Tag-Archive for » yare «

The Four Words (2)

Monday, April 22nd, 2013 | Author:

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.  Psalm 130:4  ESV

May be feared – YHWH pardons!  Rejoice!  YHWH is salah.  I can be straightened.

But this is no surprise to the serpent, and he is prepared to manipulate YHWH’s pardon for his purposes.  Never underestimate the craftiness of the yetzer ha’ra.  After all, you have been training it all your life.  There isn’t anything you can devise to fool it into cooperating.  When it comes to the yetzer ha’ra, the only line of defense is “No!”

The serpent, through the yetzer ha’ra, simply suggests that if you aren’t going to delay your repentance, if you are really going to take YHWH’s offer of pardon, then you haven’t fully appreciated your past unfaithfulness to this gracious offer.  The serpent reminds you that you have been here before – and you have failed to live up to your end of the bargain.  In fact, many times before.  So what makes you confident that this will be any different?  In a little while, you will once more slip back into the dark.  Oh, of course you are sincere now, but you have always been sincere when it came to the point of agonizing distress.  And what happened?  You failed!  That’s because (and you should know this by now)  you are a failure.  You just can’t keep God’s instructions.  Everyone knows this.  Even your theology professors taught you that no one can keep all the  commandments.  So, here you are again, trying to convince yourself that you will stay on the straight and narrow.  But don’t you already know you are lying to yourself? Every bit of your history says this is a lie.  You will fall again, and because you will fall again, the pain will be even worse, knowing that you have fallen again!  Why pretend?  Why be convicted of another misstep?  Why add arrogance to your list of sins?  Just admit you aren’t any good and live with it.

In order to overcome this seduction, I must recognize the importance of the last two words in this verse.  lema’an tivare’ (in order that you may be feared).  We don’t think of pardon and forgiveness as the grounds for yare’ (fear).  We think that pardon and forgiveness are “Get out of Jail Free” cards.  They are the reason for celebration, for joy and relief.  And they are, but not without consequences.  Sin has consequences.  We are quite familiar with that arrangement.  But pardon also has consequences and unless we fully understand these consequences, we will be seduced by the serpent’s voice into imaging that forgiveness brings a return to life before distress.  Forgiveness is about return, but not to the life we once had.  It is a return to God’s highway, a walk on the elevated roadway of the King.  I don’t go back to myself!  I go back to the Lord!

To experience pardon or forgiveness is to become aware of the debt and the debit.  Both affect the balance sheet.  Forgiveness isn’t free!  Once I realize and account for the cost of my forgiveness, I discover the fear of YHWH.  And that reminds me of the parable of the unforgiving servant where unworthiness resulted in the offer being withdrawn.

Topical Index:  forgiveness, salah, fear, yare’, debt, Psalm 130:4, Matthew 18:21-35

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments

Shrink Wrap

Monday, March 04th, 2013 | Author:

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.  Philippians 4:8  NASB

Honorable – What does Mark 7:7 have to do with Isaiah 29:13 and Philippians 4:8?  The two Greek texts connect us to the Hebrew word kibduni (from kabed), “to be heavy, weighty with respect.”  But the Greek word itself is about fear, not glory.  Homer uses the word in the sense of “shrinking from” something that brings about awe.  Eventually this word takes on the sense of veneration, and becomes part of the Greek idea of religious worship.  But when we find the word in the New Testament, some oddities need to be explained.

The expected word for Gentiles who worship YHWH is “God-fearers” (phoboumenoi).  You can see the word phobos (fear) in this construction.  But six times in Acts our word sebomenoi (honorable) is substituted where we would expect to find phoboumenoi.  Why?  Because the audience made up of Gentiles (Greek speaking people in these cases) would have found phobos a very strange way of speaking about worship and God.  Unlike Hebrew where yare’ carries the nuance of awe and reverence, phobos suggests trepidation and fright.  In the Greek mind, this is not motivation for worship.  So these instances in Acts use sebomenoi, a word that conveys honor and veneration, thoughts much more akin to worship in Greek thinking.

This is quite interesting.  It suggests that Paul and Luke chose words that communicated their message according to the understanding of the audience.  They translated a Hebrew idea into an appropriate Greek term even though it meant choosing a word that wasn’t the usual equivalent.

