The Shema (5)
And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5
Heart/ Soul/ Might – If we are commanded to love God with all (kol) we’ve got, obviously that command affects the entire body of behaviors. Rather than allow us to fumble around trying to decide exactly what is included in the “all,” God’s Word provides three general categories. Each category helps us focus on the wider implications of kol. Unfortunately, in a Greek-based culture, we tend to think of these categories as separate boxes. This division of Man into separate parts often allows us to imagine that we can be “all in” in one area and have less commitment in another. But Hebrew never views Man as the combination of separate pieces. Man is a completely unified, embodied, homogenized whole. Using the three words “heart,” “soul,” and “might,” doesn’t mean we can divide the Hebrew Man. It only means that Hebrew asks us to pay particular attention to what it means to love God in these three ways.
So what are the three ways? The first is “heart,” (lev), the way of our choices, our emotions, our actions-decisions, and our thinking. You could conclude that this covers it all. How we decide, what we decide, what we do as a result of what we decide, how we feel about what we do and what we think about all of that is “heart.” To love God with all your heart is to apply God’s point of view and character to our ways in the world. Make Him count in every thought, word and deed.
So what’s left? Hebrew suggests that there is a second area of application – the “soul.” Of course, our Greek understanding of soul follows Plato. In his view, the soul is a separate, divine spark imprisoned in a moral, fleshly body. The objective of Greek-based religion is to free the soul from the corruptible body and allow it to ascend to heaven. If this sounds a little like our theology of “saving souls” and “insuring you’ll get to heaven,” don’t be too surprised. Most of the early Christian theologians introduced this Platonic interpretation as a replacement of the Hebrew unified view. The “mind-body-soul” view of Man comes directly from Greek philosophy, not Scripture.
“Soul” is the Hebrew word nephesh. It is better translated “person.” It’s everything that makes me who I am. But isn’t that what “heart” just described? Not quite. “Heart” focuses on the individual “me.” It is about my thoughts, words and deeds. But who I am as a person is also defined by my relationship to others. Nephesh isn’t my internal, hidden, spiritual “soul.” It is the whole person, defined by his relationship to his Creator and to creation. Since we know that being human is a verb, a process of becoming through a dialog with the Creator and service to the creation, we know that who I am is defined by my connections to God and to His world. I am to love God through all these connections. By the way, there is considerable overlap between lev and nephesh, so I can never divide the two in Hebrew.
Finally, there is me’od (translated “might”). Unfortunately, the translations like “might” or “strength” aren’t quite correct. The word isn’t a noun. It is either an adverb or an adjective that is sometimes used like a noun. But what it really means is “great,” or “very,” or “exceedingly.” It is the what-ness of life, all the stuff we have on loan to do His bidding. This is the great abundance of what is put into our hands for His use. We are to love Him with all our on-loan provisions.
Combining these three areas of focused attention demonstrates that God commands love as the active behavior of treating everything as He would. His thought must become our thoughts. His deeds our deeds. His care of creation our care. His expressions of emotions ours as well. Love is what we do in all that we do. The standard is the behavior of God. “Be holy for I am holy.” That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?
Topical Index: heart, soul, might, lev, nephesh, me’od, Deuteronomy 6:5
It’s me, it’s me oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer! Not just me praying but others praying for me that my “allo” will indeed be His. Dr. Dennis Frye reports in an email this morning that he is no stronger now than the da he was saved. However, it was prayer that energized his all to complete the task before him. So for me. As I prepared a sermon for the congregation last Sunday, it took his control of me to produce something that would help the people. May he be praised as he uses my efforts to bring blessings all around.
I have something here that I want to add. It is not of today’s message but I was blown away and wondered if you knew of this. This isThe most powerful sapphire in this connection is believed to be Star Sapphires. (Star sapphires are also known as Stones of Destiny.) The rays of a star sapphire are said to represent Faith, Hope and Destiny.
Sapphire’s powers also include spiritual enlightenment and inner peace.
The Rockefeller Sapphire
A magnificent Burmese sapphire of 62.02 cts
Sold for $3,031,000.00 (That’s millions) April 2001
New York, Rockefeller Center
NOW, while I do not necessarily believe all of that – I do find it very intriguing that, even in some rather mystical areas of thought, that the sapphire is elevated to such heights. COULD IT BE that there is some residual knowledge of an association between the sapphire and Divinity? YOU KNOW; Maybe Knowledge that has lost it’s way somewhere along the way?
