Tied to the Whipping Post
But he was pierced [Yeshayah 51:9; Zecharyah 12:10 Sukkah 52a, Tehillim 22:17Targum Hashivim] for our transgressions, he was bruised mei’avonoteinu (for our iniquities); the musar (chastisement) (that brought us shalom [Yeshayah 54:10] was upon him [Moshiach]; and at the cost of his (Moshiach’s) chaburah (stripes, lacerations) we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 OJB
Stripes– Some people think I am too pessimistic. They complain that I see the dark side of things more easily than the light. Perhaps they’re right. But I think I’m in good company. Jeremiah, Job and Hosea come to mind. Maybe even Isaiah, Micah, Amos and a few others. It seems that the light side of human history didn’t take a real grip until after the resurrection. Then we got a taste and a promise. We’re still waiting, of course, but at least we hope that these long days of Winter will one day be over. Ah, that sounds pessimistic, doesn’t it? Sorry. It’s just that I can’t get past this verse in Isaiah, the one that says that even our Messiah suffered on our behalf. That he was beat up because of us. That the “chastisement” for our peace was upon him (we’ll have to investigate that). In the words of Duane Allman, he was tied to the whipping post[1]—and if we are going to be like him, then I expect we will feel the same, both mentally and physically (at times).
You might ask what it would be like to be in the company of the prophets. They seem to be a pessimistic lot. Oh, they offer hope at the end. God is faithful. God will rescue. But there’s a lot of torment between now and then. Graveyards and famine, earthquakes and drought, violence and abuse. Lots of very bad stuff while we wait for God to change the course of history. I’m not sure we’re really prepared for this. We have comfortable lives. We’ve learned to accommodate. We really don’t want to be tied to the whipping post. Stripes are not in our game plan.
The Hebrew for “stripe” is ḥabbûrâ, literally, “blows.” It is especially interesting that the root is ḥābar, “to be joined, coupled, heaped up,” but also “to have fellowship with, be in a compact together, unite.” From this root we derive ideas like “company,” “associate,” “a thing joined together,” “partner,” “clamp” and “place of joining.” Think about this for a moment. Stripes and blows are found in the semantic range of words about community! Those who share the pain share life together. There is company in suffering. TWOT notes that this root also implies “to bind.” Apparently uniting produces obligation. Perhaps the pessimism of suffering contains something far more enriching, that is, a deep fellowship and commitment. Do you suppose that those of us who are unwilling to feel the lash have somehow missed the deepest kind of camaraderie? Maybe “brothers in arms” is only possible for those in the midst of the battle.
Maybe Paul is just providing a Hebraic definition when he writes, “ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;” (Philippians 3:10).
Topical Index: ḥabbûrâ, stripe, wound, fellowship, Philippians 3:10, Isaiah 53:5
[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUvxRjYqjEQ
Good Morning Skip, I have just begun reading your post over the last few weeks. This one is on a topic of great interest to me.
I grew up believing it was normal to “suffer” as Christ suffered. It was godly to be “sick” for the Lord. However, during a time of great difficulty in my life I have come to see this as something totally different.
May I suggest that we take a look at the perfect description Paul lays out for us, to see the beating Jesus took on our behalf and the words mingled with “take up your cross and follow me.” Most will put the two together. I believe it was/is taught this way in many churches and/or strongly implied still today.
As we look to this most horrible event of Jesus being beaten, could it be that instead of us gathering and joining Him in it now after accepting Him as Lord, He was actually joining us in it for all time?
Could it be possible that our focus is backward? Instead, is it not an exchange? He tells us He gives us beauty for our ashes. Is 61:3 speaks of a great exchange, Luke 4:18 is another great declaration of how He sets us free and causes a great exchange.
What I am saying is this, our suffering was dealt with “at” that whipping post. Our “cross” was dealt with “at” The Cross.
Do horrible things come our way? Yes! However, it is Who we look toward that delivers us from the suffering, thus the great exchange.
Jesus literally paid it ALL! I have no more debt to pay.
During years of horrible events I came to understand this in such a profound way. Here is where He, King Jesus, showed me to live: at 1Joy Lane, at 1 Peace Street. I am to live there and not let circumstances move my house, because He had already bought my residence and lives with me there.
I see Him as a Champion, who took those stripes to “end” suffering for all who will believe Him!