Now we find a derivative of this same word in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.  Here the word (semna – semnos) means “what is worthy of reverence, majestic, honorable.”  In the few occurrences in the LXX, it can mean what is holy or sacred.  Paul’s use makes it clear that it is about behavior.  It isn’t simply about your thoughts.  It is about the resulting practice of what you think.  To dwell on these things is to make them into actions that exhibit your life’s character.

Let’s combine our findings.  From the Hebrew background we see that what is honorable is connected to God’s glory.  We also find that translating this into the Greek culture requires us to use a term that speaks of veneration and reverence, avoiding the misunderstanding about fear.  Then we discover the term includes nuances about holiness and the sacred.  And finally, we learn that it isn’t merely cognitive.  It is about what we think and do.  From this we can draw a picture about what Paul means when he says “whatever is honorable.”  “Whatever is honorable” is essentially whatever delights God.  It is whatever brings Him glory, shows reverence for His name, lifts up His holiness and exhibits His character in our actions.  Perhaps this little linguistic exploration will expand your understanding of the scope of Paul’s carefully chosen word.  Then you can ask yourself, “Is God smiling with me today?”

Topical Index:  honorable, semnos, Philippians 4:8, yare’, kabed, phobos

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , ,  | 12 Comments

The Expert

Thursday, January 10th, 2013 | Author:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom  Proverbs 9:10  NASB

Fear – Do you fear God?  That might seem like a strange question in an age where God is portrayed as the kindly grandfather ready to overlook all mistakes.  But it would never have seemed so innocuous when this verse was written.  In those days, royalty held the power of life and death in the hand, and God was the Supreme King of kings, not to be trifled with in the least.  So we come before Him in “fear and trembling,” even if He shows Himself to be merciful – because He isn’t required to show us mercy!  If no man can see YHWH’s face and live, what do you suppose we should think when we contemplate our position before Him?

Ah, but sheer terror before a Supreme Ruler is not what is meant by this verse.  As we discover from an examination of yare’ (to fear), the idea of fear in Hebrew thought is connected with ahav (to love), not with dread or terror.  As Fuhs notes, “the connection with [Deuteronomy ] 6:4 makes it clear that yr’ means ‘worship’ in the sense of fidelity to the covenant God; the element of obedience to the law is secondary to that of faithfulness to the covenant.  According to [Deuteronomy] 5:9, the people should ‘fear’ Yahweh with their heart; according to 6:2, they should ‘love’ him.  In other words, yr’ and ‘hb belong to the terminology of the general clause in the covenant treaty and are to this extent synonymous. . . . ‘Heart’ (RSV) or ‘mind’ in 5:29 does not refer to feelings or emotions but to the conscious and deliberate decision to be faithful to Yahweh and Yahweh’s covenant.”[1]  This is why “fear” can be learned.  It is behavior (not feelings) appropriate to faithful loyalty and behavior can be taught!

In this verse, YHWH reveals that the origin of wisdom begins with the learned behavior of faithful loyalty.  All human wisdom originates in this covenant behavior.  “No one can be expert in the complexities of life who does not begin with the knowledge of Yahweh and dependence on him,” says Fuhs.[2]  Perhaps you will need to read that again.  According to the Bible, anyone who does not trace his expertise and understanding back to God is a fool!  Wisdom stands or falls according to the attitude and behavior a man shows toward God.

The world, of course, rejects this revelation.  It portrays wisdom as the acquisition of knowledge through the application of reason.  In the Greek world, reason accounts for expertise.  Training merely assists the mind in deciphering the complexities of life.  But Scripture teaches something radically different.  Scripture claims that a man without covenant behavior has not understood the source or the purpose of wisdom. How do we know?  Don’t look at the words.  Look at the deeds.  God-fearers are those who act according to the covenant.  All the rest are expert fools.  Which one are you?

Topical Index: wisdom, fear, yare’, Proverbs 9:10


[1] H. F. Fuhs, yare’, TDOT, Vol. VI, p. 307.

[2] Ibid., p. 311.

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , ,  | 5 Comments

True Religion (1)

Tuesday, October 09th, 2012 | Author:

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. James 1:26 ESV

Rodney Baker (Adelaide, Australia) has contributed several TW’s on Religion while I am in South Africa.

