Make a Choice
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” Psalm 139:11 NASB
If– Is it really hypothetical? Do we really only imagine a darkness that overwhelms? The translator, also a reader (see yesterday’s Today’s Word about the role of the reader), apparently reads this poem as a theological proclamation of God’s omnipresence and omniscience, with the expectation that this will be great comfort to the reader. We have discovered another layer, a darker layer, written into the ambiguity of the words. With this in mind, we must question the hypothetical interpretation of this small particle. It’s really a single letter, the vav, attached to the verbʾāmar (“to say, speak”). The translator offers “if,” but this conjunctive particle is hardly ever translated this way. It is typically: “so, then, so that, with, even so, as well as, but, indeed, from, and, together, also, with, when.” In fact, BDB, HAL and DBL* don’t even list “if” as a possible translation. The usual translation would be “And I say,” or “When I say,” or “Then I say,” or “Even as I say.” None of these are hypothetical. They are all expected human assertions about life.
The poet digs deep into human consciousness. He unearths those moments when we discover ourselves buried in the dark recesses of feeling God’s absence. We still function. Life continues. Daily routines must be done. But inside there is a chasm of emptiness. The inner light we once knew as joy and peace with the Father is now submerged in the darkness of the pit. This is not an imagined possibility, an “if” conjecture. This is “when” life turns inside out. This is real. The Hebrew term, ḥōšek, is used only once outside poetic material but that one occasion is crucial for understanding the poet’s imagery. It is in Exodus 10:15—the plague of darkness in Egypt. ḥōšek is a word about judgment. Job 38:2 demonstrates an attempt to hide in the dark, without success. In Hebrew history, ḥōšek is as real as it gets.
What do I experience in wretched emptiness? What happens to me when the darkness within invades my surface posturing? The Psalmist detects another presence in the dark. Like šaḥar (verse 9), this “other” can only be felt. The dark makes identification impossible. But we know there is something, someone, there. In the dark. With us. In that place where we can’t see our hands before our faces, where the light of life has been utterly extinguished. Something. Some feeling that next to us, close to us but buried in the black, there is someone else. The Psalmist knows who it is—and so do we. God is there. He sees what we can’t see—who we are when there is no light to expose us. He is there, waiting. He doesn’t touch us. He doesn’t whisper consolation. He doesn’t make a move. He waits with us while we battle our way through the black. Why? Why doesn’t He just touch us with heavenly reassurance? Why doesn’t He just murmur our name? Why doesn’t He breathe in our direction so that we know His presence for certain?
Perhaps the answer is this: the darkness is ours. The bottom of the pit, the black inside, is ours. We made it. We might even have longed for it, thinking we needed escape from life’s demands and God’s obligations. We built this tunnel into nothingness. And if He intervenes now, if He rescues by divine edict, the blackness inside will remain, waiting for another day. We must climb out of the pit of our own construction. Oh, He will accompany us, but the way out must be our resolve, our crusade.
This is not an “if” scenario. Human consciousness encounters the dark. Since Adam, the dark has always been a part of our existence. And it can’t be avoided by pretending love, joy and peace are enough. There is something necessary about this inner emptiness, this place where I discover the deepest recesses of my desire to escape from my Creator. Birth, both physical and spiritual, begins in the dark.
Topical Index: if, vav, darkness, Psalm 139:11
*BDB (Brown, Driver, Briggs); HAL (Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT); DBL (Dictionary of Biblical Languages)
We long for and desperately need the lovingkindness of the Father, but the cleansing fire of His holiness makes Him unapproachable whilst clothed in this garment of mortality, leaving us empty and lonely.
For me the omnipresence and omniscience of YHWH resides with the Ruach. Hers is the realm of deep darkness, judgement, geburah: The Spirit of the knowledge of good and bad. But that is also where we find the righteousness we need to approach the Father.
How do we navigate this chaos (night)? How can we survive the inevitable execution? Our only hope is the mediation of the Son.
The Triunity of Trust, Hope and Charity. And the greatest of these three is Lovingkindness.
Should we be surprised that man “loves” the darkness?
It’s a place that’s not far away and man knows where it is
and how to get there. It’s there he hides, shutting himself
away from the possibility of condemnation and judgement.
Yeshua spoke openly about this.
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men
loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil . . .
but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light . . .”
I have been there done that. It’s an essential part of God’s
grand design to know precisely what it’s like to seemingly
exist without Him.
