WORD STUDY – A CLOSED PORTAL
Genesis 4:5-7: But unto Cain and his offering he had no
respect, and Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. And
the Lord said unto Cain, “Why are thou wroth and why has thy
countenance fallen?
If thou doest well shall thou not be
accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”
I remember as a child in Sunday School watching my Sunday
School teacher tell the story of Cain and Abel using the
flannel graph. Abel kept falling off the board (guess he had
more graph than flannel) leaving only Cain on the board
kneeling down with his fruits and vegetables clutched to his
hands and looking up to heaven with a forlorn look. Maybe it
was Abel’s continued departure from the flannel graph board
leaving a lonely Cain with a sad face looking up to God that
made a lasting impression on me, as I could not help but feel
sorry for the old boy. Of course I could never condone his
actions in wasting his brother, however, I could not help but
think that if God could have cut Cain a little slack and
accepted his offering, which was given in good faith, the
story could have been quite different. But, no, God had to
play it by the book and only an animal sacrifice would do.
But come on, this animal sacrifice was not really made law
until the time of Moses. Surly God could have given the poor
guy a break.
Years later after studying Hebrew I began to realize that God
having no respect for Cain’s offering really had the idea of
conveying no power, and insight into this offering. For one
thing the ground had been cursed, So Cain was offering
something that was cursed.
The second thing is God telling
Cain that if he does well he will be accepted. God was really
playing hardball at this time. Without the law, or a Bible,
how was one to know if he was doing well. The Hebrew word for
doing well is tov. This word was used quite a bit at
creation. After God created something, He then saw that it
was tov or good. As explained in earlier devotionals, this
word means to be in harmony with God. Cain offered something
that was cursed to God and was not in harmony with Him. Note
that God warns that if you don’t do what is in harmony with
God, sin lies at the door. The word sin here is chatak’ which
means unintentional mistakes or sins, Apparently, the act of
offering fruits and vegetables may not necessarily have been a
sin, but at most it was an unintentional mistake, yet it was
still not in harmony with God.
Perhaps Cain killing his
brother was more manslaughter than murder, more unintentional.
It is possible he did not even understand physical death.
Well, that’s another issue. What I am pondering is this idea
that if you do not do what is in
unintentional sin is lying at the door.
harmony with God,
I don’t believe that
this is as metaphoric as we think.
The word in the Hebrew for door has the preposition Lamed
before it which could be rendered as to, for or unto with the
definite article the. This is a definite, specific door. Not
only that the word used here comes from a Semitic root word
patach which is often rendered as a portal. This is more than
just a doorway to another room, it is an entrance to something
entirely different. My metaphoric Looking Glass that I talk
about in my upcoming book, Beyond the Daleth is an example of
a portal.
We never seem to stop to ask why
were offering their sacrifices to God.
The
clear, but I think the answer is buried in the
were seeking to open a portal to the presence of
Cain and Abel
Bible is not
Hebrew. They
God.
Note that when Cain’s offering was not accepted his
countenance fell. That word countenance is pani in the Hebrew
which is often a reference to one’s presence. His presence
was fallen. In verse 7 God says if he does what is in harmony
he will be accepted. The word accepted in Hebrew is se’eth
which really means to be lifted up. It would seem that the
offerings were made so their presence would be lifted up to
God’s presence. When Cain offered something that was cursed,
out of harmony with God, he could not feel God’s presence.
This also appeared to be a messianic picture which involved
the shedding of blood for redemption and of course fruit had
no blood so it could not be used as a blood sacrifice. When
he did not feel the presence of God in giving his offering, he
was wroth. The word for wroth is charah. In its Semitic root
means to be hot. Being hot does not necessarily mean to be
angry. Other things can make you hot. You get hot or charah
when you feel sorrow as in the pain of rejection. It is
possible Cain’s countenance fell because he did not feel the
anticipated presence and fellowship with God that should have
followed his offering. God explained to Cain that even though
he did not intentionally make a mistake or sin or do something
that was out of harmony with God, it stilled blocked the
entrance through the portal to His presence and fellowship.
Like most Christians I have periods when I seek the presence
of God but somehow I cannot find it.