Religious  – threskos. What a loaded word! A word that occurs only once in the entire NT, right here. And, yet, it appears 3 times in the LXX, in Job 1:1, 1:8 and 2:3. Each time it refers to Job as a man who is upright and blameless, who fears God and turns away from evil. The word corresponding to threskos is yare’ – to fear, reverence, stand in awe of, respect or honour.

James uses the nominal form of the same word, threskeia, later in the same verse. This time it describes religious worship, especially ceremonial observances or religious discipline. Paul uses the same word in Acts 26:5 to describe the observance of the Pharisees.

But what is James really saying here? Quite frankly, it doesn’t seem to fit the context (we’ll get to verse 27 soon). Is James talking about gossip? Slander? Inappropriate language? How does this fit with being a doer of the Torah and not just a hearer? How does it fit into the context of awe and reverence for God and religious observance? Most of our English translations aren’t very helpful. But, perhaps there is one that provides a clue:

James 1:26 YLT – “[26] If any one doth think to be religious among you, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, of this one vain [is] the religion;”

I think what James is speaking of here is people who make a show of being religious, but spend more time talking about it than actually doing it. Perhaps boasting about it. The word “bridle” is chalinagogon which is made up of two words; chalinos – a bridle or bit – and ago, to lead by laying hold of, to guide, direct, therefore to lead with a bridle or to keep in check. [Ago can also have another meaning too – to pass a day or to keep or celebrate a feast (e.g. a religious ceremony or observance) so maybe there is a little play on words going on here.]

James suggests that it is also possible to deceive one’s own heart to think that you are worshipping God appropriately, when in fact the opposite is true. Religious observance without action is vain. Sobering thought, isn’t it?

As one teacher said, “Don’t tell me which God you serve, show me which commandments you keep.”  Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words.

Topical Index:  James 1:26, religion, threskos, yare’, fear, chalinagogon, tongue

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 13 Comments

A Little Scared?

Sunday, April 15th, 2012 | Author:

Then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:5 NASB

Fear – In Hebrew the word is yare.  The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) tells us that this word is used in five different senses:  1) the emotion of being afraid, 2) the anticipation of evil without emotion, 3) reverence or awe, 4) religious piety and 5) formal religious worship.  What confusion this causes when one English word translates so many different concepts.  When we read the Old Testament, how often do we come across this phrase “fear of the LORD” and think to ourselves, “What can this possibly mean?  Why should fear be the basis of my relationship to God?”  Of course, those questions come from having only one word in English to express all these different concepts.

But there is a sense in which fear is the basis of all of our interaction with God.  We see this when the people reacted to one of Yeshua’s miracles of healing.  They were afraid.  Often they wanted Yeshua to leave them alone.  In spite of their recognition that God was acting in startling ways right in front of them, they could not cope with the situation.  This gives us a clue to understanding what fear has to do with our reactions to God.  Just for a moment, think about this:  God made everything.  Everything actually stays in existence from one second to the next because God sustains everything.  God is in control of everything.  God has a purpose for everything.  And God will judge everything by His standard.  Now imagine that this one insignificant, temporary, finite, fragile being called me stands before the God of everything.  This is not like meeting a friend or even a stranger.  This is meeting the One who is all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere at once.  The One who for His own reasons could, if He chose, wipe away my existence and the existence of everything else with a single thought.  If that doesn’t give you a little bit of fright, then you probably haven’t taken it to heart.  Is it any wonder that anyone who came into contact with this God fell to the ground trembling?

The truly amazing fact of Scripture is that this God, whom I rightly fear, actually wants me to love Him.  More amazing still is that He loves me.  He is not out to get me.  He really wants to care for me.  Who could be better at that than God?  The flip side of my fear of the Lord is the statement, “If God is for us, whom shall we fear?”

Sometimes I think we have heard the “God is love” theology so much that we forget just how big God is.  The Bible warns us that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  Maybe we need to get a good dose of fear before Him.  Respect, awe and honor are all tied to falling on our faces when we confront the living God.  We might be a good deal more serious about all this if we first realize how fearful the living God could be.  Sometimes I wonder if worship shouldn’t begin with trembling rather than hand-clapping.  Sometimes I fear that we aren’t afraid at all.