Thank you for that Rich! It helps me to understand that I can and do use darkness as an excuse claiming to not understand and thereby remain stuck. It seems that darkness must be faced! God is so patient to wait it out with me. He promised to perfect that which concerns us….. it just may take a very, very long time !
May take much less time than you think Larry. Let Him decide! ?
Oh my, just reading the comments and saw we were somewhat on the same page! Well, great minds…,fools…. oops! Fools only become wise on this site. ?
Skip gives all the clues about the dark when he tells us it is of our own making. For God to invade this dark would be a sin: a trespass on ‘our’ universe, for the darkness is, as Skip also points out, the places where we are trying to keep Him out. His silence is His respect – the respect which is the substrate of all trust. Because of His silence, we can trust Him even here because the silence is where He is being respectful of our attempt to avoid Him.
The dark is where the truth is found – for us, anyway – because that it where we buried it. All the truth about us, as well as Him, is hidden in the darkness of the lies we wanted so badly to be that truth. There can be no real light, joy or peace paint that can cover that hole in the soul, however. Eventually the lies hem us in and the curses slow us down enough to where we have nothing left to lose.
The darkness is not a place to avoid: it is the place where we buried ourselves when we buried Him. Time for a crucifixion of the self that tries to fill the place where only our Creator fits. He waits in the darkness because that is where we buried ourselves. Along with our real identity, He waits for the dawn of the understanding of this truth; the dawn of our new choice.
Ditto Laurita!
You have seemed to describe what I have been trying to figure out for a while. The space between A and B. I’m not really sure what I’m talking about here but I’m trying to figure it out and it must be important because God keeps bringing it up. In order to get from A to B I have to go through the space between them and that space seems to be darkness, seems to be void of God, where I seem to be left on my own and according to you that seemIng is accurate. This space seems to be a time where the reality of faith is called forth. During this time I do not have a cheering squad, cheering me on, reassuring me. Why is this time/space so important to God. The time when I need him the most, he seems to disappear. It seems necessary in order to grow up. A time when God calls for pure obedience. Thanks for letting me process a little out loud.
You put your finger on describing the space for me, Larry! I find my terror of that space is an indicator of how many lies about love I am entertaining at that particular moment. When I ask to be shown the lies so that I can replace them through faith in what is true instead, I can ditch the terror. The faith between will always be necessary until we see face to face, but the darkness is optional. The path that used to be so scary in the dark, in the past, is not nearly as scary where there is enough truth for me to see by. Hey, sometimes there are even flowers!
I really love your posts, Larry. Please keep writing.
I am reaching a place where in a lot of ways it doesn’t matter what I sound like when I write. I just need to find Truth. I have to be honest I have been unknowingly running from that space of darkness that seems to be required “reading”. Thanks for giving me a little more clarity in that regard Laurita and the helping hand!
Thinking about it there seems to be a little similarity between this and Pilgrims Progress. As I, he, pilgrim, had a lot of darkness to deal with .
It feels like being in a dark, completely dark room and you are reaching out to find something to hold onto …. a wall, a piece of furniture, to give that space some definition and direction. Looking to “feel” something familiar . Could this be, similar to what is called the dark night of the soul? Could we have a number of these nights in our journey? I think this is when people turn back to what they can understand in the natural, the familiar, to relieve their sense of insecurity, uncertainty and fear. I retreat to something tangible because the darkness seems so fearful. But whether now, or later I will still be faced with this time of darkness?
Boy, we certainly aren’t taught this stuff in church or in seminary….. maybe, the idea is that it is all the same whether darkness or light. God is in both, and we learn to know him in both spaces so that, that which we don’t understand ( the darkness) no longer trips us up, at least not as much as it used to ….???
Sounds like crazy talk.
Larry, I don’t get what you are saying about the darkness being that which we don’t understand. Doesn’t this contradict the point Skip makes, which I agree with – “The darkness is ours… We made it, we might even have longed for it” – it is the familiar, indulgent or rebellious old self which we revert to as we distance ourself from Him, not the unknown.
Graham, Skip said, “PERHAPS, the answer is…”. whether I am the one who created the darkness by my own behavior and choices or whether it was put on me, to me that is beside the point. I now own the darkness. I have to ask myself what purpose does it serve and am I willing to investigate and learn from it. This time or space called darkness is a period of time in which I stand trusting God without a sense of his presence or even in being assured that the direction I am going is the right direction. If it’s for sure, it doesn’t require faith. And if I am wrong or off base the Holy Spirit has promised to lead me into all truth and the word of God within me is my teacher. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfectly thoroughly furnished unto all good works!
