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Privacy Issues

Friday, October 02nd, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

And they sewed leaves of the fig tree and made loin coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:7

Loin Coverings – As Adam discovered, fig leaves don’t really do the job. Rembrandt might have used them to cover certain parts of the body, but I don’t think that is the point of this text. The Hebrew word for loin covering is hagore’, from the root hagar. The verb means “to gird, to put on a belt.” But the pictograph really tells the story. It means “to make private (by fencing) the pride of a person.” Interestingly, one of the cognates of this word in Babylon was about a military belt which served no useful purpose except to show off the status of the person. It was a belt of pride in prominent display. When Adam attempted to sew fig leaves for coverings, he was trying to conceal something, but it wasn’t his genitals. It was his disobedient pride. There are additional insights in the Hebrew word translated “pride” comes from the root ga’ah. Its basic meaning is to rise up, to be lifted up or exalted. That’s precisely what Adam wished to conceal from the eyes of the Lord. He wanted to put a fence around his self-exaltation, to cover his rising up against God’s command. The verb ga’ah paints the picture, “what comes from the lifting up of strength.” With great remorse, Adam discovered lifting himself up produced the necessity of privacy. One time he could be entirely open about who he really was. Now his true self had to be concealed.

So, why pick the fig tree? Perhaps you never asked feeling embarrassed to take a peek. But you would have missed something important. You see, the words are ale teena (literally, leaves of vine); the consonants for the root words are Ayin-Lamed-Hey and Tau-Aleph-Vav-Hey. The picture is “what comes from knowing (experiencing) authority” “what comes from securing the strength of a covenant.” I doubt if “fig leaves” really matters here. What matters is the picture behind “fig leaves”; namely, Adam attempts to produce an authority secured by the strength of a covenant from his own efforts. He needs a covenant that will cover his self-exaltation. He needs to get himself under control. He chooses an insufficient means (which God corrects) but nevertheless, he recognizes the need for something that will conceal what has been revealed. The idiomatic expression used here (“leaves of the vine”) points us toward a much deeper reality. This is a remez; a hint at something more important. It isn’t being naked that needs to be covered up. It’s far more humiliating than exposed genitals. What must be covered up is the unleashed aggression of the yetzer ha’ra. What must be covered up is what’s on the rise; the will to power that wants to dominate. Adam tries to find a strong covenant able to harness this force. He uses something that carries the same imagery of the unbridled evil inclination. ‘alah (the root of ale) means “to go up, to ascend, to spring up, to excel, to be superior.” Adam attempts to use “what springs up” to cover “what is rising up”. He tries to control his sin. He fails. So do we all when we fight fire with fire. This is not God’s way.

Your evil inclination is a spring-loaded snare. Unleashed, it will attempt to ascend to the heights. It knows no limits in its rise to power. So, the Lord says, “You must master it.” But not with leaves of the vine! To master the yetzer ha’ra, we must submit. Domestication comes from another direction – descent, what is low and humble. The covenant of strength that covers us is a covenant of blood, a covenant of death. If you haven’t died, you aren’t alive.

Topical Index: yetzer ha’ra, ale teena, ga’ah, fig leaves, hagore, loin coverings, Genesis 3:7

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Preparing To Fear

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

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

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Principle #7

Sunday, September 13th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

“and if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7

At The Door – “The exact moment when the human being becomes endowed with the evil impulse was discussed by Antonius and R. Judah the Prince, and the decision was as stated above, viz., the urge comes into existence at the time of birth. ‘Antoninus asked R. Judah, “From what time does the evil impulse exercise its power in the human being – from the time of the embryo’s formation or its emergence from the body?” He answered, “From the time of its formation.” The other retorted, “In that case it ought to kick about in the womb and come out of its own accord! Surely it is from the time of its emergence!” R. Judah said, “Antoninus has taught me something which is corroborated by a Scriptural text, viz., ‘Sin coucheth at the door’ (Gen. iv. 7) – i.e. the opening of the mother’s body”’

This little discussion illustrates principle #7, devar halamed meinyano (“a word that is learned from its own issue”). Something is learned from its own subject. Here the subject is the yetzer ha’ra. Its connection to Genesis 4:7 allowed Rabbi Judah to see that the human being comes under the power of the evil inclination at birth, not at conception.

