A Blissful Life
O clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with the voice of joy. Psalm 47:1 NASB
A note about Friday’s post: As you probably guessed, we have on-going issues with the service we use to send out the daily emails. Friday was another missed Today’s Word. Then it went out on Saturday, which was not supposed to happen. Mark and I are going to move to another service. It costs more, but maybe we can prevent all these missed days. Anyway, the Today’s Word for Friday is on the web site (here), it just didn’t go out as an email. Sorry.
Joy – In this Hebrew verse, the “voice of joy” is the term rinnāh. “The initial use of rānan is in Lev 9:24 where the shout of jubilation is connected with a divinely appointed sacrifice. This usage of the term to describe the joy of Israel at God’s saving acts is carried on throughout the ot.”[1] White also notes, “In Ps the root is developed to its fullest. rānan appears in parallel poetry with nearly every term for ‘joy,’ ‘rejoicing’ and ‘praise’”[2]
Immediately we notice that the Hebraic context is communal. Joy is an expression of the entire people together. Its socio-political context is evident. While the Greek idea of “joy” moves in the direction of personal bliss, the Hebrew idea is firmly rooted in interpersonal experience, particularly the experience of worship. In fact, almost without exception, rānan is directed toward Israel’s God.
It is worthwhile to consider the difference between joy and bliss. While the two may be synonyms in English, their nuances highlight the differences between Western Greek thinking and Eastern Semitic thinking. Bliss is the goal of ancient Western philosophical thought. In Plato’s view, it is reached by transition from the material world of defective, illusory existence to the realm of pure understanding and divine unity of Being. It is, accordingly, a state typically reached after death. We could describe it as perfect happiness where no outside influence affects the uniform tranquility of existence. Parmenides associated this state with perfection. In Western thought, we long for bliss and treat joy as if it were its twin sister.
But joy is considerably different in Hebrew thinking, as we have noted. The closest equivalent to bliss in Hebrew is ʾāšār. However, ʾāšār means, “blessedness, happiness.” When we realize that ʾāšār is a derivative of the verb meaning, “to go or walk straight”this implies a connection between obedience and a state of being. In Hebrew, if there is any concept of bliss at all, it is tied directly to Torah, and Torah is a communal code of behavior. Rather than pointing us toward a condition in the afterlife, the Hebrew notion anchors its expression of happiness in the living reality of present obedience. Happiness is the experience of acting in accordance with God’s instructions in this life. Strictly speaking, then, Hebrew does not have a concept of bliss as the West understands it. Hebrew is predominately a language of earthly existence. The idea of an afterlife does not find any significant expression in the Tanakh. It comes into vogue during the Rabbinic period, perhaps under the influence of Hellenism. Once again we discover that the Hebraic concept of joy is public, communal, and temporal.
Topical Index: joy, bliss, ʾāšār, rinnāh, Psalm 47:1
[1]White, W. (1999). 2179 רָנַן. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (851). Chicago: Moody Press.
I will stick to my favorite, Hebrews 12. 2 for the joy that was set before him he took up his cross. Let us consider Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. He knows us from the a lump of clay.. he is the Alpha and the Omega. He has given us a purpose. He knows how much Drive we have, he knows when we’ll be distracted oh, he knows when will be discouraged, which is a distraction oh, he knows when other people will come into our lives to assist us. And a list goes on… It is very sobering.
Paul wrote that his greatest joy was in knowing that those who he ‘fathered’ into the truth were actually walking in it (3John 4). (According to Skip, he must have been Hebrew!) I am a parent. I think all parents feel defined by how their children turn out. They want to be proud of them and feel that they succeeded in the purpose of raising them. When the prodigal son returned, his father dropped everything else. His joy was completely tied to that son. I think to the extent that we also “walk in the truth” our joy comes from seeing others walk in it, too. This joy drove the apostles to the ends of the earth.
The Bible says we cannot so much as “change one hair” on our heads. We can’t digest our own food or be in ‘control’ of the manufacture of our own hormones or neurotransmitters, either (EXCEPT by becoming obedient to the practice of the truth found in the laws of health, of course). Those decisions and actions are all carried out by alien microbes living inside (and on) us. Their ability to optimize our health FOR US, in turn, is completely tied to the choices and actions of either obedience or disobedience by us; their hosts. I think this exemplifies the way reality is designed to run. I remember the years that I had no energy or ‘juice’: my adrenals were in the gutter and joy as well as the experience of any other emotion was just a theoretical idea. I lacked the ability to experience any of it directly. Why? Because my microbiome was falling down on the job. (I guess my little bugs weren’t very happy with me, either! When I decided to walk in the truth, my inner population grew accordingly and joy returned. I bet they are happier, now, too!)
Our joy is directly and indirectly tied to everyone and everything else around us. We cannot ‘make’ others walk in the truth any more than we can ‘make’ our own inner biome do what we please, but our joy is tied to the decisions and abilities of all those others (as theirs is to ours). In Gethsemane and on the cross Yeshua was alone: no one “stood with Him”. There was no present joy for Him because of that (probably with the one exception of the repentant thief: His only taste of joy that day.) He had to have faith that there would be joy later.
The #1 wish of the persecuted Body, according to the Voice Of The Martyrs, is to know that they are not forgotten: that others are standing with them. Joy is found in solidarity. The world goes to a lot of trouble, I have noticed, to try to mimic this joy found in numbers: go to any sports event and realize that most folks there just want a mass memes rush. Looking in vain for joy among those who are not walking in the truth. At best, they only manage a brief altered experience.
Let us who are walking in the truth “not neglect the assembling of ourselves together” so that we can rejoice together that each other walks in the truth (yes, even here on Skip’s site! Every time he hits the truth nail on the head and the people say “amen!” the joy is felt by all.). And, let us spread the joy by convincing others to walk in the truth with us today!
Today’s word reminds me of the term the Presence. A descriptor for Yehovah from bygone day’s. In these day’s fraught with the exponential growth of demands, obligations and expectations I find myself seeking to simplify, find clarity and reality. Walking in the spirit, with and mindful of the Presence has become my primary spiritual discipline. If, as I believe, Yehovah is the Presence, Torah is the way to know and walk with that Presence. At least according to my understanding of the scriptures. That brings joy, and peace. It is all I know that does, most everything else is a distraction or a form of dissipation. Yeshua showed us the way to walk in Torah with grace, that is abundant joy. May all about this table find the abundant joy only to be found in walking in the way of Messiah, in the presence of abosolute joy.
Joy is the reaction to God’s view of reality.
In the trappings of time, joy has tended to be
fleeting, yet still fully available to the family of
God, especially abundant as a blessing to the
obedient hearts of that day.
Then, as the centuries spanned to the time of Yeshua,
the notion of joy took on an eternal quotient as God’s Son
profoundly defeated death and remained earth-bound for
40 amazing days in a jaw-dropping resurrected body.
Boy, how the story changed! And how the joy became ever
more accessible as the prophetic revelations of God’s freeing
power became more overwhelmingly evident and began to spread
over all the land . . . continuing on to this very joyful day.