Sorry if I’m belaboring the point ! I know that there is more that God has for me and I want to break through and find it (Him).
Thanks Larry, I understand better where you are coming from. I suppose our experiences are all uniquely different when it comes to this darkness and the choices we make to get ourselves into that pit and then out of it.It doesn’t trip me up, it seduces my old self and I go there by choice, and God respects that choice. When I make the decision to climb out, to do my own hard slog back towards the light, seemingly on my own… He strengthens me and I will learn. No easy ticket out of darkness.
‘…crazy talk’?! Sounds like ‘truth’ talking Larry. Keep going… (seeking, searching…), you’ll definitely find!
Skip, your ability to wrest meaning from a text is remarkable!
“What do I experience in wretched emptiness? What happens to me when the darkness within invades my surface posturing? The Psalmist detects another presence in the dark.”
The experience(s) of ‘wretched emptiness’ is what we have all had in common with Adam. The invasion of our ‘surface posturing’ by ‘the darkness within’ is inevitable for it is YHWH’s way of hemming us in (139:5); His way of ‘forcing’ us to exercise the free will He has given us; His way of saying to us “Make a Choice”! Since He is, as it were, pressing us towards choice, we can be sure He is right there beside us.
Perhaps it is not only the Psalmist, but any one who chooses to never LIVE (stay/dwell always) in the dark, will detect another Presence. That Presence ensures darkness is dispelled once the purpose for it’s presence (darkness’ presence), is accomplished in us who walk with Him. But as you say Skip, “We must climb out of the pit of our own construction. Oh, He will accompany us, but the way out must be our resolve, our crusade.” Yes indeed!
No wonder the Psalmist is known as ‘the sweet singer of Isra’el’! He must have sung, many a time, in the dark as he climbed his way out…
It seems to me Skip, that Someone elsewhere has a similar commentary:
“Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked.
For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed.
But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”
Yochanan (Jhn) 3:19-21 CJB
Perhaps this is the most important of all choices. Though we continue to encounter Darkness, if we are willing and resolved, the Light in us will always overcome it for Light and Darkness cannot coexist.
Baruch HaShem!
Arnella, I recently reread your very helpful response to a post of mine. I was encouraged by your thoughtful reply. I have encountered terrifying darkness in my life. I’m not sure I agree that our pits are completely of our own making. Sometimes our families throw us into pits. Life in Babylon is filled with pits. I have been striving to climb out of my part in my pit for many years. I have resolved to keep seeking the light as I face my own emptiness. I still have trouble with “in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” I know you understand how deep some pits can be when the foundation of love is not in place. The battle still rages but I notice it is not as fierce as it once was. As a result of pressing on, I now believe the Light will triumph. I want to use my free will for the advancement of His righteous Kingdom of Love.
Theresa, I wanted to remark that you are right that others can throw us into pits, but we stay there because we either lack the tools to get out, or we agree (guilt, shame or fear) on the ‘reasons’ for our being there. After all, if we are made of faith rubber, the harder we fall, the higher we can bounce. The most remarkable, resilient, resourceful people on the planet have always been pit-built. I think it may not be the fact we find ourselves there so much as it is what we do about it. We all seem to start out far behind the lines but the real race begins when we decide to begin at the real starting line (or, real problem).
Your continuing story continues to inspire me. Thank you for the update.
Agreed. We have One who can, and will, help us out of out pits if we make use of the tools He so graciously provides. Skip’s insights and all the comments have been wonderful tools for the past year. I read your words and ponder them in my heart. They have been very valuable to me. Thank you for being a super ball!
Dear Theresa,
I have just noticed your response to me. You are welcome.
Theresa, you also said above:
“I have encountered terrifying darkness in my life. I’m not sure I agree that our pits are completely of our own making.”
I would like to mention here an aspect to the struggle with darkness – the affliction by demonic forces. I see that this was very evident in Yeshua’s ministry and also the ministry of the Apostles. Many who came to Yeshua had to first be delivered from a force/presence, that was stronger than them. It was only AFTER they were delivered that they could exercise their free will and MUST choose to do so.
You are right when you say, “I’m not sure I agree that our pits are completely of our own making.” The door by which such a ‘presence’ gets permission to afflict one, varies from person to person. But, as Laurita says, WHAT WE DO with what we face is up to us (paraphrasing).
