Removing Trauma
“ If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.” Genesis 31:42 NASB
Fear – We are a fragile audience. At least that’s what the translators must believe because, in this case (and others I suspect), the tone of the verse is modified so that it won’t be so dramatic. The trauma is removed. How is this done? Simple. Change the translation from “dread” to “fear.” In this verse, the Hebrew word is paḥad. It is most definitely not yare, the common word for religious awe (fear). The choice of paḥad means that the author wanted his readers to see something other than “fear.” He wanted the full, emotional impact of this word, a word about “the immediacy of the object of fear or upon the resulting trembling,”[1]to push the reader to recognize something about Isaac that was not expected. But modern translations (and even some classic translations) don’t want Bible readers to think of Isaac as afraid of God. After all, “dread” (the proper translation) implies great apprehension and significant trauma. Dread implies being terrified, anxious, trembling. Dread implies recoil and quaking. Dread implies flight as a means of protection. But since Isaac is one of the patriarchs, these descriptions cannot fit him (at least that is what we have been told), so we need to mollify the description by changing is from “dread” to “reverent fear.” Even the Jewish commentators often move in this direction. No one wants a God that scares you to death!
But that’s precisely the kind of God Isaac had. In my book, Crossing*, I try to show that Isaac spends nearly all his adult life running away from God. Why? Because Isaac believes that God cannot be trusted. After all, it is the God of his own father Abraham who instructed his father to kill him. That traumatic event completely reversed everything Abraham told him about YHVH, so much so that Isaac never again returns to his father’s presence. Abraham’s God scares Isaac to death. Even his son, Jacob, knows this to be true. After all, this statement in Genesis is Jacob’s assessment of his father’s, Isaac’s, relationship with YHVH.
Why is it important for us to correct this watered-down translation? Because if we don’t realize that Isaac operates under traumatic stress, we won’t see what God does to heal him. And we won’t understand the story of Jacob, who is the product of a traumatized father. We will entirely miss the purpose of the story, a story that is not about some eschatological promise fulfilled by the Church but rather the story of a completely dysfunctional family brought about by unresolved trauma. In other words, if we read the translators’ softened version, we won’t hear our own cries in the lives of these terribly injured people. We will read theology instead of emotions. And God will remain unable to heal our trauma because we don’t have a story about healing someone else’s trauma.
Topical Index: paḥad, dread, trauma, yare, fear, Genesis 31:42
*buy it from my website (skipmoen.com)
[1]Bowling, A. (1999). 1756 פָּחַד. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 720). Chicago: Moody Press.
No way: we’re not messed up! We, after all, are born again, and Jesus took away all our sins and now we are free from the Law (wait a minute, that doesn’t make sense; wouldn’t that make us free from SIN?). Well, anyway, now that we have love in our hearts we don’t need any of that any more. And so, therefore, we can tell who must not have been saved yet because they are still having problems! (Wait a minute: wouldn’t that be making the same mistake Job made in thinking that righteousness = a good and prosperous life? Of course, now that we don’t need the Law any more to tell us what righteousness is, it probably means that if we are born again with love in our hearts we will have a good and prosperous life.)
Well, anyway, now that Jesus did it all so we don’t have to, if somebody still is having problems, it just means that they must not be really born again (so Jesus can take it all away), so they just need to figure out why they are not really born again yet! (Or maybe have Jesus in their hearts: yeah, probably need to add that, too.)
Ooooooooooooohhhhhhh Laurita—————-Shalom!!!!!!!!
She hits the nail smack dan in the middle A LOT! Thanks, Laurita! Shalom, Sugar Ray!
For some reason I got Removing Trauma sent to me again this morning. I was glad though because I reread it and noticed a few things I hadn’t seen in my readings yesterday.
I want to tell you how much I appreciate this teaching and insights in regards to trauma. Not only that but making these old characters one of us with their stories. The teaching of the church has spiritualized so many of these stories and people that it is difficult to relate to them. Skip makes them human with their own stories of trauma and difficulties in following after and knowing God. Both sets of my parents had 10 and 11 kids in them, so I have a lot of relatives. It helps to be able to understand my own parents by looking back and seeing their parents, my grandparents and realizing they were just a product of their own upbringing, as I am. Truly we are all broken and in need of The Healer.