I cannot open that
portal. I do not intentionally sin (well maybe sometimes) nor
do I intentionally seek to be out of harmony with God, but if
I am not opening that portal to his presence, it could be a
sure sign that I am unintentionally doing something out of
harmony with God. Whether we call it sin or not, something
that is not in harmony with God will block our entrance to
God‘s presence. We may be giving a gift or sacrifice to God,
maybe a tithe or offering yet if our motives for giving that
gift are not in harmony with God, it will not open a portal to
His presence. I mean a husband can come home one day with a
bunch of flowers and say, “Well, here are some flowers, now
that I have given you something you have to give me something,
you have let me go on that fishing trip with my buddies
tomorrow.”
She will give him something alright, but it won’t
be permission to go on a fishing trip. Those flowers did not
bring him into harmony with his wife. Now if he were to bring
home some flowers and say, “Honey, I’ve been thinking about
you all day and just wanted to give you something to just show
you how much I love you and I thought of these flowers whose
beauty reminded me so much of you.” Now those same flowers
will bring this man into harmony with his wife such that he
may not even want to go on that fishing trip or he may just
want to take her with him on that trip. Yet, do we not do the
same to God, we throw ten dollars into the offering plate and
say, “Well, God here is ten dollars that I should be using to
pay the rent but I am giving it to you so you will have to
keep your end of the bargain and multiply that, open the flood
gates of heaven and give me a hundred fold return.” You may
get the same thing old Cain got which was a closed portal.
However, if you take ten dollars and throw it into the
offering plate and say, “God, I don’t know how else to express
my love to you but to give you this ten dollars which I could
use for other things, but more important than anything else is
just to somehow tell you that I love you.” You may just open
that portal to His presence and not even care about a
hundredfold return.
You see the word for “portal” is spell Pei, Taw and Cheth.
The Pei represents speaking from the heart, the Taw represents
the truth of God and the Cheth represents passing through a
gateway or portal. If you speak from the true intents of your
heart to God, and it is harmony with him, God will open the
portal to His heart and presence to you.
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You are more than welcome to join me in my journey and search
for the heart of God.
WORD STUDY – KNOCK AND YOU
WILL BREAKTHROUGH
Luke 11:9-10: And I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to
you. Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to
you. For everyone asking receives and the one seeking finds;
and the one knocking, it will be opened.
“That’s all I can stands, cause I can’t stands no more.” –
Popeye the Sailorman.
Luke 11:9-10 comes right on the heels of a story Jesus told
about a man seeking three loaves of bread from a neighbor
because he was having a friend spend the night. In oriental
culture a man would face great dishonor if he did not show
proper hospitality to a visitor and feeding him was an
important aspect of this hospitality. The man went to his
neighbor late at night and began pounding on the door asking
his neighbor for three loaves of bread (note three loaves,
three represents the Godhead). His neighbor and family were
already in bed and did not want to be bothered and told the
man to go away.
But the man persisted until the neighbor
finally got up and gave the man what he wanted to shut him up
lest he wake up the whole neighborhood. Then Jesus said a
curious thing: “Knock and it will be opened.”
Was Jesus
saying that we must be persistent in our petitions keep
pounding on that door until we finally wear God down to the
point where He says: “Oy, angel, give the slob want he wants
before he breaks the door down and get me that bottle of
aspirin while you are at it.”
Christians have a hard time understanding this story. Yet,
the Jews of Jesus day heard something far different that we do
in our modern, Greek, Western culture. For one thing, they
knew and understood a truth that we as Christians seem to not
understand.
This truth is illustrated in the Talmud and I have no doubt
Jesus was drawing upon this truth using a humorous story to
express it. The Talmud illustrates this truth by explaining
that when a king enters the battlefield, he changes his
clothing to be unrecognizable. If the enemy recognizes him
they will try to kill him. Yet, his servants nearby can
recognize him by his gestures and those who are afar can still
discern that the troops are guarding a certain place and the
king is probably there. The Talmud further explains that this
is also true of prayer. Our distracting thoughts and emotions
are guarding the King so that we can not see Him. You must
therefore be persistent and push yourselves even more, for the
King is there; but our distractions and emotions are merely
hiding Him from us. You see we automatically think that the
sleepy neighbor was a representation of God but in fact the
sleepy neighbor represents all of the distractions and
emotions that keep us from bringing our petitions to God. God
is the three loaves of bread. We must be persistent in
battling our distractions and emotions for God is there and if
we are persistent we will break through those barriers of
distractions and emotions and find Him. If we seek Him we
will find Him.