Returning to our scene:
* God is standing upon a translucent slab of BLUE stone.
* Ezekiel 1:26 “And above the firmament over their heads [was] the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne [was] a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.” {NKJV}
Ezekiel 10:1 – “And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne.” {NKJV} —
God reigns from a throne of SAPPHIRE.
+ Therefore, the SAPPHIRE upon Mt. Sinai was a visible representation of God’s THRONE.
Let’s go back to Exodus.
Exodus 24:12 – “And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Come up unto Me to the mount, and be there, and I give to thee the tables of stone, and the law, and the command, which I have written to direct them.’” {Youngs Literal Translation} literally—The LORD said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain here, and I will give you the tablets of THE stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” Note: Reference to a specific article with the use of “The” & “The”. “The” mountain and “the” stone.
The Hebrew uses the term “THE” stone.
Traditionally most have thought that the Ten Commandments were written on two tablets of “Granite” Stone from atop Mount Sinai. And, others have suggested “other” kinds of stone from time-to-time in commentary on this subject.
* In Other Words: —”I will carve out a piece of my sapphire THRONE and write upon it with my own FINGER my divine LAW for my earth CHILDREN to obey.”
* God wrote the TEN Commandments upon a piece of his THRONE and then gave it to US {you and me}.
* Hebrews 1:8 —”Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever.”
* Which means that the Ten Commandments are as ETERNAL as the throne of the God who spoke them and wrote them.
• Psalm 111:7, 8 —”All his commandments are sure. They stand fast FOREVER and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.”
• Psalm 89:34 —”My covenant I will not break, nor ALTER the word that has gone out of My lips.”
•{Sermon on the Mount} [READ] Matthew 5:17, 18—”‘Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till HEAVEN and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.'”
I Corinthians 10:1-4— “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
They drank from the same spiritual rock that ACCOMPANIED them, and that rock was CHRIST.
* He was the WATERY Rock.
* But he was also the BLUE Rock.
• The sapphire stone was his throne—a throne with WHEELS as Ezekiel 1:15-21 and Daniel 7:9 make clear.
• The truth of the missing sapphire is the truth of the Ten Commandment tablets—carved by Christ “the” Rock out of the Rock of his THRONE.
• Which means that CHRIST is the very embodiment of the Ten Commandments—when I choose to obey them, I am choosing to follow HIM. When I FOLLOW & OBEY I am (get this) “kneeling before His THRONE.
• Romans 10:4 TNIV—”Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”
“Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone.” (Patriarchs and Prophets 366) Note: Again “The”, a specific article.
In Exodus 32:15 the Commandments are referred to as “tables of testimony”.
The Hebrew meaning of the word testimony is witness, evidence, proof.
Thus, the 10 Commandments are a “witness” of God’s authority. The 10 Commandments are “evidence” of His authority. And, the 10 Commandments are a “proof” of the authority of the Ancient of Days.
But, there is something more.
When you and I embrace those “tables of testimony” we are bearing witness that He is the Creator, and the only true God.
What a God is our God! He rules over His kingdom with diligence and care, and He has built a hedge– the Ten Commandments–about His subjects to preserve them from the results of transgression. In requiring obedience to the laws of His kingdom, God gives His people health and happiness, peace and joy. He teaches them that the perfection of character He requires can be attained only by becoming familiar with His word.
It is written in the prophets: “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.” Isaiah 54:11-14.
“This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33, 34. { Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students – Chapter 64, page 454}
A Tale of Two Women
* Story of woman #1: You recall the story of the woman with the issue of blood that felt compelled to get near enough to Jesus so that she might be healed. In the actual account of what happened she was able to “touch” the hem of His garment and was healed immediately.
» Numbers 15:37-41 “Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. and you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you [may] not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. I [am] the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I [am] the LORD your God.’”
The COLOR of the Ten Commandments was to be woven into their hems — the color of BLUE to represent obedience to the divine Law.
[“When you see the blue”]
• Luke 8:44—”She came up behind him and touched the edge [same Greek word as Num. 15:38] of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.”
• She touched his sapphire blue ribbon (a tassel sown into the hem of His garment) and power flowed out of the Life Giver who was the LAW Giver and she was healed instantaneously!
* Story of woman #2:
• Revelation 17:3-6. “So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast [which was] full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name [was] written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.”