As I was reading, I believe the Holy Spirit spoke into my heart reassuring me that he was invested in moving on from here. No blame, no shame. Sometimes it’s easy to think that God is unhappy/angry with me instead of realizing his great hesed for me! Letting go of the past is not easy, in fact probably not possible, God wants to heal the wounds of the past, so we can move on ! My family basically has shut the door on the past and tried to move on, but I cannot see freedom there. The philosophy of being if we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist.
Don;t worry, your not alone, however it allowed me to see some more responses.
Larry, it sounds like your family had the same rule mine had. I think it is instructive to go look at the stages of grief. The first one is denial. Sin causes grief in all of us. We all are hardwired to want to live and love. When we choose contrary to that, we experience sorrow. The flesh sorrows because it is focused on outcomes, and consequences are not fun. “Sorrow that leads to repentance”, however, is a gift of God that we don’t get unless and until we are willing to suffer those consequences.
Denial is where I think we choose to sin further in an attempt to put off that suffering. Sadly, most folks I know, once they start running can’t seem to find the brake pedal. Suffering the consequences (curses) does not ‘pay’ for sin, but it does reset the inclination to do it again. Denial is where we refuse to reset the motivations by ‘facing the music’ (taking responsibility) and so we set ourselves up for the insanity of repeating the problem. This can go on for generations.
When we pick up our crosses, we sign on to wading back through that sorrow until we get to repentance. Love does not avoid pain: love enables us to use it properly as a cauterizing iron that heals the wound instead of making it bigger by covering it up through further sin.
The following is an adaptation of a song Nazareth rewrote. Although I feel it was an improvement over the original, I still feel that it only got you halfway through the creek. So, my apologies for changing it again, but thanks for the song.
Love Hurts
Love hurts, love scars, love wounds, and mars
any heart not tough, or strong enough
To take a lot of pain; take a lot of pain
love is like a cloud, holds a lot of rain
love hurts, ooh, ooh, love hurts
Love burns, love sparks, love ignites and starts
any heart that’s tough and strong enough
to take a lot of pain; takes loss to start again
takes tears to make the rain to wash away that pain
love hurts, ooh ooh love hurts
Some folks think you get happiness; blissfulness; togetherness
by ignoring all the bitterness; the brokenness; the pain abyss
but they’re the fools, you see, because
Love takes, love breaks the chain pain makes
in the heart that’s dark that’s torn apart
only love can stand the pain; face the flame that burns the shame
make the tears that fall like rain, make the flowers bloom again
love’s hurt heals the heart that love hurts.
I love that this needed a re-send !! I definitely know the reality of my own personal trauma and my family and past generations that needs healed !! How many sons and daughters are a product of a traumatized father.. ?Lord change our birthright from our earthly father’s to our heavenly Adonai…what does God do to heal Isaac’s trauma ?
So when does God heal our trauma?? I don’t get it. I have been throwing rocks at God since the day I knew of its existence, though I now acknowledge that those rocks were meant for my parents and older brother. I have rebelled and surrendered, lived as if there was no God and as if God was everything to me, been obedient and disobedient, and I have not experienced a difference in the way God has related to me during all those times. That is to say, God does not see, hear, or know me. So when does God heal? I’m still waiting….
I believe that as soon as we believe our healing is not the priority issue we will find ourselves traveling down the road of life a little more smoothly. I have a horror story of my own. I believe I will receive the total healing needed involving my Mother and family when Yeshua returns. I believe the millennium will be the time of healing relationships gone awry and a time of learning to see if we are preparable to live in eternity.
I was healed when I was able to forgive. No one can find the love of Yahweh if lives in oposition and defiance to His will. I stopped fighting against Him and decided to walk in obedience.Living in fear because you disobey His instruction (Torah) is your choice. You can live free in shalom when you follow His law.