Note Jesus says knock and it will open. Again we in our
Western thought automatically think of a door. Yet in the
Aramaic the word knock is neqash which literally means to play
a harp. It comes from a Semitic root which has the idea of
opening one’s heart. Its root is often used with the word
neqaph which means to have intercourse, an expression of
opening your heart to another person, or neqar which means to
dig or search as in reaching into the depths of your heart, or
nega which is pouring your heart out. In following the common
thread of the Semitic root of NQ Neqash would apply to the
playing of a harp because that is an instrument like the
violin that is so sensitive to one’s touch that your
expression of your heart will be expressed in its music. Thus,
if we knock or neqash, express our heart to God, He will open
the gateway to His presence.
I have a friend who was cheated out of a $100,000 life
insurance policy and as a result lost her home and ended up
homeless, living out of her car. Someone tried to comfort her
by saying, “God loves you.” You know something she wasn’t
feeling God’s love at that moment, nor could any amount of
people saying, “God loves you” cover her anguish. She was not
feeling God’s presence and you cannot blame her, Jesus
doesn’t, that is why he says knock neqash and the door will be
open.
Just keep playing that harp, just keep pouring you
heart out to God. If you are angry at Him, tell Him, He knows
it already. He can take it.
I remember the story of a woman who spent her life climbing to
the top of her acting profession. She never gave one thought
to God, never expressed her heart to God. Then one day a
doctor told her that her daughter was going to die. Her fame
and money could not save her daughter.
She became so
frustrated and angry she got into her car, drove out to the
desert and there alone in the desert where no one was around
she began to scream at the top of her lungs, she began to
negash express her heart to God. She cursed God out with all
the vulgar, obscene words she could think of, she cursed God,
Jesus and if she knew there was a Holy Spirit she said she
would have cursed Him too. Then after one half hour of negash
expressing her heart to God, she fell back exhausted in the
silence that comes after a lot of screaming. In that silence
she heard a voice, an audible voice and it said, “That is the
first time you have spoken to me, I love you.”
.You know you have to really admire Popeye. His heart was
truly with Olive Oyle. Well, after all she was one hot number
with two dashing young sailors fighting for her attentions.
Poor Popeye, he was always the under dog. Yet in watching
Popeye as a kid, I always knew he had that can of spinach in
the waiting. What I could not understand is why he waited
until Brutus had him kicked, punched and almost out for the
count before he pulled out that spinach, before he began to
negash.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I am like Popeye. I grow
weary of being the good soldier, tired of the battle. The
distractions and emotions are so numerous I can not see the
King and I just want to give up. I wait until I am down for
the count before I pull out my can of spinach, my negash,
speak my heart to God.
But that is what God wants, our
hearts, even if it is filled with angry and bitterness toward
Him. He will take that. Negash is not just rosy, King James
English talk, “I know thou are God and thou lovest me and all
things worketh together with meith – thouest.”
Negash,
knocking is reaching into the depths of your heart and
expressing it to God in true, clear honesty. Speak you heart
and it will open. The word open in the Aramaic is pethach
which comes from the Semitic root of PTH, which means
breakthrough.
WORD STUDY – MOVED
Song of Solomon 5:4
“My beloved put in his hand by the
hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.”
“My bowels were moved for him…” This phrase alone should send
even the most passionate supporters of the KJV scurrying for
other translations. The idea that the very presences of one’s
beloved has the effect of a laxative does not strike many
people as a very romantic statement. Of course we are all
aware of the fact that when one experiences a strong
emotional high, either fear or joy, there is a physical
response in our inner plumbing system. Yet, even in ancient
Oriental culture such an expression is not one of the top ten
pickup lines for romantic conquest.
Still, if we use our lexicons and our dictionaries we cannot
get away from the fact that these words when literally
rendered are not a very politically correct expression of
romantic love. The Hebrew word me’a (bowels) as recorded in
all our Lexicons means very frankly your bowels, intestines,
belly, or womb. Only tropically is it used to express one’s
heart. Yet, most our modern translations, due to cultural
repugnance, render this word topically (heart) and I would
ratify that rendering with a hardy “yea.”
