Who’s Following?
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.” Genesis 17:1 NASB
Before – El Shaddai speaks to Abram. Let’s think about this opening phrase for a moment. First there is the issue with the meaning of “El Shaddai.” Early suggestions that it meant “All powerful” or something equivalent have been overturned.[1] If Abram, a Mesopotamian, speaks with this god, not one of the Mesopotamian pantheon, then Abram must know who is asking him to be blameless. Given the tribal, local and geographic associations with gods in the ancient Near East, Hamilton’s analysis that “El Shaddai” is most likely an indication of God’s dwelling place rather than God as pantokrator seems reasonable. Abram encounters a different god.
Now we must notice something else. It is Abram, not Abraham, who is confronted by this deity. It is not the man whose name incorporates God’s name. It is not the man who demonstrates faithfulness. It is not the man whose constitution has been changed. It is Abram, the Mesopotamian. Certainly he has left behind his former connections, but he is still a wanderer following a god he did not know at home.
This makes God’s command even more amazing. Abram is expected to be blameless. But how? How will he know what to do to live perfectly? How can he be fully complete, tamam, unless he is given instructions to follow? God’s statement presupposes
commandments. The man who is not yet the father of the faithful is expected to live according to God’s ways before the Torah is revealed to his children. What can this mean? Torah must already exist. In some form, God must have given Abram the code of conduct.
The preposition tells us how God gives Abram his instructions. “Walk before Me.” The Hebrew construction, lepanay, suggests something like “in full view of” or “at my face.” The idea is that Abram should live with nothing hidden, no other agenda, no diversion. He is to be completely open to God. But lepanay also implies that Abram takes the first step. He is not following. He is leading. He ventures out—with God at his side. He does not wait for God’s footprint to follow. He goes with God. They step together. The relationship is mutual action. In other words, yoked!
Are you Abram? Someone who no longer belongs “at home.” Someone who is still a stranger from another place. Someone whose code comes from full-face exposure. Someone who must step forward in order to see God alongside.
Or are you waiting to follow, hoping that somehow God will put down a path before you are required to move?
Topical Index: before, pana, Genesis 17:1, El Shaddai
[1]A second possibility, and this is the most widely accepted today, is that šadday is to be connected with the Akkadian word, sadu “mountain.” Thus El Shaddai would translate into English something like “God/El of the mountain,” i.e. God’s abode. The ending –ay is to be understood as an adjectival suffix (and thus the translation “of the. …”), a morphological feature now demonstrated by Ugaritic: for example, one of El’s three daughters is called ʾrṣy (ʾarṣai) and means, “she of the earth.” Also related etymologically, in addition to Akkadian sþadu is Ugaritic td, (Cross, see bibliography pp. 248–250). . . As El Shaddai God manifested himself to the patriarchs (Ex 6:3): specifically to Abraham, Gen 17:1; to Isaac, Gen 28:3; and to Jacob, Gen 35:11, 43:14; 48:3. The context for most of these references is the covenant, more precisely the command for obedience and faithfulness on the part of the vassal and the promise of progeny by God. It is not to the hills (natural phenomenon) that these men of faith looked for confidence but to the Lord of these hills, the Lord of the mountain (Ps 121:1–2). TWOT, #2333.
I like the progression of thought, Skip, as you muse your way through this one. The idea that righteousness is a SET of Things To Do, or a SET of ‘footprints’ to, like you say, follow, is an idea that I have been suspicious of as being a flesh idea of a ‘proper’ response to what we perceive as Authority. In the world, that is how Authority seems to operate: everybody gets lined up with someone else’s idea of what is expected out of them, and then they do what is expected of them. Someone is first; everybody else is second.