Sorry Skip but here we go again. Like Paul,when we believe God doesn’t ‘necessarily heal all of our diseases. But He gives us the strength to walk, with Him and talk with Him and the strength to accomplish His will in our life and to help others. Now I know some teck guy will say ‘this ain’t so. But to me God has worked another miracle in my life. Like others my cell phone is about the most important communication source for me. Monday I misplaced it searched all through my apt. and couldn’t find it moved everything. looked everywhere several times. Hothing. Even when I don’t use it the power never last more than 2 day’s,PERIOD
Well, this morning at 5:30 (5 day’s later) as I’m standing in my bed room the phone alarm goes off. I start looking, and of course, my hearing, which is totally non-invoid, I finally narrowed it down to the bathroom and finally to my YMCA bag. which I had searched several times, took everything our still I didn’t see it but it was still ringing, finally I took the bag and bent it in several place and finally felt where it was — under the bottom pad. It still had 44% power left. Say what you want, but to me, It was God. or as Job said _”Who else” Shalom
Mysterious and wonderful are his ways, yet they vanish in the harsh light of unispired reason. Hold on to the mystery and you will walk with the author of the wonderful.
Agreed…We where made free by grace in order to be free to obey and be made whole through Torah. Miss that and you miss the bus to the promised land of rest. Shalom and trust in the author behind the author, is your ticket to ride.
Dear Claudia, your post hit real close to home for me. I felt stuck in that place for a really long time! When I went to Alanon I learned something surprising: that I held the kingpin. Trauma turns us all into victims, I think, but I had to learn what to do once I found myself there. Then a friend loaned me the book that had the keys for me to heal from my Chronic Fatigue, adrenal exhaustion, etc. titled A More Excellent Way By Henry Wright, which taught me much of the below, which I am grateful for.
I, like you and everybody else, went through the grief stages: denial, anger, grief, acceptance, etc. I had to honor them all. It was sucky and TEDIOUS. I had to face my part of the problem, which was my agreement with the victim part. It was hard and scary to start taking responsibility again; to lay down the numbing aspects of horror, as per the DSM definition of PTSD. I used self pity, learned helplessness, self hatred and blame, escape mechanisms. But most of all, when I lost trust, I went into performing for love, which ruined my endocrine system. I had to repent for all that.
I learned that listening to accusation or using it myself was a sin. I was accusing God, myself and others and agreeing with their accusations, too. Now, whenever I feel accused I immediately go yelling to my Father: I say “Father! Father! somebody (including myself) is accusing me; please tell them to quit!” I also had to let the Father love me in the place of mine that didn’t/couldn’t. Then the hardest part began: repenting for bitterness. That stuff is sneaky! It was such a part of my personality I felt if I let God forgive me and if I forgave myself and others I wouldn’t know who I was.
I faced down occultic thinking: thinking that covered over truth and that did not line up with the way God thinks, as well as all altered states of reality I was using to numb myself with. Then I had to take the underlying pain to Him instead of attempting to medicate it.
I took a hard look at all the ways unloving ruled my life, and repented for believing that. All the self stuff: self pity, self hatred, self exaltation, self focus and self accusation, etc. – if you can put the word “self” in front of it, is going to be unloving – as are letting others (including the devil) do those things to us. Then came repenting for agreeing with fear – the biggie! I had to learn what faith was to replace the fear. Trust is hard!
We are works in progress. I am still walking out. Hopefully with you and a whole bunch of others! Fighting!
Laurita… we have the same story!!! While I haven’t read the book, A More Excellent Way, instead I bought an old used travel trailer and moved far away from all those ‘sickly sweet familly/friends’ who were constantly chattering in my ear… “just suck it up and move on” or worse. Not helping! Spending those alone days and nights… 6 mos total, I mourned and faced me, myself and I. It was ‘ugly’! I pasted the walls with scripture as I read and wailed over and over again. In short order God began to speak to me… I plead guilty. I confessed. I repented. In his compassion, mercy and grace…He forgave me. Perhaps that’s too much ‘cold turkey’ for some. Wanting out of the misery that bound my soul to darkness gave me the courage and strength to look in the mirror of God’s truth. Oh, how God continues to transform my life from that point on. So true… we are works in progress. I smile now when corrections come and count it all for joy! Thanks Laurita for stepping out and sharing once again.