I see The Cross as a complete work of victory over the devil! My cross now is not one on a daily chore, but one of great joy! My cross is beautiful to carry, for it bears witness of His great Love and with His Power in my life.
I am forever grateful for His decision to come to earth to share in/take my suffering, so I no longer have to suffer. To believe otherwise minimizes His work and says it was not enough. It is finished for me there and forever more.
I truly hope I have not read your post today in error.
Perspective is personal. I have found looking at something from another’s view point can make a matter clearer still.
Blessings, Shelia
Thank you for adding your experience to our collective insight.
I’m beginning my day with a mental whipping. Please community pray for my son who is on a mission trip to (I can’t say where since Christianity is frowned on) , and he has contracted a fairly serious case of airplane respiratory crud. Pray for a quick uneventful recovery.
John, I know you have to be proud and scared, too. I am praying for him and for you. Thank you for raising such a fine son!
As believers we are not accustomed to wearing “stripes” as part of our wardrobe.
Interesting that the holocaust victims wore clothing that was striped- with vertical stripes!
I think this is a complicated subject.
I agree that Yeshua joined us as our Brother in suffering; it is HOW He joined us, in fact, for suffering is our middle name.
I also agree that anyone on this planet that turns around and tries to love – connect – at any level is immediately going to be exposing themselves to the fury of an entire planet in pain. The minute I really care about you I am going to feel pain on two levels: I am going to become aware of your difficulties as if they were my own – for caring makes them mine – but I am also going to become acutely aware of my own faults that are preventing me from loving you correctly, and that is going to hurt, too! To quote the rock group, Nazareth, “love hurts”. On this planet, at least, it sure does!
On the other hand, I think all SELF-INFLICTED pain is sin. Pain is a gift that shows us a break that needs mending. If I resist mending it, I am in agreement with the sin that is creating it. Sorry, that’s blunt. But I got tired of being ignored in my very real pain by folks too self absorbed in their pain to reach out to me. I also have gotten tired of those who just want to be commiserated with because they don’t want to actually fix their problem. Pain, for pain’s sake, is not a virtue! Nor is it a penance. Pain just says “stop!”. If your body is suffering inflammation because you are stuffing it with neuro-toxic sugar, rancid fat and highly processed “food-like substances” (Dr. Caroline Leaf) and thereby disconnecting yourself from the laws of health, then ignoring that pain because you don’t want to fix the problem is agreeing with your death. Now, who is going to be happy with that? People also feel pain when they are disconnected from each other. But how many people I see embrace that pain in self pity: “no one understands me”; “I am suffering because I am good and they are ‘bad'”, et nauseum instead of repenting for their part in that break and doing the actions of re-connecting?
There’s pain that tells us “stop!”; that is the pain that alerts us to sin. Then there is the pain that tells us we are going in the right direction. It can be hard to tell the difference.
I believe the first pain – the pain that tells us there is a problem – is what Christ suffered for, too, and when we repent for the causes of that pain (or, if it has been handed to us like a hot potato of someone else’s sin); then, when we seek forgiveness of our sin as well as forgive others for theirs, THE PAIN CAN QUIT! And, it does! This is exactly where our sin gets transferred over and He takes that suffering FOR US.
I think I have learned that only the second pain – the pain of actual fellowship – should be embraced, for that is the pain heaven can transform into the strength Christ perfected.
May we pray to learn the difference!
What Yeshua suffered was extraordinarily rugged —- thankfully it was suffered
only ONCE and it was suffered for ALL. That doesn’t mean we don’t suffer; we do.
His gift to us of our faith keenly helps us to understand this as we study His Word and
follow Him as the Master of this life. As Skip aptly quotes Paul: “that I may know Him
and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed
to His death.” By faith we KNOW this, and by faith we LIVE this!
Suffering is the fabric of this earthly life that uniquely unites us, as we joyfully cling to it
while He boldly prepares us for the next. Resurrection is sure worth waiting for, and it surely
beats the hell out of death!
In reading comments this morning, this whole interchange sort of reminds me of Job and his “comforters“. Oh how we want to make everything black-and-white or as close as possible! Being so adamant about something can almost feel hostile especially if the person suffering ( rightfully or wrongfully ) is seeking relief or understanding in regards to his suffering. What does it benefit the person suffering, if you personally feel that you know the answer ?! The compassion of God covers our humanness even when we’re wrong and struggling with sin. He knows our frame, he remembers that we are but dust ! His compassions they fail not, they are new every morning, great is his faithfulness !