Of course, modern, Greek-thinking, scientific Man might object to this entire argument as mythological nonsense. There is nothing “spiritual” going on in the birth of a child. It is all simply a matter of anatomy and reproduction. What’s the difference between the birth of a rabbit and the birth of a human being? Not much, really. But the objections of the Greek-thinking modern Man won’t have much effect on the rabbi. He doesn’t share the mechanistic worldview. His world is filled with mystery, awe, reverence and discovering principles from within the very words God uses.

Remember PaRDeS, the four levels of Scriptural meaning. This principle seems most likely to lead us to Sod, the level of mystery. The twists and turns of Hebrew mystical thought are often tied to intricacies within the words themselves. For Greek thinkers, it is a strange – and sometimes wonderful – world, and it takes a great deal of getting used to.

We have reached the end of the rabbinic principles of Scriptural interpretation. Have we learned anything really important? I hope we have learned at least this much. The Bible is not quite the so-familiar territory we thought it was. We will have to be much more careful and patient as we continue to explore the Book of all books. God is at work here. May His name be blessed.

Topical Index: principle #7, devar halamed meinyano, Genesis 4:7, yetzer ha’ra, Talmud

Cited from Abraham Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud, pp. 89-90.

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Taking Orders

Friday, July 31st, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

“for indeed, I am a man under authority” Luke 7:8

Under Authority – Are you under authority? Most believers would quickly assert that they are. After all, they serve the Lord. But perhaps we are a bit too quick to answer this question, principally because it is not a matter of attitude. It is a matter of obedience. As Jesus exclaimed about this Roman centurion, great faith is found in receiving the word of a superior and carrying out the orders. There is no authority until there is compliance.

The Greek text uses the words hypo exousian tassomenos, literally, “begin set under authority.” The verb, tasso, is about ordered arrangement. In this case, it means that this centurion was himself under the authority of another. He knew his place, his responsibility and his assignment. This is the first thing required of believers. We must know our place. We are slaves (voluntarily) to the King. He reigns over us. We must know our responsibility. We are to do what He asks, whenever and wherever the order comes. We must know our assignment. We are living sacrifices to the glory of the Father. Our behavior must reflect our spiritual DNA. Our actions must exhibit His character. When we were rescued from self-tyranny, we were set in place in the hierarchy of God’s government.

“Under authority.” Hypo exousia. We were put into an ordered command relationship. In that position, we have been granted permission to do something. Furthermore, we have been given the power to carry out that mission. We have been entrusted with a sacred task. Unlike many of our career experiences, we have been granted both the ability and the responsibility to carry out the assignment. But notice that we are not the authority. All authority belongs to God. He grants us permission to use His authority to accomplish His purposes. We don’t generate the orders or the power to complete them. We just carry them out.

And what are those orders? Simple – just do what He says. God gives us position, power and permission to do what He says. Just as He gave Adam the command and the ability to carry it out, so He gives us His instructions and the ability to carry them out. “This commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach” (Deut. 30:11). The Hebrew word for “difficult” (pala’) implies that the commandments can be comprehended and executed. God does not ask more than we can do.

Great! We have it settled. God tells me what to do, permits me to do it and provides me the ability and power to accomplish it. So, then why do I have so much trouble following God’s instructions?  Why do I fail? Why do I fight? Why am I too often disobedient? The answer is that I do not place myself under authority. I sin because I want to be in charge. I don’t really want to follow orders. I want to issue orders. That’s the bottom line of yetzer ha’ra (the evil inclination). I just don’t want to have someone else tell me what to do. In the Bible, this is called rebellion. It is not just sin. It is the attitude of sin. And it leads straight to this: “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” “I never knew you.”