• She wears the colors of the High Priest (Ex 39:1) with one glaring omission. She wears NO Blue as a part of her wardrobe.
• She will suffer the fate (Revelation 17:16) of a priest’s daughter who is caught in prostitution (Leviticus 21:9).
• How then could any man or woman, or any church, declare that even one of the Ten Commandments has been changed, or done away with — that the 4th Commandment has been altered — without a Divine word anywhere of that change?
Now, we don’t keep the law of God in order to be saved. But, God’s faithful will keep His law because they love Him. Again, not in order to be saved, but because they are saved, God’s faithful keep and observe the 10 Commandments. But many people today will say, “Haven’t you heard, don’t you know, that you don’t need to worry about that old law any more? The law, they claim, has been done away with. The law, they teach, “…has been nailed to the cross…” Wait a minute! Indeed “something” was nailed to the cross, but let me tell you that what wasn’t nailed to the cross. It wasn’t God’s Ten Commandment law. Jesus, our Substitute, was nailed to the cross. And, all those wearisome old ceremonial laws (the laws of man) were nailed to the cross. But the eternal Law of God WAS NOT nailed to the cross.
Some Interesting Facts about the color BLUE:
When you look at a small glass container of ocean water it appears somewhat clear.
But, when you look at it from a distance, as an entire ocean, it looks BLUE.
The same applies with the sky – If you hold your hand out above your eyes and look at the space between your eyes and hand, it looks rather clear as well.
But, when you look directly at the
sky, on a clear and cloudless day at
least, it too is BLUE.
When our astronauts have gone into space they tell us that this planet we know by the name Earth looks like a huge BLUE ball. Why?
Well, BLUE is the very last color that is filtered out of the spectrum. And, Who made it so? The Creator. He could have chosen any color He wanted to be the last one filtered out. But, He chose BLUE!
And, in review, sapphires are associated with: Royalty, Nobility, Power of Wisdom, Mental Clarity, Clear Thinking, Clearing Mental Garbage, Joy, Peace, Beauty, Intuition, Prosperity, Fulfillment of Dreams, Enhances Creativity, Focus Purity of Thought, Dispels Evil Thoughts, Encourages Faithfulness & Loyalty, Brings Peace & Amiability, Brings Divine Favor, Offers Power of Protection, Provides the Ability to Discern Truth, Represents Faith & Hope & Destiny, Powers Include Spiritual Enlightenment & Inner Peace. In the Mystic and Metaphysical much has been “Remembered” but something has likewise been “forgotten”. And, unfortunately, within a vast portion of the Christian world, just about everything associated with God’s Divine Law has been “forgotten”. Isn’t it time to REMEMBER?
Folks, the Creator, the Master Designer, chose BLUE because He intended for it to be the color of REMEMBRANCE. Blue, the “last” color to endure.
He desires that we REMEMBER when we see the BLUE. And, He likewise REMEMBERS His promise to send His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, to redeem the faithful – those that choose to REMEMBER.
When He looks in our direction He sees our BLUE planet, and He REMEMBERS!!!
Wow! What a marvelous God. He thought of even the smallest and tiniest of details. He chose BLUE to be the last color filtered from the spectrum. He chose BLUE for the color of our planet. He chose BLUE as the color of His THRONE and His LAW. He chose BLUE as the color of “Remembrance”, His “Remembrance of us and our “Remembrance” of His Eternal Law.
I can really Love and Trust a God like that. How about YOU?
Is there something that the Lord desires that YOU “Remember” that has possibly been pushed aside in your heart and mind?
Why not ask Him to place within your heart a genuine desire to “See the Blue and REMEMBER?
copy and paste here and a little lengthy.
You might find it interesting that Hebrew has no word for “Blue.” The word used in Hebrew which we translate “blue” is really the word for the crustacean that produces a blue dye.
“The word used in Hebrew which we translate “blue” is really the word for the crustacean that produces a blue dye.”
Hi Skip,
Makes me think of an old rabbinical joke about mollusk dye on the one hand:
“The context of the abomination was in the context of food, in Leviticus 11. So according to the rabbis, as long as you don’t eat your tzitzit, you should be just fine.”
And “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis on the other:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=PoPL7BExSQU&a=vtnvqqX0B_Y&playnext_from=ML
Meandering today and found this TW.
Given that there is so much sky and so much sea around Israel, there is “no word for blue”. Most peculiar…… and it becomes the only colour in their flag! Hmmm.