Vulnerability doesn’t block or pretend; it is the gateway to intimacy. You’ve shattered our socialized and internalized concepts of and relationships to women. You’ve helped us acknowledge “seek first the kingdom” as an emotional state of heightened and intense intentionality compelled by love and driven by terror of loss. You’ve defined a war of epic proportions where morality is being properly redefined in relationship to YHVH and community vs relational self centeredness. You’ve challenged us all to know the distinction between the commitment of joined in covenant vs connected and contractual. You’ve demonstrated the willingness to take on the responsibility for being the voice of the voiceless and in true Hebraic friendship making all you have available to YHVH .
Pessimist??? How about realist, open true and transparent. It seems to me we have in many ways been on a journey to also restore the true nature of man. Yeshua as the second Adam demonstrating real manhood and a standard which in doing justice loves chesed to the point of presenting ones self both as a living stone, a priest and if necessary the sacrifice all while valuing the joy set before him. We have explored how man’s strength was connected to holding onto YHVH’s desires as joined with Ezer…..perhaps the maturing of the collective bride is connected to men’s maturing and discovering the strength of passion as joined to the lamb.
Let’s “man up”…as we all walk this out .
After reading today’s word, I had two quotes in my head: “He who has WHY can bear almost any HOW” – Nietzsche….and another one from Hebrew 12 when Jesus “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”…so without purpose and the end goal all suffering is unbearable.
Olga, your nutshell is a whole lot shorter than mine!
It helped me summarize the above bush I was beating around.
If you allowed me, I could use your comment to say “suffering that leads either to repentance OR to fellowship (or both!) is suffering with purpose. Therefore it is up to us to choose whether or not our suffering has purpose by choosing to either repent if it is sin that is hurting us, or unite in the joy of fellowshipping with others who are also “learning patience in suffering for the cause of Christ”.”
Thank you for quoting Neitzsche, who shared the essence of what suffering is – even if he did not find the purpose for it! – better than anyone else did (for me, anyway) way back when.
You are just the sweetest and the most kind & intelligent person, Laurita! XXXX
Dear Olga, what a sweet and kind thing to say! If you want to know the personal reason I have for writing on this blog, it is because I want to see everyone else write! I gain SO MUCH from everyone else’s perspective and interaction. There is synergy there that love can flow through. Everybody’s voice is equally valuable; no matter what you have to say, we need it all. Thank you for being faithful and doing just that. You make a bright spot in my day every day!
Skip, just for your personal interest, I listened to the Youtube link of your [1] footnote. Did you know this?
45 years ago, just this past July 28th, in 1973, 600,000 of us broke the Guiness Book of World Record entry for the “Largest audience at a pop festival”, where we gathered for the weekend at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway in Upstate New York, for a one-day concert called, “The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen”, to see, not only the Allman Brothers Band, but The Grateful Dead, and The Band perform. That gathering was 200,000 people more than had attended the “Woodstock Concert” 4 years earlier. “TIED TO THE WHIPPING POST” was one of the songs performed at “The Summer Jam”. You ought to check out some of the images and videos of “The Summer Jam in Watkins Glen”, just for fun. I went with a caravan of friends from my hometown of Sherrill, NY, in Upstate New York. It was quite the experience! A sea of people! An enormous traffic jam created chaos for those who attempted to make it to the concert site. Long and narrow country roads forced fans to abandon their vehicles (some being found in the surrounding woods years later) and walk 5–8 miles on that hot summer day. 150,000 tickets were sold for $10 each, but for all the other people it was a free concert. The crowd was so huge that most of the audience was not able to see the stage. You can image the atmosphere that ensued!
“Many historians claimed that the Watkins Glen event was the largest gathering of people in the history of the United States. In essence, that meant that on July 28, one out of every 350 people living in America at the time was listening to the sounds of rock at the New York state racetrack. Considering that most of those who attended the event hailed from the Northeast, and that the average age of those present was approximately seventeen to twenty-four, close to one out of every three young people from Boston to New York was at the festival.” [Wikipedia]
If you, and/or your wife, weren’t there to experience it, I hope you enjoyed the story.