Haven’t we all “felt” what Abraham must have experienced going up
the mountain to obediently sacrifice Isaac? Seldom do we consider
what trauma Isaac was put through. Skip, your book Crossings helped
bring this to light. The nub of it all is the degree that God is willing to put
us through, in order to bring us to complete oneness with Himself.
No one gets a free pass, least of all Yeshua, who’s very sufferings
WE share in so we can also share in his glory. (See Rm 8:17)
“This is the way; walk in it.” Is 30:21
His voice is ever there to guide us. Do we listen? The way is always
before us. Do we follow? Is this life supposed to be such a simple trek?
Ask any victorious winner if his/her conquest was easy.
OK, if Paul says that God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), then how are we supposed to “trauma fear” God? God wants us to use something he hasn’t given us as part of our relationship with him? That doesn’t make sense.
(That’s an honest question; I’m not just trying to pick a fight or anything. The two passages do seem to contradict each other and I really would like an answer. Thanks!)
I would like to see what Skip has to say to that, too, but who says that Isaac’s reaction was godly? Skip’s point is that the patriarchs did not necessarily lead exemplary personal lives: they stumbled and fell as much – or even more – than we do. In Crossings, that seems to be his focus; to show us that.
We were not created to live in trauma (notwithstanding a whole lot of ascetics and self-martyrs who attempted to amalgamate such pagan nonsense to the truth).
Deliverance has little to no meaning if we are still living in fear and suffering; FOR THEIR OWN SAKE, anyway.
Isaac needed deliverance, too.
What issues does the book “Crossings” address! Seems like a lot of people, myself included, in this group are looking for healing or restoration in regards to personal issues as a result of family trauma. All my growing up years, living at home, I suffered every type of abuse you could imagine. I have come a long ways but I still find myself with a lack of trust in God it turns out! How can you find healing when you find it hard to venture out into a God you have reservations about. I have been reading Skip’s Teaching on the grammar of love from First Corinthian’s 13 and that seems to be helping, I hope.
I, personally, agree completely with 2 Tim 1:7, that God didn’t give us the spirit of fear (or dread). However, I also agree that Gen. 31:42 shouldn’t be “watered down” to fear. The fact that Isaac dreaded God doesn’t mean that he should be dreaded, it just describes how Isaac saw God. God describes himself as “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness”. But Isaac didn’t see him that way, so it makes sense that he (Isaac) would want to be running away from the dreadful God (who wouldn’t?).
Tom, remember that Timothy was in Ephesus, he was a young guy filled with the spirit, not too much experience in planting, building and leading churches, and that his mentor was in prison. What was Paul telling him? People is gonna be against you, you are gonna cry and feel in despair, so remember that G-d did not give you spirit of fear.
Different story from Ysaac. Context is key.
Something else we might consider in regards to these passages is the parallels in Paul’s own life and ministry to what Isaac experienced as well as the similarities in regards to Timothy. Perhaps the difference between fear (timidity) and boldness (power) is the difference of either accepting or rejecting God’s direct calling for you according to His purpose. (2 tim. 1:9) Here’s some “similarities” that might be significant. Both Isaac and Paul were chosen for a task without consulting them, Isaac was chosen to be the propagator of Abraham and more importantly the faith of Abraham before he was born. (addressed as his “only” son) Paul was chosen to be God’s instrument to present the gospel of the Messiah to the nations, even as he was persecuting the Messiah’s followers. Paul tells Timothy that he is an “inheritor” of the faith through his Grandmother Lois and mother Eunise. Both Paul and Isaac were walking contrary to that calling and while there’s no indication of timothy doing so, perhaps Paul because of his experience, sensed in Timothy a reluctance and wanted to save him the trouble before it got started. Self will is a powerful deceiver, it’s so very easy to say “I didn’t sign up for this.” but we do so at the cost of lying to ourselves about who owns the life I’m living. If I refuse to live the life I know God has called me to, or am refusing to work at the task He has assigned, I have every reason to fear greatly as God knows how to get my attention. If on the other hand, I’m walking according to His will in my life, (I didn’t say perfectly, only wholly) I don’t have to fear and I find that “power, love and self control” that is the gift of God, added to my life.
Negative reply was an accident! Clicked on “Read More”. Sorry.