The word
for moved does not add to the romance, that word
is hamah which means to growl or make an animal noise. It is a
word commonly used with the word me’a (bowels) to describe the
sound your stomach makes when it growls. Hamah (moved) also
is used to express the idea of a strong mental emotion, the
sound of a harp, rain falling or to be agitated.
The problem in linguistics is to look beyond a direct
translation of an ancient word and try to find a word in our
own language which would closely match what it was that the
person living in that time, culture and context actually heard
in his own ears. But in Scripture, particularly when dealing
with poetry, we need to move beyond that and find a word which
will strike the same emotional feeling in us that Solomon or
his beloved would felt when these words were spoken. When we
combine me’a with hamah we could get anything from a heart
filled with passion to violent diarrhea.
I believe the
context clearly intends for the word me’a to mean your
heart. However hamah is really open to private interpretation
as everyone could have a different take on this word to fit
their own understanding.
In other words the whole phrase needs to be funneled
through paraphrasing in order to fully understand what is
really being said.
The problem we face is that what is
romantic for one person could be repulsive to another. For
all I know: “You caused my bowels to move” could be a very
romantic expression to the translators of the KJV. For me
personally, it is not.
Hence I need to return to the
paraphrasing drawing board and work up a rendering which fits
for me.
So let’s look at the context. In verse 2 Solomon’s beloved
says: “I sleep, but my heart awaketh.”
This is really an
ancient idiomatic expression for a romantic dream. In this
dream she has just washed her feet when her beloved comes
knocking at her door desperate to be with her. She cannot
open the door to her beloved because she is obviously
barefooted. In Oriental culture the feet are considered the
most sensuous part of a woman’s body (hey that is what I was
told in my Sociology class).
Not only that, she is not
completely covered. In Oriental culture a man can go through
life never really seeing a woman, sometimes not even his own
wife. Even today in many Middle Eastern countries women are
completely covered, even her face. Many married women in the
Orient would not even undress in front of their husbands. To
put an ancient Oriental man in 21 st Century downtown Chicago
would be like attending a burlesque show. So greeting her
beloved barefooted and half uncovered would be like a Western
woman coming to the door — you get the idea, I don’t want to
lose my PG rating here.
So now she hears him playing with the lock on her door and she
is suddenly aware that her beloved may find her in this
vulnerable position. She dearly loves this man, longs to be
intimate with him, yet knowing that when he sees her
uncovered, well what would her feeling be? Her heart is hamah
(moved).
How would you render hamah (moved) in this
situation? What is it you would feel?
Suppose God comes knocking at the door of your heart and He
starts picking the lock of your heart and you know in a moment
that He will see your heart uncovered.
He will see
everything in your heart, your motives, your hidden, secret
thoughts. What would you feel?
Would feel anticipation over
a possible intimate moment with God? Would you feel fear that
he would loath you? How about shame? Embarrassment? Would you
feel squeamish or would you confidently open your arms and say
“Hello!”
You know something? Only you and you alone can give a proper
translation to the word hamah (moved) in this passage. That
word hamah (moved) is so ambiguous that the Holy Spirit has a
wide range of words He can put within your heart. God has so
designed His Word that He can speak to you personally through
it. Only you can determine what this hamah or moving in your
heart really is.
Are you ready for intimacy or are there
things in your heart that you would be too ashamed and
embarrassed for your Divine Lover to see?
WORD STUDY – MOUTH
Psalms 141:3: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the
door of my lips.”
Be sure it’s true when you say “I love you.”
It’s sin to tell a lie.
Millions of hearts have been broken,
Just because these words were spoken,
“I love you, Yes I do, I love you.”
If you break my heart, I’ll die,
So be sure it’s true, when you say I love you
It’s a sin to tell a lie.
-Billy MayhewUpon close examination of the context of this verse, David is
asking God to watch over his words or what he speaks when he
prays. Yet, God does not hear the words of our mouth, but the
cry of our heart. I may pray with my lips: “God give me a
candy apple red Mercedes Benz, but my heart may be saying:
“Don’t you do it either, given him a broken down Ford Focus so
he can learn to trust in you.” God hears and answer every
prayer, the only reason we don’t realize the answer is that we
are expecting the answer from the request of our mouths and
not of our hearts.