The first thing I think I see a lot of people do when they first convert to this idea of obeying God, is to start looking around for a set of instructions to follow: they want to know the rules, and there is nothing wrong with that, BUT, when it comes to relationship, it seems to me, rules are more of a DESCRIPTION of what relationship IS, then a way that relationship MUST BE. This is not something the flesh gets very well, though. Just look at two people who are struggling to figure out how to be newly weds, especially the ones who did not start out with the advantage of being madly in love, or who do not know HOW to be in love. They can see that there has to be concession to each other, so they conclude that that must mean something like a pecking order, which is how the world in the natural handles having to be next to somebody. So they make all these rules, like who turn it is to decide what the rules are, or whose turn it is to go first; you get the idea. Relationship is just not something the flesh is primed for. We just don’t get it, because the flesh has this idea that there needs to be somebody that is FIRST. In a yoking relationship, of course, there is no such thing. Relationship is about FOLLOWING; following so well, in fact, that you actually keep up with the other. It is about serving the other, honoring the other.
We had a pair of draft Percheron mules: Sally and Jane, two half-sisters, who were two weeks apart in age. Sally was older, and smarter. Jane was a follower. All well and good, except that when they were in harness, Jane had learned that she could slack her traces, and put it off onto Sally, who was more obedient to the driver. So Jane was always fresher than Sally. Trying to make Jane pull fair required the driver to work harder than Jane was working. You had to make Jane Be Good (something that I think the flesh sub-consciously naturally expects out of the Authority it serves. We want to be made to be good; like little kids!). Every once in a while, those mules would decide that they each wanted something called Their Own Way, and it was usually when they saw a directional sign beside the road. They would each pick a respective side of said sign post and off they would go: if the driver was not careful, he or she could find themselves having to shout the whole thing to a halt before the entire harness got unzipped between them. Now THAT was when I suspected those mules were operating with the same thought, but it most certainly was not a yoke thought! Yoke thoughts have to be trained into the flesh; there just is no correspondence in the natural for this idea that the same thing happens at the same time simultaneously between two. Yoking is an order super-imposed from above.
When we got made in the image of our Creator, with free will, I think I see we were given the ability to throw down a direction; a choice of where to be next. The question is, on what basis do I make that choice? If I am FOLLOWING authority, then I am going to attempt to take a set of predetermined rules and super-impose them on the situation – I strong-arm the deal, as it were. A good deal of this, the years that I spent working my way to heaven, anyway, was driven by trying to ‘see’ what was going to happen next, and then trying to choose an action that would force the situation, or force the people around me, to Do Right in what I thought I saw. I mean, everybody already pretty much knows what love should be like. But, the more I tried to do it, the more messed up it all got.
When I repented of divination and working to earn love, and a bunch of other ‘righteousness’ gobbledy-gook, I had to learn a new way. The way of the yoke, for me, looks most like a dance. The correct basis for where my next step is going to be should be determined by where I saw the LAST STEP of my Partner land. Instead of trying to divine what the future IS GOING TO BE, I have learned that I must have faith that if I build on what I saw my Partner do with what I last did, then I am investing faith in making sure that I honor WHEREVER He already has just been; honor what He already has just done. I stop trying to focus on the terrain of the dance floor, because I now understand that the dance floor, which is reality, is whatever the Dance is going to make it be. Such is the nature of faith. Definitely NOT a flesh understanding of reality! The flesh is focused on WHAT IS: even divination attempts to project into the future a continuation of what is. But what is is a construct of the past. Faith is focused on keeping up with what SHOULD BE, which is determined on the basis of making sure that my Partner gets to land in a place that makes the last step He did look good. Dance is all about making the other look good. It is about honoring whatever they chose LAST, as well as the sum total of what they have already chosen in the past. In the process of honor, though, reality is required to conform to faith for the express purpose of honoring the Other in the dance. That is love, to me.
Where’s the “Like” button?
yah!
Knowing the rules of the Kingdom of the Sovereign God, I step out in faith before him, and work out my faith in deeds, trusting in His Divine guidance, leadership and correction. After all God has my back; He knows the future he has for me.
I think a lot of the time we don’t step forward (and instead wait for God to put a path before us) because of a fear that we may step in the wrong direction. But I suppose that Abram left home without a clear direction of where to go, too. This is one of those times when my husband and I are learning to step out without clear direction, as John looks for work, and we learn even more about trust (and much of that has been taught by the community here!).