Topical Index:  fear, yare, Proverbs 2:5

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , ,  | 15 Comments

The Secret Treasure

Friday, March 04th, 2011 | Author:

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. Psalm 56:3 NASB

When – Are you afraid?  I am.  I have had a growing sense of fear for about a year now.  I am concerned that our civilization is rushing toward the brink at breakneck speed.  I look at my own financial circumstances.  Things don’t look very reassuring.  In fact, they appear more fragile than ever (and I have gone through a lot in the past).  I worry about my children, my wife, my purpose in life.  The Hebrew expression fits – yom eera, literally “the day I fear.”  The verb yare is a Qal imperfect.  That means the action is incomplete and fluid.  The day of my fear isn’t over with.  That day keeps happening in my life like rain in the Spring.  One minute the skies are blue.  The next minute there’s a thunderstorm.  The “fear day” catches me by surprise, but it’s just as real as the rain.

David was afraid too.  Did you notice that David doesn’t chastise himself because he is afraid.  Being afraid is a natural human response to impending threats.  Being afraid is not the kind of emotional reaction you can simply dismiss.  The “No Fear” gang seems just a bit disconnected from reality.  Just like David, we often find we are afraid – and for apparently good reason.  Having someone tell you that God is in charge so you don’t need to be afraid seems a bit callous.  What does that person know about my fears?  Just being told that I shouldn’t be afraid makes very little difference.

David doesn’t hesitate to express the remedy to his fear.  “I will put my trust in You.”  Ani elekha evtah.  Shout it out!  “I in You will trust!”  Trust – batah – a great verb, used only once for safety and security between human beings (Proverbs 31:11) but used many, many times for the feelings of safety and security between a man or woman and God.  The basic idea of trust is reliability.  “I can count on You, Lord, and I will count on You.  You promised to care for me.  I am banking on that promise.”  The opposite of the Day of Fear is the Day of Trust.  But there is more than an antonym here.  The Day of Fear is an on-going experience of human existence forever projected into the future.  It rides on the wings of what might happen to us.  But the Day of Trust is not a Qal imperfect.  The Day of Trust is a finished action in the past.  It is anchored to the character of the promise-maker and it has been that way since He spoke the world into existence.  The same God who enabled the sun to rise on the Day of my Fear is the God who asks me to trust Him with the rest of the hours in this day.

And I will.

Topical Index:  fear, day, yare, yom, trust, batah, afraid, Psalm 56:3

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | 12 Comments

Triathlon

Sunday, January 09th, 2011 | Author:

“Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to keep the LORD’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Fear/Walk/Serve – Gear up!  Prepare!  Get going!  Three Hebrew words tell you basically all you need to know about attitude and action when it comes to answering life’s most important question.  What does God ask?  Fear-Walk-Serve.  Let’s look at these three and how they fit together.

Yare is a verb that covers a lot of ground.  While it can describe frightening emotional reactions, when it is used of YHWH it usually, but not always, implies awe and reverence.  Moses tells us that the first action of righteousness is respect.  If I don’t respect who God is, I will not do what He asks.  This is a case of saying what I believe but doing what I value.  I have to value God before I will follow His instructions with my heart.  Since compliance is not what God desires, yare must be the foundation of all further action.  This is the place to begin.  Do I value God?  Actually, do I value Him as God?  That implies I give Him ultimate value in my life.  How will I know if I give ultimate value to Him?  Ah, easy.  His requests come first – always.

Once I have my values in place, then I am able to walk in all His ways.  Here the verb (yalak) is a metaphor.  Its common physical usage (to come, go, walk) is used as an analogy for a way of life, not an occasional step.  This is a direction.  Everyone stumbles.  Everyone gets distracted.  The verb is about the long-haul, the way that I am going, the day-to-day progress.  Eugene Peterson’s book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, summaries the idea of yalak.  Over time we strive to be obedient to all of God’s ways.  Of course, there is no logical or moral reason why we can’t be obedient to all of His ways right now, but the Bible isn’t sugar-coated.  The text acknowledges probable mistakes.  Walking is measured in terms of miles, not inches.  But then every mile begins with the span of an inch.