I am suggesting however, that some pits one can climb out of while other pits one has to be taken out of. Where one has to be ‘taken out’, it can only be done by one ‘stronger’ than the ‘tormentor’. Yeshua came precisely for that – to set the captives free. A person needs to know whether he is in captivity or simply need to exercise his free will. They are not the same.
Decades ago when I first learnt about this reality, I also learnt that a simple way of knowing whether or not demonic activity was present in one’s life, was by noting whether or not one was constantly being ‘pushed’, IN SPITE OF one’s desire and AGAINST one’s choice/free-will, to do (and it is usually harmful), what one really does not want to do. This state causes constant unease, even torment. Torment because one is DRIVEN to/by a particular act/condition even though it is not what one consciously desires. The torment is usually in one’s mind and spirit and invariably causes sleeplessness. Only the afflicted knows the torment being experienced…
It seems only One can address this reality… Food for thought?
First century ethos and culture provided ways of viewing psychological illness and addiction is terms of the demonic, so we would not expect the apostolic writings to reflect modern terminology even if the symptoms appear the same. While I am not saying that there are no demonic forces, I am cautious (perhaps overly so) about ascribing evil to demons as if free will is set aside. The idea that we give permission for a demonic force to have dominion over us is certainly popular among some religious views, but it seems at odds with Paul’s view in Romans 8 and the general concept of responsibility and culpability in Scripture. So, we must pay attention to the conceptual worlds of the authors before we infer that the same “forces” are present today. I realize that this will generate a lot of comment and disagreement, but it would be irresponsible to claim that exegesis needs to be couched in the time and culture of the author and then argue that today’s descriptions of mental illness and addiction must be described in first century vocabulary.
There’s one who said that to commit sin is to be a slave to it. It would seem as though “sin” has a power over people. (animals can’t sin, nor can creation) That’s what we have to be wary of it’s also the core of the “good news”. Who or what are we subject too? Education, knowledge and wisdom, are good things to stain, but they won’t pull you out of a pit that you aren’t even aware of being in. This j find, when I walk in love and devotion to YHWH, He covers me. Just like He covered David, even in all his mistakes. David never had a chance at becoming the king of Israel. But God, that’s a miracle and so are we. Shoulda been dead long ago, but I wake up and He is still there. I personally don’t have a clue as to how I have overcome the circumstances of my life, it just “appeared” at the right moment. That makes me want to proclaim Him by walking in His ways. Though He slay me……
Skip, evil and free will can coexist just fine because there is a God of justice who keeps it fair. I am free to choose, always, but the choices AVAILABLE to me are either being protected (“hedged about”) by heaven OR limited by sin, depending upon which kingdom I am serving in that place. People who are completely serving the darkness have no choice at all: not because they lack free will but because they have sold their souls.
Sin cannot be understood as merely mental illness. Evil is a spiritual force (kingdom) that is not being generated by humans: it is operating THROUGH them. That little twinge of secret lust? That is where you opened the door and something unholy joined you in your spirit. In that place, you no longer serve God, but sin. To say that sin originates with us merely feeds the illusion that humans are a source. We are no such thing: we are spiritual vectors for kingdoms beyond us. To say anything else sets up the human as a kingdom (power). That is humanism to the core!
Who did our Kinsman Redeemer buy us back FROM (which is to say, who is the styled “god of this world”)? Ourselves? I don’t think so! That would say that evil is a power we were generating and manifesting as mere mental illness. Have you just never been face to face with raw evil? It is not illusory illness (even though it makes us ill/insane)! Evil – much less death – is not something I made up, much less self-administered. There is a power from beyond us that enslaves us. We are not our own slaves. Yeshua never treated anybody like that.
When Peter fell to temptation and temporarily lost his sovereignty in that place, Yeshua spoke directly to the power making his choices for him and manifesting through him. We can choose choice away. If we couldn’t, free choice would not be free choice.
The only choice available to sinners is repentance (in that place, anyway): everything else is going to just be more (self-justifying) sin. That is not a choice! That is the very essence of compulsion.
In the account of Job, ha-Satan was first given permission by YHWH to afflict Job outside his person using (a) the Sabeans, who stole his oxen and donkeys and killed his servants; (b) fire from the sky, burning up the sheep and servants; (c) the Chaldeans, who rode off with his camels and killed his servants; and, (d) wind, causing the collapse of the roof over his sons and daughters, killing them all. Yet after this, ha-Satan was given further permission and power to afflict him personally, with the only caveat that he spare Job’s life. With this power granted him, Satan gave Job head-to-toe painful sores.
