Hebrew in Greek

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind Ephesians 2:3

Lived – Of course we all formerly lived according to the authority of this age.  The whole idea behind conversion is a change in life, not simply a new vocabulary.  But this translation doesn’t do justice to the depth of Paul’s word.  In order to see just how much of a change Paul has in mind, we need to take a closer look at this Greek word in Hebrew.

One of the most important words in Hebrew is shuv.  It means to turn, to return, to turn back, to repent (which is turning back to God) and a dozen other nuances about changing direction.  This word is used hundreds of times in the Old Testament.  It is the deep expression of God’s desire that we turn from our foolishness and disobedience and return to Him.  Paul knew all of this.  So, when he chose the Greek word anastrepho, he most certainly had shuv in mind because anastrepho is not just a word about living.  It is a word that means to turn back, to turn again and to turn oneself around.  Applied to life in general, it summarizes moving about and among.  That’s why it’s translated “lived”.  But behind this word is the idea of turning (shuv).  What Paul has in mind is not just living; it is living a turned around and returned life.  You could translate this verse as “Among them we too all formerly acted as ones turned around.”

Now let’s pay attention to the direction of Paul’s comment.  Did you notice that his words imply that we once turned (lived) in the wrong direction.  When we lived according to the authority of this age, we were going in the wrong direction.  All of us were marching toward destruction.  In fact, from a biblical perspective, we were already destroyed since God sees things from their finished point of view, not from their place in progress.

This helps.  Now you have a quick measuring stick in your battle against the authority of this age by asking the simple question:  “Which direction does this take me?”  Think of the finish, not the progress.  Remember, God always starts what He finishes.  He looks at everything from its final conclusion.  All the intermediate actions and circumstances are either aligned with the final conclusion or they are not aligned.  Only those that line up with the goal count.  In contrast, this world is all about progress.  It seduces us into looking at our relative position in the flow.  So we think, “Well, I’m not doing so badly right now.”  But God looks at the end and measures all the intermediate actions by that end.  The only direction that matters is the one with the right finish line.

You can see this in the life of Jesus.  From a purely human point of view, Jesus appears to simply wander around.  If there’s a plan, it’s not obvious.  Yes, His encounters with others are marvelous, but they aren’t very efficient, are they?  He never seems to be in a hurry.  He is off in His own world.  But once we see that all of His actions are governed by God’s finish line, then His life looks very different to us.  Jesus is always proceeding in the same direction.  That’s what Paul is talking about.  Once we were turned in a direction that led to utter collapse.  As long as we proceeded in that direction, everything we did (no matter how noble) was measured by that finish line.  Now we must turn around and measure our actions according to a new finish line.  We must become the body of the turned around ones.  Which direction are you headed today?

Topical Index:  Repentance