It also struck me that God is asking Abram to open with Him, with nothing hidden. A lot of people lately have encouraged me in this very thing. To be open with God about all the things I feel (even when they’re things like anger and fear and frustration and not just joy and thankfulness). It’s nice to know that God actually encourages this, instead of telling us to pretend we’re feeling awesome when we’re feeling overwhelmed – that he wants to hear us express all the emotions he’s given us.
We can cry and complain without blaming Him for wrong doing and accusing Him of trying to destroy us. That is the difference between Job and the people who died in the wilderness..
Sister Amanda,
Thought of you when I read this from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks….
“Yet biblical Hebrew has no word that means “history” (the closest equivalent is divrei hayamim, “chronicles”). Instead it uses the root zakhor, meaning “memory.”
There is a fundamental difference between history and memory. History is “his story,”[6] an account of events that happened sometime else to someone else. Memory is “my story.” It is the past internalised and made part of my identity. THAT IS WHAT THE MISHNAH IN PESACHIM MEANS WHEN IT SAYS, “EACH PERSON MUST SEE HIMSELF AS IF HE (OR SHE) WENT OUT OF EGYPT.”[7]
Throughout Devarim Moses warns the people—no less than fourteen times—not to forget. If they forget the past they will lose their identity and sense of direction”
The past is who we are through our experiences on this journey.
Hope this has blessed you as it has blessed me.
Shalom!
Wow, Ester, that hit me between the eyes. I was reading the results of a study done not long ago where there was an attempt to determine why some children seemed to fare better in difficult life situations than others. Do you know what they found? Something no one was expecting. They found that it was one factor. The children that remained relatively sane and grounded, and managed to recover the best from life’s blows, even the very big ones, were the children who had the best understanding of WHERE THEY CAME FROM. This included having good relationships with extended family, a knowledge of their ancestry, and, most of all, the children who had been told many stories about their family; who had been given a chance to IDENTIFY with where they came from. They knew WHO THEY WERE. This sense of identity gave them the ability to handle abuse from others as well as keep their feet when life threw a curve ball. The ones who got lost, or who succumbed to mental and emotional challenges to the greatest extent, were the ones who did not know WHO THEY WERE. Hmm. Good word.
Laurita,
A beautiful response! We are what we went through in life’s journey, and being stronger , and hopefully the wiser for it. I have gone through horrific times and it’s not ended yet, with abuse, false accusations etc… It is an overcoming, warrior spirit that Skip has written about us women. HalleluYAH.
My wonderful grown up and married ‘kids’ have requested that I write my full story, which they only know in part, if it does not bring forth too much hurtful memories. Shalom!
did you ever consider that God will leave us with our memories but remove the pain. How else will we know His grace, see His handiwork and know who we are? Perhaps this is only a practice run after all.
Skip, memories and the pain are inseparable, they are linked. Perhaps in the resurrected life? :- ) Though we appreciate ABBA’s grace seeing us through it all and coming out stronger as being part of a program of identifying who we are individually, and to fully feel the difficult times others in the Family are going through. Thanks, Skip. Shalom.
Skip and all,
A lovely song for you to light up your day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRfHGKoyma0
Tony Bennett tells Israel to SMILE.
I’m not sure that memories and pain are inseparable. Certainly, the memory OF the pain is always there, but it seems that I always have a choice to either allow the memory OF the pain to engulf me or to recall the event without the pain. There’s only a flash of a moment in which to make the choice, but when I choose the latter, I find that God will then use the event to strengthen me in whatever may be the present crisis. I think the difference is in intention. Am I looking back to see “how did God work in that circumstance?” because I rarely recognize the fullness of His hand at the time.
Sometimes though, if I’m feeling sorry for myself, I may find that I look back with an intention to dwell on the memory of the pain, rather than seeing how the event substantiated His presence in my life. Then the pain is no longer a memory. Instead it’s real and present and gives credence to my current frame of mind. I think we generally have the opportunity to make a choice. Maybe that’s part of what Paul was talking about when he said to think on these things (Php 4:8).