Thus, Satan used powers of nature, facilitated hostile human invaders to cause harm to Job’s property and servants, and caused physical affliction in the form of external sores; and, in view of this latter granted-power especially (in which YHWH provides carte blanche instructions save for sparing Job’s life), an affliction of psychological illness or addiction seems hardly a stretch. Turning to the NT, consider the two violent men of the Gadarenes, their violence caused by demon-possession (MT 8:28-34). While one may argue whether or not these men brought this condition upon themselves by some specific internal sin of some sort, how do we explain the Sabeans and the Chaldeans in the Job account? In other words, isn’t it reasonable to assume these Sabeans and Chaldeans were ‘possessed’ by demons (due to something completely external to them) specifically in order to indirectly attack Job, and that these Sabeans and Chaldeans had no choice in the matter?
I may not be phrasing this well, but I think you’ll get my point.
Well, Craig, I was following up until you said that the Chaldeans and Sabeans ‘had no choice”. Of course they had a choice: everybody always does; but because they were already devil-worshipers their choice was to either repent for that worship or do as they were compelled to do. The compulsion is real, but we can still choose whether or not we prefer compulsion to repentance: in other words, we get to choose which power gets to manifest through us.
I’m trying to make a distinction between an internal choosing as a result of some sort of internal pet sin (say, porn) as opposed to some out-of-the-blue compulsion to, e.g., steal a running car. This is somewhat analogous to YHWH raising up the Babylonians in judgment against Israel (Habakkuk). I see the latter as akin to Satan’s ploy with the Sabeans and Chaldeans with respect to Job.
Porn is just as much a ploy (and, I wager, every bit as much a compulsion, too) It doesn’t matter how we sign on to sin: we are snared once we do. Yeshua says that offences will happen, but it is still woe to those by whom they happen. Woe is a judgment that implies choice. The devil may have made me do it, but I had to have wanted him to first.
But to what extent are the Babylonians responsible for their conquest of Israel given that they were used as a vehicle in YHWH’s judgment of Israel? 100%? Less than that? The same questions apply to the Sabeans and Chaldeans.
They were quite aware that they were only being ALLOWED to conquer because YHVH was not protecting the Israelites. The lust to conquer was already there: after all, they were already set on conquering everybody else. YHVH merely removed His hand over one particular group. He did not give them the lust to conquer. We can know this because we are told that YHVH does not tempt. Perhaps it is therefore more reasonable to assume that He allows the results of temptation to bear fruit that suits His purposes.
I’ll try this from a different angle. You seem to agree up to “…an affliction of psychological illness or addiction seems hardly a stretch” with respect to these potentially being caused by demonic forces despite the lack of sin in the individual (for testing, a la Job), correct? This was my main point. But, going further, what happens to the individual so afflicted with psychological illness? To what extent are they responsible? In other words, assuming this is possible, while we would readily agree that Job wasn’t responsible for his sores (no internal sin made him sick), would a person similarly afflicted with a psychological illness be not responsible, as well?
We could draw an analogy and state that it’s the response to the illness that is at issue (Job did not sin, did not blame God). I’d agree with that. But, from the standpoint of causality, Job was not responsible for the sores (no sin of his bought it on). Similarly, if someone can be afflicted psychologically through no internal sin, are they then responsible for the effects of this illness, assuming they are not blaming God for it?
Curses are not ‘payment’ for sin: they are a second chance by means of restating the question at hand. Affliction cures us of secret (unknown) faults. Job was probably not aware that he was arguing YHVH’s selective unfairness because he, too, was subscribing to affliction being an ‘effect’ of sin. I have wondered if what he was repenting for was misunderstanding something he was unaware of before.
I think of affliction as a chute that sends us to the bottom so as to be next to a ladder that is a better shortcut to the top. I suspect it is an opportunity to (re)take a test with better clues: not Judgment Day or the end of God’s favor. For example, the Jews were cured of idolatry after the exile.
Dear Skip,
I have only now been able to table a response.
I was unaware that mental illness and addiction were the ‘darkness’ being discussed. My apology for this. As far as I know, addiction receives a lot of psychological attention. Mental illness seems a step further away since free-choice can hardly be expected/required of one whose mental faculties have been impaired.