The Hebrew concept of revelation is confrontational. God doesn’t come to me as the nice, old grandfatherly forgiver. He comes to me as the Holy King. He demands an ordered existence and assigns my place in that order. He expects me to act accordingly. He desires me to give up my rebellion and return to His comfort, protection and mercy – and subsequently live under His authority. But the yetzer ha’ra doesn’t let go easily. I will have to fight to stay under. There will be days when I want to give up, give in and take over. The flesh dies hard! But die it must. I cannot serve two masters. Neither can you.

Topical Index: authority, order, command, yetzer ha’ra, pala’, exousia, tasso, Luke 7:8

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Inclined Plane

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that all the impulse of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5

Impulse – So, is there a little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other battling for your attention and decision? No, I’m afraid not. All that cartoon fantasy is pagan mythology. The truth is about the yetzer ha’ra, not about diminutive spiritual beings. And it’s not about sinful nature either. It’s about the moral inclined plane that affects all human beings.

Genesis does not teach us that we are sinful at birth. It doesn’t teach us that we have no choice but to sin unless we are redeemed by Christ. It doesn’t teach us that our capacity for good is rendered null and void until we say the sinner’s prayer. What it does teach is that we have to become human by our decisions to harness the power of the will. In other words, we have to resist the yetzer ha’ra, the evil inclination, that has become part of the human society and affects every human decision.

Remember Havvah (Eve)? What happened when she listened to the naked snake instead of the Word of God? She gave expression to her own determination of what is good. She listened to her inner voice instead of submitting to the external words of God voice. When she did that, she allowed the moral equation to be changed. She introduced my evaluation of what is good and what isn’t good. Before she sinned, Havvah knew only what was true according to God’s words and what was not true according to God’s words. But after she allowed her own desire to get in the way, suddenly what God said was filtered by what she wanted. True and false became good and evil, only now it was “good for me” and “bad for me.” This is the essence of the yetzer ha’ra.

Now let’s consider, for just a moment, the teaching of Rabbi Soloveitchik on this matter. It reveals something that has probably been obscured in all our Christian theology about sinful nature. God created Man with the potential for good or evil. The very fact that the Tree is within the preview of Man means that Man must decide the path of his own life. There is a choice to be made. One direction leads toward deeper harmony with God and creation. The other direction leads toward self-will and chaos. But there is a real and legitimate choice here. It is a choice that every person must make. While the weight of evil inclination increases with each succeeding generation and the incline of the plane gets steeper, the choice still remains. Listen to yourself or listen to Him.

In one respect, the yetzer ha’ra is the distinguishing feature of what it means to be human. Animals do not struggle with the choice to listen to God. They just do by God’s inherent instinct what they do. Human beings are the ones who must decide. And that decision propels them either in the direction of animal-like existence or in the direction of becoming more and more human, that is, becoming more submissive to the word of the Creator. In this respect, the yetzer ha’ra is what makes us human. It is not something we can escape (unless we want to be nothing but animals) and it is not something we can deny. It is our destiny as human beings to have the power to say “No” to the one who made us. That power makes us human. And that power can also take away our humanity. To become human is to domesticate the power for God’s purposes.

When God saw that all the thoughts of men had become nothing but decisions for the path of animal behavior, He saw that His creation was no longer human. So, He scrubbed the earth of them. Their sin was crossing the boundary between human and animal, preferring to be animals rather than the human beings God intended them to be. As such, they were an abomination to creation and had to be removed.

We face the same consequences if we determine that animalia is the way to go. We may do whatever comes naturally, but in the end we will have denied who we were created to be. And God will have to clean up the mess.

Today, you don’t have to listen to some fictitious devil or angel. Today you can choose to be human by listening to the Word of the Lord and submitting your way to it. You can domesticate that inner power and give it back to Him. And you will be human one more day.

Topical Index: human, domesticate, yetzer ha’ra, animal, choice, Genesis 6:5

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