Suzanne, that was a very sweet and thoughtful description of experience. It also echoes research that I have seen done on the nature of memory. Using the latest methods of electrical mind mapping, researchers have concluded that memories do not actually have an emotional component to them; in other words, there is no corresponding FEELING associated with the memory in the brain. None. So, when we recall a memory, what is going on when we RE-LIVE the emotional state every time we recall it? There has to be an over-ride in the system somewhere. This has been a significant factor in my healing. It is bad enough to experience something awful the first time; it wreaks all kind of havoc on all levels. But what is much worse, is, every time that memory gets triggered in the future, you get the full Monty of that experience all over again. You stress, panic, sweat, grieve, and, in my case, keep finding yourself in corners staring at brick walls (literally); realizing that you have been there for several blank hours, and wondering how you got there. It may have been done to you once, but certainly it is some invention of hell that keeps you DOING IT TO YOURSELF EVER AFTER THAT.
Well, I decided that that surely was NOT anything like the Mind of Christ, which I was slowly coming to understand should not be my mind, either. I bet He never found Himself a prisoner of memory, blanking out in front of a wall, so I decided that I was going to treat negative emotionally-charged memories as sin. No, this is not a new way to disassociate. I choose to keep the memory; just keep it from debilitating me. I repented for the ungodly emotional over-ride. AND IT WENT AWAY. Hmmm
If 2Tim 1:7 lists fear as a spirit not of God, and Heb. 12:15 lists bitterness as a defiling root, then I concluded that there are spiritual states that can act as over-rides, as crayons, of a sort, that color my perspective, memory, and emotional reactions to life. This is not mystical if you have ever had kids. There is all the difference in the world between a kid told to apologize, who does so with a sneer, and a kid who is repentant. Yep: wrong spirit over-ride!
I am not the one who invented the saying that self pity is the superglue from hell that binds us to our past, but there are many ungodly mindsets that we can use to keep ourselves from experiencing the full love and protection of God; even in our memories. I have decided that if it does not look like it would fit in the list of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are not to be repented of, then it is probably going to be a spiritual state, such as ungodly sorrow, that should be repented of. Everything else that is not on that list of Fruits is torment, and works death in us (literally!); and torment is not of God, because I have been assured that the blessings from Him have no sorrow added with them (Prov. 10:22), so therefore I do not have to put up with it! If it is not a blessing, then I have decided that it is not from my Father, so I can safely tell it to just kiss my donkey. I have discovered that repenting for this stuff is the best way to get it to leave me alone. Halleluah!
Hi Laurita — I like that: “self pity is the superglue from hell that binds us to our past”. It’s a good one to put on the dressing table mirror. 🙂
“look back with an intention to dwell on the memory of the pain, ….” ?! Who does that?
The past is over and done with, nothing we do can will ever change that, but to learn from it, where we have gone wrong. That’s what this month of Elul is about, leading to Yom Kippur, remembering for the reason of repenting/turning back to Yah’s ways.
Can we do that without emotions? How then can we cry out to YHWH for cleansing and restoration?
Emotions are not a bad thing. Pain/hurts from the past guides us to wisdom; without which how can one appreciate the pain others are going through?
Being embittered by it is what leads us to many illnesses like cancer. Shalom.
Every time I’ve ever read this passage, my mind divided “Walk before me” and “Be blameless” as two separate commands, rather than seeing the first as presuposing the second. Reading now, it even seems that “and be blameless” is less of a command and more the result of “walking before Him”. And here, I thought that was a new idea based on covenant with Yeshua. Works being a bypoduct of relationship has always been.
Very nice Brian.
It is always an eye opener to me when God uses animals (Laurita’s mules) to teach us things of Him. It happens to me all the time but I am surrounded by various animals and absolutely love to be surrounded by God’s creation away from the chaos of civilization.
Amanda-I think your observation is very wise. I know that there is way to much focus within the current church to listen for a word from God before you do anything. So many people buy into that and never do anything but wait for fear of choosing the wrong thing! (The whole Post-its from heaven thing just cracks me up!)