So why is David asking God to guard his words if it doesn’t
matter what he says, only what is in his heart? The Jewish
sages explain this verse by saying that when David asked that
God set a watch over his mouth and keep the door of his lips
he is asking God to hear the cry of his heart, and that he
speak only what his heart says. His lips will speak the desire
of his soul, but his heart will speak the desire of God. He
wants his soul’s desires to be God’s desires. If his soul and
heart are not united, it will break God’s heart just as it
would for a would be lover to tell a woman he loves her when
in his heart he does not.
It is interesting that the word for mouth is just a one letter
word “Pei” and the word for door is a one letter word
“Daleth.”
Those two letters together form the word
redemption. The numerical value of Pei Daleth is 84, which is
the same numerical value as the word forblood, escape and
knowing as in intimate knowing.
Romans 10:9-10 tells us that it is with the heart that we
believe and are justified and it is with our mouths that we
confess
and
are
saved.
The
Aramaic
word
for mouth is pum spelled Pei, Final Mem which is speaking the
hidden knowledge of your heart. David understood that that the
mouth plays an important role in a relationship. Samson is the
perfect example of one who came to that painful realization.
Four times Samson spoke to Delilah with his lips. The fifth
time he spoke to her with his heart. After being deceived
four times, you would think Delilah would really question the
fifth time, yet she was so certain he told the truth the fifth
time that she collected her reward before offering proof that
he had spoken the truth. How could she and the Philistines be
so certain? Because the fifth time, the Bible says, he spoke
his heart.
Samson longed to be intimate with Delilah but Delilah made it
known that they could not be intimate if he did
not speak his heart to her. When Samson spoke his heart to
Delilah, a barrier broke down between the two of them and they
were able enter into an intimacy. The KJV translates this word
for this intimacy as Delilah afflicting him — some
affliction.
But once he spoke his heart to Delilah, that
broke down the wall that kept them from being intimate.
David realized the importance of speaking his heart to
God. You can pray many words, but it is really your heart
that God is listening to. Just as when Samson spoke his heart
to Delilah he open the doorway (Daleth) to their intimacy, so
too when we speak the words of our heart to God, it is those
words that become the doorway to entering the heart of God and
entering into an intimacy with God.
But if we speak words of love to God because we want something
from Him, or we want an answer to prayer and it does not come
from love born in our hearts and there is no willingness to
act upon that love nor to make the commitment that such love
demands, then we will break God’s heart just as a would be
lover would break the heart of his spouse if he says he loves
her just to get something he wants from her.
I believe this is what David was saying in Psalms 141:3: “God
don’t let me say something intimate to you unless it is first
in my heart.” David was seeking to protect the heart of
God. How does that love enter one’s heart?
Jeanette Oaks
titled one of her novels “Love Comes Softly.” That is really
the best way to describe how we fall in love with God. Love
for God comes from a daily walking and talking with Him, from
getting to know (yadah – sharing intimate knowledge) of our
hearts with Him. Eventually, love comes softly and before you
know it your mouth (Pei) is really speaking the words of your
heart to God. But if you do not spend the time with Him, you
do not spend the time in His word, and you just go about your
business and give an occasional “hoody do!” to God you can
expect to break his heart if you say with your mouth “I love
you.” For as the old song writer says: “It’s A Sin to Tell A
Lie.” When you have not allowed your heart the time it needs
to bond with God’s heart you cannot say to Him: “I love
you.” It is best that you pray like David, “Guard my words,
don’t let me speak any more words of intimacy than what is in
my heart. If it is not there, I will spend the time alone with
you until my heart truly bonds with your heart and then
my mouth (Pei) and heart will be united when I say: “I love
you.’”
WORD STUDY – BY HIS STRIPES
WE ARE HEALED
Isaiah 53:5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace
was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
He was wounded for our transgressions.
I find the word
wounded to be interesting. There is kind of a play on words.
The word wounded comes from the root chalal and is a piel
participle form. It real means to pierce and being in a piel
form would make it a fatal wound. The word is spelled “Chet,
Lamed, Lamed.”
The word for praise is Hei, Lamed, Lamed.
This is sort of a ironic play on words. Because His wounding
or piercing was to redeem us from our transgressions, His
words turn us to praise.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The word crushed is ‘daki’
which is in a pual form. This means to be crushed or broken.
The word is also used to express a broken or crushed heart.
In front of the word for iniquities is the preposition Mem
which really is translated as from. In other words it was
from our iniquities he suffered a broken heart.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.