Happens often with me also. ? fat fingers and an iPhone don’t mix too well.
The is a story of a tribal people and their beginnings in its beauty and dread. The text is telling a story, and NOT making a theological statement. Paul is addressing a young man he has walked with and discipled. When we are able to identify the context, we are able to let it speak on its own terms.
“(This) is a story” not ‘The’ . . . duh. 🙂
“olah” often translated “burnt offering” actually means simply “ascend”. Animals were wholly burnt and the smoke ascended to the heavens. However, there is no indication in Scripture that people were killed and burned in this way. Rather a person would “go up” to the High Priest and serve with him (e.g. Samuel, Jephtah daughter) Killing children as a sacrifice to God was an abomination… YHWH would never have demanded this action. Rashi commentary and Targum Jonathan are helpful here.
Rashi in Genesis Rabbah on Gen 22:12: “ When I told you ‘Take your son’ I did not tell you ‘slay him’ but bring him up to the mountain. You have brought him up- take him down again.” He then quotes Jeremiah 19:5 regarding child sacrifice abomination “It never came to my mind!” as well as a parable of a king saying “Bring up your son to my table. Why the knife? Did you think I was going to eat him”?
Targum Jonathan on Gen 22:19 “and the angels on high took Itzak and brought him into the school of Shem the Great, and he was there three years.” Shem is Melchizedek according to the Jewish sages. Targum Jonathan on Gen 24:62 “and Itzak was coming from the school of Rabba Shem…” when he met Rebekkah.
In current psychology, emotional trauma is defined as “post traumatic stress disorder” known as PTSD. News flash? Not really. For clarity PTSD is a disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. And when a ‘flashback’ occurs, the person will avoid the pain by running away or hiding.
Isn’t this what Adam and Chuah did in the garden? Run and hide? Was the flashback remembering God’s commandment? Did dread take hold of Adam when he realized his disobedience to God? Was God responsible for Adam’s disobedience? After all God is the creator/author of ALL things, good and evil, dark and light… God is omnipotent and omnipresence. God gave Adam a commandment not to/do not. Adam chose himself? Chuah? Obviously not God. Is it a stretch to think something within us ‘altered/changed’ whether it be our DNA or some level of a cellular imprint? Trauma does affect the physiology aspect of the human body.
Fast forward to Issac, then Jacob… all the way to the here and now. Should this be a surprise? Or a very clever covert operation by our own avoidance of pain/suffering singing Halleluyah on the wide road to perdition?
Lucille, you are so right, it is the case that we choose to run and hide, but why? It is because we have not learned trust in that particular place. But would any of us fare much better in some of those overwhelming spots NONE of us have seen before, and thus have had no prior opportunity to develop that trust? Before we rush to judge (I don’t think you are!), can we say that we would have had that trust in that place if we have not been there before, either?
Also, fear opens the door to unholy spirits of bondage. At that point, I think we could possibly be too quick to judge those (or ourselves) who are being slammed and accuse them of freely choosing that bondage by not taking into account that the devil does not play fair. We don’t just do this all to ourselves, y’all: we do have a nasty enemy who is very good at taking any and all opportunities (lack of trust) to claim authority (choice privileges) over us. I know for years my chooser seemed broken; no matter what I chose, evil just seemed to twist it. Once you start rolling, it can be hard to find your feet again. But, who among us has not been there?
Yes, Laurita.. it’s like unraveling or perhaps better said “rewinding” back to the beginning. I do ask “why” at all levels of self examination and take into account that ‘sneak attack’ by those unholy spirits. How innocent am I, really? Was Adam’s curse part of our trauma to be played out? Is it God we don’t trust? Or maybe ourselves? If the trust is misplaced it must be reinstated back to God. A reversal of sorts. How? Yeshua tells us “no one comes to him unless the Father calls them first”. Are we deaf? We certainly appear to be blind. Is this the connection that has been broken? Follow me, says Yeshua. Obey the commandments. Adam didn’t and it cost him/us. Second chance comes with a price. Are we ready to get a ‘do over’? If not, then again, how?
Just remember, please, Adam did NOT receive a curse. In fact, he was forgiven and re-instated. He just didn’t follow suit with the woman.