This can be from something really small to a life changing event. Again we have the fear based life. So sad and causes so many to miss various blessings in life. I think this fear causes anxiety and bitterness over opportunities lost.
I often think of Abram when I am considering choices. He was a pagan when God spoke to him and by most accounts living a “good” life. He left all of that to go into the wilderness. Now I have to consider that practically and I stand amazed at what that may have meant! He was no spring chicken either at this time!
I believe this is faith. Walking on in the knowledge that God IS with you. Life is a journey and one moves during a journey. It is a progression and it changes things. God did not call Abram out only for him to continue to worship his pagan gods or to give such value to the “stuff” that he had (or not). He was called to follow God into a new land which would be shown to him AS he went.
The challenge is in the going. The context is different but I hear other words in my personal challenges as well…. Y-H-“Whom shall I send?”
I desire to always be able and willing to answer…”Here am I Lord, send me.”
Dawn, the whole natural world leaves me breathless continually. How we could have been given such a precious gift that simultaneously rests us in its beauty, challenges us in its complexity of relationship, and just awes me, at least, with the mystery of it all, is surely only something that a Lover could give. It is truly a picture of Himself; a gift that He sends ahead of Himself even before He knocks on the door of our hearts. Whose heart would not be softened and primed by such a gift?
I think you are right when you say “The challenge is in the going”. So many years I kept silent, afraid that it would be awful if I said anything. So many years I could not take a first step because I felt condemned before I started. So many years the Accuser kept me bound.
I finally made a decision that I would send my children off into the world with one admonition. I told them that the only truly wrong thing to do was not to do anything, because that left God nothing to work with. So I would tell them that the important thing was to make a move; any move, even a wrong move, because direction was the important thing, but direction cannot be established without movement. Direction not only cannot be established, but it cannot be CHANGED if we are not already moving, even though it is easy once we are. We have been given the assurance that it is ok to not be right the first time, or even the next. The Proverbs that states that a righteous man falls seven times makes the point that he can always get up again; is expected to get up again. Falling is how we learn; humility, if nothing else! LOL Our Father knows this and has given us permission to. The only disgrace in falling is to lie there.
I encouraged my kids with something that I learned rather late in life. I told them that I think I have figured out that all that is required to enable God to work in our lives is that we move: the rest is up to Him. If we as much as wiggle, He will always show up to push and steer. Direction and momentum are what we can count on Him for; picking up one foot and putting it down at a time is all He requires of us. We don’t have to have it figured out or funded. Halleluah!
Laurita,
Such wise and timely words for my heart. Thank you and praise God for your life’s journey so you are able to speak them to this community (especially me!). I hope your children have been blessed by your wise words as well. 🙂
What you have offered is such a minority in the minds of folks. I am really just learning to live my life out of security of knowing (really knowing) that God is with me. I am making a choice to NOT be afraid in many areas of my life. The world would have me cowering with fear in all things but my Father says to me over and over to NOT be afraid. He is teaching and I am learning to go forward with the confidence of knowing that I will fail at times BUT I WILL get back up and try again!
Bottom line is that I am sick and tired of being afraid. My Father requires that I fear only Him. Is not refusing to walk out on my journey really directly communicating my fear of the world and lack of faith in the very one who created me? I may not be able to see into the future but is it not enough that God can? I have the past to help me navigate the way ahead. I can see what God has already done. Should this not comfort me?
This topic should be of far more concern than the Trinity issues that Skip raised earlier this year (at lest to my way of thinking)! This is the meat of life.
I’m thankful for Skip, Laurita, and all who generously share their insights and experiences. I often feel as though I’ve stepped through the looking glass. I finally understood why I never fit in and why “clergy” always wanted me out of their churches. I seem to have a double portion of fear and PTSD along with other challenges that come from surviving life rather than living life. Study more, memorize more, pray more. Well, I studied myself right out of their dogma. Slowly, I am starting to understand just how deeply the wounds and the lies have penetrated. I’m not really sure what “moving” looks like for me. I’ve prayed for “direction” for a long time. Yet, what has been shared makes sense. I guess I always thought I would be “led” in the direction I should go. Five years ago, my youngest daughter was so critical that we just kept praying for her next breath. I did the bargaining thing. She survived. I tried to make good and “give my life to God.” We moved to a new area. I studied Hebrew. I studied natural healing. I tried to learn all I could about nutrition. I immersed myself in the Word under Hebraic teachers. Friendships were strained when Sunday church and pork were no longer part of my life. Both daughters and my husband were not at all happy. My husband is sort of on board now. I like the idea that making a mistake in movement is better than no movement.