Ever stop to
think what that means? The word chastisement is yasar like in
Yasar Araft. It means punish but it also means to instruct or
teach. Don’t ask how why the same word is used for punish and
teach. I’ll let you figure that one out. However, if we use
the alternative explanation for this word this could read the
instruction on peace was upon Him.
The word peace (shalom)
has a broad meaning. It could mean peace or safety, security,
and even divine healing. It was upon Him to instruct us in
His peace. John 14:27: “My peace, I give unto you, not as the
world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Think about it, His heart is broken
by our iniquities which robs us of peace.
broken heart that will restore our peace.
Yet, it is His
Finally, by His stripes we are healed. The word stripes is
most interesting. It is the word chavar. This is another
play on words. The word is spelled Chet, Beth, Resh. The
word means stripe from the stripe of a tiger. It is another
play on words with the letters Chet and Hei.
Translators
assume that this is a play on the word habar which is spelled
Hei, Beth Resh, which means to cut hence translators use this
play on words to indicate the cuts Jesus received from being
whipped. However, the word as found in the Hebrew is chabar,
Chet, Beth, Resh, which means the stripe of a tiger which also
means to bind, to join a seam together. The word is also used
to reference the bonding between a husband and wife.
I was
listening to Sid Roth on the internet, who is Jewish, and he
said the word stripe could mean friend. More specifically it
is the bonding between friends. Hence what is being expressed
here is not only the wounds that Jesus received which is
implied by the play on words, but the literal meaning is a
reference to the fact that His death creates a bonding with
us. Perhaps that is what Paul meant by the fellowship of His
suffering? By having suffered He is able to bond with us in
our sufferings from conquering physical suffering through His
resurrection. Through his resurrection we are healed by
joining or bonding with Him. By His friendship we are healed.
The word
charbar (stripes) is spelled with a Chet which
represents a bonding of God and man, the Beth represents our
heart and God’s heart bonding together and the Resh represents
our joining with the power of God through the Holy Spirit.
But lest just back up to the word daki for a moment, daki
means bruised, broken or crushed. Jesus’s heart was bruised,
crushed or broken over our iniquities. But soft, the word daki
is spelled Daleth, a gateway or portal to the Kap, the heart
of the Aleph, God. The word daki esoterically means that when
we bring our iniquities to him He removes them through his
shed blood, which then opens a gateway, portal or doorway to
the heart of God. It is up to us to open that doorway. The
Bible says in Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “I stand (Greek,
hesteka – am standing) at (Greek – epi – on) the door knocking
(Greek – krouo – I am knocking).
Jesus is daki bruised,
broken, crushed.
Do you hear that knocking on the Daleth
(doorway) of your Kap (heart)? It is the Aleph (God).
There is another way to look at this. The word krouo in Greek
really means to strike. What is he striking? It is a door.
Note that the Greek word epi which is rendered in English as
at is really the preposition on. Of course Jesus cannot be
standing on a doorway knocking, so translators just render it
as at. But soft, perhaps the ancients did hear the word on.
We automatically say this is a picture of the doorway to our
hearts. Yet why limit it to that? Perhaps there is another
meaning that the ancients heard. Now, I didn’t live in the
first century, so I cannot be sure, but I do know that in 300
BC, seven of the best scribes translated the Hebrew Bible into
Greek, we call it the Septuagint. They translated it without
consulting each other, they translated it independently. When
they compared their translations they were precisely
identical.
Each, when translating the Hebrew word daleth
(portal) used the Greek word thura which is the identical word
used in Revelation 3:20. If we render the Greek word epi as
intended, which is on and not at, the ancients may not have
pictured Jesus knocking at the door of their heart, but of
standing on the daleth or portal of heaven striking it,
calling to us to open it so we can enter. If we don’t enter
heaven, it is not because of our sins, he received a fatal
wound for our transgressions, His heart was broken over our
iniquities and by his stripes we are healed from all those
sins. No, the reason people will not enter heaven is they
just ignore His voice as He is striking that portal of heaven
calling out to us to open it so we can join Him, let Him
forgive our sins and give us a hug. Entering heaven is as
easy as opening a portal and receiving his hug and
forgiveness. He is striking that portal, calling out to us
but too many people are just too hung up with their lives
here, they just keep looking down and never bother to look up
to see who is calling them, they just never bother to check
out Who is standing on that portal calling and striking it
until it is too late.