Finally we come to the verb ‘avad (to serve).  If yalak covers all the inches on the road of life, why do I need another verb to describe what God desires?  Isn’t walking according to His ways enough?  ‘avad is a common description for ordinary labor.  Walk and work.  That sums it up, doesn’t it?  Walk and work with your face turned toward God.  But ‘avad is not just about work.  It’s also about service.  It’s about God’s desire for Man to serve His creation.  Service in the light of the ultimate values of life is an act of worship.  Maybe that’s why we need this third verb.  We need the right attitudes and values; we need to be traveling in the right direction; and we need to experience everyday common tasks as a form of worship.  We are tri-athletes.  Three things are needed to finish the race.  All the rest is elaboration on preparation and technique.

Today’s Word:  walk, yalak, fear, yare, serve, ‘avad, Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 5 Comments

Preparing To Fear

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Author:

YHWH is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

Fear – The children of Israel read the 27th Psalm in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. They do this as a matter of preparation for repentance (teshuvah from the verb shuv). Why is the 27th Psalm so important to the beginning of the Jewish year? The answer is discovered in examining how fearful our true selves really are. An enormous pain accompanies a deep and penetrating examination of what I am really like. So often I discover within me the unrelenting power of the yetzer ha’ra. I find all kinds of dark corners where God’s light is not allowed to reveal my secrets. I discover my monstrous ego, ready and willing to defend its desires and its “honor” at anyone’s expense. No matter how carefully I have tried to uphold God’s Torah, I always uncover areas where I have failed. I assert the truth of Ecclesiastes 7:20, “There is no one on earth that does only good and never sins.” John simply reiterated this Hebrew insight when he said, “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). It’s a terrible and terrifying thing to look deep within, but it’s the only way to really prepare for fear. Rabbi Burnam taught, “Our great transgression is not that we commit sins: Temptation is strong and our strength is weak. No, our transgression is that at every instant we can turn to God — and yet we do not turn!” We must learn to fear the power of the yetzer ha’ra, a power which we cannot destroy but only domesticate, if we will. Fearing myself is the preparation to fearing the Lord, and fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Ah, but now you will say, “This makes me feel so unworthy. This makes me feel so rotten. Why should I dwell on these things when most of the time I do what’s right?” Most of the time the Herpes Simplex virus simply co-exists with the healthy body, causing no ill effects. It’s there, dormant and disguised. But sometimes things get out of balance and the virus comes raging to the front. Now I can’t ignore it. It’s all over me. Of course, if I pretend that I don’t carry the virus all the time, then I won’t take the steps to prevent its outbreak and I’ll be surprised and dismayed when my mouth is suddenly attacked by cold sores. The yetzer ha’ra is always there, providing passion and energy. Pretending it is not part of being human is a fool’s errand. Pretending it is controllable without the Spirit is a dangerous diversion. And when I really look, when I really peel away the onion of “goodness”, I discover there is a lot more for God to deal with than I thought. Adam was right to fear himself. He just didn’t realize how much.

Of course, David gives us hope. I can’t look into the dungeon of my soul too long without relief, but mood-altering aspirin won’t fix things. In the morning, the dungeon will still be there. God must open the dungeon door and shine the light of the Spirit on what I find in there. It will sear, but it will cure. My hope is in the Lord, not in me. He is able. I am not. But I have to look. So, even when it comes to the deepest of all fears, I can trust that He knows what to do. “Lord, take me. Burn me up on Your altar that I may live again by your Spirit. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I will look. Help me see and then blind me.”

Topical Index: fear, yare, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Psalm 27:1, 1 John 1:8, yetzer ha’ra

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , ,  | 7 Comments

Swampland

Sunday, September 27th, 2009 | Author:

YHWH is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

Fear – The question is rhetorical. The expected answer is “No one.” But that answer usually leaves out the one person that I really do fear. Even when no one else can bring me low because the Lord is my shepherd, there is still an echo of the Garden in this question. Whom shall I fear? Me, that’s who! I am the only one capable of wrenching myself out of the Lord’s protective cover. I am the only one able to murder myself in my desire to control my own destiny. I might not fear any other person, but when I meet God in the Garden, I might answer as Adam did. “I heard You walking and I was afraid.”

Perhaps we could use a quick refresher course on Adam’s startling response. Take another look at our exploration on June 15. In the swampland of desire, the creature I must fear is me. Put aside all those unwarranted concerns about other people and see the truth. You are the enemy of your soul. Adam knew it. David knew it (Psalm 51). Yeshua knew it (Luke 12:20) and Sha’ul knew it (Romans 7). No wonder Rav Sha’ul cried out, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). Is there any protection against the enemy within?