My association has been with very little of the above categories but just with ordinary people, like myself, who struggle with ‘darkness’ in one form or another. For me, it was principally ‘fear’ and the way ‘it’ came at me in various situations.
In my understanding (and I could be simplistic), every darkness has a root, but it’s SOURCE is not from the Kingdom of Light. However, just as the Kingdom of Light has it’s agents (usually referred to as angels), so do the Kingdom of Darkness (usually referred to as demons). My mention of the demonic assumed the common understanding of this broader context. Perhaps you are saying these demonic ‘forces’ are not present today? Your response to me could be private as it is not my intention to cause any disagreement, just to seek clarity.
Another thing Skip, respectfully… Even though as you said, certain perspectives may be popular (and no doubt you are right), I personally, do not believe that ‘we give permission for a demonic force to have dominion over us’. Demonic forces by nature do not ‘ask’ for permission. [I say this with a certain amount of authority due to years of continued involvement in this arena]. Their working is in the dark, by use of deception and stealth, underpinned by harmful intentions. But never the less, there is a basis (not overt permission) that allows their engagement. This being said, it is noteworthy that this very approach is one of the main differences in YHWH’s way with us – HIS intentions toward us, as I know you know, are ALWAYS for good, and without deception, even when our journey takes us into or through the dark.
I also understood free-will to be quite independent of, if I may say, the demonic realm, but evidently it (free-will that is), can be interfered with by ‘forces’ which affect the freeness of that will. Mental illness/madness seems such a case in point. However, I believe I was careful to emphasize personal responsibility and I too, would add with you, personal culpability.
I felt the responsibility to clarify my perspectives to you and your readers. It is I think because I enjoy being understood as far as possible, for who I am (and am becoming ?), and not just as the product of so much that’s ‘out there’. Of course being understood is almost impossible in our cyber world… I have walked away from much, just to stay on the straight and narrow, but that ‘much’ is still ‘out there’. I constantly investigate, not everything, but only what is needful. Being permanently open to change, it has but one condition: that the One who rescued (and is still rescuing), me, principally from myself, sanctions the change, change which promises to get me transformed (sometimes painfully), little by little into His likeness…
I understand your concern Skip and appreciate your comments which are often, if not always, the fruit of much scholarship. They give me much food for thought. I also acknowledge that my approach to human problems/struggles is somewhat outside the scope of the discussions on this site and for that reason I have respectfully limited my response.
Please accept my apology again for any unease I may have caused.
no apology was needed. No offense was taken. Just keep writing and enjoy the learning. Me too.
?
Thanks Skip…spot on…no surprise.
John 1:5 is merely one example of John the Gospel writer’s penchant for using polysemy (multiple meanings), and in this verse he uses the darkness (contrasted with light) motif toward that end:
[The following excerpted from a piece I’d written somewhat recently, adapted for this comment.]
Carson calls 1:5 “a masterpiece of planned ambiguity”. A newcomer to John’s Gospel would likely only see the creation event of Genesis 1-2 here. But, of course, the Gospel writer intends much more than that. Genesis 3 may also be a backdrop, and certainly, with the reference to “the Light of humanity” in the previous verse, Yeshua is in view.
The final verb is a compound word consisting of the preposition kata and the verb lambanō. The former means down, the latter take or receive, but as with many words prefixed with a preposition, the resulting word acquires intensification and an additional nuance. Its basic definition is grasp, as in either hostile (seize) or non-hostile (secure), though, alternatively, it can carry the idea of mental grasping (perceive). Danker asserts that the writer in this context intends the combined “sense of grasp as seize and comprehend.” The translation “apprehend” above is an attempt to capture this polysemy.
Thank you Skip, thank you all, very valuable discussion, I’ve learned a lot here
It’s Friday and I was checking back over the last couple of days and I didn’t realize so much more was being discussed until just now. Pretty amazing discussion. It’s a challenge for me because seemingly so many of you are so far ahead of me in understanding and knowledge. I may not be able to run with the horses right now but I certainly will give it my best to run with man!
All of the discussion especially between Laurita and Craig really peaked my curiosity. I’m not sure there was a resolution to the different ways of looking at accountability for choices/ not being accountable due to mental illness, psychological distress etc. but be that as it may !
