Idiom or Idiot?
Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; Isaiah 5:14 NASB
Opened its mouth – How many commandments must be violated before a man is condemned? Would God sentence me to death for the tiniest infraction? Am I lost because I ate a ham sandwich or wore a garment of mixed threads? The rabbis struggled with questions like these. Perhaps you push them aside because you have grown up in a culture of grace, believing that the all-forgiving God overlooks such trivial matters. Perhaps you are convinced that being “saved” means you can safely ignore all of these insignificant rules. As long as you’re a good person and keep the Ten Commandments, you’ll be fine. After all, Jesus covers it all, right?
Sometimes good theology still gets in the way of proper translation. The theology that demonstrates God grace toward sinful men is good theology. As the rabbis discovered, men on their own have no power to remove real guilt. God must rescue us. The emphasis on the grace of God and His act of salvation is a scriptural theme woven through the entire Bible. But sometimes good theology trivializes other crucial lessons. This might be one of those times.
In Hebrew, the words translated “opened its mouth without measure” are le-veli hok. The NASB, NIV and other English translations treat this as an idiom, producing a sort of adjectival phrase describing Sheol. But the literal rendering of these Hebrew words is “for lack of a precept.” The rabbis recognized that this is not idiomatic. Isaiah is reminding his audience that Sheol opens to swallow the man who fails to obey a single precept of the Torah. By rendering the verse as an idiom, the severity of Isaiah’s teaching is hidden from us. We can comfortably continue to ignore God’s precepts because we do not see the connection between lack of observance and death. The hammer-blow of Isaiah is turned into the poetry of an idiot. Armed with God’s unconditional grace, we think this claim about Sheol has nothing to do with us.
How did rabbi Sha’ul (Paul) read this verse in Isaiah? We don’t have Sha’ul’s commentary, but we do have his view on the severity of sin. I wonder if Sha’ul had this verse in mind when he wrote, “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and asserted that failure in one of the commandments was the equivalent of failure in all. Perhaps rabbi Sha’ul was just being rabbinic. Certainly his view of the importance of Torah was not diminished by the doctrine of grace.
How do we respond to this verse if it actually reads, “Sheol has enlarged its throat for lack of a precept”? Do we need to adjust our view of the stringency of God’s instructions? Do we need to re-evaluate our assumptions about grace? Do we need to stop waiving off even the smallest directive? Or is it more comfortable to simply pretend this is an idiom?
Topical Index: le-veli hok, opened its mouth, precept, grace, Isaiah 5:14
Moses was instructed by YHVH to speak to the Rock. Instead- (perhaps in a fit of rage?) he struck the Rock. Because of this infraction, this disobedience- he died without ever entering the land of promise.
G-d’s instructions were simple. “Don’t eat the fruit.” We know the rest of this story- and know it- all too well. Disobedience to the instructions of YHVH brings death. Sin results in separation.
According to the prophet Isaiah: “but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your G-d, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59.2) And, (but wait.. -there’s more!) According to the word(s) of G-d – “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of G-d”- we (all) have a problem. A serious problem- a problem that separates us (sinners) from our Maker who has declared Himself to be holy. Houston..-we have a problem. When it comes to sin- “G-d don’t play.” Sin crushed and crucified Christ. What was in the “cup” Christ drank for us? -We don’t want to know..
I don’t know how to say this..- Are you sensitive to sin? Not only is adultery a sin, but according to the instructions of G-d- “the very thought of foolishness is sin.” (Proverbs 24.9) Our thoughts? – I’m “blushing” already! – Have I ever….? Yes, -I have. Just the facts- “I have sinned.” -I hope we may remain friends!
“Jesus, thou Son of David!- Have mercy on me!” (Me too!)- Have you ever prayed this prayer? Have you become the beggar? I have. Begging on my knees- prayer. -(the best kind!) For where, dear friend, is the place of blessing? “Baruck” (in Hebrew!) – “bow the knee.”
“This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”–and I am the worst of them all.” (1 Timothy 1.15) Move over Paul, make some room for another sinner to fall at the feet of the Master, for I too have sinned and fallen short of the glory of G-d.
Jesus laid down his life for Sinners. (Romans 5:6-8) “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But G-d demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(John 1:29) – “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of G-d who takes away the sin of the world!”
(1 Peter 1:18-19) “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Not only do we have the Problem of Sin, but (praise G-d!) we have the Provision of our Savior! G-d did provide Himself “the Lamb!” -Abraham was right!
“Tho millions have come- there’s still room for one..- yes, there’s room at the cross for you.”
“For the message (the good news) of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of G-d.” (1 Corinthians 1.18)
“but to those whom G-d has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of G-d and the wisdom of G-d.” (1 Corinthians 1:24)
How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross
My guilt upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no powr’s, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.
Skip, in discussing the stringency of Torah, would you mind elaborating on Sha’ul’s words: “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for unholy and profane, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there be any other thing that is opposed to sound doctrine, according to the glorious good news of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.”
Thanks!
I think Sha’ul’s comments can be understood in the context. Those who keep the Torah find nothing it it that does not contribute to life. That is its purpose. But those who do not keep Torah find judgment, now (sometimes) and in the olam ha’ba (certainly). The judicial aspect of Torah is a prohibition against those who do not uphold life as God designed it. Therefore, in this regard the Torah is FOR those who are disobedient. It acts as Judge and Jury, reminding them of their failures and calling them back to YHWH who gave Torah. The first purpose of Torah is to direct those who live by it to lives of purpose. But the second purpose of Torah, which is a consequence of the first, is that it reveals un-LAW-fulness.
This just seems to support that God’s law is not arbitrary. The precepts that we think are harmless, or were there just to ‘distinguish-them-as-a-people-from-the-pagans-around-them” — are in fact very important.
YOU got that right!
What was the purpose of the law? (the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good…Romans 7.12)
“What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ( Romans 7.7)
“Now we know that whatever the law says applies to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.” (Romans 3.19)
“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” (Proverbs 6.23)
“Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” (Psalm 43.3)
Light is that which reveals. Again- “I had not know sin except by the law..” “By G-d’s word at last my sin I learned, -then I trembled at the law I’d spurned..- till my guilty soul imploring turned, – to Calvary..Mercy there was great and grace was free.. pardon there- was mulitiplied to me..- there, my burdened soul found Liberty..- at Calvary.
The law was (and remains to be) our ‘schoolmaster’ to bring us to Christ. (Galatians 3.24) – To show us, reveal to us, confirm to us- our (daily) moment-by-moment need of a Savior.
But the “schoolmaster” function of Torah is not its PRIMARY purpose. Its primary purpose is to provide direction for living, direction that will accomplish God’s redemptive intentions. It is only because men are disobedient that the Torah acts as schoolmaster for judgment. Don’t forget, however, that the idea of being a pupil and being under a schoolmaster is NOT a bad thing if one is willing to learn and obey. Going to school is not always about being shown how incompetent we are. It is often where we practice the things we have learned.
Thank you Yeshua for the cross and your shed blood!!!!
ONLY HE was and is worthy…..I enter that rest, the only thing we are told to strive for.
Hebrews 4:10 & 11 So much obtained in the knowledge of that rest
Shalom to all