As El Shaddai God manifested himself to the patriarchs (Ex 6:3): specifically to Abraham, Gen 17:1; to Isaac, Gen 28:3; and to Jacob, Gen 35:11, 43:14; 48:3. The context for most of these references is the covenant, more precisely the command for obedience and faithfulness on the part of the vassal and the promise of progeny by God. It is not to the hills (natural phenomenon) that these men of faith looked for confidence but to the Lord of these hills, the Lord of the mountain
Ps 91:1-2 He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High/Elyon shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty/Shaddi of the mountain. I will say of the LORD/YHVH, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God/Elohim of me, in Him will I trust.” etc…………………………………………………………………..
We all want to claim the promises of the covenant and escape the wrath of God. But in the end few are willing to dwell and abide in the covenant of the God of the mountain that lays out the conditions of those promises from the mountain.
We are all in for some surprises I suspect.
Wow! So much good insights here today, folks. Thank you.
Having read through all the comments – wonderful! insightful! blessed! – I am reminded of the time I was hit between the eyes with the conditionality of Abba’s blessings and many of His promises. He says, “If you…, then I.” Too often we focus on the “then I” part and disregard what we have been told to do in order for the “then I” part to occur. This understanding was a turning point in my thought process. I quit dwelling on the end result and trying to make it happen through prayer, proclamations, demanding my ‘rights’ as a child of the King, etc., and began focusing on my part in it. WOW!! When I began “if you-ing” (obedience/doing) the resultant blessing or promise just happened because YHVH cannot lie. The simplicity of it is astounding!
Amen, Sherri! Blessings are a side effect of – OBEDIENCE! That’s where I got it, too!
Skip, today’s word noted, “Thus El Shaddai would translate into English something like “God/El of the mountain,” i.e. God’s abode . . . It is not to the hills (natural phenomenon) that these men of faith looked for confidence but to the Lord of these hills, the Lord of the mountain.”
Is it not evident that in the Bible mountains and hills are often allegories for nations, kingdoms or governments great and small? For instance, speaking of the doom which he foresaw coming upon the remnant of Judah by the hand of the Babylonians, Jeremiah 4:24 says
“I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly”
Was he not talking about nations that were in awe of Babylon’s great might, and not about literal mountains and hills? See also,
Jer 51:25 “Behold I am against you O destroying mountain, who destroys the earth,’ says the LORD.” ‘And I will stretch My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain.”
Was not Mount Zion often equated with the people of Israel and Judah?
Ps 78:68 But he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.
Jer 14:19 Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion?
Lam 2:1 How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger!
He has hurled down the splendour of Israel from heaven to earth
Isa 46:13 I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendour to Israel.
The important point then, which seems to have gone unnoticed, is the real understanding of “God/El of the mountain.”
Yes, it is true that, “it is not the hills that these men of faith looked for confidence . . . but to the Lord of the mountain.” But beyond the mountain being an impressive chunk of rock, these verses show that the “mountain” is actually the people of God. God not only dwelt on a mountain, (the temple on Moriah), but literally within His people who are the mountain. So, if the chosen of Yahweh are His people and His dwelling place, the two terms converge.
1Co_3:16 Are you not aware that you are a temple of God and the spirit of God is making its home in you?
Thanks for your eye-opening expose of this part of the passage, Skip.
Would you please comment on the following translation of “Walk before Me, and be blameless” by another person who has do so using the pictogram method that you use in delving into the meaning of paleo-Hebrew words. His translation of these 2 phrases in combination is:
“Turn towards my faces, walk towards them and I will make you flawless”.
Thanks.