could flow through him to accomplish great things. Chaim Bentorah as he sits under this great white tree suddenly realizes that God has not even begun to hollow him out so that His breath
could flow to create His beautiful music. Why oh why does it take a life time to be hollowed out? How do you get yourself hollowed out, is it the wounding the piecing of your experience in life? The word itself has a built in commentary. It is spelled Cheth, Lamed, Lamed. The Cheth shows a binding with God the Lamed is a picture of reaching up to heaven to give your heart to God and receive His heart in return. But say, there are two Lameds. As the ancient rabbis would say the two Lameds represent two uplifted hands in worship, praise and one other thing. When you surrender what do you do? You lift your hands to show you have nothing, no weapon in your hands. In your arms and hands lies your power to accomplish things, by lifting your arms and hands in the air you are making yourself completely defenseless. You are placing yourself at the mercy of your captor or in the case of God you are putting yourself totally at His mercy. It is only then that He can begin to do great things through you. After three score and five years of walking this planet, I am only beginning to understand the greatness of God. WORD STUDY HE HAST ADORNED HIMSELF
Deuteronomy 3:24: Oh, Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness. I have walked this earth now for three score and five years. I grew up in a Christian Home went to church almost every day of the week. I studied in Bible Colleges and Seminaries and was a pastor and then a teacher in a Bible College. I have been doing in-depth studies in the Word of God all my adult life and the last seven years I have been on a search for the heart of God. Yet this morning I realized I have not even begun to know God s greatness. This morning I could not sleep, I was very troubled in mind and soul so I went for a walk. I thought of an old song: O soul are you wear and troubled, no light in the darkness you see? There s light for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. I looked into His wonderful face, I heard Him say, It s ok. You know what, suddenly everything was ok. I could not help but marvel that after all these years I realized I was only beginning to see the greatness of God. Deuteronomy 3:24 records an amazing statement made by Moses: Oh, Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy
greatness. Say what? Isn t the plagues of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the manna every day for forty years, the water from the rock and the multitudes of miracle that Moses and the people of Israel experienced and now Moses says that they are only beginning to see the greatness of God. The Book of Deuteronomy is really three sermons that Moses delivered to the people of Israel just before they entered the promised land. The first sermon rehashes the 40 years it took for the people of Israel to move from Egypt to the place where they were presently at. It ends by encouraging the people to follow the law of God. The second sermon stresses the importance of worshipping the One God and following His laws if they wish to dwell in the land He has given them. The third sermon is a word of encouragement. If the people of Israel should prove unfaithful and lose their land, God will restore them if they repent. Perhaps in these three sermons we can understand what Moses meant when he said that God was just beginning to show his greatness. I mean who could have understood the greatness of God better than Moses. He stood before Pharaoh and watched as God made a fool of Pharaoh with His great miracles. He watched the greatness of God s ability to part the Red Sea allowing the people of Israel to escape and then close the sea up on their enemies. Moses saw a miracle every day for forty years as God faithfully sent manna from heaven, and gave them water from a rock. He witnessed the healing miracles when people were bitten by poisonous snakes and just by looking at a brass serpent were instantly healed. After forty years of this Moses is now saying that God is just beginning to show His greatness?
The word used for beginning in Hebrew is hachiloth and is found in a Hithpael form. In other words it is reflexive. It is generally accepted that this word comes from the root word halal which means to pierce, wound, slay. In its very Semitic origins it has the idea of beginning as wounding or slaying someone was the beginning of many conflicts and blood revenge. Still how do you make the word beginning reflexive? You would have to say that God caused Himself to begin. To me it seems translators were trying to put a square peg in a round hole. I contend that hachiloth (beginning) is actually a play on the word halah. Halah means to adorn oneself, make oneself beautiful. This fit s the context just as much as halal. The verse reads: Oh Lord God you have begun to show your servant your greatness, but it can also read: Oh Lord God you have adorned yourself to show your servant your greatness. After Israel spent forty years of wanderings in the wilderness under the judgment of God for not trusting Him and obeying Him, God is now ready to lead His people, a new generation, into the promised land. Would God not want to adorn Himself as a new bride welcoming his people to their new home? What I find more interesting is the word greatness. The question comes to mind, What type of greatness is Moses talking about? There are many types of greatness; there is greatness in kindness, strength, beauty, splendor, kingship, etc. Just how is God adorning Himself in a greatness that Moses and the Children of Israel had not yet seen?