WORD STUDY – SIN LIES AT THE
DOOR
“Genesis 4:5-7: But unto Cain and his offering he had no
respect, and Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. And
the Lord said unto Cain, “Why are thou wroth and why has they
countenance fallen?
If thou doest well shall thou not be
thou accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the
door.”
I remember as a child in Sunday School watching my Sunday
School teacher tell the story of Cain and Abel using the
flannel graph. Abel kept falling off the board (guess he had
more graph than flannel) leaving only Cain on the board
knelling down with his fruits and vegetables clutched to his
hands and looking up to heaven with a forlorn look.
Maybe it
was Abel’s continued departure from the flannel graph board
leaving a lonely Cain with a sad face looking up to God that
made a lasting impression on me. I could not help but feel
sorry for the old boy. Of course I could never condone his
actions in wasting his brother, however, I could not help but
think that if God could have cut Cain a little slack and
accepted his offering, which was given in good faith, the
story could have been quite different. But, no, God had to
play it by the book and only an animal sacrifice would do.
But come on, this animal sacrifice was not really made law
until the time of Moses. Surely God could have given the poor
guy a break.
Years later after studying Hebrew I began to realize the
reason why God had no respect for Cain’s offering. For one
thing the ground had been cursed, so Cain was offering
something that was cursed. The second thing is that God was
telling Cain that if he did well he would be accepted. Was God
really playing hardball at this time? Without the law, or a
Bible, how was one to know if he was doing well or not. The
Hebrew word for doing well is tov. This word was thrown around
quite a bit at creation. After God created something, He then
saw that it was tov or good.
As explained in an earlier
devotionals, this word means to be in harmony with God. Cain
offered something that was cursed by God and was not good
(tov) or in harmony with Him. Note that God warns that if you
don’t do what is good (tov) or in harmony with Him then sin
lies at the door. The word sin here is chatak which means
unintentional mistakes or sins.
Apparently, the act of
offering fruits and vegetables may not necessarily have been a
sin, but at most it was an unintentional mistake. Still it was
still not good or (tov) in harmony with God. Perhaps Cain
killing his brother was more manslaughter than murder, more
unintentional. It is possible he did not even understand
physical death.
Well, that’s another issue. What I am
pondering is this idea that if you do not do what is in
harmony with God, then chatak (unintentional sin) is lying at
the door. I don’t believe that this is as metaphoric as we
think.
The word in the Hebrew for door has the preposition Lamed
before it which is often rendered as to, for or unto with the
definite article the. This is a definite or specific door.
Not only that but the word for door used here comes from the
root word patach which refers not only just to a door but a
portal. A portal is more than just a doorway to another room,
it is an entrance to something entirely different.
My
metaphoric Looking Glass which I speak about in my Beyond the
Daleth stories is an example of a patach (portal).
We never
seem to stop to ask why Cain and Abel were offering sacrifices
to God. The Bible is not clear, but I think the answer is
buried in the Hebrew. They were opening a portal to the
presence of God. Whenever they felt the departure of God’s
presence they knew it was time to offer a sacrifice.
Note
that
when
Cain’s
offering
was
not
accepted
his
countenance fell. That word countenance is pani in the Hebrew
which means presence. His presence was fallen. In verse 7 God
says if he does what is in harmony he will be accepted. The
word accepted also means to be lifted up. It would seem that
the offerings were made so their presence would be lifted up
to God’s presence.
When Cain offered something that was
cursed, out of harmony with God, he could not feel God’s
presence, his presence fell downward rather than upward to
meet the presence of God. This also appears to be a Messianic
picture which involved the shedding of blood for redemption
and of course the fruits would not offer a blood sacrifice.
When Cain did not feel the presence of God in giving his
offering, he was wroth. The word for wroth is charah which
means to be hot. It does not have to be rendered as anger.
You get hot when you are feeling sorrow as in the pain of
rejection. It is possible Cain’s countenance fell because he
did not feel the anticipated presence and fellowship with God
that should have followed his offering. God explained to Cain
that even though he did not intentionally make a mistake or
sin or do something out of harmony with God, it stilled
blocked the entrance through the portal to His presence and
fellowship.