From my experience in life I would loosely say that my psychological problems, issues etc. are probably the result of choices, but it’s hard to imagine that I was accountable for all of the substantial abuses of my childhood and the resultant issues. When I think about my brother who died a couple of years ago due to alcoholism, I could see how he no longer had the capacity to make healthy choices. Due to the negative impact of his alcoholism and deviant lifestyle, for a lack of better words he’s sort of screwed himself . In a real sense, he became mentally ill. I guess you could call it the wages of sin. I don’t call it God‘s judgment but basically the consequences of long standing choices.
How close do you let yourself get to the edge before you can’t get back without divine intervention ? In my wandering off I got all jammed up and fettered in the process. It has taken a whole lot of work to get where I am today. I am working with God in restoration and reestablishing previously surrendered territory. Talk about spiritual warfare! This isn’t a DIY program, because without him I can do nothing and yet with him he says I can do all things !
I think so many times we deceive ourselves into thinking our choices or our decisions, our behavior won’t have the outcome that it does. Maybe we wish it wasn’t that way. But I hate to say it, the consequences of sin is death (decay). It will never be any different. Somehow we think that we can choose the “opt out“ button when it comes to what James is talking about, the after affects of following our own flesh. He says, “let no man say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God because God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed….. now here’s where it starts to go downhill real fast ….. and when lust has given birth it brings forth sin and sin when it is finished brings forth death ! We begin to rot from the inside out! But that’s not the end of the story. God came and woke me up. Thank God that Jesus is the resurrection and the life! I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see! Shalom
Larry I am glad to hear I am not alone on the brink of darkness… What I have come to understand is that darkness, fear, uncertainty etc is always present and it is only when YHVH knows we are strong enough to move closer to the core that he removes the veil and gives us light just as the moon and stars provide light and guidance in the night. When he manifests the fullness of our anointment or Christ his day will be and we will not need to make choices as his will then leads us all the way.
Enjoy the moonlight the dawn will come…
Remember light does not remove the darkness it just makes it less obvious…
Thank you Seeker. Your title reminds me of a promise “if you seek me, you will find me, when you search for me with your whole heart !”. I am finding this to be marvelously true! Thanks for sharing.
Larry, this is the way I have come to think of it: it may or may not be helpful for you!
Sin is the result of deception. We fall for it because we want love but sin offers a shortcut to the good stuff. There is hope for us to the extent we are deceived. People who serve satan fully know they are choosing death and destruction; therefore they are much more responsible for their choice than somebody who is suffering from the choices of others or themselves just because they couldn’t see a better way to try to get love and life.
The accuser and tempter of the brethren holds control (kingdom) over all the children of disobedience. Therefore, as their god, he is held responsible for tempting them (which is sin for him and his cohorts). You are right; it is not just our fault; we share that fault with the tempter to the extent we were deceived. The deception part is his fault: the deceived part is ours. I did not really want death and destruction: therefore all I have to repent for is falling for something that promised life but delivered disaster. That may be shameful, but it is not exactly despicable. I think the tempter tries to make us feel a whole lot more guilty than we actually are because he does not want the responsibility for his part.
You ask at what point do we have to have help: we lose choice ability the instant we sin. We need just as much help to back out of the slightest sin as the greatest one because all sin holds us captive to its will. We serve (are captive to the will) of either God or sin, but I believe we are deluded if we think sin is ‘our’ will: it is not! All sin is compulsion because all lies compel.
We serve either the will of sin or the will of God. Our wills exist to choose which kingdom we serve. We have the power to choose, but the instant we do choose, the power (will, or kingdom) we choose to manifest in us manifests. From that point on, we belong to that kingdom in that place unless or until we choose to switch sides there (again).
I think this is a chess game and we are the pawns, but we get to decide which side gets us. At no point are we players (powers) in the game. Once I humbled up enough to understand that, a whole lot of pressure (guilt) dropped off. I am not my sin (which is to say, I did not invent my problem: it did not originate with me; I just fell for it)! Therefore, the sin can go and I can stay! Halleluah!
Humanism (thinking it was all just ‘me’) was a heavy load both in thinking I had to work my way out of the hole, but simultaneously having to think I was the one who put myself in that hole. I have learned that I am not that good OR that bad. Humility is easier than I thought it would be.
Sorry this was so long.
Thank you so much for taking the time to shed a little light on my journey. I appreciate it! I picture it, as you running back to where I am at in the hike up the hill, and the light of your lantern is helping me make progress in getting up some of the more difficult terrain! God shows up in people! Shalom sister!