I found something interesting in reading Jewish Talmud the other day. The sages looked at the word greatness in this verse and found it came from the root word gadol which is spelled Gimel, Daleth, Lamed. This root word can be divided into Gimel Daleth Lamed and can be read Gimel Dal. This means Granting kindness (Gimel) to the poor (Dal). Thus, this greatness is a granting of kindness to the poor both in a material sense and spiritual sense. I was poor in spirit this morning and experience the great kindness of God. The people of Israel were essentially homeless, wandering the wilderness for forty years, depending upon God to feed them (manna) and clothe them (clothes that never wore out). They were dirt poor and now God was ready to adorn Himself and give them a home, a land flowing with milk and honey, giving them freedom to grow and prepare their own food, make their own clothes. God was a husband to the people of Israel, providing and caring for them. Now it was time for God to be their bride, time for the people to use the gifts God had given them to build a great nation where they could show off their Bride to the world and truly glorify His Name. Do you ever feel like I did this morning, maybe I am the only one who feels that way. I don t know but have you ever felt like you have been wandering in the wilderness? God has been providing every little detail, you have been depending upon Him for daily miracles to just survive? I think what I really realized this morning is that my journey is about to end, I think God was starting to adorn Himself to be my bride, where I could enter the Promise Land and show Him to the world and truly glorify His Name. God didn t have to resolve my problem, He didn t have to make things better for me, I only had to see His face and realize how beautiful he truly is.
Maybe you too are about to enter the Promised Land, perhaps it is time you stop long enough from begging and pleading with God to deliver you and look up, it may be time to consider you are about to enter a beginning a beginning where you will look up and see His wonderful face and how He has halah Himself. WORD STUDY GOD HAS JUST החלות BEGUN Deuteronomy 3:24: Oh, Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness. This is truly an amazing statement to be made by Moses. The Book of Deuteronomy is really three sermons that Moses
delivered to the people of Israel just before they entered the promised land. The first sermon rehashes the 40 years it took for the people of Israel to move from Egypt to the place where they were presently at. It ends by encouraging the people to follow the law of God. The second sermon stresses the importance of worshipping the One God and following His laws if they wish to dwell in the land He has given them. The third sermon is a word of encouragement. If the people of Israel should prove unfaithful and lose their land, God will restore them if they repent. Perhaps in these three sermons we can understand what Moses meant when he said that God was just beginning to show his greatness. I mean who could have understood the greatness of God better than Moses. He stood before Pharaoh and watched as God made a fool of Pharoah with His great miracles. He watched the greatness of God s ability to part the Red Sea allowing the people of Israel to escape and then close the sea up on their enemies. Moses saw a miracle every day for forty years as God faithfully sent manna from heaven, and gave them water from a rock. He witnessed the healing miracles when people were bitten by poisonous snakes and just by looking at a brass serpent were instantly healed. After forty years of this Moses is now saying that God is just beginning to show His greatness? The word used for beginning is hachiloth and is found in a Hithpael form. In other words it is reflexive. It is generally accepted that this word comes from the root word halal which means to pierce, wound, slay. There is an obscure use where it is rendered as beginning. Even if we were to use this obscure rendering, how do you make it reflexive? You would have to say that God caused Himself to begin. To me it seems translators were trying to put a square peg in a round
hole. I agree with the teachings of the Jewish sages that hachiloth (beginning) could easily come from the root word halah which means to adorn oneself, make oneself beautiful. I believe this fit s the context much better. Rather than saying: Oh Lord God you have begun to show your servant your greatness, you could say: Oh Lord God you have adorned yourself to show your servant your greatness. After Israel spent forty years of wanderings in the wilderness under the judgment of God for not trusting Him and obeying Him, God is now ready to lead His people, a new generation, into the promised land. Would God not want to adorn Himself as a new bride welcoming his people to their new home? What I find more interesting is the word greatness. The question comes to mind, What type of greatness is Moses talking about? There are many types of greatness; there is greatness in kindness, strength, beauty, splendor, kingship, etc. Just how is God adorning Himself in a greatness that Moses and the Children of Israel has not yet seen? Again I side with the Jewish sages and rabbis who looked at the word greatness and found it came from the root word gadol which is spelled Gimel, Daleth, Lamed. Jewish literature teaches that this root word can be divided into Gimel and Daleth then Lamed and could be read Gimel Daleth. This means granting kindness (Gimel) to the poor (Daleth). Thus, this greatness is a granting of kindness to the poor both in a material sense and spiritual sense.
The people of Israel were essentially homeless, wandering the wilderness for forty years, depending upon God to feed them (manna) and clothe them (clothes that never wore out). They were dirt poor and now God was ready to adorn Himself and give them a home, a land flowing with milk and honey, giving them freedom to grow and prepare their own food, make their own clothes. God was a husband to the people of Israel, providing and caring for them. Now it was time for God to be their bride, time for the people to use the gifts God had given them to build a great nation where God could show off and be proud of His Bride to the world and truly glorify His Name. Ever feel like you have been wandering in the wilderness? God has been providing every little detail, you have been depending upon Him for daily miracles to just survive? Maybe the journey is about to end, maybe God is adorning Himself to be your bride, where you can enter the promise land and show off your Bride to the world and truly glorify His Name. Perhaps in your life God has only now just hachiloth begun.