Like most Christians I have periods when I seek the presence
of God but somehow I cannot find it. I cannot open that
portal. I do not intentionally sin (well maybe sometimes) nor
do I intentionally seek to be out of harmony with God, but if
I am not opening that portal to his presence, it could be a
sure sign that I am unintentionally doing something out of
harmony with God. Whether we call it sin or not, something out
of harmony with God will block our entrance to God‘s presence.
We may be giving a gift or sacrifice to God, maybe a tithe or
offering yet if it is out of harmony with God and it will not
open a portal to His presence.
You see the word for portal (patach) is spell Pei, Taw, Cheth.
The Pei represents speaking from the heart, the Taw represents
the truth of God and the Chet represents passing through a
gateway or portal. If you speak from the heart the truth of
God, that which is good (tov) in harmony with him, He will
open the portal to His presence.
{ My Soul Weeps }
Continuing in Psalm 119 with the letter “dalet” ‫ ד‬which is
shaped like a door or a man bent over in humility. Dalet is
spelled ‫ דלת‬and has two possible root words. Some of its
meanings are: door, gate, doors to heaven such as a portal,
and also to be delivered from prison. Other possible usages
are: being reduced, brought down low, weakness and poverty.
When looking at the 8 verses under Dalet in Psalm 119, it is a
good idea to consider these meanings for insight into the
scripture verses.
Psalm 119: 28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou
me according unto thy word.
The dalet word that begins this verse is “dalaph” ‫ דלף‬and is
translated as melteth. This word actually has more of the
idea of shedding tears, weeping, or of rain drops. In this
verse “dalaph” is in a Qal verbal form which means it is just
a normal verb, and not intensified. A picture of tears gently
shed out of feelings of deep sorrow. Since it is the soul
weeping, the tears do not necessarily have to be literal, but
can be understood as expressed in the saying …”I’m laughing on
the outside by crying on the inside”.
The word
heaviness, as in oppressiveness,
is the Hebrew word
“Yagah” ‫ יגה‬. Looking at how this word is used in other
verses, the idea is that of heaviness related to feeling
foolish, shameful or disappointed. It also means raindrops
coming through the chinks of a roof. The constant dripping
over time causes structural damage. This also reminds me of
the water torture where simple drops of water fall in the same
area of the forehead causing pain and mental anguish.
David asks to be strengthened “qum” ‫ קום‬which is in a Piel
verbal form (intensifies the word). Qum means: to arise, and
can be explained as the type of strength needed when you’re
down for the count after a “knock out”. This strengthening is
according, or literally “like or as” God’s words “dabar” ‫דבר‬:
one of the meanings for the same root word spelled “debir”
‫ דבר‬is: oracle, the place of speaking, inner sanctuary, an
alternative name of the Holy of Hollies in Solomon’s temple.
One way “Dabar” ‫ דבר‬can be summed up is: words spoken from the
“heart” (inner place) of God. What’s interesting to me is the
syntax: “like or as” God’s words (‫)דבר‬.
Renewing our minds
daily in the Word, both the whole of the Word of God, and the
specific promises spoken to us. Jesus, the Word, is the lifter
of our heads. It’s so important to view ourselves and our life
situations with God’s perspective.
Earlier in v.25 a similar sentiment is expressed, My soul
cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
Cleaving to the dust has the idea of being close to death (
Gen. 3:19), and David (whom I believe is the author) asks God
to revive
him according to His Word Dabar ‫דבר‬.
for revive is “chayah” ‫ חיה‬also means
word is life, Deut. 8:3 He humbled you,
and then feeding you with manna, which
ancestors had known, to teach you that
The root word
“to give life”. God’s
causing you to hunger
neither you nor your
man does not live on
bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the
LORD.
Another meaning from the same root word as “Debar” ‫דבר‬
is
“wilderness” Midbar ‫דבר‬. God fed the Israelites manna in the
wilderness and in John 6:32b-33 Jesus says …but it is my
Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the
bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives
life to the world.
Lastly, the Hebrew word “Dober” with same root word ‫דבר‬, is
used a couple times in scripture to mean: a pasture, and
feeding ground for sheep. The Word, Debar ‫דבר‬, feeds us, lifts
us up, revives us, sustains us and give us life. In John 7:9
Jesus says “I am the door (‫ ;)ד‬if anyone enters through Me, he
will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” He
also stands at the the door of our hearts and invites us to
sup with Him, the very Word of God and true bread of life.
Laura