I stand corrected. Zealous response on my part. Rather than ‘curse’ perhaps better said, ‘trauma’.
I don’t know Skip. Death and Genesis 3:17–19 may not be called a “curse” technically but it sure was about as close to one as we can get, I think. I mean death seems to be fairly close to one too.
Question – How and where was he forgiven and reinstated? Other than though Yeshua I’m not clear on how that was.
Look up the Hebrew words used for the covering God provided for the two of them. You will find that it is the same as the words for Aaron’s priestly garments. Davidson makes this point is his book, Flame of Yahweh. Reinstated as priest and priestess in the world.
If this is true Skip why was Yeshau needed to redeem. And why does Paul claim Yeshau brought the redemption not the garment that was given as a cover for the truth of their nakedness… or is the veil only lifted through Christ the anointment will then be the redemption… a lot more to seek than a open and closed theory. I would say.
Great tip, thanks Skip… my oops (old thinking) reminded me of the words God used. He cursed the ‘ground’ not Adam. Adam was reinstated and I agree. My ‘light bulb’ moment came by way of Isaiah 58 “repairer of the breach”… and of course other scripture. Caused me to search and dig past what I thought I knew to understanding what God is telling us. Reasoning says to me Adam was reinstated. So much more to the story…
Sorry, my friend. I’m not exactly sure what “covering” you’re talking about. Do you mean “lavash”?
I simply don’t see them being reinstated. They were kicked out of the garden and flaming swords set to prevent them from returning so they couldn’t eat from the tree of life i.e. Yeshua. Death, pain, and toil were given to them, forever, for their disobedience until Yeshua came and paid the price for them and us. And “covered” us by His blood.
כתֹּנֶת (kttōnet) tunic, a long shirtlike garment, usually of linen (Gen 37:3; II Sam 15:32; Isa 22:21).
Adam’s was made of fur (Gen 3:21). Also worn by women (II Sam 13:18; Song 5:3). Worn especially by priests (Ex 28:4; 29:5; 39:27; Lev 8:7; 10:5; Ezr 2:69; Neh 7:69). (Cf. Akkadian kitinnu or kitintu, a linen garment made from kitū linen; the Aramaic kittûnāʾ is the same as the Hebrew.) The word was borrowed by the Greek χιτών>.
Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., & Waltke, B. K. (Eds.). (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 459). Chicago: Moody Press.
I still don’t see how killing (the first deaths) animals and making a covering for nakedness ‘restored’ them to their first innocence. It sounds more like giving them a crutch BECAUSE they no longer were “naked and not ashamed”. Mark is making a good point, for me anyway.
That isn’t the point. It’s not killing animals (which is NOT in the text, by the way) or covering nakedness (which is also NOT in the text), it is the use of the term that the commonly and typically associated with PRIESTLY garments. See Davidson’s discussion in Flame of Yahweh.
So if it is priests we now need as intermediaries between ourselves and a YHVH we are now separated from, we are still talking about a new medium for a new reality; not a reinstatement of the previous state of things where there was obviously no separation between us and our Creator. Either way, even if Adam was forgiven, he was not returned to innocence; instead he was given a new approach to God; namely the priesthood, which clearly started from the Garden – not Sinai or Levi.
P.S. I believe that God never asks of us something He is not willing and able to do Himself, too. I believe killing animals is no exception. Before He asked people to kill, I believe He showed them how, and did it first.
I really receive the thoughts shared again to ponder on. I did enjoy the book. And this sharing does remind of what is important to reality understand and to become the changed person that pleases the Father. But it is not a one time reader. It took me some time to read it through. Because it calls one out of our own comfort zone. But oh! what a need for us, His called out ones to have that kind of walk with our Eloha daily.
R. W. Emerson suggests we “read for the author behind the author “. More importantly we must trust the writer of the story of our lives can be trusted to finish it well. Yet if the author is the King of Heavens Armies a little fear, trembling and even dread might be in order. It occurs to me no matter what our part in the play believing ourself to be the judge of the performance no matter how we might feel about it at the time only gets in the way of our freedom to act as appropriate. Healing comes when it is written not before, as does the closing of the curtain.