Yes, thank the Lord, there is! The same God who delivers me from my outside enemies knows my internal battle as well. He knows the weakness of my frame and the destructive penchant of my animal ego. He came to deliver me from the body of this death resident in my very being in the world. Oh, by the way, that’s why conversion is dying. We don’t help by putting the emphasis of conversion on life ever lasting. We would serve the lost much better if we actually told them the answer to our deepest fear is dying. That is the only answer for this kind of fear. The enemy must die so that I might be freed from its terror. God tells me the absolutely amazing answer to my greatest torment, the fear of myself, is that I can die and still live through Him. Life in the Spirit is the only life free of this fear because “I no longer live but rather, Christ lives in me” (Romans 8: 9-11 and Galatians 2:20).

There’s not much more to say, is there? All the people of the world seek ways to stay alive. The Christian knows the answer is to die. The world fears death because it is the final loss of control. Christians know dying is the only control we have. It’s everything upside down. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. Everybody who wants the presence of the Lord knows that dying is the only way to get there.

Topical Index: fear, yare, Genesis 3:10, Psalm 51, Romans 7:24, Romans 8:9-11, Luke 12:20, dying, Psalm 27:1

Want to see the Homosassa River?  click here

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , , , ,  | 5 Comments

But I’m Afraid

Saturday, September 26th, 2009 | Author:

YHWH is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

Fear – Maybe it helps to be the king. I can see why David doesn’t fear anyone or anything. He has God on his side and he’s the king. That’s a big advantage. But what about the rest of us? We don’t command armies, order legislation or have the power of life and death in our hands. Does this verse really apply to us? I hope it does, but if I’m really honest, I’m still afraid. I’m afraid of public humiliation. I’m afraid of economic collapse. I’m afraid of betrayal. Or cancer. Or whatever is on the top of this list for today. Funny thing is that David could easily have all those fears too, plus some big ones that go with being the king. So, what makes it possible for David to say that he’s not afraid?

If we read very carefully, we discover that David doesn’t actually say he’s not afraid. He just says there is really no one to fear. That’s not the same as feeling afraid anyway. But David has a very good point. No person should make us quake because God is sovereign over every man. David says God is his light. David sees what life is like because he looks at life from God’s point of view. That clarifies a lot. All those things that I fear start to fade away when I see what the world looks like through God’s eyes. When God shines the light on the dark, I see the truth. He’s there. There’s no monster under my bed.

David also says that YHWH is his salvation. That’s not quite the evangelical word we use. For David, salvation is yishee, deliverance and rescue. It’s very here-and-now stuff, not pie-in-the-sky get-to-heaven thinking. I’m in danger. YHWH rescues me. That’s salvation. It’s tangible and temporal. Yes, I experience rescue from everlasting death (is that an oxymoron?) but the focus of my attention is right now because I live in the right now.

God’s point of view and His tangible rescue mean that I don’t fear anyone. The Hebrew verb yare has five different senses (see TWOT, Vol. 1, p. 399). The first is the emotion of fear. David’s claim doesn’t rule this out. The second is the intellectual anticipation of evil. God’s light and rescue eliminate this, if I stop to mediate on the truth. The third sense of fear shifts toward positive expressions. “Fear the Lord” is the equivalent of showing awe and reverence. Fourth comes fear as righteous behavior. Finally, there is a use of yare in the sense of formal religious worship. So, you see that David is occupied with the distinction between the first and second sense; both negative. But one is normal emotional reaction; the other results from a failure to recognize the goodness of God.

Yeshua employs these subtle distinctions in Matthew 10:28: “and do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy soul and body in hell.” Yeshua’s comment is a word play on the multiple uses of yare. There is only one to really fear – and what “fear” means before that one is the crux of the matter.

Maybe I don’t have so much to fear after all. Maybe my emotional reaction (fear) just leads me to settled confidence in the Lord of hosts (fear). One fear becomes grounds for another fear. Right?

Topical Index: fear, yare, Matthew 10:28, Psalm 27:1

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , ,  | 16 Comments
« Previous Entries